PERSONAL SPECIAL …...THE BEST WAY TO ANSWER THE QUESTION "tell me something about yourself"?

THE BEST WAY 


TO ANSWER 

THE QUESTION

"tell me something about 

   yourself"?

If you are asked this question at the beginning of an interview ("tell me about yourself" or "walk me through your background") you should give a brief response that flows like a story. It should be the story of why you want the job you are interviewing for, and how your education and experiences have prepared you for it.

Some tips...

1. Keep it brief

Keep your story to 5 minutes or less.  You don't want to take over the interview so that the person on the other end doesn't have time to ask you the things they want to talk about.  Also, unless your story is super interesting and full of twist and turns, it can get a little boring (and not relevant).

2. Connect the dots

Make sure the way that you describe your different experiences build on each other in some way. "I did X because of Y and then based on what I learned there, I knew I wanted to do Z, so…"  This might even change with each job you are applying for. Here's an example below:

3. Tailor your story to the job

You probably have lots of different elements to “your story” that you can speak to because you’ve likely done many things in your life and won’t be able to address all of them in a 5 minute run-through. Think about the job you are interviewing for and what pieces of your story make the most sense to tell.

(the image below illustrates points 2 and 3 using an example of a "publicist job" - the parts in the boxes are parts that won't make it into the story in this particular example)

4. Proactively address anything “negative”
   There are certain things that can be perceived as negative may not be. If you have large gaps in between jobs or had a particularly short stint at a company, go ahead and address that up front.  Not mentioning it will just make an interviewer have “open questions”.
5. Wrap it up by speaking to the current moment
   End your story in the present - i.e. "…And this is why I was looking for jobs in the XXX world. When I started learning more about X Company, I knew it would be a great place for me to apply because of X, Y, and Z.”  You may have other times in the interview to prove you were thoughtful in applying but why not say it here?  It’s a great way to end your answer.

Jaime Petkanics, Former Recruiter,

FROM QUORA