Interviewer:So tell me about yourself ?

Me : I'd rather not, I kind of need this job !

At the start of my career, I used to enter any interview with a feeling close to trepidation. Though I had done my management from one of the best institutes in the country, and had done reasonably well for myself; I still did not have the self confidence that I developed later on in my career.

And so hearing an interviewer ask “So tell me about yourself?” was always welcome. It filled me with calm, and allowed me to steer the conversation to areas that I wished to discuss. My success rate in those initial interviews that I attended was more or less a 100%.

But as I grew in my career, and began to take interviews myself, I came to look on this question differently. It told me that the interviewer had probably not had more than a summary glance at my CV, and was perhaps, inadequately prepared to interview me.

So lets look at why interviewers ask this question. Setting the candidate at ease may be the reason some interviewers use it, but really speaking, in today's world most candidates have attended enough and more interviews and don’t need mollycoddling.

As an interviewer, I always looked for finding some commonality with the candidate : the same school, college, a shared sporting interest or hobby, or even a similar family background.  I usually opened the conversation on such neutral topics which would serve to put a nervous candidate at ease, and allow me to get an impression of their conversational skills.

What this approach does is that it gives a candidate an impression that you are interested in knowing more about him or her, and that you have done your homework before entering the interview room.

What can one possibly hope to find out about a candidate by asking them to “So tell me about yourself” ? Which candidate in his or her right mind would tell you that they were fired from their last job for embezzlement , or fudging their expense reports ? None, right ??

So why ask this question at all ? Instead look for some common ground with your candidate and start off the interview on the right note.

I am interested in hearing your take on this question; both as a candidate and an interviewer.