How to answer “Why do you want to work here?”

Name one specific thing about them, connect it to something you've done, and say what you want to do in the job. Three sentences, in that order, fit most boxes: "Your advert says you're moving customs paperwork online this year. I've already redesigned a paper import process, so I know where those forms get stuck. I'd like to help your customers through that change."

By Trabalero · Last reviewed 29 September 2026

You'll see it as:

Why do you want to work here?
Why are you interested in this role and our company?
What interests you about this role?
Why are you interested in this role at [company name]? *

The asterisk means the form won't let you skip it.

What they're really asking

Did you look at us, or only at the job title? One detail that could only be about them answers this.
Does what you want match what the job is? They're checking the fit from your side.
Will you stay? A reason rooted in the work lasts longer than a reason rooted in the logo.
Can you write clearly? On a form, this box is often the only writing they'll see from you before an interview.

How to answer on the form

Three parts, one or two sentences each.

Them. One specific thing you can point to: a product, the customers they serve, a market they're entering, a line from the advert. Look in the advert first, then their own product pages and news. Not their mission statement; they know it already.
You. One piece of your experience that meets it. A result or something you made, not an adjective.
The job. What you want to do in this role, using the advert's own words where they fit.

When the label asks two things, as in "Why are you interested in this role and our company?", answer both, in the order they asked: a sentence or two on the role, then on the company.

Tone. Plain and specific. No flattery. Write the "them" part fresh for every employer, because it's the part that can't be reused.

If the box shows a character counter, stay under it. If it doesn't, pick the length below that matches the size of the box.

Three examples for three situations

Early in your career

Joana has just finished a logistics degree and is applying to be an operations coordinator at Tejo & Norte Freight, a freight forwarder whose advert says it's moving customs paperwork online.

Your advert says you're moving customs paperwork online this year. For my final-year project I mapped the paper-based import process of a food importer in Setúbal and cut it from eleven steps to six, so I know where those forms get stuck. I'd like to be the coordinator who helps your customers through that change.

Changing careers

Sam has taught secondary-school science for six years and is applying to be a customer education specialist at Kestrel Row, which makes lab-booking software for schools.

My school switched to your lab-booking software last year, and I became the colleague everyone asked for help. I wrote our staff guide and ran two training sessions for 40 teachers. This role would let me do that for every school you work with, and helping colleagues learn a new tool is the part of my job I've enjoyed most.

A two-part question

Aoife is a senior accountant at a Dublin accountancy firm, applying to be finance lead at Ardlow Solar. The form asks: "Why are you interested in this role and our company? *"

The role: for five years I've closed the books for eight clients at once, and I want to own one company's numbers end to end, including the project forecasting your advert mentions. The company: you're building community-owned solar farms in counties where many of my clients are farmers, and I know how grant and loan money moves through projects like yours.

All examples are fictional.

Short, medium and long

Joana's answer at three lengths.

Short: one line, under about 150 characters, for single-line boxes.
Medium: two to four sentences, for a small text box.
Long: a full paragraph, for a large box with no counter.

Short (144 characters, for single-line boxes)

You're moving customs paperwork online, and I've already redesigned a paper import process. I'd like to help your customers through that change.

Medium (315 characters, for a small text box)

Long (912 characters, for a large box with no counter)

Your advert says you're moving customs paperwork online this year, and that's the part of logistics I want to work in. For my final-year project I mapped the paper-based import process of a food importer in Setúbal. It took eleven steps and three sets of the same details; we cut it to six steps and one form, and the importer's clearance time fell from four days to two. The hard part wasn't the new form. It was the customers and drivers who had used the old one for years, so I spent most of the project explaining changes and rewriting instructions until they made sense to people outside the office. As your operations coordinator, I'd like to do that for your customers: be the person who knows both the new process and the questions people will ask about it. Your customers ship food and fresh goods into Portugal, which is the kind of cargo I studied, so I'd start with the paperwork they deal with most.

Mistakes to avoid

The last employer's name. If you reuse answers, check the company name before anything else.
Praise with nothing in it: “an industry leader”, “a great culture”, “an innovative company”. Every company says it about itself.
Their mission statement, pasted back to them. They wrote it; they don't need it read aloud.
Only what you'd get: the pay, remote work, the office. Fine to want; it doesn't say why them.
Your CV again, line by line. It's attached already. Pick one thing from it.
Longer than the box. Some forms cut the text off at the limit, mid-sentence.
An AI draft you haven't edited. It can't know the one thing you noticed about them.

Let Trabalero draft yours from your profile

In the side panel, press AI Answer. Trabalero drafts an answer from your profile and the job description and writes it into the box. Because the job description goes with the question, the draft can point to something in the advert. You read it, add the one thing you noticed about them, and press submit yourself. AI Answer needs a free account.

How AI Answer drafts it →

If you use the Q&A Library, the answer saved for this question fills in again on the next form. Read it before you submit: it was written for the last employer.

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