Do you tell the interviewer about all your double joints and how you can fit your entire body through a tennis racket? Do you confess your unending love for candy dispensers shaped like novelty forest animals? Do you talk about your strange dietary habits where you spent the entire four years after college subsisting only on crackers, soda and beef jerky? An interviewer can tell a lot about a potential hire based on their answer. They want to see what you emphasize and how you work that into your answer.
Are you ready? Here it is:. I am betting you that the list of answers that just popped into your head is totally different from the first list of answers you came up with. Rather than figuring out what makes you unique, think about what value you bring to the company. This question is meant to find out what makes you valuable both as a person and in the workplace…and why those differences set you apart from the other candidates. By doing a little prep ahead of time.
Your first encounter with this interview question may come when you are filling out a job application. The most important thing to remember is to try to focus on unique skills that you have that are the most relevant to the position you are interviewing for. Start with the job listing itself. Look at what skills are required and match those up with the skills you know you have. Make sure when you answer the question that you work those skills into the conversation through examples.
Addressing why your background makes you a good fit will let employers know why your traits and qualifications make you well prepared. Here are four things you can do to help you identify your most relevant, unique traits:.
Employers want candidates who will bring a perspective, skill set or ability that will help them achieve business goals. Take time to carefully review the job description and look for information about specific objectives the employer is hoping the new employee will meet, then identify the strengths you possess that align with these needs.
Think back on times you were successful in previous positions or times you were praised or rewarded by your employer. What did you do to earn recognition? What traits, skills or abilities helped you achieve success? Whatever you accomplished is likely something other employers would also appreciate in a new employee. For example, a particularly gifted sales professional may have experience handling unhappy clients or bringing back lost accounts.
In this case, their unique skill may be their ability to perceive when someone is unhappy and quickly mobilize a strategy to diffuse and address their concerns. Consider strengths highlighted by previous employees and traits your friends and family have celebrated.
Then, look for ways you could apply these aspects of your personality to excel in the job. In this case, you could share how your patience and persistence has allowed you to remain calm and collected in high-stress scenarios or your determination to meet goals despite outside pressures or setbacks. Alternatively, fluency in multiple languages might not be especially uncommon but this valuable skill may be enough to set a customer service candidate apart from other applicants.
Employers also use this interview question to find out how well you can think on your feet. Watch videos on interview questions , CV advice , job hunting tips and more on our YouTube channel! Join Go Graduate Network to stay up to date with all our competitions , webinars , events and more! I understand the importance of being open minded and flexible, particularly within a startup environment. I have always been a very creative individual, throughout university my ideas were often the final choice in group projects and decisions, and all my friends and family come to me if they need ideas for a fancy-dress party!
I would love the opportunity to bring my creative flare to this role. My friends and family often turn to me for guidance, and I recently helped a colleague get out of an awkward situation with an unhappy customer at work. Here are some more ideas to help you out Don't forget to back these up with strong examples, to ensure the employer remembers your answer, over other candidate's answers Once you have chosen your unique attribute along with examples to prove yourself to the interviewer, then practice presenting your answer to ensure that it flows, and you sound confident and genuine.
Rather than speaking negatively about the rest of the candidates, and why you are superior, focus on speaking about your positive traits and what you can offer. Keeping your answer short and sweet will leave the employer with a lasting impression.
Find out how to avoid rambling in an interview. Tip: change the playback speed in the settings at the bottom right corner, to suit your learning requirements. Subscribe to our YouTube channel for more great videos!
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