You can use your answer to emphasize your interest in the role, expand on your career goals, show off your knowledge of the company, or a blend of all three. You might also weave in a few recent accomplishments that tie into your motivation to apply for this particular job.
How well you understand the position. First and foremost, interviewers want to make sure you have a solid grasp on the ins and outs of the role. How well your experience and skill set align with the position. Of course, passion is important, but so is a well-matched skill set.
How well you know the company. Additionally, your answer may reveal, in a general sense, what you know about the company. This is especially true if your answer revolves around talking about corporate values or big-picture goals that align with your personal values. What contributions you can make in this position. Finally, a really impactful answer will go beyond an understanding of the role.
Our AI resume builder helps you write a compelling and relevant resume for the jobs you want. Your answer ultimately depends on your motivation for applying for the job. However, there are still steps you should take to prepare the perfect answer:. Research the role. Start by reading the job description carefully and noting any important skills, adjectives, or action verbs that get used a lot or emphasized.
Learn more about the company. Prepare key talking points. As a candidate, you want to stand out for all of the right reasons. How you answer this question — or one like it — matters.
Luckily, we have your back. When you answer that one, your goal is to explain what about the organization stands out to you.
Perhaps the products or services the business offers mean something special to you. They are all about the role, and you need to make sure your answer is, too. It seems obvious, right? Well, it does to you, at least. Because candidate motivations can vary dramatically. Some job seekers might focus on income, while others may see a position as a skill-building opportunity. A candidate might use a job to get their foot in the door at an employer of choice, while others apply purely to satisfy the conditions of unemployment, as many states make actively seeking out work a requirement.
By asking this question, they can find out. Additionally, this question lets them find out how much you know about the job. That is an effective way to manage the barriers to entry.
Japanese customers in the software industry aren't only asking for documentation, of course. They conduct their whole business in Japanese—sometimes, even with foreigners.
That may surprise some because English is very much the lingua franca of the software industry. You can usually get by speaking English only with clients in many countries around the world. But anyone that ever visited Japan will confirm that things can be quite different there. Why is this? Essentially, learning a foreign language is always easier if your target is close to your native tongue.
For instance, English and French share many words. They use a similar sentence structure, namely subject-verb-object. They also share the same alphabet, minus a few diacritics. Japanese uses two sets of alphabet-like symbols more accurately described as syllabaries while still sprinkling a fair dose of kanjis —symbols that express ideas and were initially imported from China. And while Japanese chose to import phonetically many words from English and other European languages, the pronunciation can be significantly different.
That one is tricky. I know. I am a student of the Japanese language. It takes a lot of practice—and a lot of "CPU cycles"—to flip the order of words before uttering a sentence! That has significant impacts on both external and internal stakeholders. For example, say your company sells a unit test tool.
You want prospects to find you, so you finance a keyword search targeting Japan. However, sponsoring "unit testing" may not yield much in terms of leads. So, do you need a Japanese website? However, it would help if you did not forget the impact of the language barrier you may have internally. For example, communicating with your local employees can sometimes be equally challenging. As a result, they may feel that you do not fully grasp their situation.
You may fail to pick up on a few cues they provide out of cultural differences. For instance, Japanese business speech tends to be very formal, very polite, and for those accustomed to a much more direct speech style, it may create confusion. For a funny example, watch my video above. Just as showing the flag is an effective strategy to build your local presence see the first part of this article , it can also be an excellent lubricant for your relationships with the remote Japan office or distributor.
In my experience, there are plenty of things that may only become apparent to executives after speaking face-to-face with remote employees. As I explained before, business relationships in Japan tend to be very formal. When you enter a boardroom to meet people for the first time, you are expected to go around the room in a specific order.
You meet the senior person first and yes, you sometimes need to guess who that is. You then present your business card with two hands, with the writing facing your counterpart. Then, pronounce a few words to introduce yourself bonus points if done in Japanese , and bow down.
Repeat for other attendees. The Japanese language reflects this. Ever wondered about the long diatribes waiters at restaurants pronounce when you enter the place? Yes, that is keigo too.
You ignore manners to your peril. If a prospect concludes that you are not paying sufficient respect, he may conclude you will not be a reliable business partner. Pure and simple. Fortunately, there is a simple way for you to prepare: do your research. You may even learn some of the local tongue. After all, doing business is about building trust, which requires breaking the ice. However, there is no need to be perfect.
For one, usually Japanese do not expect perfection from you. You are a foreigner, after all. Besides, keigo is difficult even for the Japanese to master! For example, a few years ago, I visited a prospect of ours. A competitor also a foreign company visited them before and claimed that only their tool could be used for a certain level of certification because they had a feature we lacked. That was incorrect. We were used successfully at that level of certification by other clients.
And that competitor probably knew it, as I saw this "fact" repeated by many clients in Asia. However, when you tried to set the record straight, many clients viewed my answers with suspicion. Usually, I keep my cool at all times, especially in Japan.
But on that occasion, I allowed myself, quite consciously, to express irritation. Irritation because it was not accurate. Irritation because, in my view, this was a lack of respect for the client. I told him they probably knew better. And I offered to put him in contact with clients of mine that would confirm what I said. That is definitely not what you can expect from your typical Japanese businessman.
And truth be told, expressing irritation is usually a risky strategy. But in my judgment, the circumstances warranted it. As a foreigner, I enjoyed a bit more leeway.
So, by all means, learn and respect the local culture. The more you know, the better you will be. But realize that your status as a non-native doesn't only carry disadvantages. It can sometimes play in your favor. Has your relationship with your boss suddenly changed and you're not sure why?
It's smart of you to notice, and even smarter of you to do something about it. So many of us settle for an unhealthy relationship with our manager, hoping that it will eventually blow over. The truth is, relationships are a lot like icebergs—what you see above the water is usually rooted in something much bigger happening beneath the surface. What you may experience as a pattern of sharp feedback or increased micromanaging might be rooted in something bigger.
Even if it's not, sweeping these concerns under the rug will likely put you on edge and make you more likely to make mistakes or assume the worst. In a dream world, your manager may see what you're doing and want to meet you halfway, but you can't bank on that. If trust has been broken, it will take a while to rebuild. If your competence is in question, you may need several successes before you chip away at their false perception of you.
No matter what the root cause of the breech is, you must be willing to stay the course and be consistent until the relationship turns around. To improve your relationship with your manager, you must convince them that you can and will help them be successful.
This convincing isn't about apologies or persuasive words; it's about consistently communicating through your language, work products, loyalty, and warmth that you care about your company, your boss, and your team —and that you have the skills to get your job done well. Human beings aren't stupid. We are biologically programmed to know when someone is faking admiration for us. Our gut tells us not to trust them, and our suspicion goes into high gear.
Your manager is no different. You won't be able to build a relationship with your manager if, deep down, you don't respect them. Show them you understand what their role involves and are excited to be doing the work! For this final step, you can also consider adding a bit about how your previous experience will help you do well in their job. I applied for this position because after reading the job description, it seems like a great opportunity to continue building digital marketing skills — like social media marketing, Facebook advertising.
I reviewed the job description and saw an emphasis on team leadership and project management, so it seemed like a great fit. I saw on your job description that this person you hire will manage projects, and will also have the chance to train a team of their own in the future and get into direct management. I think my past experience leading projects would help me contribute immediately in this role.
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