Common Entry Level Interview Question – Why Did You Select This Field?

You are fresh out of college or high school. You apply for an entry level job somewhere. You get a call for an interview. You go to that interview. It’ll be your first time working in that field, and companies need people that are going to stick around. Naturally, this leads many companies to wonder why you selected that field. Here are the wrong answers:

• My mother told me to do it.
• You make a lot of money.
• I’ve no idea. I just did.
• You’ve lovely eyes.
• I needed a job to support my several unborn illegitimate children and you guys were hiring.
• I actually wanted to go into art history, but I didn’t.

This is an intelligence based query, meaning there is no right answer, the company is simply searching to see that you supply some type of intelligent reason for your decision that the company can respect. Give them that reason.

Bad Answer

“During high school I had a passion for English. I needed badly to be a writer. I realized this job doesn’t have much work that I’ll need to take home with me, so during my free time I should be capable to work on my novel. It’s a story about a serial killing librarian and her quest for love. I call it ‘Long Overdue’”

Good Answer

“My professor in my intro to auditing course showed me strategies to make complex mathematics and uncovering hidden/lost deductibles not just enjoyable, but fulfilling every day. As soon as I completed his course I knew this was the field I needed to be in. I enrolled that fall and have been studying advanced accounting ever since.”

You do not need much of an answer. You generally need an answer that does not make you look unintelligent or that you are just in it for the money. Focus on skills about the field that the employer will respect and you should do fine.