“Why do you want to work here?” an innocent trick interview question

Anne Burrell asks “Why do you want to work here”?

Why do you want to work here?

“Why do you want to work here?” is one of the most standard questions during a job interview. Recruiters take it for granted because we ask this question every day. Candidates with weak answers are declined regularly. I didn’t realize how critical this question was until I saw it answered from the outside looking in. I know what I personally want to hear and what I don’t want to hear. The realization came after watching the question being answered on TV.

I generally don’t watch TV outside of two programs. One is Suits, and the other is Shameless (and I love me some Shameless). I am not a reality TV person, but one program has recently caught my attention. Recently, I have become fascinated with the TV reality program Chef Wanted on the FoodNetwork. 

The commonalities between chef and HR pro am

• Fascinated by the anti-HR culture of the restaurant business
• I was fascinated by the job interview process presented on the show
• The low-cut blouses are worn by the spiky blonde-haired Anne Burrell. Her confidence reinforces her makes-no-excuses attitude. Confidence is the new sexy, and a lot of candidates could afford to take notes.

Consider this program, “The Apprentice,” for restaurants. Instead of the winner of the show running a company, the winner will be a chef running a restaurant. Instead of Donald Trump telling you, “You’re Fired!” with his signature flourish, the owner of the restaurant gives you the boot. Here is the basic premise of each show, and it follows the same format on every episode:

The plot

A large restaurant is in search of a new executive chef. Usually, the restaurant is an upscale place and seems to have hundreds of tables. Although this may not be Michelin Star material, this isn’t a junior position potential chefs are applying for. These restaurants will become career changers for the chef who is left standing. Of course, the contestants answer the standard interview question, “Why do you want to work here?”

Anne Burrell hosts the program. In typical Survivor fashion, the candidates are given culinary challenges that mere mortals cannot overcome. She made a dish with pasta and cheese from scratch in her last episode. It doesn’t sound so hard until the 60-minute timer goes off. Sixty minutes for pasta AND cheese from scratch? There is a reason they say, “Too many chefs in the kitchen spoil the soup,” hence, four Chefs enter the Thunder Dome, and the one Chef left standing is offered the job.

So, WTF is an HR guy blogging about a blonde chef with a signature low-cut blouse? It’s a humongous chest with a low-cut blouse, Gomer. What’s not to blog about?

Opening interview question

The opening of these programs zooms in on the four competing chefs vying for the Executive Chef position. In this segment, they all provide a short bio of themselves. One of the questions is the classic, “Why do you want to work here?”  The last two programs I watched were very similar. The scene in my man cave was the same for both weeks. Me on my couch with a day-old Dominoes pizza box at my feet and a full ashtray of cigar butts. A cup of day-old coffee with coagulated cream floating at the top, and me reacting to the show like a San Francisco Fan watching the Super Bowl.

Chef number 1

My name is Sam Soufflé, and I am a professional chef. I cook for famous actors and on movie sets. This job would really solidify my career as an executive chef. When I cook for a celebrity, I need to cook what they want. Here, I get to cook what I want. I get to create the menu, and I get to use my creativity. No more high-maintenance actors for me.

At this point, I am just kicking back on my couch with the dog and casually thinking Chef number 1: “OMG, what a dumb ass. This guy is never going to get hired again.  I don’t care about this name-dropping, Hollywood wannabe chef to the stars. I care about my restaurant.  Does this dumb ass really think that I am going to be impressed because he cooks for the guy who was fired from the sitcom Two and a Half Men?

Chef number 2

“My name is Billy Joe Brisket, and I really need this job. I need this job for my family.  If I don’t get this job, I don’t know what I will do. I miss my daughter and wife, and I haven’t seen them for 3 weeks. I used to have a catering business that was voted number 1, but then the economy hit. This job would help me get back on my feet, and I would be able to see my family again.”

I am leaning forward on the edge of the seat. The show just got a little more interesting to the armchair HR quarterback. I am speaking out loud directly to the TV at this point. My dog lifted his head and gave me a puzzled look. Seriously? Did this candidate say, “I really need this job”? Everyone needs a job! Everyone wants to see his or her family!  “You miss my daughter?”  Are you fricken kidding me? I don’t want to hire someone bringing their drama to the office. The restaurant wants to hire an Executive Chef with focus! I don’t know anything about being a chef, but the word Executive tells me that your job is to take care of my problems. I don’t have to worry about yours!”

