Top tip to answer this interview question
What makes you unique ?
I think everyone in the corporate world, and even as entrepreneur, had to answer this typical question in an interview. I hate it by the way. It doesn't make any sense for me, i've never made a good answer to it, and i did a great progress in my career though.
There are plenty of things that make each one of us unique.
For instance, here are a few of mine -- I can easily memorize number sequences; pin codes, phone numbers, etc. I can't stop thinking of something until i write it on a piece of paper. I can speak to myself while driving a car. No, i'm not crazy!
But i will not bring one of these to get admit in an interview.
The interview question, "What makes you unique?" is not an opportunity to confess. It's a chance to provide the interviewer with insight into how you'd be the best candidate for a role, while proving you're someone who can think on her feet.
Essentially, "What makes you unique" really means, "What makes you an exceptionally good candidate?"
To avoid an awkward conversation, you'll need to prepare the conversation to indirectly respond to this question.
James kearnes - Hiring Expert - has shared recently a tip to respond to this question which i find very relevant. Instead of letting the interview ask you what makes unique, you'll need to prepare first the conversation to respond indirectly to it. Let me explain.
In the early stages of the interview, you can start asking why the need of this hiring. Is it a new role created in the organisation? Is it an employee back fill ? If it's, how was this employee valuable to the company ? What qualities or skills are you looking for in the new hire ? And so on. Ask more questions.
Letting the interviewer answering these questions will give you insights to the next one. Everytime you comment his answer by sharing the same status or the opposite. If the interviewer tells you : "We fired the previous employee because he was exceeding deadlines and rescheduling customer meetings which impacted our customer experience metric", you'll be answering by acknowledging the pain point and share example from your background on how you manage deadlines and how focused you are on customer experience.
By doing this, you don't let room to the interviewer to ask. And even if he/she does, follow the steps below:
- Summarize all pain points/ skills shared by the interview earlier and give a brief overview of how your unique skills will help the company succeed.
- Avoid generic phrases like "I'm a hard worker". Make your answer compelling.
- And speak your truth. Faking it will help you for a sprint. Not a marathon.
Hope you get the best out of your next interview.
Question of the day: What's the most annoying question you had in an interview ? Let me know in comments.
Stay connected.
Cheers,
Yassine El Ayoubi