Give Me Three Good Reasons Why I Should Hire You

by Rosetta Thurman

category: Personal Branding

Published June 18, 2009 @ 05:59AM PT

Have you ever gone to a conference or a lecture, and the speaker opens up their speech with "I want to talk to you about three things today." Do you notice how the audience leans forward, breaks out their pens and notebooks, interested and ready to take notes?  That's because people love lists, how many points to expect, and can only remember about three things at a time.

"For example, when we present phone numbers, we present them in groups of three and four, which helps us to remember the list," said University of Missouri-Columbia psychologist Nelson Cowan.

In an interview for your dream nonprofit job, your objective is to be the candidate the hiring team remembers. You want to leave the organization with the impression that you can do any task they throw at you in the position. Picture how you would answer this common nonprofit interview question: Tell me how your experience and qualifications relate to this position. What if you were the one candidate that came into the interview with your nonprofit swag, and blew the interviewer away with this answer:

Let me give you three good reasons why you should hire me.

You might imagine the interviewer raising their eyebrows a bit, leaning forward, breaking out their pen and notebook, interested and ready to take notes.  This is exactly what you want. Don't be afraid to break out of the box.  Be memorable and you have a better chance of being called back for that second interview.