If there’s one guaranteed question in all interviews, it is this one. This question will be asked not only in the recruiter call but also again (and again) in the hiring manager interview and in stakeholder interviews. It’s usually the opening question, and it is not easy to answer well. We are going to tackle it today - [Tell Me About Yourself.]
What to avoid: #1 Recite your resume.
The interviewer already has your resume in front of them; they don’t need you to repeat everything they are reading. What they want to learn is your journey, your aspirations, and how you got to where you are today. The resume only shows what you did, but it can not explain why you chose to do what you did, and the Whys are the story your audience really looks for.
What to avoid: #2 Go into the deep length of one experience.
Your response should not take more than 3 minutes. This is not a project walk-through or a checklist to showcase every one of your qualifications (again, they have your resume). The interviewer just wants to hear one quick example, and they are mostly going to evaluate how well you communicate key information clearly and concisely.
What to avoid: #3 Lack of personal color.
Your response is about you, uniquely you, which means you should include your story—your background, your interest, your passion, your motivation, your goal, and your unique traits. Pick one or two. Anything generic will leave little to no impression on the interviewers.
What to avoid: #4 Disconnected with the company/position you are applying to
Yes, they ask about you, but a hidden question is “Tell me about the ‘you’ that might potentially work here”. So, to wrap things up, you want to throw in some research you did on the company’s core values, and their latest updates, and make the connection between you and The company.
What to avoid: #5 Too many “uhm” “and” “then” “so”
We all do this, don’t we? The good news is that this is easy to avoid - Practice, practice, practice! Now let’s practice with this template.
My name is [Your Name], and I have [X] years of experience in [your profession]. I began my career in [an adjacent career] （or I studied in [major]）, which gave me [a core strength].
I found my true passion in [Why you love what you do], particularly [Your unique traits], which led me to the path of [Your current procession]. In my most recent role at [company], I [key achievement. E.g. led a successful e-commerce platform redesign that increased the conversion rate by 20%].
I'm impressed by [Company Name]'s commitment to [Company’s core value or recent update], and I’m very excited about the possibility of contributing to [Their product or service].
Do you want to practice your TMAY response with me? Book your free 15-min intro session here!
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