How to Answer “Why Do You Want to Work Here?” on an Application: What 3,732 AI Job Forms Asked on Oct. 11, 2026
Answer it in your own words, name one specific thing from that employer’s own posting, and keep to the length the form suggests: on October 11, 2026 we opened 3,732 real application forms on 19 AI-company job boards, and 1,015 of them asked why you want this company or this role, 810 as a required box. The question is not everywhere. Five employers wrote 980 of those 1,015 boxes, and seven boards, OpenAI and Waymo among them, never ask it at all.
What we opened on October 11, 2026
We took every open posting behind our AI jobs tracker and pulled its application form through the employer’s public Greenhouse or Ashby feed, the same form you see when you click Apply.
- 3,732 of 3,810 forms read. The other 78 returned a rate-limit error (35 of them at OpenAI), so they are unread, not zero. Google DeepMind’s US board returned an error and is not in the count.
- We listed every question label, then read each candidate by eye. We counted a form only when it asks why you want this employer or this role. “Why you?” and “Why are you the best candidate?” were kept apart (3 forms).
- We also read Anthropic’s candidate AI guidelines on its own site on October 11, 2026.
Written and checked by Prof. H. An AI assistant helped draft this piece and run the page reads; every quote was read on the source’s own page on October 11, 2026.
How do you answer “why do you want to work here” on an application?
Write a short answer that names one real thing about the employer, ties it to work you have done, and says what you want to do there, because that is what the forms we read on October 11, 2026 asked for in their own words. Cohere’s Software Engineer, Integrations form puts it plainly: “Please reference one specific area from the job description” and “explain why it appeals to you.”
Anthropic says what it does not want. Its Research Engineer, Interpretability form asks for “deeper and more specific engagement” with its research agenda “than simply interest in AI or LLMs.” A line about being passionate about AI is the answer every other applicant writes.
ElevenLabs adds a second half on 39 of its forms: “Why ElevenLabs, and why now?” That is a hint worth using everywhere. Say what changed for you, such as a project you finished or a product you started using, not only what you admire.
Which AI companies ask “why do you want to work here” on the form?
On October 11, 2026, Replit asked on 66 of 66 forms we read, Anthropic on 626 of 645, Perplexity on 113 of 118, 1X on 81 of 96 and ElevenLabs on 94 of 117. Those five wrote 980 of the 1,015 boxes. The wording changes: “Why Anthropic?”, “What excites you about Replit?”, “Why 1X?” and Perplexity’s “What are the most interesting aspects of Perplexity that you are excited to work on?”
Required is not the same everywhere. Anthropic requires it on 625 forms and Replit on all 66, and Perplexity on 96. At 1X the box is optional on all 81, and at ElevenLabs it is required on only 8 of 94.
Seven boards never ask it: OpenAI (780 forms read), Waymo (372), xAI (305), Cursor (137), Figure AI (96), Apptronik (80) and Agility Robotics (78). Physical Intelligence asks on 16 of 38, Cognition on 6 of 100, and Sierra, Cohere, Nuro, Mercor and Scale AI on a handful each.
How long should your answer be?
Where an employer gives a number, use it: 623 of Anthropic’s 645 forms on October 11, 2026 said “great answers are often 200-400 words,” and one Scale AI form said answers are “typically 100-300 words.” Anthropic also wrote, in the same note, “We value this response highly.”
Most other forms give no length. In that case, a reasonable estimate is about 100 to 200 words, which is long enough for one specific reason and one example from your work. That is our estimate, not any employer’s rule. A one-line answer reads as filler; a full page reads as a cover letter pasted into the wrong box.
If a cover letter is also on the form, do not repeat it word for word. Our count of whether you need a cover letter found it is often optional, while this box, where it exists, is usually required.
Can you use ChatGPT or Claude to write the answer?
Check the employer’s rule first: 627 of Anthropic’s 645 forms on October 11, 2026 asked you to confirm its AI guidelines, which say to write the first draft yourself and only then use Claude to refine it. The guidelines page, last updated July 10, 2025, reads: “Please create your first draft yourself, then use Claude to refine it.”
The same page marks one use as not allowed, with the example prompt “Write my answers to the application questions for an AI safety researcher position at Anthropic.” It warns that this produces content “with experiences you haven’t actually had.” Live interviews, it says, are “all you” unless the company says otherwise.
Waymo does not ask “why us,” but 367 of its 372 forms require you to acknowledge that it “prohibits the use of unauthorized outside assistance during the interview process,” naming AI tools. Read the rule on each form. For more on how employers screen with software, see whether you can opt out of AI resume screening.
What if the form never asks why you want the job?
Then you are not graded on it on the form, but you may still meet it later: OpenAI’s 780 forms we read on October 11, 2026 had no “why us” box, and 773 offered only an optional “Additional Information” field. Whether a recruiter reads that field, and how closely, is not something the form tells us.
The question usually comes back in a phone screen or interview, and the same answer works there. Keep a short version ready. Indeed, the job site, has an 87-second video on its YouTube channel about exactly that spoken version.
How do you write the answer in five steps?
