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So... Tell me about yourself?

^o) Right. Now how on earth do you go about answering this question at an interview? You've walked in, sat down, and asked,"Tell me about yourself?"; Do you: A) Bluster about how you don't like to boast.
B) Boast.
C) Sit there opening and closing your mouth like a stranded fish?
Someone must have some useful technique or advice on how to start, cope with and finish this question.

Reply 1

nikk

15

Talk about your previous work experience along with the skills and abilities that you have picked up along the way. They want to know what you have done with your life and why you think you are good enough to take the job. So basically highlight parts of your work experience that make you suitable for the post.

Reply 2

Artpur

OP

So don't include birth date, origin, boring naff stuff like that?

Reply 3

Leafy Leaf

1

no thats not relevant to what you will need to be able to do the job, whereas skills, experience etc are

Reply 4

oceane

10

Actually, I think starting your answer with: "I'm (name), (age) years old and I have a number of interests including (subject relevant to job, e.g. economics) " is direct, and serves as an introduction.

Remember that they'll have probably absorbed only 10% of your application form/ CV as they've had to trawl through so many, and they'll have done so on the train to work. They may have at one stage calculated your age from your date of birth but won't recall.

Also, 'tell me about yourself' is about what kind of person you are - they're not just interested in your skills, primarily do you come across as amiable, open, articulate, honest in the presentation of yourself?

You can develop on your skills/ work experience later in the interview - if I were an interviewer, I'd like to know a bit about you first, your interests and whether you seem to have a personality I can get on with.

Reply 5

Globalise

I've been asked that question in a couple of interviews - generally I find that it is a leader onto the next question - "Why do you want to work for x plc?" So basically, I'd use this as an opportunity to give some general details about your background, what kind of interests (both academic, personal and professional) that you have, and anything else that gives them a reasonable idea of what motivates you. The purpose of the question is two-fold, firstly to ascertain whether what you have said about yourself is likely to match well with what will be expected of you in the job / company, and also to give them the chance to probe deeper later on in the interview on things they find interesting. I think your message has to be 'I'm interesting, unusual, and highly valuable because...'

Reply 6

greeniev

3

Yep, pretty much agree with Globalise. Tell them you're interesting because of so-and-so hobbies and how this can help you in your job/work experience or whatever you're doing. If you're applying for a job that needs for example a lot of logic, you could say that you play chess and love the logic behind it or something like that. I dunno. :biggrin:

Reply 7

ExitMusic

9

That actually happened to me the other day when I had an interview for work experience. The first question was..."So tell me a little bit about yourself..?" and the interviewer had my application form with all my academic information/extra curricular activities/work experience/address etc so I was at a loss for what to say... :s:

Reply 8

mattdeanuk

Argh! I hate this question, but at every interview I have had, they have asked me this question. The first time, I messed it up and went into a full blown life story! - I didn't get the job :smile:

. But second time round when they asked, I just stated my name, age, interests and hobbies, work experiance, which is all they are after really, they couldn't really give a toss about who you are, they just want to know work experiance and whether you would be good enough to work for them. :smile:

I find that a harder question than this is, "So what do you think your weaknesses are?" :|

Reply 9

dancingqueen

11

mattdeanuk

Argh! I hate this question, but at every interview I have had, they have asked me this question. The first time, I messed it up and went into a full blown life story! - I didn't get the job :smile:

. But second time round when they asked, I just stated my name, age, interests and hobbies, work experiance, which is all they are after really, they couldn't really give a toss about who you are, they just want to know work experiance and whether you would be good enough to work for them. :smile:

I find that a harder question than this is, "So what do you think your weaknesses are?" :|

Aargh, I hate the wekanesses question! I'm always stuck for what to say that I can put a positive spin on, rather than 'Yep, I can be really lazy sometimes...'

Reply 10

greeniev

3

Uh-oh, I would be in so much trouble if I said the truth... I'm so bloody lazy and I swear nobody would want to employ me if I told them... So maybe just lie anyway... :biggrin:

Reply 11

El Scotto

15

I normally make a joke out of it, and include telling them my starsign.
Just tell them a load of cheesy balls that they want to hear.

dancingqueen

Aargh, I hate the wekanesses question! I'm always stuck for what to say that I can put a positive spin on, rather than 'Yep, I can be really lazy sometimes...'

Heh for the weaknesses question I always tell them that I dont believe in weaknesses,
as there are only 'obstacles' that with a bit of knowledge are easy to overcome.

they lap it up lol

So... Tell me about yourself?

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