Do You Have a Good “Tell Me About Yourself” Answer?

Today, we are going to tackle probably the most common interview question out there. You would probably be surprised how many workplace professionals get tripped up on this question. Many job searchers are not sure how to properly handle this question. So, I am going to give you the step by step process for how to answer interview question “tell me about yourself.” To be honest, many interviewers ask this as a warm up question. Sometimes they are not even really looking for somethin specific, they just want to ask an easy open ended question to get things started. Other interviewers know exactly what they are looking for in the question so you will have to be smart with your answer.

Do You Have a Good “Tell Me About Yourself” Answer?

First of all, you need to be able to keep your answer brief. This is such an open ended question that you could literally get lost in your life story. This is why you need to have a handle to your “tell me about yourself” answer. Remember, as a general rule you want to keep all your interview answers within two minutes. To go beyond that you are really rambling and you always end up saying something that you should not. So, regardless of how you answer the question, just remember the two minute rule when it comes to interviewing.

Secondly, start your answer where your resume begins. Most of the time this is where you studied and what type of degree you earned. This is much better then leading in with where you were born or what you did as a child. Keep your answer professional unless they begin to ask other questions. This will also help you to sell yourself into the position by hitting some of the highlights about your career right away.

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Lastly, remember that energy is important so you could be sharing some really interesting facts and accomplishments but you have to sell it with your eyes, your tone of voice, your smile, and your personality. The best interview answer in the world will not work if it is not conveyed in the right way. So hopefully you are now better prepared for the “tell me about yourself” answer. The one thing that you can count on is that the tell me about yourself interview question is coming so you might as well prepare for it ahead of time.