Chef number 3

(In an Italian accent) “Pasta is my passion. I love pasta and have been making pasta since I was 14. I grew up in Italy, and food is all that I think about. Nothing is better than making a simple dish with simple ingredients for the people you care for. This restaurant is known for its pasta, and I am really excited to be here, to show what I know, and to learn from the amazing staff. This restaurant is a dream opportunity for me.”   This guy read my post on enthusiasm in the workplace and how P Diddy schools an apprentice on passion here.

I am fully engaged. The HR Flunky is leaning forward and just found a team to root for.  The dog could care less because he doesn’t see any Italian meatballs in the near future, just day-old sliced pepperoni:  “Oh yeah, this guy is my boy!” with a quick fist pump to the air. “This guy doesn’t even realize he sounds like the guy I am looking for. This isn’t an act; this is the real deal. This guy has a passion for cooking and a passion for pasta!  I can already tell that he is the guy who is going to get along with the rest of the team here, and everyone is going to want to be around this guy.”

Chef number 4

“This restaurant is perfect for me. This is the next level in my career. I am currently working in a restaurant that seats 50, and this place can seat over 300. This is a great step for my career. It is in my hometown so I wouldn’t even have to move. My family and daughter need me to find a job because the economy has hit us pretty hard these last few years.”

HRNasty’s response to Chef number 4  is in the form of violent screams directed towards the TV: HOLY SHIT!  Where do they get these people?  Did he just say, “A great step for his career?” He just told me that he hasn’t ever run a staff this size or served this many people! I don’t want to hire a guy I need to train. This is my restaurant, not your bicycle with training wheels.  I can afford to take a chance on a guy going from 200 seats to 300, but not from 50 to 300???!!!  I want to hire a guy who can come in here so that I can turn the reins over.

WTF is that? ARE THOSE TATTOOS?? Tattoos are accepted in the restaurant industry, but it looks like he spent time in Fulton. This is a family restaurant, not an International House of Pancakes! If you think rolling your sleeves up makes you look like you are a hard worker, guess again because it just makes you look like a killer that did a hard time. At this point, I am about ready to throw my day-old pizza at the screen.

The team is going down

I don’t know anything about football, but I feel like a San Francisco fan at the Super Bowl watching their team go down. It is an ugly car accident happening in slow motion. I know it is coming, and I am not able to do anything about it. Even our 15-year-old deaf dog is giving me my space and leaving the room.

Anne Burrell is a great cook, and yes, I did learn to add freshly squeezed lemon to my chicken soup for some added zest.   A recruiter she is not. I don’t know where they get these folks, but the last thing I want to hear in response to the critical question: “Why do you want to work with us?” is essentially what Chefs 1, 2, and 4 said.

The CLM (Career Limiting Moves)

• I don’t really give a shit where I work. I am desperate, broke, and just need a job.
• I don’t care where I work; I just want to use you as a stepping stone to further my career.
• What you are doing here is cooking. I can cook. It doesn’t matter what you are cooking. “You need a cook. I cook, simple and finito.”

The networks are trying to tug at my emotional strings by getting me to feel for the three chefs who have a personal family situation. They are trying to manipulate me with some drama and tug at my heartstrings like some puppeteer. Unfortunately, I have been hardened by years of ungrateful HR work. I have heard every sob story in the book. I am a Teflon frying pan; that dooky slides right off me. Maybe hearing about four Chefs wax poetic about their passion for pasta and how they learned the art of charcuterie on a farm in southern France would get old. If it were me, three of the four wouldn’t have made it to casting. I could not have presented these three to the restaurant owner, AKA, the CEO and the hiring manager.

No Drama

Next time you are asked, “Why do you want to work here?” Don’t give them your drama; spin your story into something the hiring manager wants to be a part of and wants on his or her team! 

Next week, Food Network star Giada de Laurentis and how to make Hot Cross Buns.   

See you at the after party,
HRNasty

nasty: an unreal maneuver of incredible technique, something that is ridiculously good, tricky, and manipulative but with a result that can’t help but be admired, a phrase used to describe someone good at something. “He has a nasty forkball”.

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