How to Know Something You Are Unique About
By Jeff Gillis
Have y'all ever gotten a question like this in an interview?
Information technology's becoming a fairly popular question to enquire, and while it might seem similar this question has very little to do (if anything) with the job you're interviewing for, there's a very good reason why the interviewer is asking information technology.
That also means there's a right fashion to respond it, and a wrong mode.
Permit's start out with why the question is being asked….
Simply first, be sure to download our:
Why Practise They Inquire You lot "Tell Us What Makes You Unique?"
Showtime off, it's being asked specifically to throw you off guard!
Information technology's a question that most interviewees don't prepare for, so when they're faced with it, they're stumped. What do you say?
Exercise 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 processed dispensers shaped like novelty wood animals?
Do y'all talk about your strange dietary habits where you spent the entire four years afterward college subsisting only on crackers, soda and beefiness jerky?
While information technology'south true, those are all incredibly…uh…unique answers, they're not the answers your hiring manager is looking for.
Permit'due south go back to why the interviewer is asking the "What makes you unique" interview question.
While it'south true some might really want to know if yous can fit your entire body through a tennis racket (especially if you're interviewing for the circus) odds are the real reason behind the question is the interviewer is trying to assess who you are and what you think is important.
An interviewer tin tell a lot nigh a potential hire based on their respond. They want to see what you emphasize and how yous work that into your answer.
What y'all have to realize is that the interviewer isn't really asking you lot to tell them what makes you unique…at least non entirely.
Confused? Don't be.
Hither, let'south play a trivial game.
How To Answer "What Makes Y'all Unique?"
Have a minute and call back of all the answers that pop into your head.
What are they?
Are they quirky traits that ready you autonomously from your friends and family?
Are they odd habits that yous've had since childhood that nobody else seems to accept?
Is it a skill you've ever wished you could share on late nighttime television but never gotten the hazard?
Okay, now let'due south effort that question again, just this time, I'chiliad going to run information technology through the 'What the interviewer is actually asking' filter. Are yous ready? Hither information technology is:
"What about you lot makes you the best candidate for this task?"
Ooohh! I am betting y'all that the listing of answers that simply popped into your head is totally different from the commencement list of answers you came upward with.
Rather than figuring out what makes you lot unique, recall most what value you bring to the company. Now your list might include valuable things like "I'm highly motivated past a challenge" and "I enjoy working with a team to bring a project to completion."
This question is meant to detect out what makes you lot valuable both every bit a person and in the workplace…and why those differences set you apart from the other candidates.
Retrieve, an interviewer's number ane job is to find the all-time candidate for the position they are hiring for…and your task is to bear witness to them that you're the perfect candidate!
At present that we've figured out exactly what the hiring manager is asking…how do you reply it? By doing a lilliputian prep ahead of time.
Answering "What Makes You lot Unique" on a Job Awarding
Your start encounter with this interview question may come up when you are filling out a job awarding.
It is not uncommon for a visitor to inquire you something along the lines of, "In 150 characters or fewer, tell us what makes you unique."
You actually don't demand to overthink this. Everything that we've said to a higher place still applies if you lot want to get the maximum benefit from the answer you give – you just need to ensure that you utilise the allotted characters you have in an economic way.
The hiring managers don't want a rambling essay, they want clear, concise thoughts (which is why they put a character limit on it in the first place). And so ane major thing to avoid is rephrasing the question in anyhow or using a lot of filler words (that don't add any real value to the answer).
The most of import affair to remember is to endeavor to focus on unique skills that you have that are the most relevant to the position y'all are interviewing for.
And employ the following tips to farther help with crafting your answer.
Top 5 Tips For "What Makes Yous Unique"
1. Exercise your Homework
Showtime with the chore listing itself. Look at what skills are required and match those up with the skills you know yous have. Make sure when you reply the question that you work those skills into the chat through examples.
2. Self-Appraise
Later you've gone over the task posting and your related skills, spend some time asking yourself what sets you apart from other candidates and write those answers down. Come upwards with a list of skills that you lot think are unique to you that make you a valuable addition to the company that weren't listed in the chore posting.
3. Reference the Past
Share actual examples from your own piece of work history to support your answers. Brand sure your stories are curt, concise, and end on a positive notation. Share with your hiring manager not just what makes you unique, but how you used that uniqueness in a positive, constructive way.
4. It's Non All About You
Yep, it's your interview, but actually, it'southward all virtually the company and how yous can assistance them. Do your enquiry on the visitor ahead of time and come up with solid ways your unique skills and talents can benefit them. Yep, getting the job would benefit you, but ultimately, it's really about them.
5. Be Unique
Yes, this question is all about how you're unique, but it's all too easy to autumn into less than unique answers that your interviewer has already heard a million times.
Instead of proverb "I'm a really difficult worker," say "I'm driven to complete a chore, no matter how difficult." Instead of saying "I'm a fast learner" say "I actually enjoy learning new things and find that it'due south easy for me to pick upwardly on required skills." Instead of saying "I e'er go above and beyond," say "I truly savour excelling and pushing myself. I look forward to tasks where I tin larn and grow."
