How to Answer “What Makes You Unique?” in a Job Interview

“What makes you unique?” is a common interview question that gives interviewees a chance to stand out, display their communication skills, and prove they’d be great team members and the best candidate for a specific job opportunity.

There are many job seekers out there—recruiters and employers go through hundreds and sometimes even thousands of job applications for a position. That’s why “What makes you unique?” is code for “Why should we hire you specifically?” It can be hard for hiring managers to decide who their ideal candidate is once they’ve narrowed their pool down to the most qualified applicants. Your résumé showed you had the right work experience, your cover letter stood out from the crowd—now your interviewer wants to know why they should hire you over everyone else who cleared those entryways, too.

Coming up with an answer to this question can be nerve-wracking, but the right preparation will allow you to approach it with confidence.

1. 1. Stay on topic. There are so many things that make you unique, but this job interview question isn’t necessarily an invitation to tell your life story. So while you may be passionate about obscure music or moonlight as an experienced amateur chef, you should keep yourself from oversharing. Highlight the specific skills you possess that would make you ideal for this particular job in a brief anecdote or general answer.
2. 2. Think about the skills required for the position. Look at the job description for what you’re applying for and compare it against your current skill set. If you gained experience in your last job that would be pertinent to this one, that’s a perfect addition to your answer to this question. You need to come up with a unique answer that’s also relevant to what’s being asked for by this specific employer. Think of keywords and phrases that your interviewer may want to hear and then pepper them throughout an answer only you could come up with.
3. 3. Fill in the gaps of your résumé. If your past roles don’t add up to a long career in the specific field you’re applying to get into, come prepared to show how that’s an asset instead of a liability for your prospective employer. Perhaps you’re applying for a job as a salesperson but your background is in marketing. Maybe you’ve worked in more established companies and now you’re applying to join forces with a startup. Focus on the translatable soft skills you can bring from that world into this one and how that makes you a benefit to the company with which you’re interviewing.
4. 4. Show how you’re multifaceted. Your interviewer wants you to answer this question in a way that displays your ability to meet the many requirements this job will throw your way. Rather than speaking in generalities—like “I’m a hard worker”—you should aim to display how your unique skills and personality match up to the job opportunity that the hiring manager would be hard-pressed to find a more ideal candidate.
5. 5. Display a sense of confidence and certainty. You should appear sure of yourself and your ability as a communicator—your employer wants to bring onto their team a resilient, distinctive individual with unique qualities. Your job search has paid off and you’ve gotten your foot in the door—the only thing left for you to do is highlight your uniqueness confidently.
6. 6. Consult mentors and resources. Turn to a mentor or someone whose career advice you trust and other resources for wise guidance as to how you should answer this question. Get your own ideas for how you’d respond from reading sample answers online. While you’ll want the final product to be uniquely yours, that answer can be crafted with the help of others who’ve gone before you or who know your strengths and unique personality well.

You should be as prepared as possible to answer this question, and that means knowing what not to say, too. Keep the following in mind so you come across just the way you want to:

• Focusing on your weaknesses. Even though a lot of what makes us unique is our particular mix of personal strengths and weaknesses, you should play up your virtues. If you have a knack for acquiring new skills and know-how, there’s no need to talk about how you can occasionally be a bit scatterbrained. As long as you’re being truthful about your strong suits, you have no reason to feel obligated to divulge any quirks that may put your candidacy for the position in jeopardy.
• Coming off as arrogant. Even though this is a time to talk about yourself, you should do so with humility. “What makes you unique?” doesn’t translate to “What makes you the greatest person to ever live?” You should be relatable and confident, not arrogant. You’d be better off saying you love building lasting relationships with your coworkers than explaining how much the people you worked alongside in your last role will miss you when you’re gone.
• Answering dishonestly. Make sure that your answer is your own answer. It may be tempting to embellish the truth or recite an example answer you read online, but ethics aside, this approach won’t make it easier for you to get or keep a job. “Fake it till you make it” may go a long way with confidence, but your interview answers should always be honest, for both your sake and your potential employer’s.

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