Why do you want to work at OpenAI?
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OpenAI
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What is this question about
Interviewers are trying to distinguish genuine, durable motivation from generic excitement about a well-known company. They want to know whether you understand what OpenAI is working on, why that matters to you specifically, and whether your interests, values, and strengths actually line up with the role and the company's operating environment. At higher levels, they are also testing whether you can connect your background to the scale and ambiguity of the problems OpenAI faces.
“What specifically about OpenAI makes you want to join?”
“Why OpenAI instead of another company working in AI?”
“What about this role and this company feels like the right next step for you?”
“When you think about your next move, why is OpenAI at the top of your list?”
Key Insights
- You should connect three things clearly: what OpenAI is trying to do, what you have done before, and why that combination makes this role a logical next step for you. Many candidates only cover one or two of those.
- Generic mission enthusiasm is not enough. You need to show that you understand something concrete about the work, tradeoffs, or pace here, and that you are opting into those realities rather than just the brand.
- For senior candidates especially, this is partly a fit-and-judgment question. Show that you have thought about how you would contribute in an environment with high ambiguity, high standards, and broad impact.
What interviewers probe atlevel
Top Priority
Ambition is good, but junior candidates should emphasize learning, execution, and contribution within scope rather than sounding unrealistically transformative.
Good examples
🟢At this stage, what I can offer is strong execution, curiosity, and a willingness to learn quickly from people who are deeper in the space. OpenAI is appealing because I think I would grow fast while contributing to real products.
🟢I am not expecting to set company direction early on. What excites me is being part of a high-bar team where I can do solid engineering work and steadily take on more responsibility.
Bad examples
🔴I want to come in and help define the future of AGI from day one. I think fresh perspectives can really reshape how things are done.
🔴I'd love to join because I know I can have a huge strategic impact quickly. I usually become a key voice wherever I go.
Weak answers overstate likely impact and sound naive; strong answers are ambitious but realistic about how value is created at junior scope.
At junior level, show that you have done real homework and can name a specific reason this role fits your interests and learning goals.
Good examples
🟢What draws me here is the combination of research-driven products and real user impact. In school and internships I've enjoyed building things people actually use, and OpenAI seems to sit at that intersection in a way few places do.
🟢I am early in my career, so I am looking for a place where the technical bar is high but the work also matters outside the team. OpenAI stands out because the product and safety questions seem inseparable from the engineering work, and that is exactly the kind of environment I want to grow in.
Bad examples
🔴I've always wanted to work at a top AI company, and OpenAI is obviously one of the best. It would be amazing for my career and I'd get to learn from really smart people.
🔴I use AI tools a lot and they're super impressive, so working here feels like the future. I want to be part of something big.
Weak answers could apply to any famous AI company; strong answers show the candidate understands something distinctive about OpenAI and why that matters to them personally.
Valuable
You are not expected to sound like a policy expert, but you should show that you appreciate the responsibility that comes with building widely used AI products.
Good examples
🟢Part of what appeals to me is that the work seems both exciting and consequential. I like the idea of building useful things while being thoughtful about reliability and impact.
🟢I don't pretend to know every answer in this space, but I respect that choices here affect a lot of people. That makes the engineering work feel more meaningful to me, not less.
Bad examples
🔴I mostly just think the technology is exciting, and the bigger and faster it grows the better. The important thing is getting it out to users quickly.
🔴I'm interested because AI is changing everything, and I want to help push that as far as possible. The rest can be figured out along the way.
Weak answers are intoxicated by momentum; strong answers show excitement tempered by responsibility.
Example answers atlevel
Great answers
What attracts me to OpenAI is that the work seems both technically challenging and very real in terms of user impact. In my internship, I enjoyed the parts where I had to take something ambiguous and turn it into a reliable feature people actually used, and I want more of that kind of work. OpenAI feels different from a company that's only doing research or only doing standard product development, because the engineering seems tightly connected to how people experience and trust the product. I'm early in my career, so I'm looking for a place where I can contribute solid execution, learn quickly from strong engineers, and work on something that matters outside the team. That combination is why this role stands out to me.
In my first year as an engineer I worked on a small team that shipped a language-based feature to thousands of users and ended up spending more time fixing unexpected content issues than I expected. That experience made me want to join an organization that takes safety and responsible deployment seriously and treats those concerns as part of everyday engineering rather than an afterthought. I'm drawn to OpenAI because it has the cross-disciplinary teams and processes where I can learn how to build features that scale while minimizing harm, and I want to contribute at the level of small, well-tested components. As a junior engineer I'm excited to be mentored by experienced colleagues across research, policy, and product so I can grow technical skills and judgment at the same time.
Poor answers
I've wanted to work at OpenAI for a while because it's one of the biggest names in AI. I use AI tools a lot and think the technology is amazing, so being part of that would be really exciting. I'm also at a point in my career where I want to be around the smartest people possible. I feel like I could help with whatever is needed and learn a ton.
Question Timeline
See when this question was last asked and where, including any notes left by other candidates.
Early May, 2026
OpenAI
Senior
Late January, 2026
OpenAI
Senior
Mid December, 2025
OpenAI
Senior
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