Practice ahead of time how y'all'd answer this question so your answers can sound shine and confident.
By using your own personality and/or personal traits to give specific examples of how you're different from the other chore seekers, you're helping to illustrate how you're the perfect candidate for the job!
How NOT To Answer This Question
At present that we've shown y'all the all-time techniques to answer the "What makes you unique" interview question, we thought we'd become over some of the things you lot definitely need to avert when facing this question.
i. Oversharing
Yes, the hiring managing director actually does want to know what makes you unique…but only so far as information technology applies to the chore. Keep your truly personal details, well, personal. Remember, they want to know how your unique skills will aid the visitor, not that y'all spend your weekends dressing your dog upwardly in accurate period costumes and reenacting major historical battles.
ii. Being Generic
We touched on this higher up, but it really does need to exist said twice. While information technology's tempting to blitz through this question simply considering it'southward non easy to respond, don't autumn back onto bland boring answers with no case follow-ups.
3. Beingness Negative
This question isn't an opportunity for you to trash on the other job seekers who are applying for the position. Don't use this as a platform to tell the hiring manager why you're superior to all those other losers in the waiting room because you're the all-time thing to always walk through the door.
Not only volition it make you lot look petty and shallow, it won't win y'all any points. The only unique skill you're demonstrating when you exercise this is how big a jerk you are…and nobody wants to rent a wiggle.
4. Don't Go "Lost"
Proceed your reply brusque, focused, and near chiefly, relevant. Make certain you utilize targeted, specific words that highlight your skills and and then follow those up with a specific example. Don't constitutional on or waste matter time talking nearly unrelated things or skills that have zilch to do with the job or the company you're interviewing for.
five. Don't Lie
We say this time and fourth dimension over again in these blogs, merely it's because it'due south critical. Be honest! Don't come up with a unique skill or trait you don't actually possess merely because yous call up it'll get you hired. In that location's nothing worse than being hired for a chore y'all tin't actually do or talk almost a skill you don't actually have. Exist honest!
three Swell Example Answers
To assistance you come up with your ain answers, here are three examples of possible "What makes yous unique" interview answers.
For a position that requires a team leader:
"I observe that it'south easy for me to relate to a wide diversity of people. For that reason, I really thrive in a squad environment. I enjoy discovering each of my teammates skills and strengths and helping use those to determine which tasks they would exist best suited for. In my last job, I was in a group that was tasked with completing a complicated job. Our team leader was easily frustrated and would often take that frustration out on other members of the group. At one indicate, we were doing more arguing than working, and I realized information technology was because our team leader was more interested in the hands-on aspect of the projection than the direction aspect. I sat down with him, and in a not-threatening way, explained what I'd noticed. Together nosotros went over each of the members of the team and adamant what tasks they would excel at. The next twenty-four hours we reassigned everyone tasks, created an open up discussion format for raising questions and concerns, and set up a timeline for completing the project. Not just did we become the projection done on fourth dimension, but the side by side time we were assigned a project, I was put in charge and I loved every minute of information technology. I know the position you're hiring for requires teamwork and participating in grouping projects and I would savour standing to work in an environment similar that."
For a task that requires ongoing teaching:
"I love a claiming, and as a self-motivated learner, I really enjoy going to a higher place and beyond when it comes to tackling new tasks and learning new skills. In my past sales chore, we had a customer for whom English language was not their first language. I enrolled in online language classes on my off time and learned enough to become conversationally fluent with them. Not just were they touched by my ability to communicate with them in their native tongue, but my new linguistic communication skill opened upward a whole new channel for my sales squad and nosotros were able to increase our inbound marketing by 24%. I know this chore requires someone who is open to learning and I'm not only open, I'm excited to continue to do so."
For a position where you lack the required skills:
"I bring to the table five years of client service experience. My time in retail makes me a candidate with a unique set of skills that take been honed by face to face customer interactions. I am a thorough communicator, excellent listener, take direction well and excel in a team environment, all skills which I know will fit well with this current administrative position."
Putting It All Together
Remember, when you're answering the dreaded "What makes you unique" interview question, what yous're really answering is "What makes you the best candidate for this job?" Keep your answers memorable, keep them focused and proceed them relevant. Make yourself stand up out from the herd by showing your value to the company.
And every bit always, skilful luck!
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Gratuitous: What Makes Yous Unique PDF Cheat Sheet
Ok the next thing you should exercise is download our "Cheat Sheet".
In it you'll get:
- More than Word-for-discussion case answers to this tough question
- Dissimilar situations you could fins yourself in when facing this question and a breakdown on how to approach each one!
Click Here To Become The What Makes Yous Unique Cheat Sheet!
Co-founder and CTO of TheInterviewGuys.com. Jeff is a featured contributor delivering advice on job search, job interviews and career advocacy, having published more than fifty pieces of unique content on the site, with his work being featured in top publications such as INC, ZDnet, MSN and more than.
Acquire more nigh The Interview Guys on our About U.s.a. folio.
Source: https://theinterviewguys.com/what-makes-you-unique/
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