“Tell Me About Yourself”

How many times has this been the opening question of your interview?
Despite the numerous instances we have come across this question, we are left baffled, alarmed and wondering while our mind races through events from personal, professional and social fronts of our life. Sometimes, we end up returning with a question asking the interviewer to be specific, looking for a direction or a suggestion.

Until about a decade ago, to me this was one of the silliest and laziest questions an interviewer could put forward. I blamed my disappointing performance on his/her ineptness and lack of preparation, and was sometimes even irritated when he/she took this time to skim through my resume for the first time. Then a friend suggested to me to make a productive assessment of the situation and develop a strategy to confront it. The contemplation changed my perspectives of recruitment interviews for ever. I realized how I could turn around this open ended question in my favour, how the power could shift to my side of the table and how the question was no more annoying.

Freedom — though most of us fight for it at some/every stage of our lives, the empowerment and responsibilities that come with freedom could be quite scary. What do I choose? What are my priorities? What could be the implications? Will it work in my favour? This is a similar situation. We have the power to choose and speak about anything on the planet. Having said “anything on the planet”, why would you want to recite a story where you are not the hero [Cant say “He never saw it coming at all” like in Regina Spektor’s Hero].

First things first: an interview is a discussion not an interrogation. I have not understood why most people consider hiring and/or admission process as a test for fitness by the company/school and not otherwise. It is an investment by you as well as the company. It is where the company tries to find more about you and your fit with the company, and that applies to you as well — ask the right questions about your role, the impact/significance of your role on your division/vertical and overall organization, reporting structure and your KRA. It is bilateral. It is not the place where you enquire about the nature of the business of the company or the senior leadership team. (hope you have already done your research of the role and the organization before you this discussion).

You can take a moment to collect your thoughts — let the recruiter be informed of this. You can pick a recent accomplishment (professional/personal) that could illustrate the skills that are relevant to the role you are pitching for. You can use your research/preparation to talk about a topic related to the company where you can bring improvements (if you can back it up with figures, good!) — be sure of not coming out arrogant or offending, as you are still only partially aware of the truth/facts; and after all you are looking to be employed here. You can talk about an interest of yours (reading, car racing, cooking, gardening, painting, running or trading) and try to describe you and maybe how it helps you professionally — try to connect it with the target role. It could even be about an incident you witnessed on your way to the interview or the picture you saw in the reception or the person from the company who called you to coordinate the interview. Remember how nonchalant and excited you are to talk about your day to your spouse or your friend — its similar, share your story by not digressing.

Hope you look forward to the question in your next interview, and perform to your satisfaction.

Best wishes from Resume LABB…