Interview questions. Scenario 2 of 11. Motivation

Why do you want this job?

You are being interviewed for a receptionist job at a GP surgery. You applied mainly because you need work and the surgery is ten minutes from your home.

The interviewer asks: "Why do you want this job?"

Which answer works best?

Be completely honest. "I need a job, and you're close to my house."

Could be better

Both things are true, and being local is a real advantage: you will be reliable. But on its own the answer says nothing about the work. It suggests any job nearby would have done.

Name something about the work itself that suits you, and something about this employer. Being local can be part of it.

Good call

For example: you like being the first person people meet, you stay calm when it is busy, and a surgery matters to its community. That is honest, and it answers the real question: will you care about this job?

Say it has always been your dream to work on a reception desk.

Not the best call

Interviewers hear overstatement straight away, and it makes your other answers harder to believe. You do not need to pretend it is your dream. You need one or two true reasons that fit the role.

Say you want to get some experience before moving on to something better.

Not the best call

Ambition is fine, but this tells them you plan to leave and that you see the job as second best. Hiring takes time and money. They want someone who wants this job.

The principle

They are asking whether you will care about the work and stay a while. Give true reasons that are about the job and the employer, not only about what suits you.