The worst interview question (and how top developers answer it)
You know the right answer to: “Why should we hire you?”
“You shouldn’t.”
At least not yet.
Most software engineers treat this question like they’re begging for scraps.
They reply with BS about “passion for the company mission” or “excited about the tech stack.”
We both know that’s not true.
Here’s what I realized after landing offers I didn’t even want:
An interview is a two-way sales process.
You’re not there to convince them you’re worthy. You’re there to see if they’re worthy of your time.
Especially if the company asking this is one you just heard about because of a job listing.
Think about it: it’s like Xiaomi asking “why should we sell you this phone?”
Weird, right?
Why This Question Is Outdated
Remember that “sell me this pen” question?
Nobody uses it anymore because good recruiters know they’re just getting a surface-level performance. Not real insight.
“Why should we hire you?” is the same thing.
It’s outdated. It’s performative. And it forces you into a position of begging instead of evaluating.
Same with job interviews
They need a developer who can solve their problems.
You need a company that pays well, gives you room to grow, doesn’t micromanage, and respects work-life balance.
But here’s where most developers get it wrong.
The Real Problem
Most devs are too afraid to be honest about this. So they play the game and pretend to care about company values they don’t actually care about.
They spend hours crafting the “perfect” answer. Researching the company. Memorizing their mission statement. Pretending they’ve always dreamed of working there.
That’s not preparation. That’s procrastination disguised as interview prep.
My answer to that question?
“I haven’t made up my mind yet. You invited me to this call, so I’m here to see if this is a good fit for both of us.”
I’d rather be real than try to be nice and soft.
What Actually Happened
I was recording interviews for my Dev Mastery students. Just capturing the process to show them how it works.
Applied to a Node.js senior role. Not because I wanted it. Just to record it.
Round 1: HR screening. Basic. Passed.
Round 2: Live coding. Data structures and algorithms. Passed.
Round 3: Project discussion. Architecture. System design. Scaling decisions. Live coding for 40 minutes. Passed.
Round 4: Final round with engineering manager and HR. Passed.
I wasn’t trying to impress anyone. I was just there to answer questions correctly so students could learn from it.
No stress. No performance anxiety. No fake passion.
And I got another six-figure offer, which I don’t even need.
Why This Works
When you know your worth, and you’re not afraid to walk away from bad fits, everything changes.
You’re not nervous about system design questions because you’ve designed systems before.
You’re not worried about “why should we hire you” because you’re also evaluating them.
You’re not stressed about cultural fit because you know what kind of culture you actually want.
Companies can smell desperation. They can also smell confidence.
The Shift That Changes Everything
Setting boundaries in interviews is like setting boundaries in relationships.
If you accept anything, you’ll end up somewhere you hate. Underpaid. Overworked. Disrespected.
Most developers I meet are slow decision makers. They’re stuck in analysis paralysis.
“Should I leave this job where I’m working with legacy code?”
“Should I finally learn system design?”
“Should I start applying to senior roles?”
How long does it take you to answer these questions? A week? A month? Are you still “thinking about it” right now?
You already know the answer. You’re just afraid to make the decision.
Here’s What Changes
When you start rejecting the wrong opportunities, the right ones find you faster.
When you make decisions 10 times faster than everyone around you, you live more in one year than slow thinkers live in 10 years.
You don’t need to pretend you’ve dreamed about their company since childhood.
You don’t need to craft the perfect answer to “why should we hire you.”
You just need to show up knowing exactly what you’re worth and what you’re looking for.
The Real Difference
This is the difference between developers who panic in interviews and engineers who pass them without trying.
When you reach a certain skill level, interviews stop being stressful. They become easy.
There’s no black box they can introduce where you’re thinking “wait, what are you talking about?”
You’re not there to convince them. You’re there to evaluate if this is worth your time.
That shift changes everything.
I landed that offer while barely trying. Not because I’m special. Because I showed up with real skills and zero desperation.
And once you have that, interviews become a formality. Not a test.
Want to see how this plays out in real interviews?
I recorded every stage of the process. How I answered their questions. How I evaluated them. The exact framework I use.
How I passed without preparing. Without stressing. Without pretending to care about things I don’t care about 👇
Interesting shift. The interview framing as mutual evaluation sounds nice in theory but there's somthing deeper here about job crafting. When candidates approach interviews without desperation, they're subconciously crafting the role before they even have it, defining value boundaries and signaling what kinda work conditions they'll accpet. The real insight is that job crafting doesn't just start after hire.