How to Answer the ‘ Tell Me About Yourself ’ Interview Question

Recently I have started with job hunting and the most complicated question to me during the interview is " Tell us more about yourself "

I did lots of research as I was very curious to know what would be the perfect answer for this question but unfortunately there exist no perfect answer but a correct and wrong response and manner do exist which will help us to make a good impression on the interviewer and move on to the next level of the interview or may be get the offer letter.

Most of us find this question to be a particularly difficult one to answer. That is a misplaced view. This question offers an opportunity to describe ourself positively and focus the interview on our strengths. Lets be prepared to deal with it. These days, it’s unavoidable. From my experience, most interviewers start off their interviews with this question. A lot of interviewers open with it as an icebreaker or because they're still getting organized, but they all use it to get a sense of whom you are.

The Wrong Response

There are many ways to respond to this question correctly and just one wrong way: by asking, “What do you want to know?” That tells them we have not prepared properly for the interview and are likely to be equally unprepared on the job. We need to develop a good answer to this question, practice it and be able to deliver it with poise and confidence.

The Right Response

To help us prepare, I research through no. of articles from career coaches on how best to respond when faced with this question. Heed the career advice that follows to ace this opener:

The consensus of the coaches whose articles I read:

• Focus on what most interests the interviewer
• Highlight our most important accomplishments

Focus on What Interests the Interviewer

According to Jane Cranston, a career coach from New York, “The biggest mistake people being interviewed make is thinking the interviewer really wants to know about them as a person.

They start saying things like, 'Well, I was born in Mumbai, and when I was three we moved …’ Wrong. The interviewer wants to know that you can do the job, that you fit into the team, what you have accomplished in your prior positions and how can you help the organization.”

Nancy Fox, of Fox Coaching Associates, agrees. She notes that “many candidates, unprepared for the question, skewer themselves by rambling, recapping their life story, delving into ancient work history or personal matters.” She recommends starting with our most recent employment and explaining why we are well qualified for the position. According to Fox, the key to all successful interviewing is to match our qualifications to what the interviewer is looking for. “In other words, we want to be selling what the buyer is buying.”

Think of our response as a movie preview, says Melanie Szlucha, a coach with Red Inc. “The movie preview always relates to the movie we're about to see. We never see a movie preview for an animated flick when we're there to see a slasher movie. So the ‘tell me about yourself” answer needs to directly fit the concerns of our prospective employer.”

Previews are also short but show clips of the movie that people would want to see more of later. They provide enough information about the movie so that we could ask intelligent questions about what the movie is about. Hiring managers don't want to look unprepared by reading your resume in front of you, so Szlucha advises that we “provide them some topics to ask you more questions about.”

To Highlight Our Most Important Accomplishments

Greg Maka, managing director at 24/7 Marketing, advises job seekers to "tell a memorable story about your attributes.” For example, if we tell an interviewer that people describe us as tenacious, provide a brief story that shows how you have been tenacious in achieving your goals. “Stories are powerful and are what people remember most,” he said.

One great example is that of  Fran Capo, a comedienne who bills herself as “the world’s fastest-talking female.” She offers the following advice: “Whenever I go on auditions or interviews, I have a "set" opening I use. ... I tell the interviewer what I do in one sentence and then say, ‘And I also happen to be the Guinness Book of World Records’ fastest-talking female.’ Then I elaborate.” According to Capo, the main thing in anything you do is to be memorable, in a good way. Our goal when we answer the ‘tell me about yourself’ question is to find a way stand out from everyone else.

And, Be Brief

Maureen Anderson, host of "The Career Clinic" radio show, stresses the importance of keeping our answer short: “The employer wants to know a little bit about you to begin with — not your life story. Just offer up two or three things that are interesting — and useful. We should take about a minute to answer this question.”

To make sure it is succinct and covers what we want it to cover, she suggests that we “write our answer out before the interview, practice it, time it and rehearse it until it sounds natural. Then practice it some more. The goal is to tell the employer enough to pique their interest, not so much that they wonder if they’d ever be able to shut you up during a coffee break at the office.”

Rather than dread this question, a well-prepared candidate should welcome this inquiry. Properly answered, this question puts the candidate in the driver's seat. It gives him an opportunity to sell himself. It allows him to set the tone and direction for the rest of the interview, setting him up to answer the questions he most wants to answer.