How to Answer “Tell Me About Yourself”

I spoke on a webinar recently on the topics of how to master your career story and wanted to give y'all some tips on this too. 😎

I believe the people who are getting job offers are telling better and more compelling career stories in their interviews. Full stop.

Your career story is the narrative you share during interviews about your professional experience and career goals.

In other words, how you answer interview questions (and what questions you ask in interviews).

No matter your age, experience, or background, if you can tell compelling and specific stories that show the hiring team how you have had an impact in your work, you will win over other candidates.

I want to emphasize the importance of specific stories and examples. Try to stay away from sharing high-level, self-descriptive, "this is my philosophy on xyz" interview answers. No bueno. Get specific, and show don't tell.

The reason most people fail their interviews is because they don't realize that regular conversational style 👏🏾 does 👏🏾 not 👏🏾 apply in interviews.

An interview is more like a board meeting where you arrive, cover your compelling points, ask a few strong questions and leave on time. 👀

There are several things you can do to improve your interview skills and get better at storytelling and selling yourself.

Let's start with just one tip about how to improve your answer to the most common interview question:

"Tell Me About Yourself?" (TMAY)

Every interview starts with a version of this question.

Your answer sets the tone for the rest of the interview and it's the beginning of your career narrative.

You want to master this answer to the point of being able to say it in your sleep. 😴

Tips on structuring your TMAY answer

💎 What interviewers are really asking with this question: Who are you? What's on your resume? Why are we talking? 💎

• Make sure your answer addresses 👆🏽 these three questions since it's what people are thinking as they listen to you.

• Go through your chronological work history as it relates to the role. Keep it high level here.

  I like to go from past to present, but you can also start with the present and go back. Use your resume as a reference if it helps.

• List a few key strengths and accomplishments and give context about your career moves.

  Tell a story that makes sense to the interviewer about why you made the career moves you did.

• End your answer with what you are looking for next in your career.

  Most folks forget to say this part and it is the strongest way to end your answer. It answers the question, why are we talking?

• Keep your answer to 60-90 seconds max.

  No matter how compelling you think you sound, our brains check out after about 1-2 minutes. If you tend to ramble when you are nervous, practice out loud, time yourself, and keep practicing until it's memorized.

  Be brief, be brilliant, and be gone.

That's the ☕️. Hope it's helpful.