“Tell me about yourself”: 5-steps for a great answer
Today, I am going to show you how to create and give an amazing answer for the tell me about yourself question in interviews.
When preparing for job interviews, dedicate time to developing a strong answer to the “tell me about yourself” question.
This is one of the most important and commonly asked questions in interviews. The answer you give to this question essentially sets the tone and mood for the rest of the interview. The best strategy to answer this question is to prepare answers well in advance and practice it repeatedly. I'll be providing you with a script later in this article to help you come up with a great answer to this question.
Many people struggle and fail to prepare an answer in advance for this question simply because they are unaware of how a great answer should look and what the interviewer wants to know from you.
In order to prevent yourself from blanking out, discussing irrelevant personal details or rambling on during this question, prepare an answer to the question in advance and practice it repeatedly.
One of the things I always remind my clients is that your interviewers want to know primarily three things from you when asking this question:
Types of problems or projects you worked
The actions or responsibilities you took to solve the problem or push the project forward
The tools and/or software you used to help you with your problems and projects
Instead of having them dig it out of you, be upfront about this information.
When answering this question, remember that the interviewers don’t care about your personal problems and struggles. They are interested in knowing how you managed and solved issues in your past roles. This is not because they don't care about you. This is because they have very limited time to gather the critical information necessary to figure out whether you would be a right fit to solve the company's problems.
Here are 5 steps I recommend when answering the “tell me about yourself” question:
Acknowledge the question
Indicate number of years of experience
Discuss responsibilities
Discuss achievements
Ask if they have questions
Here is an example to model your answer:
“So, tell me a little bit about yourself.”
“Sure! I have been working as a Project Manager for the last 3 years at Oracle and Lenovo.
“In 2014, I joined Oracle. I was in charge of managing and executing eight IT projects, and I managed a team of 20 people. Also, I helped my department scope, plan, and budget for new projects. I used Jira software to manage our projects and used Agile Methodology extensively to successfully complete projects.
“In 2018, I joined Lenovo. In this role, I managed a team of ten project managers and nine Software Development projects. I helped our team roll out new features to our software products. Also, I regularly spoke with clients to get product feedback. In this role, I used the Asana project management software to effectively manage my projects. Also, I used Agile Methodologies and Scrum techniques to manage and complete projects.
Let’s break this answer down a bit further.
Step 1: Acknowledge the question
First, acknowledge the question by saying “Sure” or “Absolutely”. By saying “Sure” or “Absolutely”, you acknowledge to the interviewer that you are excited and enthused to share your professional experience.
Step 2: Indicate years of experience
Next, indicate the number of years you worked and names of the companies you worked for. By saying “I have been working as [your title] for the last [number of years] at [company A] and [company B]”, you are indicating the number of years you worked in the field while outlining the companies you worked at.
This cuts through the noise and helps deliver the key information your interviewer is looking for right away. This way you quickly build common ground and credibility with your interviewer.
Step 2: Discuss responsibilities.
Next, identify when you joined the company and describe the types of responsibilities and achievements you had in your most recent roles.
Start with the year you joined the company and then explain specific responsibilities you had in your past role. Then, discuss any tools, technologies or software you used extensively to complete your work.
“In 2014, I joined Oracle. In this role, I was in charge of managing and executing eight IT projects, and I managed a team of 20 people. Also, I helped my department scope, plan, and budget for new projects. I used Jira software to manage our projects and used Agile Methodology extensively to successfully complete projects.
“In 2018, I joined Lenovo. In this role, I managed a team of ten project managers and nine Software Development projects. I helped our team roll out new features to our software products. Also, I regularly spoke with clients to get product feedback and discussed feature requests. In this role, I used the Asana project management software to effectively manage my projects. Also, I used Agile Methodologies and Scrum techniques to manage and complete projects.
Step 3: Discuss achievements
Next, you can discuss achievements and special recognitions you had while you were working in your past roles.
“I have been recognized by several leaders for providing exceptional work quality support to my colleagues and superiors at both Oracle and Lenovo and won 2 Outstanding Employee Awards.
Step 4: Ask if they have specific questions
Finally, you end the answer by asking if they have any specific questions about your experience, and letting them know that you would love to answer them.
“Please let me know if you have any specific questions about my experience. I would love to answer them for you.”
That’s it!
Key actions:
Create an answer for the “tell me about yourself” question in advance
Use the script provided above to build out your answer
Practice the answer repeatedly until you are proficient
