Evidence that you understand the employer’s business
Evidence of interests or experience that relate to this
Clarification of your career goal and, if necessary, how this job will help you towards this.
See Online applications for technology graduate schemes and the TARGETjobs employer hubs for more help.
Good answers to ‘Why do you want to work for us?’ at interview
At interview you may be asked directly ‘Why do you want to work for us’, or you may be asked related questions about the job, company and your motivation for joining. Either way, keep the above points in mind.
Gillian Bray comments that when students get to interview, ‘Sometimes they don’t think about what the company actually does. In interview they should talk about how their experience relates to what we do, and what benefits our products bring to our clients.’
Lisa Amis, graduate recruitment administrator at Accenture, also highlights the importance of understanding the day-to-day job. She states: ‘We want to know if they understand how our lifecycle works, so we might ask them to describe the process, or what Accenture does.’
Good employer research plays a vital role – but what type of information will impress? ‘Candidates sometimes come into interviews and just regurgitate what’s on the homepage,’ states Steve Rodgers, recruitment manager (technology) at Ocado. ‘We want them to be able to tell us something that isn’t there.’ A fellow recruiter flags up her global company’s profusion of information sources, including a YouTube channel, which candidates can use to get beyond the basics.
Again, see the TARGETjobs employer hubs for help with your prep.
Bad application form answers that say ‘I don’t want this job’
In online applications, giving one-line answers to the question ‘Why do you want to work for us?’ suggests to IT recruiters the real answer is ‘Actually, I don’t’. Even worse, leaving in the wrong company name having copied and pasted the answer from an earlier application screams out both ‘I said the same thing to your competitors’ and ‘I’m really slapdash’.
Sadly, such mistakes are very common, and drive IT companies up the wall. Gwenyth Moore at IBM, for example, remarks that many candidates seem to use ‘a scattergun approach to applications’.
Why good employer research matters
Skimp on your research and you’ll end up resorting to empty flattery and waffle to fill space on your application. Both will go down badly.
‘I’d relish the opportunity to work for such a prestigious organisation…’ just screams out ‘I don’t know the first thing about you.’ Similarly, saying ‘I feel my unique blend of skills, experience and academic achievement makes me the perfect match for your requirements’ without actually stating what these are will get you nowhere. Recruiters see enough cliché-ridden applications every day as it is. Don’t let yours be one of them.