Tell Me Me About Yourself question is a must for every single job interview.
Whether it’s a phone interview or a face to face conversation, this open-ended interview
question always gets asked by recruiters and employers.
There are thousands of ways to answer this what appears to be a “casual” question,
but many of these answers can be quite wrong!
If you are looking for a clear response formula to Job Interview Tell Me About Yourself question
then you are in the right place.
I’ll also share examples of answers to this question for candidates with professional
experience, for students or for candidates without professional experience.
If we haven’t met before, I am Marat from Emmotion, myemmotion.com, Human Resources
and Career Services Agency, look me up on LinkedIn.
On this channel I train and coach you to ace your job interviews fast, to gain confidence
as a professional and learn to deal with corporate politics, being a better person yourself first.
“Tell Me About Yourself” can also be rephrased as “Please, present yourself, describe yourself
and your background”.
And just like most of interview questions, this question is not about you.
It is about how would you fit into the role.
Before I proceed further I would like to remind you to subscribe to my channel below, and
hitting the little bell so you won’t miss out on the latest career and personal growth
content.
If you stick with me till the end of this video, I’ll be sharing 4 easily adaptable
answers and examples to Tell Me About Yourself, including an example of how to respond without
any work experience.
Prepare and structure a small script to showcase your being a real asset to the position and
company!
Think of the strengths you would like the interviewer to remember about you, once you
leave the interview.
The easiest formula to put together your answer effectively is going step by step through:
Your Present profile and who you are Your Past education, experiences and achievements
Your Future plans and motivations
Resuming the formula into: present, past and future,
all relevant to the job description and to what this interview is about.
Avoid giving out personal information which is unrelated to your professional performance,
this way you would avoid speaking non-stop too.
Follow the formula: Present
Your first sentence should be an introduction to who you are professionally, then an overview
statement that shows off your background and gives a little sense of your personality too.
Let me show it with an answer example for each part of this formula:
“I’m an innovative Human Resources professional with 10 years of experience managing HR projects,
strongly specialised in Headhunting and Recruitment, Talent Management and Employer Branding for
international brands, including one of the biggest retail players in the world.
One of my favorite functional areas is training and development, I managed to create training
programs from the scratch to teach the leadership team how to coach with a growth mindset.”
Notice that the first line sums up the experience and drops a high-profile employer’s name.
Most hiring managers assume that if you made it through the hiring process at other well-known
companies, you must be very good.
Next, mention your strengths and abilities, proven past success.
Don’t assume that the interviewer has closely read your resume and knows your qualifications.
Briefly highlight a few points from the past that make you stand out:
"I have been in the retail industry during 9 years.
One of the reasons I particularly enjoy HR, and the challenges to go along with it, is
the opportunity to connect with people.
In my last job, I formed solid internal client relationships resulting in a 25 percent decrease
of the turnover just in a few months."
Conclude with your motivations and interests: Why are you here and why do you want this
position?
What are your future plans?
Concise and positive.
“Although I love my current role, I feel I’m now ready for a more challenging assignment.
I am a certified Senior HR Professional and I have an extensive project management and
negotiation experience, which would be very helpful in this position while implementing
cross-cultural projects”.
Let’s practice another full example: “I’ve been working as an administrative
assistant for three years, at my current position in the finance department of the company.
I handle scheduling, meeting and travel planning for 3 executives and 20 staff members.
I also help to prepare all the presentations and reports.
I’m known for being very detail-oriented and an organized team player.
I don’t miss deadlines, I’m a good communicator and I can juggle multiple tasks at once.
In my performance reviews, my manager always mentions that she appreciates my professionalism
and my enthusiasm for the job.
I’m currently looking for an opportunity to take the next step in my career.
I can definitely imagine my future working at an organization like yours.
Especially knowing how hard the company works to improve the environment, something which
I’m passionate about.”
Let’s check a full answer example for a student without professional experience:
“I'm currently a student at the University of Barcelona where I am very active in the
student council.
As a representative for my class, I’ve organized a few fundraising events.
I am a motivated worker and a fast learner.
My real strength is my attention to detail.
I pride myself for meeting deadlines.
When I commit to doing something, I make sure it gets done on time.
During volunteering at a local gift store, I realized how much I enjoy customer service
and the retail world in general.
I think this position is a great fit and I’m excited about the opportunity.”
And the 4th example: “I am a technical project manager with more
than six years of experience at top Wall Street companies.
Most recently, I led the development of an award-winning new software.
I’m a person who thrives in a fast-paced environment so right now I’m looking for
an opportunity to apply my technical experience and my creative problem solving skills at
the innovative database management company like yours.”
Clear and concise.
Remember: You will have time later to walk through your resume in detail and fill in
any gaps.
Don’t try to squeeze in too much information or your interviewer will tune out.
Think of the Tell Me About Yourself answer as of your slightly more extensive “BUSINESS
CARD” title.
“It’s about who you are, what you do and where are you going”
Keep it short and give your interviewer the chance to ask questions.
A good interview is a dialogue and not a monologue.
RED FLAG: A big error by many candidates is a recitation of their resume from the beginning.
That can easily turn into a long monologue, which will only confuse your interviewer with
information overload.
Be sure to practice over and over again, until it’s perfect and you manage to answer with
confidence.You want to catch the interviewer’s attention by highlighting the most appealing
aspects of yourself.
Thanks a lot for watching, make sure you subscribe to Emmotion by Marat using the subscribe button
below this video :)
And the check out my next video coming up