Tell Me About Yourself

“Tell Me About Yourself”

You get a confirmation email that your interview is ready to go. You stay up late the night before doing research, printing resumes, and going over sample questions. You wake up early, shower, grab coffee, and head to the office. You wait in the lobby to get escorted into the conference room, all very calm and feeling prepared. The interviewer sits down, and says “Tell me about yourself.”

And now the stage is set for your entire interview.

This is one of the most popular and daunting questions asked in an interview, and probably the least prepared for. I must admit that early in my career I probably encouraged candidates to include something personal about themselves, but I feel like I should call each and every one of them back and apologize.

“Tell Me About Yourself”

I had a candidate in my office 2 weeks ago and I asked her that question, and she said “I am a single mother of 2, and I love to sew”. Absolutely not. You have limited time to convince someone that you are worth their time, money, and the opportunity cost of hiring someone else… and your family and hobbies are not going to be what gets you the job. Every sentence and answer should be carefully crafted, and this is a question you have the benefit of practicing and memorizing. Unless you are interviewing for a sewing shop, do not waste your 10 seconds on including that in your answer.

“Tell Me About Yourself”.

This is a 1-2 minute summary of you, your qualifications, strengths, and why the heck you are sitting in someone else’s conference room. If your nicely pressed suit and freshly washed hair are the cover to your book, the “Tell Me About Yourself” is the first few pages. They have decided to give you chance based off of your resume and physical presentation, but can you captivate them enough to read your entire story? If you conquer this question, you should provide a few interesting facts that will help the rest of the interview progress without many more typical interview questions. It should be much more conversational from there on out.

Here’s what I would recommend: go to Starbucks (obviously), and write a huge list of reasons your mom thinks you are wonderful. Remember, you are selling yourself. Don’t be afraid to brag and highlight your accomplishments. Once you have an extensive list, pick out 3-4 that you are particularly proud of and that relate to the job that you are interviewing for. Share those.

Questions to answer:

What makes me interesting? What makes me qualified? What would my boss say about me? What would my peers say about me? What would my mom say about me? What would my clients say about me? How am I different? What do I love to do? What do I do without anyone asking me? Why do I like my job? Why should someone be excited to talk to me?

Format:

10 -15 seconds: general intro to your current job

10 -15 seconds: Education and Credentials

10 -15 seconds: Accomplishment 1

10 -15 seconds: Accomplishment 2

10 -15 seconds: What you are passionate about (work related)

10 -15 seconds: Why you are the best candidate for the job

My example:

My name is Laci and I am currently a direct hire headhunter at Buckingham Search focusing on clients and candidates in the accounting and finance space. (General intro, 10 seconds) I went to school at Olivet Nazarene University in Bourbonnais IL and studied marketing, which lead to a career in radio, and then into staffing (school and credentials, 10 seconds). In my time in recruiting I have placed over 100 professionals in Staff through Director roles in the Chicago Market, and built relationships with hiring managers in over 10 corporations that continually need staff (Accomplishment 1, 10 seconds). I was recognized for being Rookie of the Quarter for Q4 of 2013, and Producer of the Quarter in Q2 of 2014. (Accomplishment 2, 10 seconds). I am passionate about people and helping them find happiness in what they spend the majority of their time doing – work. I like to take a consultative approach with my candidates and clients, which I feel differentiates myself from “pushy” recruiters in the market (passion, 10 seconds). I was excited to hear about the role with your company because it sounds like your business model and company image aligns with those same things. I am hoping this interview will tell both of us if I would be a good fit culturally, and if your team could use the skills, experience, and excitement that I bring to the table. (best candidate, 10 seconds).

Write. Revise. Practice. Practice. Practice.

Tell Me About Yourself. Go.