Tell Me About Yourself

So tell me about yourself.

Many people dread that question.

In a job interview and you know it’s not even a question it’s just a statement.

Tell me about yourself.

But you know it’s coming.

So don’t act scared.

Don’t act surprised and don’t say Well as you can see from my resume.

I graduated from Duke University last year and I majored in such as they’ve already got your resume.

So don’t just go over your resume.

When someone says tell me about yourself what they really want to know is tell me about your life experiences that are relevant to why you might possibly be interested in this job and why you might be good at this job.

So it’s job is actually a good fit for you and a good job for us.

So it doesn’t really matter what the first question is in a job interview.

Does it matter if they say can you tell me about yourself or why do you want this job or why is it it doesn’t matter what the questions are.

Now this isn’t because I’m trying to teach you to be a phony baloney politician who ignores the questions and just goes right into the message points.

I think you should hire me now.

You need to listen to the questions you need to answer the questions.

But you do need to realize your fundamental job is getting this person to think that you are highly qualified that you can do this job that you want to do this job and that you would be a good fit around here that you would be a welcome addition an asset to this organization.

That’s your job.

It’s not to read to them from your resume when they already know how to read.

It’s not to simply restate basic qualifications.

So for example many many years ago I was on a job interview for with a member of Congress in a communications position a press secretary position.

Now my resumé said communications experience strong passion for communicating.

But when the member of Congress said Well tell me about your interest in communication I didn’t just go through the bullet points.

I said I have a passion for communication and I think I can do it creatively.

For example I was working on a political campaign for a candidate who wanted to draw attention to the pollution in a particular river.

So I call all the media either candidates stand at the river and hold up dead fish.

And he said Vote for me and I’m going to do everything I can.

So we don’t have more dead fish.

You made every single TV newscast it got in every newspaper in that town and it really drove home the message visually that this candidate cares about the environment.

Later when I asked a member of Congress why she hired me she said it was that still he was that she said this it was the fish is what she said It’s stuck it’s stuck in her memory and you’ve got to find something that sticks for you to what you need is a story.

I don’t mean something made up.

I don’t mean something fictitious.

I don’t mean something creative but you’ve got to tell people why it is you’re in this particular field.

What drove you there.

What motivated you what got you excited about this particular job.

Now if you’re applying to be a landscaper to cut grass and your lifetime goal is not to cut grass.

I’m not suggesting that you lie but just talk about how you got there the first time you cut grass.

You just say Hey I was 12 years old and I needed money for a new bicycle and I didn’t have any money.

So my dad says cut the grass or wash all the dishes for a week.

I tried the dishes I just couldn’t stand it.

I cut the grass.

You know what I liked it gave me a sense of satisfaction.

You start it you finish it.

It looks a lot better.

And I’ve been doing that in my neighborhood ever since.

Now I think I could do it for bigger homes better machinery with a company like yours is an example.

The whole point of this is you’ve got to take this resumé and blow life into it.

People have to see and understand and visualize what it is you’ve done.

Now if you’re only 16 and this is your first job interview you perhaps haven’t done that much but certainly you’ve done something around your home.

You’ve done something for your school perhaps with extra curricular activities that demonstrate a particular skill you need a signature story that is just a way for you to talk about what it is you’ve done.

You need to talk about a particular person a place what the exchange was and how you felt.

I can tell you I felt very good about getting that job on Capitol Hill for a member of Congress.

There are certain jobs that you may look back on and say that was one of the best jobs ever or that was one of the worst jobs ever.

But you need to have a story of the resumé gets you in the door.

Resumes don’t get anybody jobs.

It’s how you sell yourself in the job interview that does.

Now you hear the word selling and people say well I’m not some high pressure salesman I’m an expert on law or public health or this I’m not somehow I’m not asking you to be a high pressure salesperson but in fact the best salespeople don’t ever use high pressure.

They simply present information that’s interesting that’s useful that’s relevant in a memorable way.

That’s all you’re doing when you are selling yourself.

So when that job interview says can you tell me about yourself you need to hop right into something that demonstrates your passion for a particular subject area and then weave that into how it’s relevant to this job.

What you don’t want to do is the full chronology of your life.

Well I was born in Pittsburgh and at age five I moved to Charlotte North Carolina and I went to Star mount element boring to be a better editor.

That’s not a story that’s just basic facts on a timeline.

So what seems like a hard question.

Tell me about yourself is actually the easiest question in the world.

It’s a softball.

It’s a way for you to sell yourself to convince this person that you have the right background that you have the right interest that you have the right skills the right experiences and the interest for this job.

So it’s not the hardest question in the world it’s actually the easiest question if you have your story straight.

Now a lot of people get confused about story and they think it has to be so dramatic and you save the world.

You went to war.

Now that has to be is you telling about something that happened to you perhaps a problem how you solved it how it used some of the skills that are relevant to this job and how it led you to this spot in your life where you’re applying for this job now do that and you’ll make your resumé come alive and you will make it easier for the person interviewing you to remember you because here’s the big problem most people face in job interviews it’s not that they say the wrong thing and the person is sitting there and scratching you off Well they’re gone now.

That’s not the danger.

Most people have it’s also not a situation where you were asked a so-called tough question and you’re up you failed to answer that.

Off you go.

That’s not what gets most people scratched off in job interviews.

The big problem most people have is their resume is fine it’s like everyone else’s who made the cut.

They may be perfectly articulate they may be dressed well but when that interview or interviews five more people today and three more people tomorrow and two people on Tuesday and now it’s a week later and they’re thick and thin who did I like best.

Who are the top three candidates.

They just don’t remember you because nothing stood out.

That’s the real danger most people face when they’re in a job interview.

So you’ve got to figure out how can you make yourself stand out.

How can you make your resumé come alive so that people associate you with the skills you claim you have.

Because everybody’s resumes claim they have great skills.

That’s your challenge.

How can you stand out having a good story having a good answer to this question can you tell me about yourself is absolutely essential.