A good accountant can help their employer save thousands of dollars each month, while a bad one can ruin their business, or at least bring on legal trouble (which can eventually ruin the business, or at least the public image of the company). No wonder companies choose their new accountants carefully. You will face a mix of personal, behavioral and technical questions in your interview, and you will typically compete with many other applicants for the job. One questions that bothers many future accountants is the infamous “Why should we hire you?” question. What do the hiring managers want to hear from you, and how can you stand out with your answer? We will try to find it out on the following lines.
Let’s start with 7 sample answers. You will find on my list answers for both fresh graduates and experienced accountants, conventional and out of the box answers, and basically a nice mix that should open your eyes and help you come up with the answers most fitting for you. Below the list of answers you will find some additional hints on how to make the best possible impression and get hired. Enjoy!
7 sample answers to “Why should we hire you as an accountant?” interview question
- I’ve spent a lot of time researching about your company, reading reviews from former employees, talking to people. And I honestly believe to be a great match for the working environment, and will enjoy working for you and helping you to save as much money on taxes as possible as an accountant. I am not in only for a big pay-check and prestigious job title. On the contrary, I really want to make a positive difference as an accountant, making your investment into me as an employee a profitable one. I hope you will hire me and give me a chance to prove my words in the job.
- Because I can see no reason why you should not. I meet the job requirements, your company is my first choice, and I believe to have the qualification and experience to handle all challenges an accountant may face in an NGO of this type. Of course I am not perfect and have my weaknesses, but who doesn’t? I am ready to give this job my best effort, and 100% sure you won’t be disappointed in a year from now, if you hire me today.
- My experience is the no. 1 reason. I’ve worked as an accountant for 20 years already, running my own tax consultancy, and later working for a big automotive company. I’ve seen it all, good and bad things, creative accounting and fraud… If you want to hire an experienced accountant who will take your accounting to a next level, I am your candidate. And I can assure you that after those 20 years in the field the passion for this work still burns within me, and I won’t disappoint you.
- You should hire me because of my attitude. I perhaps cannot compete with other applicants when it comes to working experience, but I am as motivated as anyone, ready to work hard, and give my 100% in the job. Working overtime? Coming here on Saturday or even Sunday before the tax return, or when the workload is heavy? Helping with other tasks when the workload is low? You can count on me to do that 100%, and I hope you will give me a chance to prove my words.
- To be honest, I cannot tell whether you should hire me or one of the other candidates for this accounting job. Sure enough, I have my strengths and experience, and I hope to demonstrate them in this interview, with my answers to your questions, and with everything that will happen today. But I am sure other applicants also have their strengths, and are motivated to do the job as much as I am. Or at least some of them are. And I wish them the best. At the end of the day, it is your task to decide who is the best match for the job, and perhaps have the fitting personality for your team. Of course I hope you will choose me, but I am also not naive, thinking that I am superior to all other candidates…
- You should hire me because I already have two ideas how to save you significant amount of money. Since your tax documents are publicly available, I have studied them in detail, and came up with two ideas on how to save a lot on taxes. What is more, I spent a lot of time studying tax returns of your competitors, and see how they account certain transactions, looking for ways of how to improve your own books. I am almost sure that nobody else has done that while preparing for this interview, and it should tell you enough about both my attitude, and the value I can bring to your team.
- You should hire me as an accountant simply because I am a great person to have around. Always attentive to the needs and feelings of people around me, and bringing enthusiasm and positive attitude to any workplace, just having me around will help the productivity of the entire team. What’s more, I really like your company, I am a regular customer myself, and this is my dream place of work. Let’s make it happen so we can both benefit from this cooperation!
Show them the value you can bring to their team
At the end of the day, they would not invite you for an interview if you did not meet the basic job requirements. Hence you shouldn’t be worried about your lack of experience, or any other thing that seemingly gives an advantage to other applicants. You are already in, and you have the same chance to walk away with a new employment agreement like everyone else… From this point, your attitude matters the most.
Ensure them that you aren’t in only for money. Of course it is a job and you want to earn well, and you will as an accountant. But you also want to bring some value onboard, do something special for the employer, help them save money, make the accounting processes more effective, lift the morale of the entire team, etc. That’s what you should focus on while describing why they should hire you. Check the sample answers again for inspiration, and try to come up with your own, perfect answer…
Ready to deal with this one? I hope so! Do not forget to check also 7 sample answers to other tough interview questions for accountants:
