Why does every interviewer begin with this question – “Tell me about yourself”?
For a lot of job seekers, this question can be a daunting to answer as many people don’t invest a lot of time into building self-awareness and a deep understanding of self.
When faced with this inevitable question, candidates often stumble and deliver a long, overdrawn ramble about irrelevant events in their lives. Or, candidates may simply give a five-minute monologue, repeating everything already included in their CV.
Regardless if you have messed up this question in the past, don’t worry. You will get another opportunity to try again given that every interviewer starts their discussion with this question.
Why Interviewers Ask this Question?
Recruiters have a right to know the type of person sitting before them. They need to be aware of who you are, given that they may be sharing working hours and space with you. As a result, the interviewer asks, “Tell me about yourself”, to essentially identify what type of candidate they may potentially be hiring.
How to answer, “Tell me about yourself”, in an interview?
An important tip when answering this question is to always keep it relevant to the job you’re applying for. That is the whole purpose why you’re in the interview – to talk about the job and your suitability. Also, this question is open-ended, so be careful to not ramble on. Stay concise and to the point!
As a job seeker, embrace this question because answering it well establishes a good momentum during the rest if the conversation. You can also look for other common interview questions and prepare your answers. In this question, it’s necessary to establish four critical selling points about yourself.
Develop Critical Selling Points
These selling points are points of information that sell your skills, personality and competency to the recruiter. Deliver them as if you’re telling a story about yourself, so that the dialogue sounds natural and flowing, as opposed to scripted and fake.
Who are you professionally?
Start by grabbing their attention and describe those characteristics about your professional life that would be ideal depending on the job position. Ideal starting tips include, “I am an MBA graduate” or, “I am a licensed financial advisor” for a finance position or “a certified business coach and lecturer” for a consultant role. Start strong and mention something that would impress them professionally.
What’s Your Personality?
Is the job a people-centric such as marketing or customer service? Good, state what an extrovert you are and how helping people makes you feel fulfilled. Is it an accounting or information technology role? Great! Discuss your love of analysing data and numbers to find solutions. Always keep your responses relevant to the job position.
What Skills Do You Offer?
You have just told the recruiter; this is who I am. Now, you’re about to tell them here’s what I can do. This feeds off the type of person you previously mentioned you are. For example, if you’ve mentioned you’re an outgoing and engaging person, briefly mention how you engage a customer. Did you say you were analytical? What did you analyse? What solutions did your analysis come up with? Indicate a skill or benefit you offer. What skills are included in the job description? Select one that you have and make it part of your story.
Why are You Here?
Your final critical selling point should address why you are here in the interview. Very often, recruiters will know the obvious reasons – that you need a job and a source of income. However, the right candidate will see beyond that and provide an answer that will truly be memorable and convincing.
This is an ideal time to mention, you’re looking to gain insights or experience in a new field, or you’ve heard great things about the company and would love to be a part of that culture, or you’ve reached that point in your professional life, where you are ready for a greater challenge and a chance to use the skills you have developed. Communicate in such as way that the recruiter knows you’re enthusiastic about the position and wants it.
What if I Have No Job Experience?
Everyone starts as a beginner. Without work experience, you will need to put in extra effort to effectively answer the “Tell me about yourself”, question. Highlight your other critical selling points.
Your lack of work experience does not automatically disqualify you from being a suitable candidate. Did you do any extracurricular activities? Were there any programs, clubs or events that you volunteered and managed? There must have been life experiences that enabled you to develop soft skills. For example, volunteer work or event management under your belt, demonstrates to an interviewer a work ethic to plan and manage.
Extra-curricular activities such as sport or clubs indicate you have people skills and can function cohesively within a team. The key element here is to clearly illustrate you possess the skill set the job description outlines and you have the drive and enthusiasm to push you forward.
Tell Me about Yourself Sample Answer
Well. I describe myself as a very result-oriented and diligent person. I’ve been working for the past 5 years as a Sales Assistant. During that time, I’ve learned to identify the needs of customers and recommending them to the right products.
I’d really describe myself as a person with a versatile skill set, integrity and a willingness to go the extra mile to satisfy a customer. I am an extrovert and I love interacting and feel quite comfortable meeting new people. Perhaps the best way to let you know what I’m about is to briefly share with you a recent encounter I had.
Recently while addressing a dissatisfied customer, they mentioned that they had just purchased a product that they were having difficulties in using it. They thought they found some defects in it and it was not worth their time or money. I offered to look at it and found no defects, but the customer was unclear about the instructions.
I calmly walked them through a step by step process and wrote it down clearly for him to follow on his own. I also told him I would be happy to assist in any way I can in the future. My customer was very happy with my approach and he learnt how to use the product on his own. He gave me a glowing review in our customer feedback forms and have since purchased repeatedly and even recommended the company to his network.
These experiences have made me more patient and calm as a person, as well as improved my listening, critical thinking and speaking skills. When I saw the advertisement for this position and the company it was for, it looked like a great opportunity to utilise these skills on a larger scale and challenge myself to develop more as a person.
