Mastering The "What Makes You Unique?" Interview Question + Sample Answers

Questions like what makes you unique most likely remind you of all the interviews you’ve had in life. After all, it’s not often that we need to promote ourselves and describe our benefits in such a straightforward way. However, it can be the case if, for example, you have your own graphic design, content marketing, or video production agency and offer your services to other brands.

Whatever you face in your work—presenting yourself and your business or pitching a project—you should anticipate all possible questions that may arise in the process. Start with the most common questions often asked when hiring professionals or choosing contractors. To guide you, we will highlight what you should focus on and share sample answers to the “What makes you unique?” question.

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How to answer “What makes you unique?”

The question of what makes you unique can take some by surprise, yet this one is widely popular with interviewers. People ask it to understand your strengths and how well they match the goals of a particular company or project. Such imaginative questions allow you to showcase your creative thinking, individuality, and self-presentation skills.

A creative answer that sounds genuine and unrehearsed can be a strong argument in your favor. Nevertheless, only some are able to improvise compellingly in stressful situations like interviews. Therefore, consider your answer in advance. To do so, follow the next steps.

1. Think about your strengths

Start formulating an answer to what makes you unique by identifying your essential skills and personal traits. At the same time, try to avoid general phrases like “team player” or “ability to think outside the box” that interviewers are likely to hear at almost every meeting with candidates. When choosing words to describe yourself as a top professional, consider what you are really better at than others.

You may be great at bringing even the wildest creative ideas to life or an expert in problem-solving. Each distinctive characteristic will add personality to your professional portrait, helping you stand out and be easily remembered. In addition, understanding your advantages is likely to bring you extra benefits. For instance, you can use them to refine your LinkedIn profile or professional portfolio.

2. Align your answer with specific requirements

Since you’ll apply for a particular role, ensure you meet the key requirements. Take time to research the company or the project you want to join. You’ll probably find clues as to what qualities are expected in a candidate. In the case of a job search, it’s even easier as you’ll see the main requirements in the job description.

By understanding desirable traits and skills, you can match them with your strengths to answer what makes you unique. For instance, if the employer wants to find a professional with strong leadership and decision-making qualities, you can mention successful projects where you led a team. When adjusting your wording to expectations for the role, try to not overdo it. Addressing every requirement can look too polished and predictable. Instead, focus on a few crucial points for the job and leave room for unexpected details.

3. Emphasize practical value

Maximize your chances of success by clearly articulating how your uniqueness can benefit a particular business or project. Think about practical examples of your core strengths. For example, if you are applying for a creative director position, showcase previous winning projects that received design awards or huge exposure.

The primary rule here is to be as specific as possible. If you specialize in product management, mentioning products you’ve worked on may not be enough. It’s best to highlight certain numbers that will allow evaluating your contribution to the success of the projects. This way, employers have a clearer picture of how you can bring value, which ultimately improves your unique value proposition.

4. Rely on storytelling

How else do you distinguish your answer to what makes you unique? You can use storytelling techniques to stand out from the competition and leave a lasting impression. It’s a great way to go beyond just listing your benefits by presenting them in a real-life, reliable context.

Try to demonstrate your strength in action by sharing examples from previous experience. Tell engaging stories about your achievements, as well as challenges you have successfully overcome. But remember that it’s crucial to stay authentic. This way, your story will definitely deliver the desired effect, presenting your advantages in the best possible way.

5. Rehearse your answer in advance

Preparing for what makes you unique interview questions can also include rehearsing. It is not a mandatory step, but it is surely beneficial. Practice will help you articulate your statements clearly and confidently during the interview. At the same time, the goal of a rehearsal is not to repeat memorized answers, but rather to tune in to the experience.

You can even ask a friend or colleague to roleplay as an interviewer. It will allow you to imitate a real-life situation of presenting yourself as a professional. As a result, you will feel much more comfortable during the actual interview.

What makes you unique? Interview sample answers

You won’t find a single recipe for all cases. Choosing the right words to describe yourself as an expert and the perfect candidate directly depends on the role or project you want to work on. Nevertheless, our options below will give you a smart approach to answering what makes you unique.

✅ Focus on distinctive expertise

There is no better way to stand out from the crowd than to highlight your unique experience. Of course, this applies first and foremost to cases where your expertise is relevant to the company you are planning to work with. Let’s say you are a candidate for a content marketer position. Your answer might be as follows:

“My uniqueness as a professional comes from my extensive expertise in implementing intelligent technologies in the production of branded content. I’m fluent in the AI generator market and skilled at using these tools for content creation, web design, e-commerce, SMM, and more.”

This answer can definitely become your unique value proposition since AI content marketing is a hot trend that interests most brands. In addition, your expertise in AI generators will ensure that you choose only ethical tools suitable for commercial use, such as Image Generator by Depositphotos.

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✅ Showcase a special combination of skills and talents

If you have a background in different areas, it’s also worth mentioning. Such a multidisciplinary profile can give you extra points for interviewers, as different specializations require different skills, and their combination gives you a comprehensive vision and a strategic approach to tasks. You can answer the question of what makes you unique this way:

“What makes me stand out is that I am a quick learner and easily adaptable in any field. I have successful experience in marketing, sales, and product management, which gives me a holistic understanding of the different business aspects and interconnections between them.”

Such a response clearly shows that you take a broad approach to work and learn new skills easily, which is especially valuable in a fast-paced business environment.

✅ Mention your accomplishments

Nothing speaks better in your favor than specific achievements. It could be recognition for superior performance (such as employee of the year) or an independent award for a top creative project. Use the power of numbers and professional accomplishments to communicate your uniqueness in a more compelling way.

“One of the main things that sets me apart is my ability to identify problems quickly and effectively implement solutions. In my previous position, I worked on improving the customer support service, which resulted in a 40% increase in customer satisfaction.”

Here, we see how the numbers give more credibility to the candidate’s achievements, as they show the practical benefits the professional has delivered to the business.

✅ Bring out your creativity

Innovative thinking can be a powerful competitive advantage. Therefore, be sure to include examples from your experience where your creativity helped you achieve business goals, especially if the projects were tied to certain constraints, such as time or budget. You can use the following words to describe yourself:

“I believe what makes me unique is my innovative thinking. As an art director, I had a limited budget to launch creative projects in my previous company. Nevertheless, thanks to well-thought-out word-of-mouth and experiential marketing strategies, my campaigns went viral and gained amazing social media coverage (add specific results).”

Such an answer emphasizes the candidate’s creativity and excellent problem-solving skills, which surely helps to stand out among competitors. In addition, it shows that the professional can achieve business targets while also being cost-effective.

To sum up

You only have one chance to make a good first impression. Therefore, preparing for the question of what makes you unique is essential. Since this is your opportunity to explain why you are the best candidate for a particular role or project, make sure you have a compelling reasoning base of skills and accomplishments.

Remember to align your answer with the company’s expectations while leaving room for creativity. Highlight your distinctive experience and qualifications, as well as your ability to learn and overcome challenges. Finally, don’t forget to rehearse your speech to convince the interviewers that you are the perfect choice.