Shedding Light on the Question, "Tell Me About Yourself."

Whether you are employed or looking for a job, you should always have an answer to this question: Tell me about yourself. 

The context and the phrasing may vary your answer, but your message should be consistent whether you are at a professional association meeting, job interview, volunteer group, or networking event. The answer will reveal your story, but more importantly, your value proposition. When you expertly answer this question, you set the tone for the entire interview, meeting or gathering.

This article focuses on interviewing as interviewers will commonly ask some variation as their opener. Here are a few different ways they may pose the question:

• Tell me why you’re here.
• Why do you want this job?
• Why are you the best person for this job?
• Tell me about your experience.
• Walk me through your background.

Sounds easy, right? Well, it would be if they were genuinely expecting you to rattle off your experience. However, that is not the point! They are evaluating your communication skills and style, your ability to ascertain relevant information, your focus, and much more. Because here’s what they truly want to know:

• How will you make my job easier?
• How will you make me look good?
• How will you help this team be successful?
• How will you help the company meet our goals?
• How can you make our pain points disappear?
• Will I enjoy working with you?
• Will this person work well with the current team?

First impressions

This starting question can make or break their first impression, so prepare a polished and professional answer. It’s probably the only opportunity for an open-ended response to deliver your elevator pitch and to highlight aspects of your background that may not stand out.

First, be likable. Interviewers should be evaluating your ability to succeed in the role. However, they are people who spend a lot of time at work, potentially with you! Let a little personality through and give your best energy. Now they are ready to listen. This is the time to sell your unique qualities and stand out from the other candidates. Craft it well, and you could be on your way to your dream job!

Don’t forget to tailor your answer to the audience. While it may only be slightly different, or not change at all, be aware that an external interview may require a different slant than an internal discussion. Know whom you are interviewing with, do some research and decide if you should adjust the answer for potential peers vs. senior leadership. It also may depend on the wording of the question, so pay attention to the subtleties and adjust accordingly.

Time yourself and keep it to no more than 1-5 minutes. The objective is to pique their interest, not drown them in every detail. Think of it as your movie trailer - except you’re not convincing them to see the movie, you are showing them the highlights to want to hire you! 

What is interesting about you?

Including a short and interesting fact or story can be a useful technique. For example, a recent graduate with a mechanical engineering degree described how building cars with his father developed into a hobby of fixing older cars and led to getting a degree in engineering. This points to that sort of mechanical mindset, gives evidence of additional experience, and shows a passion for the type of work he would be doing. Plus, my father is a classic car enthusiast, so right away we broke the ice. Even if that hadn’t been the case, talking about something in your comfort zone will result in greater confidence, eases both people into the conversation, and makes you more memorable.

Are you a good match for the job?

Use the job posting to determine the critical responsibilities of the role and the skills required. If it is lengthy, look for items that say the same thing or can be lumped together. Communication could be referenced as presenting to senior leaders, collaborating across teams, or providing excellent customer service.  Compare the primary skills they seek with what you bring to the table. This will also help you as you progress through the interview process.

What are the highlights of your career? 

Consider your career chronologically. What have been the pivotal moments? Your education? A certification? A promotion? Choose 3-5 to highlight. This gets more difficult as your career progresses to 10+ years. They don’t need every detail, just enough to understand, and to be intrigued by, your story. Also think about anything that may give an interviewer pause like a career gap, an unfinished degree, job hopping, etc. and have a short sentence to address it. The interviewer will most likely accept a matter-of-fact answer. However, failing to mention it, coming off as angry or resentful, or over-explaining may inspire an interviewer to dig in. At best, you lose valuable time to talk about what is essential: your achievements. At worst, they make up their minds in the first few minutes not to hire you.

Why are you looking for a job?

Employers get cold feet if they think someone is running from something (a micromanaging boss) or to something (the perfect company).  Think through why you are looking (or interviewing) for a job and look for the positive angle. If you are escaping an unfortunate situation, the response needs to be honest, brief, and alleviate any concerns the interviewer may have about the situation.

Next, determine why you want that particular job with that company, or if you don’t yet have an interview, the type of role you seek. Is it a switch from your current position? What makes you qualified? Is it a promotion? What have you done that shows you are ready? Why is your current employer not willing to give you a shot?

Craft a strong close!

Your ending statement should iterate why all of the points you mentioned have brought you to this moment and thus you are ready and excited about the job. If genuine, show gratitude to those who allowed your journey along the way. Credit an outstanding boss or a forward-thinking leader, or a supportive company culture that helped propel your success.

Polish and Practice

Be sure to have a strong example for everything you say. For instance, if you mentioned that your degree prepared you for your role, be able to relate your coursework, projects, etc. to the responsibilities of the job. If you mention a personality trait or skills (both hard skills and soft skills), be able to expand on how you have not only used them in the past to be successful but how they will help to achieve your goals in this new role or at that company. If you’ve had previous conversations or are privy to information, you may have some insight. Chances are you don’t, but by authentically highlighting your talents, you can show them how you can solve their problems.

When done right, the company understands your unique value. They know what you bring to the table that very few others could do. They see you as a cultural fit to the organization. They see a future where you help bring the team success. Ideally, they are ready to make you an offer and the interviews have barely started! 

 About the Author

Amy Cooney is a Gallup-Certified Strengths Coach, Career Development Coach, and Team and Leadership Consultant at AC Talent Consulting. With a background in human resources and recruiting, Amy knows talent. She brings this expertise to recruiting teams and hiring leaders in both corporate and nonprofit environments, partnering with them to achieve personal, team and company goals by incorporating strengths into the business strategy and organizational culture. All people have talent, and Amy excels at recognizing individual talents and motivating teams to function as productive and cohesive units.

As a Coach, she uses a strengths-based approach to help people of all levels develop their careers through the Accelerate You! and other custom coaching programs. She is available for 1:1 coaching, group sessions, public speaking, seminars and facilitating career-related events. Visit: AC Talent Consulting

Top 5 CliftonStrengths: Learner?, Individualization?, Strategic?, Ideation?, Connectedness?. More at: CliftonStrengths Video