executive interviews Archives

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

Among the top interview questions you must be prepared to answer, “Tell me about yourself!” strikes dread in the hearts of most job seekers.

No matter how many times you’ve been interviewed, this query can throw you for a loop while you try to figure out the best response.

If this question always catches you by surprise, prepare by using these 3 critical steps to increase your confidence and effectiveness:

1 – Reframe the interview question in your mind.

One of the reasons this query is so difficult to answer is that it’s confusing. What exactly does it mean and why are they asking it?

Basically, “Tell me about yourself” almost always means “Tell me WHO you are PROFESSIONALLY.”

It’s a starting point to help the interviewer (who probably has a full-time job interrupted by your interview, and very little time to read your resume) figure out what you offer and whether your leadership background aligns with the job.

2 – Extract key points from your career and personal brand to answer this question.

Now, stop to review your background, reputation, and value-add for the job – otherwise known as your personal brand. What’s different about you as a candidate?

Where do you excel? What do you uniquely offer that’s evident to your colleagues and customers?

Start making a list of your competitive strengths and differentiators, aiming for 4-6 key themes and high points from throughout your career and rise to an executive role in anticipation of the “Tell me about yourself” question.

Depending upon your background and field, your list might include topics such as:

Degree from a prestigious university
Long-held passion for your career field
Unusually broad skills that distinguish you from other candidates
Career promotions relevant to the role you’re seeking
Personal philosophy behind your success thus far
Others’ opinion of your work and effectiveness

As an example, a candidate for the role of VP Information Systems would be able to list these personal brand elements and unique qualifications:

Degree from sought-after University of Massachusetts IS program
Interest in tech field, starting in high school
Career history in networking, IT operations, and applications development
Steady promotion into technical management jobs
Drive for satisfying business stakeholders
Reputation for whatever-it-takes approach to conserving costs

3 – Form a short, but engaging, narrative around these points that captures your qualifications.

To answer the “tell me about yourself” question, form and practice a short story that incorporates your main personal brand themes, ending with a message of interest in the job for which you’re interviewing:

“I’d always wanted to work in a tech field after developing websites for local businesses, so I went to University of Massachusetts in the Information Systems program.

My first job at CSC was as close to a distributed system as I could get, but after I worked in software development at Bank of America, I learned that most businesses need solid infrastructure aligned with the applications platform for best performance.

Since then, I’ve worked my way up to IT Director and SVP of IT at ABC Company, keeping business needs and cost savings as high priorities. In fact, I’m called the ‘cost master’ at work because of my focus on ROI in everything we do.

Your opportunity for a VP of IT caught my attention, as I’ve led our teams in delivering both infrastructure and functionality needed to improve operations, and I understand how manufacturing demands here at XYZ Company depend on the cost of automation.”

Spend some time getting comfortable with your themes and your response (plus the reasons you’re pursuing this new opportunity), rehearsing and readying your answer for “Tell me about yourself” instead of dreading it.

As you can see, forming your response is less challenging when you break it down into specific talking points. Plus, you’ll remember what you want to say when battling a case of nerves!