In an ideal world, you would never be asked this question. Hiring managers and interviewers are paid for their ability to recognize your strengths and weaknesses, and your potential to become a great customer service worker, while talking to you in an interview. They should be able to say whether you deserve the job more than other candidates, or whether someone else is a better match for the particular position they are hiring for. But we do not live in an ideal world. Not every recruiter or hiring manager has the skills they should have, and they may ask you many questions that do not make sense, or questions that were common in the job interviews in the 90ties. “Why should we hire you?” definitely belongs to this group. We’ll have a look at how should you answer it, in an interview for a customer service job.

Let’s start directly with 7 sample answers to the question. I tried to include on my list answers for both job applicants with an without previous experience in customer service, and also some unconventional answers. I suggest you to read all seven of them, find one that resonates with you and with your level of experience, and adjust it slightly to fit perfectly to your interview scenario. Below the answers you will find additional hints and explanations on how to make the right impression with your answer.

 

7 sample answers to “Why should we hire you?” interview questions for customer service job candidates

  1. You should hire me because I always strive to deliver the best possible service to each customer. Front desk work is not only my job–it is my passion, and I find pleasure in reading five star reviews people post online, mentioning a great experience they had with front desk staff. I believe that most people do not have such an attitude to this job, considering the wages in the field. They may act nicely but they have to force it, the grace isn’t there any longer, and with the first crisis they will burst out, or quit the job. You can be sure it is not going to happen with me.
  2. You should hire me because I am as motivated as anyone to work in this retail store. I just love your brand, my shopping experience at this place, and basically everything that one imagines when hearing the name of your company. And I know what level of customer service you expect from your employees, because I experienced it many times in a position of a customer. Cannot wait to get a chance to become a part of your team, and deliver the level of service I’ve been getting here, to your great customers.
  3. Speaking frankly, a better question would be why shouldn’t you hire me. I do not want to sound overly confident, but with twelve years of experience in different customer service roles, and my passion for excellence still burning strong within me, I see no reason why you should give this job to anyone else. Of course, I have also my low days and mistakes–just like everyone else. But I believe that my experience is hard to beat.
  4. Let’s see things realistically. People do not struggle with jobs nowadays. This is a hard work, the place is busy with people almost at all times, and you pay the workers $12 per hour. I guess you should hire me, because if you decide against it, you may end up the day with no new hire. Or you will have to opt for someone you’d rather avoid hiring eventually… I mean, you do not have that many options in my view. I am here, offering you my motivation, willingness to learn, and a decent and serious conduct and appearance. Should be enough for you to give me a chance, considering the options you have…
  5. I would say that you have to figure it out on your own, whether you should hire me, or one of the other candidates for this customer service job. Look, I have my strengths–communication skills, ability to address conflicts with a cool head, attention to detail, and I am sure they would help me in this job. At the same time, however, I haven’t met the other candidates in person, and I am sure at least some of them also deserve the job, and can bring interesting things onboard your organization. That’s why I cannot tell you whether you should hire me, or decide for someone else. It is up to you to consider the application of each one of us, and decide accordingly. I hope you will decide for me, but even if not, I am grateful for having an opportunity to interview with you today.
  6. You should hire me, because I’ve worked on a similar position for two years already. And I can deal with each single objection of a customer on a phone. Complaints, hesitation, anger–you name it. I can get over rejection quickly, and I do not take things personally–for example if someone tells me a bad word, which can always happen with telesales. To sum it up, my experience and attitude should work great in your place, and I believe I deserve a chance to prove it in the job.
  7. I believe you should hire me because instead of talking about my customer service skills, I can show you the proof. Have a look at the profile of last two places where I worked on TripAdvisor, and read the reviews. You can see that people praise the customer service, it got 4.7 out of 5 points. What’s more, here I have a written recommendation from both my previous employers. You can see yourself that they were extremely satisfied with my work. To sum it up, you’re not buying a pig in a poke here. You can be sure that I will bring excellent level of customer service onboard, and help your place to prosper. On the top of that, I really like the job description, and the shift patterns here suit me perfectly.

 

Whatever you say, ensure them about your desire to deliver an excellent customer service to their customers

You may find yourself in all sorts of positions in an interview. Sometimes you do not care much and other times you need the job badly. You may have all the experience in the world, or lack relevant experience altogether. And you may find your interviewer a really nice person to talk to, or a complete pain to deal with.

In any case, you should always express your desire to deliver a great service to their customers. Even if you do not know what such a service means in their place–because you lack relevant experience, you want to learn it and deliver it day in day out. This matters more than anything else for the hiring managers.

Unconventional answer is a risk which can pay off

As I’ve said in the opening of this article, “Why should we hire you?” question belongs more to the nineties. Skilled recruiter or hiring manager would never use it. When you hear it in an interview, however, you can reply in a rather unconventional way. First example to check out is answer no. 4 on my list.

The applicant–perhaps smarter than the employer, says that they should hire them, simply because they do not have any other option. And this is actually often the case in retail and hospitality! Places struggle with hiring staff, employees change jobs rapidly, and some restaurants or shops may find it hard to get any decent people to the interviews. If you have the feeling it can be the case in your interview, you can take a risk by pointing it out.

Another interesting answer is no. 5. In this case, the job applicants shows humility and respect for other candidates, saying that they likely also deserve the chance, and have their strengths, and hence the hiring manager will have to decide on their own whom to hire. Needless to say, humility and respect are highly sought qualities in the interviews

Ready to answer this one? I hope so! But it isn’t the only tricky question you may face in your interview for a customer service job. Check also the 7 sample answers to other such questions:

Matthew Chulaw
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