Interview Question · The Classics

How to Answer “What makes you unique?”

Q: What makes you unique?

The Intersection Method: Look for combinations, not superlatives — You don't need to be the world's best at anything. Uniqueness lives at the intersection of two or three things you are: your background plus your skill plus your perspective. Pick the intersection they need — Choose the combination that's genuinely useful for this role, not just interesting trivia. Prove it changed an outcome — Give one example where that combination let you do something a standard candidate couldn't have. Say it without apology — Deliver it plainly. A differentiator mumbled is a differentiator wasted.

Why they ask it

By the time you're in the room, several candidates can likely do the job. The interviewer is asking for the tiebreaker: what do you bring that the other qualified people don't? It's also a quiet test of self-knowledge — people who know their own edge tend to use it.

How to answer it

The Intersection Method

1
Look for combinations, not superlatives. You don't need to be the world's best at anything. Uniqueness lives at the intersection of two or three things you are: your background plus your skill plus your perspective.
2
Pick the intersection they need. Choose the combination that's genuinely useful for this role, not just interesting trivia.
3
Prove it changed an outcome. Give one example where that combination let you do something a standard candidate couldn't have.
4
Say it without apology. Deliver it plainly. A differentiator mumbled is a differentiator wasted.

Example answers

Sample answers to steal the structure from — swap in your own stories, never someone else's.

Sample answer 1 · Recent graduate

What makes me unusual for an entry-level design candidate is that I spent three years doing customer service before and during school. Most designers learn what confuses users from research reports; I learned it from a headset, hundreds of times, from people who were actively confused at that exact moment.

It changes how I design. In my portfolio program, when my team designed a billing settings page, I pushed to rename two labels and add one confirmation state because they matched the top phone complaints I used to handle. Our instructor, who worked in industry, said it was the only student project she'd seen that anticipated support tickets.

Designers who've felt user confusion firsthand are rarer than designers who can use the tools. That's the perspective I'd bring.

Sample answer 2 · Experienced professional

The honest answer is the combination: I'm a finance professional who can write. Most people in my field are strong analysts whose findings die in a spreadsheet nobody reads; I've made my career on translating analysis into memos and presentations that non-finance leaders act on.

At my previous company, our team's budget recommendations were routinely ignored until I started rewriting them as one-page decision memos — the plain-English version first, the model behind it attached. Within two quarters, department heads were requesting our analysis instead of dodging it.

Your posting says this role presents to leadership monthly. Plenty of candidates will match me on the modeling. The writing and the presenting are where I'd separate.

Common mistakes

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Answering with a hobby. Juggling is memorable but not useful. Keep the differentiator connected to how you'd perform.
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Claiming a common trait. “My work ethic” and “my passion” are what everyone claims. If most candidates would say it, it isn't a differentiator.
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The false superlative. You don't need to be the best at one thing — an honest, rare combination beats an inflated claim you can't defend.
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No proof attached. A differentiator without an example of it mattering is just a slogan.

Reading about it only gets you so far.

The candidates who nail “What makes you unique?” have said their answer out loud before the interview. Practice it in a free mock interview and get coaching on the answer you actually gave.

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