How To Answer How Did You Hear About This Position - Career Sidekick

How To Answer How Did You Hear About This Position - Career Sidekick How To Answer How Did You Hear About This Position? Interview Questions and Answers / https://www.edenscott.com/blog Employers love asking interview questions like, how did you hear about us? or, how did you hear about the position?And theyre looking for a few specific things in your answer!If youre not prepared to explain how you heard about this job, it can start your interview off poorly and possibly cost you the job offer (first impressions count for a lot, and employers often ask this VERY early).So in this article, Im going to walk you through how to answer, how did you hear about us? with sample answers, dos and donts, and more.Lets get startedWhy Employers Ask How Did You Hear About the Position?Employers ask this question for a few reasons.First, they honestly want to know. Theyre curious.You see, employers post jobs in many different places, and if they find a candidate they like (you), theyre curious how you found them.For example, maybe they posted their position on two job boards, and also created a YouTube video about their hiring needs. They want to kn ow which of their efforts are most effective, so theyll often begin an initial phone interview by asking a question like, how did you hear about this job?Theres one more reason they ask, too And this is where you can make a mistake if youre not carefulTheyre asking you how you heard about them because they want to hire someone whos being targeted and specific in their job hunt. Employers want to hire someone who knows what they want.They dont want someone who will accept any job they can get. Theyd much rather get someone whos excited for THEIR specific job because they think that person will be more motivated, more energetic, etc.This is also why employers ask questions like, Why did you apply for this job? why do you want this job? and, what do you know about our company?So you need to make sure your answer shows that you have intent and purpose in your job search, and you didnt just stumble onto their job randomly, along with 1,000 other jobs youve applied for.Because if you soun d like that, you arent going to a job offer from top companies. (FYI- if you want more help knowing why companies reject people, we have an in-depth article on 16 reasons you cant find a job).Answering How Did You Hear About Us? 10 Sample AnswersIn most cases, its perfectly fine to tell the truth when you explain how you heard about their job. If ANY of these reasons are true, you can simply tell the truth in the interview:You were looking actively for jobs and found it on a job board, careers website, while searching jobs on LinkedIn, etc., and thats how you first saw their jobYou have a colleague or friend in the company who suggested you apply or mentioned they were hiringYou have a colleague or friend who doesnt work in the company right now, but heard they were hiring and suggested you applyYou read an article, press release, or other news source saying they were hiringYou read an article or other news source that made you interested in the company in general, so you decided t o look for job openings with themYou were contacted by a recruiter who put you in touch with the company or made you aware of the companyYou were visiting their website for another reason and saw their Careers pageYou like their company in general and went to their website and Careers page specifically to look for a job opening because youd like to work for themYou saw an advertisement for a job opening (on LinkedIn, Facebook, etc.)You were familiar with the company via previous work (for example, if they were a competitor of yours in a previous job)Those are all really good reasons for how you heard about the job, and can help lead into your explanation of why you applied for the position too. Its a slightly different interview question, but closely-related.So, thats how to answer this question easily and effectively. There are some things you need to avoid doing tooMistakes to Avoid When Answering How Did You Hear About This Position?Now that youve seen some good sample answers fo r how you heard about the job, lets look at what NOT to say. These are all answers you should avoid giving:Dont say youre not sure or dont remember (youll seem scattered or disorganized in your job search which will make it harder to get hired)Dont do anything to make it sound like you are applying for every job you find, like a desperate job seeker who doesnt care what job they get as long as they get hiredDo not tell a lie that could get you caught (like saying you saw them on a job board if youre not sure they posted any jobs on a job board)So the best way to answer How did you hear about the position? is to either tell the truth, or if you cant, use one of the 10 good reasons I mentioned in the previous section (after verifying that it COULD be true).Also, the best answers are concise and to-the-point. So make sure you keep it brief too. If the interviewer wants more info, theyll ask.Id recommend keeping your answer to one or two sentences maximum.Nobodys trying to trip you up or catch you with a mistake when they ask how you heard about the position. Its not a trap. Its just an icebreaker or a way to get the interview started and find out a bit about your job search and how youre looking for jobs.How Did You Hear About the Position? Full Sample Answers:Now lets go through some sample word-for-word answers for how you found out about the position.This will help you get comfortable and get some ideas you can use to create your own answer. Well start with an example for active job seekers, and then Ill give you an example if youre a passive job seeker or are interviewing while you have a job.Sample Answer for Active Job Seekers:Im actively job searching right now, and found your job posting on LinkedIn while searching for Senior Engineer positions. I reviewed the job description on LinkedIn before applying and it seemed like a great potential fit so I wanted to apply and learn more about the opportunity to see if its a good match.Sample Answer for Passive J ob Seekers:I wasnt actively looking for a job change, but a colleague mentioned that she saw you were hiring on your website, and said she had heard good things about your work environment. I went to your website and did some reading on the Careers page and liked what I saw, so I decided I should apply and learnmore about the opportunity.The bottom line is: The best and most impressive job seekers show that theyre being careful in their job search and are looking for the RIGHT job, not just any job.So that should be your goal when you answer, how did you hear about us? show them youre job searching with purpose not just desperately applying everywhere in search of any employer that will take you.Thats not the look employers want!How to Stand Out from Other Job Seekers When AnsweringThe top job seekers focus on going into the interview to learn more about a job, have a conversation, and find out if its a good fit for both sides. Theyre not desperate, and theyre not even sure they wa nt the job. They went to learn about it, ask the interviewer some questions, and then make a decision.If you can do this, youll get more job offers from better employers. Hiring managers love this, and very few people are doing it properly so youll stand out right away.You can do this by having a clear, concise answer for, how did you hear about the position?, by showing confidence and never acting desperate in the interview, and by asking great questions. Here are the best questions to ask recruiters. (Youll often hear interview questions about how you heard about the job in the first interview with a recruiter).If you follow the steps above and read some of the additional resources Ive linked to, youll be on your way to standing out and getting a job offer in your next interview and youll definitely have a great answer for when they ask, how did you hear about this position?UPDATE:Ifyou have interviews coming up and don’t want to leave anything to chance, I’ve created anew gui de where you can copymy exactstep-by-step method for getting job offers. You canget more details here.