You can be great at your job—and still struggle to explain why someone should hire you.

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Especially when your work comes naturally and you don’t give it much thought. You solve problems before they escalate, you bring clarity to messy projects, you’re the person colleagues turn to when something needs fixing.

But when an interviewer asks, “What makes you the right person for this role?”

You say: “I’m hardworking, reliable, and a team player.”

Generic, typical to all interviewees. Those qualities matter, but they don’t show someone what you can really do. How you are different from everyone else.

The challenge is translating your experience into evidence another person can understand, plus tangible results they will value.

(in the olden days we used to call it the STAR method – Situation, Task, Action & Result)

Now it’s as easy as – start with these three questions:

→ What problem did I help solve?
→ What did I personally do?
→ What changed because of my contribution?

Then replace a general claim with a specific example.

“I’m a strong communicator” becomes:

“I helped two teams agree on priorities so we could move a stalled project forward. That resulted in the project finishing early and under budget.”

“I’m good at improving processes” becomes:

“I simplified our onboarding checklist, making it easier for new hires to find answers without waiting for a manager. Which saved the company time and money because of the better processes.”

You don’t need a dramatic achievement or an impressive percentage.

You need a clear connection between your actions and their value. And if you can tie a dollar amount to it, even better.

If you’re preparing for an interview, write down three moments when your work made something easier, clearer, faster, or more effective. Use those stories to explain your strengths.

And choose the one or two most relevant to the employer’s problem.

That gives the interviewer something concrete to remember, and a reason to keep listening.

What’s one thing you do well that you tend to undersell? You can’t assume the interviewer knows how good you are. This is your time to shine.

What is your story that is dying to be told?