What can you offer

How to Answer ‘What Can You Offer Us Someone Else Can’t?’

When an interviewer asks you «What can you offer us that someone else cannot?», they’re not looking for a long-winded answer explaining how you have special skills that no one else in the world has. In fact, it is quite possible that many of the other candidates they’ve interviewed will be more qualified than you.

What is the interviewer looking for?

Confidence

The interviewer wants to see how you answer this question. Do you hem, haw and stammer, or do you look them straight in the eye and give them a direct answer.

Humility

No interviewer wants to hear how you are God’s gift to the working world; they want to hear something along the lines of «I’m good, but I’m always willing to learn and improve».

Preparedness

This is one of the questions interviewers use to see how much time you spent preparing for the interview. You don’t want to give them a canned response, but make sure that you think about what you want to say before you go into the interview.

It’s a pretty tough balance to strike, but you should be able to give them a good answer in just a few sentences.

How to answer the question

Here is a sample answer you can use to respond to this question:

«What do I have to offer you that no one else can? Aside from my desire to learn and grow and a willingness to do whatever I must to achieve success in this company, I’d say my persistence is a skill that will be valuable for this job. No matter what kind of problems I run into, I always persevere until I solve or overcome them.»

It’s a simple answer, but it’s one that most interviewers will respond to. You’re showing that you have the qualities they’re looking for in an employee, including:

Don’t worry if the answer is short, but make sure that you show both confidence in your abilities and your humility to accept that you’re not the greatest working man or woman to ever walk the Earth.

Take some time to sit down before you go to your job interview, and think about the things that you are good at. You can use them to come up with a list of skills that can be used to answer the question:

Use all of these names to describe yourself, and they will highlight what makes you unique as a person. Not only do you have all of the skills necessary for the job, but you have a few other talents and traits that will help you achieve success in your new workplace!

Have you ever had a problem with this interview question?

What can you offer us that someone else cannot? Sample interview answers for freshers and experienced

It is a beauty of creation that no two people in this world are identical. Yes, you are unique, and you certainly can offer something to the the employer which other job applicants cannot.

But how to identify this special value you carry within you? And how to define it properly in an interview, connecting it with the job you try to get? And does it really matter for the employer anyway, the unique skill, trait, attitude, or experience you can offer? And why do they ask this question, or one of the similar alternatives, such as “What can you offer us that other candidates can’t?”

We will try to find the answer together. Before progressing with the analysis, let’s have a look at 7 sample answers to the question.

7 sample answers to “What can you offer us that someone else cannot?” interview question

Humility can take you a long way in the interviews

At the end of the day your attitude and way of thinking matters the most for the hiring managers. Do not hesitate to praise other job applicants, or even to admit having a weakness, something that makes you an outsider in the interviews (lack of experience, some problem with your communication skills, etc).

When they see that you do not consider yourself perfect, and can actually recognize other people for their qualities, they will immediately feel inclined to hire you, because people like you are the best colleagues. Check sample answers no. 5 and no 6. for an inspiration.

* Special Tip: This isn’t the only difficult question you will face while interviewing for any decent job. You will face questions about prioritization, dealing with pressure, dealing with ambiguity, and other tricky scenarios that happen in the workplace. If you want to make sure that you stand out with your answers and outclass your competitors, have a look at our Interview Success Package. Up to 10 premium answers to 31 tricky scenario based questions (+ more) will make your life much easier in the interviews. Thank you for checking it out!

In some job fields experience can pay big time

Accounting, IT, engineering, design, sales–previous working experience will help you immensely in these job fields, and in many others.

But you should have something to backup your experience. It can be a list of references (check sample answer no. 3), or a portfolio of your best works (check sample answer no. 4). Demonstrating how your previous working experience will help you make their company successful is a guaranteed way to make an impression and to stand out.

* Do not forget to check : How to dress for an interview – 5 steps guide on choosing your clothes for the important meeting with the hiring managers.

For some employers loyalty is more important than anything else

Think about call centers, or average bars and restaurants. Such places are always advertising vacancies, simply because people do not stay long with them. This is incredibly stressful for most owners and managers, because they are constantly understaffed and face a plethora of related problems.

If you apply for a job in a similar place, offer them your loyalty. But you should again have something to backup your claim. Perhaps you are quite old already, and find it hard to get any job. Or you have a young child and most employers ignore you because of it. If this one gives you a chance, you will be grateful and pay back with strong employee loyalty.

At the end of the day you also need money to live. If you finally get a job, you will do whatever you can to retain it. Check sample answer no. 7 as a demonstration of this attitude.

Conclusion, answers to other tricky interview questions

Skilled hiring managers should not ask you “What can you offer us that other candidates can’t?”. They should have an ability to assess your strengths and weaknesses over the course of the interviews, and decide whether you are the right match for the job.

But not all hiring managers are skilled, and some who are may still ask you the question. They try to assess your level of self confidence, and whether you have some humility in you. Think about it for a moment, check the sample answers once again, and pick one that fits you and your situation in the interviews.

When done, do not forget to check also 7 sample answers to other tricky interview questions: