“Tell Me about yourself” is an exciting question which we face in an interview. It is a thrilling moment for the interviewer to know who we are, but we start to know our bundle of nerves and the speed of blood. It is, as usual, we need to actually be cool, be prepared and moreover, we need to know ourself completely before attending the interview.
When an interviewer asks his/her excitement as “Tell Me about yourself “, “Who you are”, “Introduce yourself”, “Tell me something interesting about you” are all related to an idea.
The interviewer wants to know about you, you’re skills, your interests, your strengths and your weakness. We think about what to be said within this 10 mints and how can we include all our life stories within the time. The fact is that, you need to be prepared beforehand and without preparing leads to mess of words, tensed and no clarity.
As a fresher, we need to think a lot about how we can introduce ourself to them.
- What should we keep in mind before attending?
- How can we make into more simplified manner?
- Why do interviewers ask for it?
What should we keep in mind before attending?
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To be Brief
What you say should be brief and clear, there shouldn’t be a doubt while you’re saying qualifications, strength, weakness and accomplishments. When the interviewer asks similar questions, you shouldn’t keep on changing your answers, it should be the same from when you started till the end.
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To be Professional
You should maintain a proper and erect body posture, look straight into the eyes of the interviewer and speak without fear. You should have a presence of mind, should be neatly dressed and should be pleasant for the entire interview. Confidence is an important factor when it comes to being professional. Confidence can be improved by doing yoga and exercise daily which inputs a sense of confidence in you.
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To be Passionate
Talk about your present role and ways you want to improve more along with your future aspirations and the future role you would like to achieve. Talk about your positives and strengths along with example where you can give as proof.
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To be Attentive
You should know what you should speak and should be attentive to every questioning and try to answer positively.
How can we make it into a more simplified way?
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Present
Talk about the present short term goals and what are the upcoming changes you want in your career say, what you’re doing now? If you’re searching for a job then it’s ok but you can say it so that it will be easy for you to say. For example, you can I am an active aspirant who is constantly in search of a job. I am delighted to attend different interviews and have got experiences for an interview. I have been overcoming my mistakes through all the interview and keeping on trying to crack the interview.
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Past
Talk about your past experiences, if you’re a fresher then say about your accomplishments, achievements, strengths, weakness, projects, industrial experience etc. for example, I am glad to introduce myself, my name is Sabina Varghese, I reside in Kollam and did my schooling from XYZ school and graduation from XYZ school in Kollam. I was an Olympiad in my school in respect of studies and sports. I was always one of the best performers in the class. It wasn’t very easy for me to get into that heights if my teacher won’t didn’t had encouraged me. I was a leader and was girl captain of the Vivekanda house in school days and in college, I had to lead many events and participated and won prizes too.
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Future
Talk about your long term and short term goals, interests, future endeavours etc. and tell how you position yourself for the next 5 – 10 years.
Generally, you may be seating in a room where you have to wait until your interviewer comes to meet you. You may utilize this time to get with your pen and paper for notes, have a glass of water, close your eyes and take a couple of deep breaths to relax your body. When your interviewer enters into the room, greet them with confidently by standing up, extending your hand to shake theirs firmly, stating your name and smiling. One thing to remember while shaking is that gives an appropriate shake hand, don’t put your hand too loose or too strong, make it minimal.
Most probably the interviewer knows the role you are applying for and have referred your resume. Still, you should be prepared with a short summary, make sure they come to know who you are and what role you’re applying for. You can say something like, “It’s great to meet you to talk about the associate role on your events team.”
Once, when introductions have been made, you can give them a hard copy of your resume, if they don’t have one. You may exchange a few pleasantries and get into the interview questions if in case they’ve got a busy day. Don’t start, if they begin the conversation, allow them to take the lead.
If there’s a room of silence, don’t be scared to lead with your own elevator pitch that quickly summarizes your professional background and interest in the job.
One common interview question you may be asked is, “Tell me about yourself.” Having an internal outline (or written, if helpful—but avoid reading it directly to keep things conversational) can help guide your answer. Keep it small, concise and focused on why your background makes you the best fit for this job opportunity.
Be prepared ahead of time will help you calm your nerves, you may have to do some research on the company, so you can be engaged with your interviewers. This will help guide the rest of the conversation, set you up to answer questions intelligently and ask solid, informed questions of your own. Presenting yourself as knowledgeable and confident shows your potential employers that you’re the right choice for the opportunity.
It’s appropriate to write down notes as the conversation progresses. You can also refer to those notes to ask any questions at the end of the interview and can refer them when you follow-up after the interview to show them you were attentive and valued your time with them.
The interviewer wants to hire someone who is qualified for the role, but also someone who they genuinely want to work with and will be a good culture fit at the company. As you’re answering their questions and preparing to ask your own, remember to be yourself and let your personality show.
Just remember to breathe and take the conversation one step at a time. It’s appropriate to pause to collect the thoughts and say, “Let me take a moment to think about that” before beginning to answer. In fact, this can send a positive signal to your interviewer that you are invested in giving them the best possible response.
Why do interviewers ask this question?
Are they really eager to get to know you better? Or are their lives boring and wrapped up in work that they’re forced to ask these questions in order to live vicariously through their prospective employees?
Unless you’re a former race car driver who jets sets all across the globe and only dates blindingly attractive people and spends your weekends curing cancer and saving babies, I’m going to have to say no there are not living their life through your answer.
But, In fact, to know practical enough you are:
They want to know how you react to a question which is asked casually and without structure
They want to get a feel for what you deem to be “important”
They want to know how you carry yourself
They might want to know your presentation and communication skills
They always want to know your level of confidence
They may want to see the extreme negativity from you and that may be the reason they make it more stressful
Some of the possible answers can be
Hi, I am Shekel. I am from Delhi. I completed my commerce graduation from BAM College which is affiliated to Delhi University. I completed my twelfth grade from Delhi Public School with 95% from CBSE Boards. My family includes my father who is an engineer, my mother who is a lawyer and my brother who is pursuing his MS in Computer Science from Cornell University. I love playing chess and have represented my school in various district and state-level chess competitions. I am also a part of Rotary Club where I have participated in community service at various schools teaching the underprivileged and visiting a number of old age homes. Being part of the Rotary Club has given me a different perspective of life which makes me appreciate what I am and where I am.”
“I am a go-getter with strong interpersonal skills. I am a workaholic both as an individual contributor as well as along with a team. I seek new challenges and try toward think out-of-the-box while looking for creative solutions to a given problem. Besides the details given in my resume, I believe in character, values, vision, and action. I am a quick learner and believe in learning from my mistakes for I strongly feel that this virtue will take me ahead in life and career.”
By Jeffy Jacob
