Interview Question: Describe Your Ideal Company

“One that offers free chocolate chip cookies to its staff every hour and pays for time spent receiving backrubs from attractive, single masseuses.”

There are a lot of interview questions where sucking up to the company can help give you brownie points (to go along with your brownie nose). This is sort of one of those questions. Describing your ideal company is not necessarily about literally describing the company you are interviewing with, but it is about achieving the following:

• Nothing you describe is NOT applicable to the company.
• Everything you describe makes you sound like a great employee.
• The company sees itself in the words that you use.

For example, if you say that your ideal company involves a lot of hard work, the interviewer will say “Hey! Good! We have a lot of hard work!” and be pleased. If you say your ideal company offers rewards to hard working employees, however, the interviewer might think “Hm… We do not offer any bonuses or corporate gifts for hard work, so maybe that’s not us.” Ideally, you should use this question to say more about yourself than about the company.

Bad Answer

“My ideal company will have a fair amount of workload for my salary, and the knowledge that if they want harder work, they should reward me with greater pay. I also like donuts.”

Good Answer

“For me, an ideal company is one where I show up every day and feel myself contributing, knowing that I am playing a role in the success of the company. My ideal company depends on me, so that I am motivated to work hard and complete my tasks. Also, my ideal company offers products and solutions that I believe in, and has a long term plan for success.”

Here you meet all of the criteria. You do not mention anything untrue to the company. You do mention a vague statement that all companies believe about themselves (having a long term plan for success), and you make yourself sound like a great employee by focusing on how you can contribute.

Take Away Interview Tips

• Don’t make jokes.
• Avoid anything not applicable to the job you are applying for.
• Make yourself sound like a great employee.

Common Interview Question: What is Your Ideal Company?

Google. That is the answer to that question. Did you know they offer free massages at their corporate office? Free massages. Free. That’s a low price!

Still, you’re not working for Google. Or maybe you are, and then congratulations! Why are you looking at job interview tips? Since you are probably not working for Google, interviewers may ask you to describe your ideal company.  Your answer needs to be good.

How to Answer

This is an example of why company research is important. Without it, you may list off something that you are looking for that is not available within the company. That would be embarrassing for you. Keep the focus of your answer on intangibles (corporation cares about its employees, etc.) but as always, try to refrain from clichés, since a cliché is a sign of a lame answer.

Bad Answer

“I would like to find a workplace that values me for who I am. A company that won’t blame me for things a lot and notices how much of a hard worker I am.”

This is way too much about you, and makes it sound like you were treated unfairly at your last job.

Good Answer

“I’d like to work for a company that plans for its future. With the economy as it is, the best companies are going to be those that are constantly evolving to the new marketplace. I would also like to work for a company that recognizes achievements and provides ample growth opportunities within its corporate structure…”

You can expand, but here is a cliché free answer that focuses on the company, rather than on yourself. Put your company research into the answer as best you can, but try not to make it sound like you are quoting from their website.

Take Away Interview Tips

• Research the company.
• Don’t use clichés.
• Focus on the company.