"Why do you think you're the right candidate for this job?"

This sort of question which could be answered from a range of directions and in different styles, can offer anyone being interviewed huge freedom, but often with this level of choice comes a level of comparison anxiety ('there must be better candidates out there than me') and uncertainty as to whether the path that person is about to follow in their answer is the right one. Add into the mix that this could frequently be one of the earlier questions faced, and it's understandable how this might worry someone and potentially have a lasting effect on the rest of the interview.

Don't compare!

It's very easy to think something like this: 'Well, they're probably interviewing 10 other people today, and chances are some of those people will have more experience than me' or 'I feel like I can do the job well, but there are some parts that other candidates would surely do better'. The truth is that you cannot influence what other people do in the interviews, nor the pool of candidates who are also being interview for the same role. Interviews are usually scored by the interview and the panel, so across whatever the number of questions there are, there are likely to be questions that some do better than others in and vice versa.

What can you control?

What all of this means is that you can only control what you do. Stephen Covey's circles should be a good reference here – focus on the circle of what you can directly control (how you talk about your experience and how it meets the job criteria) and by extension have some impact on the circle of influence (showing those interviewers this in your answer), rather than the circle of concern you can't alter (other candidates' experience, interview performance etc.) This will make sure you don't leave the interview thinking 'there was so much I didn't get a chance to say' but do leave the interview thinking 'I managed to talk about a lot of my experiences in the context of the questions I was asked' (or something like that, probably not in such formal wording unless you're a little strange like me).

Building an answer

So, let's move onto a simple structure you could use specifically for "Why do you think you are the right candidate for this job?" Remember, when preparing for this question, you could use the points you prepare for variants of this question from 'Why have you applied for this role?' and 'What are your key strengths?' - you would just frame it a little differently and retain the elements you think are useful, as both require you to make links between your experience and skills to the role you're applying for and your motivation for doing so. As alluded to at the beginning of this article, any question like this is quite open, and gives you a chance to present your key skills or strengths relevant to the job. Let's embrace this freedom – it's your story to tell! One structure you could use to this effect is as follows:

Come up with three highlights from your experience you think are relevant in relation to the job you're being interviewed for

• These could be three lines, experiences or ideas from your CV (or your memory!) that you feel would be useful to mention and that as a combination you could call your key selling points.
• As an example, let's say if you're applying for a data analyst role, you could think about existing experience you have where you may have analysed data and communicated your results, potentially the sort of sectors you've worked in, and maybe any relevant training or qualifications. This might be a different role you're applying for, but ask where you see the closest overlap with what you've done before.

As part of this, note some of your key and relevant skills you used in these that match the job description/person specification.

• You could literally line up the person specification from the job description alongside your CV and colour code, highlight or scribble where you've examples of the main skills you're evidencing. A specific prompt using a generative AI platform (e.g. ChatGPT) could also be effective at helping you identify initial connections between your listed skills and those in the job description – though you may wish to anonymise information and not paste entire documents.
• In the data analyst example, asides from experience analysing, evaluating and visualising data, you could focus on the interpersonal and communication skills used to present to clients or colleagues, the organisational skills to deliver reports to deadlines, or adaptability in learning new programming languages or functions to improve your work. You might reference any required qualifications, memberships or technical skills here, too.

An important, but often missed, part is to use a question like this to directly demonstrate your motivation

• Connect these three highlights and their associated key skills back to the role you're applying for, and frame this in the context of the role, the team and the organisation so the interview panel is told straight up how you see yourself as a good fit. Put simply, if you talk about how you will apply your highlighted experience to the job, the interviewers will be more able to picture you doing it!
• Going back to the data analyst position, if you'd previously worked on analysing information from a survey of hundreds of customers to create insights used to shape future product design then state this but add something along the lines of 'which developed both data analysis and research skills I'd love to bring to [Company Name]' and a further link to reference the job description or research you've done on the company like 'for example, when working on the [project name] as part of this role'.

Presenting your case

This approach, or one like it, means that you're essentially presenting your case to the employer: 'this is what you'll get from me - this experience and this is how and why I plan to use it in this role'. This isn't dependent on what any other candidate says, it is within your control - and at the very least, the interview panel will gain an understanding of the candidate you are and what you could offer.

And, if the question is early in the interview, a good answer can help shape a good impression for the rest of the interview. The reality may, of course, still be that the interview panel decide on another candidate for the role. This is not a failure at all, and often there are many possible 'appointable' candidates for each role. Yet you only need one situation where everything aligns. In any case, you'll leave positivity with those interviewing you, and likely feel more positive – and less anxious – about the interview both before and afterwards, so something is always gained by taking the interview on in this way!

Author: Barnaby Mollett
Last Updated: 10/09/2023