Top Ways to Answer, “What Makes You Unique?” and Stand Out from the Crowd

This is a really powerful question because if you answer it the right way, they will look at each other candidates and think- Well, this person just further solidified that he/she should be hired.

But how can you create a response that captures just how special your perfections, skills and experiences are? This article will guide you through:

• Understanding the question
• Why do interviewers ask, "What makes you unique?"
• Preparing your answer
• Key Principles for a strong answer
• Showcasing your unique qualities
• Common mistakes to avoid
• FAQ
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Understanding the Question

When a hiring manager says, "what makes you different" they want to find out what makes you different from the other candidates and how you're best suited for that particular position. This question is your chance to tell them about the skills and experience that cannot be found in a resume.

By painting an accurate and well-rounded picture of your hard, strong communication skills, and soft skills, you demonstrate how the attributes personality traits that define you an exceptional candidate align with what is expected from a strong candidate in both the job description as well as culturally.

Why do interviewers ask, “What makes you unique?”

This is a question designed to measure self-awareness, your ability to articulate strengths and job requirements understanding. They want to know how your past experiences influencing you, coming from last job to till date which makes you as a great candidate.

They want to know how you can inject new ideas and original thinking into their team player, company culture and team environment- if, for example, your problem-solving or data analysis skills is top-notch must be discussed with the managers.

Answering this question effectively also gives you an opportunity to highlight yourself from other candidates and make yourself uniquely qualified with your excellent communication skills, proving that you are able to effectively express what makes you a person with unique qualities and why the company should hire them.

This is not just an opportunity to list your skills, but a chance for you to show how unique combination of unique background, those specific soft skills that no other candidate has, which is what makes you unique, a perfect candidate and the value they gain from hiring you.

What do employers look for in a unique candidate?

Hiring managers are seeking more than technical qualifications when they evaluate a candidate. They are looking for that special person, built it may be tailored casting call specifically suited to the role at hand. Characteristics that are usually valued by employers include:

Great communication skills:

Ability to communicate your ideas clearly and effectively work with diverse teams and have strong relationships with different teams.

Skills:

Strong Experience in the field, Competences corresponding to job offerings. Solid and strong leadership skills and abilities, including experience directing projects or teams in positions of team leader career coach/manager.

Innovation Ability:

Creativity and frugal with innovative solutions and mechanisms to solve challenges.

Culture Fit:

Demonstrating how your personality traits and work style be valuable from a cultural perspective and your willingness to bring fresh ideas into company culture and the work.

Preparing Your Answer

To confidently reply to the "What sets you apart?", in preparation for this type of baseline interview question, it is important to take the time and document your strengths and have an answer ready which somewhat correlates your previous position with job and the present company that you are applying towards.

Identify your strengths and attributes:

Start by listing your top skills and how you used them to drive success in past/other roles. So, whatever you do, whether that be as a video editor, fashion stylist or interior decorator think about hard skills and what it is that what makes you unique dream job for and what makes you unique too. For instance, a video editor could sell his strong communication skills in translating and capturing client visions into marketable work.

Tailor your answer to the job description:

Feature the most important skill in your career and add it in your resume and answer to suit the role. For a job ad a copywriter or sportswriter, highlight strong background and how you can tell copelling stories people will relate to, if possible. If you are an architect or interior decorator, talk about your new and original ideas which can attract more clients to the company.

Emphasize value creation and relevant skills:

Focus on value driven & authentic skills. Demonstrate to the company how your unique skills and will offer them value and clearly illustrate your impact by providing concrete examples from your previous role, experiences and volunteer work.

For example:

If you are a Graphic Designer, talk about how your innovative approach and ability brought an entirely new range of products to market in your previous role or last company.

Key Principles for a Strong Answer

Creating a great answer to the interview question "What makes you unique and special?" is a way to attract your hiring managers. The question deals with adhering to basic principles that will matter to hiring managers during job interviews. The ideal answer talks about how you align on key jobs producing a uniquely qualified candidate who is desirable.

Be specific in your response:

What you do exactly if your assigned with a specific task and asked to-do it in an engaging way, when asked what makes "you" different.

For example:

If you are a video editor and claim to communicate well - follow up that effective communication by telling how your collaboration resulted in positive outcome and the best final product for one of your work hours or clients.

Show how you can apply your skills to the company’s needs:

It is paramount to frame your response so that you highlight specific examples of how key skills in your presence make a perfect fit for the job description and what this company needs. For example, let's say you're an illustrator applying for a position at a company that specializes in innovative solutions. If so, you could talk about your experience designing data-driven visual support for marketing strategies and how those skills will add smart ideas global perspective to the company's creative team.

Showcasing Your Unique Qualities

So, at the top of this should be your answer to "What makes you unique?", you need to demonstrate those unique blends of skills and interest is what makes you a person unique and answers to what makes them the perfect candidate in order to confidently answer this question. Here is more sample answers on how you can do that effectively:

Highlight a powerful skillset combination:

A skill set can be a powerful combination making you ideally suited to that one role. Example, an architect could promote their expertise in sustainable design as well as proven strong leadership skills and capabilities.

This unique combination key skills enables them to drive cross-functional teams and create innovative solutions in support of environmental aims. Showing how you put these skills to use in the past can really differentiate yourself from other applicants.

Showcase your passion:

Passion is one of those factors that hiring managers tend to look for, as it tends to relate commitment and going the extra mile. For example, an accountant might show their love of analyzing data and improving quality through improvement via lifelong learning.

So, they might say how just loved crunching through financial data which really made an impact and found some great cost saving opportunities in the last place, which sure help in saving a few bucks to the company and also shows motivation of making return on value.

Emphasize your adaptability and growth mindset

Employees with a moveable mindset stand out in an accelerated work environment where things are changing fast.

For example:

A fashion designer might be able to talk about the move from conventional design of garments to utilizing digital tools and 3D modeling in designing their apparel as evidence of their flexibility. Not only does this speak to their desire for continuous learning of new skills, and latest trends, but it's also an example of how they are always learning- a must in order to stay relevant and effective at the speed that our industry moves.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

There are common downfalls that will take away from your reply. Here are some mistakes that can be avoided:

Exaggerating or fabricating information

While you certainly want to catch the eyes of potential employers by exaggerating your skills or experiences, it can cause more harm than anything else under a different set of circumstances.

For example:

If you're an illustrator, and you make it sound like, your role in a major project was larger but if it's not, when the hiring manager follows up with more questions or expects specific examples of where this contribution makes sense there is a chance of massive affects. Go big with your distinct strengths and offer real examples of success.

Being too modest or downplaying your strengths

Humility is a virtue but being overly humble and failing to tell how perfect you are for the job means that hiring managers may not see why they should hire you specifically.

For example:

As an accountant leader to lead teams of people that are diverse from talking about you bring everyone together. This will also let you merge with the rest of other candidates than standout as a unique candidate who have interesting background, so try to be competitive and even though if they won't get noticed at least it isn't going against you.

Steering clear of irrelevant or unrelated anecdotes

What you need to avoid is going off on a tangent and instead hone on skills, experience relevant to the job at hand. Avoiding false tangents or unrelated personal anecdotes will keep your reply solid and precise.

For example:

For a copywriter role, writing about your volunteering in an entirely different departments dissimilar field could be irrelevant and dilute your message. Instead, highlight how your effective communication and creative problem solving have led to successful outcomes in some of the above-mentioned experiences.

Create an answer that is as truthful, clear and relevant answers to what makes hiring manager asks their context or industry, this will demonstrate what makes you unique while leaving a longer lasting impression with hiring managers.