Tell Me About Yourself (The All In One Interview Question)

In our diverse forms of career it is inevitable that you'll attend an interview sooner or later. Either you'll be interviewing or you'll be interviewed.

I'll share a personal story that pushed me to share this information here, I hope it helps you.

About a month ago, I had an appointment with a client I was supposed to work with. Since he wasn't in the same state with me, we decided to talk on phone at a set out time. The conversation was going smooth till he asked the question " Tell me about yourself " I knew and understood what this question meant but I wasn't sure on the right response to give.

To make this brief, I fumbled in a very remarkable way, that I had to put it in my prayers

Funnily enough, I knew i messed up but there was just no means of rectifying what I had done.

Now I'll go straight to the point, when you're asked the

" tell me about yourself" question, you should understand that your reply varies with who's asking. But in this post, I'll share how to answer this question from the interview's aspect.

Tip 1: Do not talk about your personal life, family or village people

Especially for interviews, no one is interested in your personal life choices, the past mistakes you've made or how you reached where you are as a human being.

That question actually means, tell me about your qualifications, your experiences and why you're the right person for what ever position your applying for. In a nutshell, the interviewers just want to know your professional background and not the former.

Tip 2: Tell a story, like tell a professional work story. To stand out, your story needs to be compelling, engaging, clear and complete. Don't mix up things and complicate issues for yourself.

By telling a story I mean giving a brief summary of your work history.

Describe the company you worked at, your title, years of experience and your main responsibilities at the company.

Describe your major accomplishments over time(ability to make profits, save time, etc...)

N/B : Tip 1 must be in conjunction with tip 2

Tip 3: After talking about your experiences and achievements, tell your employer what you know about the role you're applying for.

Example: I understand that for this position of xyz you're hiring for, you're looking for someone with xyz and for xyz reasons.

This is very important and most people ignore it believing it's not necessary to voice it out. But what this does psychological is that it tells your employer you're not only aware of your skills and achievements, but you're also aware of his/her needs as well and what they are looking for.

And when you say something as simple as acknowledging their needs, it's you telling them " I know what you want as well". This creates a link between you and your employer.

Final tip: (Blow your trumpet) Tell you're employer why your the right and perfect person for that position. This is the icing on the cake with cherries on top

This is the one thing most people don't bother to say when answering this question. It's the point you brain wash them and softly persuade them to see from your eye. Most employers ask this question and most don't, I've been asked several times. Either way, be always prepared for it.

It is solely your responsibility to tell your employer why you're the one for the job, if not, all your answers are going to end on a flat note and possibly sound like everybody else's answer.

Most importantly, your résumé must be congruent with all you have said about your qualifications.

Though you may not even make it to an interview without an attractive résumé.

If you have an experience on this topic, please gladly share on the comment section.

I hope you got value.