Build it from the posting and the form, the two pages we read for this piece on October 11, 2026, and it takes about twenty minutes per employer. The steps below follow what the forms themselves asked for.
- Read the label and any note under it. “Why Anthropic?” has a word range in its note; Cohere’s asks you to name one area of the job description. Answer the question as written.
- Pick one specific thing. A product you used, a research area, a team named in the posting. Anthropic asks for engagement “than simply interest in AI or LLMs.”
- Add one proof from your own work. A project, a job or a class where you did something close to it. One example beats a list.
- Say why now. ElevenLabs asks it outright. What changed that makes this the right move this year?
- Draft it yourself, then edit. If you use an AI tool to tighten the wording, follow the employer’s rule, and never let it invent experience.
Not sure the job is a fit at all? Read whether to apply if you don’t meet all the requirements first, and whether you can apply to several jobs at the same company before you write the same answer twice.
Does the answer change for an entry-level or operator job?
The question is shorter, but it is still there: on October 11, 2026 Nuro’s Autonomous Vehicle Operator forms asked “Why are you excited to work at Nuro as an Autonomous Vehicle Operator?” as an optional box, and Physical Intelligence asked “Why are you excited to be a robot operator?” as a required one.
For these roles, the specific thing can be practical: the shift, the city, a safe-driving record, or time spent around robots or delivery work. You do not need research language. Our guides to humanoid robot operator jobs and entry-level AI jobs with no experience show what these jobs involve.
If you are changing careers later in life, the “why now” half is where your story lives. See AI jobs for people over 50 and AI jobs that don’t require coding.
What does Anthropic point applicants to before they answer?
On October 11, 2026, ten Anthropic forms carried a required item titled “Discover what makes us different – and why AI safety matters” that links three company pieces, including a co-founders’ video, Building Anthropic. The note says: “We’d love to hear what resonates.” That is the employer telling you where its specifics are.
We list the video because the form itself links it, not as advice from us. Watching it does not guarantee anything; it is one source for the “specific thing” in step two.
What else do applicants ask about the why-us box?
How do you answer why do you want to work here on an application?
Name one specific thing from the posting, tie it to your own work, and say why now. On October 11, 2026, 1,015 of 3,732 AI job forms we read asked it, 810 as required.
How long should a why do you want to work here answer be?
Use the length the form gives. 623 of 645 Anthropic forms said great answers are often 200-400 words. Where no length is given, about 100 to 200 words is our estimate.
Is it OK to use AI to answer why do you want to work here?
Follow each employer. Anthropic asks you to write the first draft yourself and then refine it with Claude, and it does not allow having AI write the answers for you.
Do all companies ask why you want to work there?
No. On October 11, 2026, seven of 19 AI job boards never asked it on the form, including OpenAI with 780 forms and Waymo with 372.
What should you not say when asked why you want to work here?
Avoid a general line about loving AI. Anthropic asks for more specific engagement than simply interest in AI or LLMs, and never claim experience you do not have.
Where should you go next on the Jobs Desk?
On the form: what to put for desired salary, what “bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience” means, why remote jobs have location requirements and what hybrid means in a job posting.
Employers named here: whether Anthropic is hiring, whether OpenAI is still hiring, whether Waymo is hiring and whether Scale AI is hiring. To find a role first, browse every open role and apply on the employer’s site on our jobs board, or set up job alerts for specific companies.
Have a form you want us to read? Ask the desk, or visit the Jobs Desk. We are not recruiters and take no money from employers. Postings can close at any time; the employer’s own page wins. Never pay to get hired, and see our job scam rules.
Cite this
On October 11, 2026, of 3,732 application forms read on 19 AI-company job boards (78 more unreadable), 1,015 (27%) asked why the applicant wants that company or role and 810 made the question required; Anthropic, Perplexity, ElevenLabs, 1X and Replit accounted for 980 of the 1,015, and seven boards including OpenAI and Waymo never asked it. 623 of 645 Anthropic forms said great answers are often 200-400 words. Source: profhlab.com AI Jobs Desk, How to Answer “Why Do You Want to Work Here?” on an Application, with daily numbers on the AI jobs tracker.
How we counted: on October 11, 2026 we requested the application form for every open posting on 19 boards, using Greenhouse’s public job-board API (questions included) and Ashby’s public job-posting feed. A form counts when any question asks why the applicant wants that employer, its mission or that role; every matching label was read by eye. Required means the form will not submit without an answer. Unread forms are reported as unread.
Forms and pages read October 11, 2026: Anthropic, Account Executive, AI Native; Anthropic, Research Engineer, Interpretability; Cohere, Software Engineer, Integrations; ElevenLabs, Full-Stack Engineer (Back-End Leaning); Perplexity, Member of Technical Staff (AI Inference Engineer); Replit, Staff Software Engineer, Product; 1X, Senior Systems Engineer – Network; Scale AI, Software Engineer, Enterprise AI; Nuro, Autonomous Vehicle Operator, Los Angeles; Waymo, 2027 Summer Intern, BS, Depot Automation; Anthropic, How to collaborate with Claude during our hiring process (last updated July 10, 2025).
Videos checked October 11, 2026: Indeed on YouTube; Anthropic on YouTube.
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