The Right (and Wrong) Way to Answer “Tell Me About Yourself”

Transcript Interviewer: Have a seat. Tell me a little bit about yourself. Jimmy: Well, you know, I always say I make a very big first impression. You’d probably be surprised to know that my first word was [beep]. Interviewer: You may be tempted to tell your whole life story, but don’t.

Interviewers really don’t want to hear it. Let’s try that again. Jimmy: [Sigh] This question’s always so hard… Interviewer: We know.

Talking about yourself is a little hard, but it’s kind of the point of an interview. So let’s try that again, but this time, with a little more confidence.

Jimmy: My name is Alex Green and you can reach me at alex.green@gmail.com. From 2009… Interviewer: Yikes. Don’t just recite your resume, either. Your response to this question should be like a mini elevator pitch. Here, try the present, past, future structure.

This is one sentence highlighting what you’re doing today, one sentence highlighting a relevant past experience, and a third sentence highlighting exactly why you’re excited for this job.

Jimmy: Well, I currently work as a content marketer where I help promote brands by creating blog posts, ebooks, and videos. In the past, I’ve worked with all sorts of marketing channels, from social media to emails.

I’m really, really excited about this opportunity, where I’ll get to combine all of those experiences to help a startup like yours grow. Credit : themuse.com