“Why Are You the Best Person for This Job?” is a common interview question.
During an interview, you have the chance to impress hiring managers with your personality and talents. Interviewers typically enquire about your unique selling points and what characteristics of your personality or past experiences make you particularly qualified for the job in comparison to other applicants. Getting familiar explaining why you’re the ideal candidate for the job will help you be prepared for queries regarding this topic that may come up during an interview.
In this article, we’ll explain why hiring managers ask, “Why are you the best candidate for this job?,” offer you some advice on how to respond, and provide you with a few sample answers you can use as a guide.
Why do businesses ask, “Why are you the best person for this job?”
Hiring managers ask candidates why they think they are the best person for the job in order to have a better understanding of how they view themselves. They seek a brief summary of their strongest qualifications and what makes them stand out from other applicants. The interviewer can learn the candidate’s most valuable quality and their area of greatest interest in the job by asking them this question. Even if each candidate’s complete qualifications are stated in a CV, this question might reveal extra details about a candidate, such as their enthusiasm, point of view, and long-term goals for the position.
How would you answer the question, “Why are you the best person for this job?”
Before submitting a job application, do the following actions to prepare for questions on why you are the best applicant for the position:
1. Identify their ideal candidate.
You’ll be better able to answer a question in an interview about why you’re the best person for the job if you know exactly what the hiring manager is looking for. Investigate the organization and the job application to determine the appropriate candidate for the position. Read the job description and make a list of the most crucial traits, skills, and defining terms.
When answering the question, concentrate on the characteristics you possess that exhibit these aspects of your experience and personality. Making the content relevant to you is essential because it’s probable that other applicants will bring up details from the job description. You may mention how your coworkers depended on you as an administrative assistant because of your efficiency and reputation for getting things done, for example, if the job description calls for administrative skills.
2. Specify your unique talents.
Considering that this question focuses on becoming the greatest applicant out of all applicants, mentioning something distinctive about yourself is a great strategy. In your response, you can go into detail about any unique skills or life experiences that make you stand out from other candidates in your field. This shows the interviewer that you have something special to offer the company that will enable you to perform the job more skillfully than other applicants.
This is a really effective strategy if you have prior experience in a different line of employment. For instance, even though you have experience in sales, you might interview for a position in information technology. In your response, you can discuss how your previous sales role offered you a unique viewpoint that helps you to successfully bargain with customers in support situations and come up with inventive troubleshooting techniques.
3. Explain how you plan to use your credentials.
Make your response more convincing by outlining why you’re the greatest candidate and how you’ll use those traits to flourish for a company. Give an example of one of your best qualities and describe how, if hired, you would use that quality at work. This strategy helps the employer picture the benefits of adding you to their team. Here are a few examples:
- “I am a strong contender for the job of graphic designer because of my creativity and research skills. In order to create graphics that truly provide results for the business, I thoroughly examine each client’s past design elements as well as the types of designs that are successful in their industry.”
- “I’m the perfect candidate to be a community organizer because of my involvement and commitment with community projects. I already have a sizable network thanks to running food drives in various counties, and I can use those connections to plan community involvement events.”
- I want to use this talent to modernize and automate the current administrative system so that the accounting team’s whole time may be spent on more important activities. I am the best person for this job because of my aptitude for organizing and analyzing data.
4. Summarize the outcomes of earlier roles.
You can persuade the interviewer that you are the best candidate for the current position by outlining your previous successes. Your explanation of how you surpassed expectations and created great results in previous roles will show that you can do the same if they decide to hire you for their team. List some of your best successes, and if possible, provide numbers and data to demonstrate your influence. Speaking about how you enhanced productivity or saved money at your last job can be quite persuasive during an interview.
5. Make a positive comparison.
When the interviewer inquires as to why you’re the greatest candidate for the position, you have the option to contrast your qualifications with those of other experts in your industry. If you compare something, make sure to say something positive. While being proud of your accomplishments, you should also be thoughtful of others. Instead of making fun of other candidates, focus on your past responsibilities’ successes. Mention how you lead your team in sales or how you were the highest performer in your department to generate a favorable comparison.
6. Point out consistency across time
Being the best applicant for a position requires having a high level of long-term compatibility with the organization. Candidates that have a desire to successfully fit into their team, company culture, and long-term job objectives are typically preferred by hiring managers. Mention your desire to advance in the role and your long-term goals for joining the organization. Discuss your professional goals and how this position can help you achieve them while achieving the business’s goal.
7. List the company’s values.
You can show that you have done your research for the role by talking about how your values align with those of the organization. In your response, mention that you’re seeking a position where you can support the company’s objective, and then highlight some aspects of the business that you find appealing. The hiring manager can perceive this as a sign that you have the ability to fit in. Typically, information about a company’s culture and beliefs can be found on its website. Investigating a company’s charitable activities and ties to the community is another approach to find out more about it.
8. Exhibit passion
When replying, be passionate and enthusiastic. By describing why you are the most qualified candidate for the position, you have the opportunity to show the hiring manager that you are interested in the role and make your case for why they should hire you. Be honest about why you want the position and what you can add to the organization while yet acting professionally. Hiring managers may consider your demeanor and attitude while selecting a candidate for the position.
Here are some examples of answers to the query, “Why are you the best candidate for this job?”
Use the following sample answers as a model while preparing for an interview where you will discuss why you are the best applicant for a position:
As an illustration: A salesperson
“I’m passionate about using my sales career as a way to give back to the community. I genuinely believe that by using my persuasion and informational talents, I can help others acquire the things they don’t yet realize they need. I’m the greatest candidate for this position because I prioritize client demands and place a significant emphasis on closing agreements, upholding Personify Software’s values. In my prior work, I consistently used this strategy to beat out everyone else by 20% and became the top salesperson in my division. In this new role, I intend to use the same skills.”
Example 2: A customer care representative
“I think I’m the best person for the job because of my background in lawn care. Even though I wasn’t directly in a customer service job at the time, I was observing how the salesman regularly interacted with customers and received prompt feedback on how to implement their suggestions. I quickly realized that my behavior had an impact on how the customers felt about me, and I even upsold a few things while on service calls without acting like a salesperson. Because of my aptitude for quick learning, observation, flexibility, and listening to others, I would make a fantastic transfer to a customer service position.”
Third example: A bookkeeper
“Several credentials and formal training in the field have given me a strong foundation for a career in bookkeeping. I believe that my background in the field and my passion for it make me the best person for the job. In my previous jobs, I always submitted all receipts and reports before the deadline, and when it came to performance reviews, I regularly went above and beyond.
I hope to join your team as an accountant and contribute to the development of administrative procedures as a bookkeeper once I have the chance to attend college and earn my official certification as part of my long-term objectives to rise in the financial business. Since I think the team’s environment is a terrific place to study and reach my goals, I hope that as I grow in my career, I can contribute my organizational and mathematical skills.”
