How to excel in an Interview - IV

Tell me something about yourself?

This is the question you must have encountered numerous times during your career path and might be hearing it many more times in the years ahead. This is actually the “on your marks, get set go!” of the interview. Before this, you and your interviewer were just settling down in their respective positions. It is also projected in some more polished manner like, “run me through your resume” or “walk me through your background” or “tell me what is not in your resume” and many more variations of it. Basically, this is an icebreaking question of the interviews and also the base of all the questions that will be hurled at you during the conversation ahead. It is also termed as a “positioning statement” by many interview coaches.

Though, most of the interviewees prepare only for this question, they also dread this question the most. Yes, it is true that the answer to this question sets the tone of the interview and it is an opportunity, an opening to set the tone of the interview in your way by emphasizing the points that you most want this potential employer to know about you.

Now, to answer a question just as effective as it can be is by understanding as to what the employer or the interviewer wants to achieve by putting forth the question. The foremost and the most basic reason for this question coming at you in the first place is that, for the interviewer, it’s an easy and open-ended way to start the conversation. Next, his/her ultimate goal for this interview is to find out enough about you to decide if you’re a good fit for the job opening that he is being paid to fill. In most cases, he wants to like you. His life will be easier if he can find a great candidate quickly. However, he/she is also on guard because a bad hire will reflect poorly on his judgment and possibly be a mark against him.

The first and foremost question that comes to our mind while preparing for this question is that how long the answer to this question should be? Well it should be as elevator pitch. An elevator pitch is a short summary used to quickly and simply define a product, service, or business and its value proposition. And do note that it should be concise enough to be delivered during a short elevator ride (to maybe 5th floor and not 105th floor). You must keep it short and focused and ideally less than a minute and not more than 2 minutes. You must be thinking as to how can you fit all your qualities and achievements in such a small window then let me remind you that there is all the time in the world to elaborate later if you create much interest in your interviewer with your crisp and precise positioning statement.

I am here to discuss what all things you must include in your answer. A great answer will address the following:-

1.   Who you are?:- You should start with an introduction to who you are professionally, an overview statement that shows off your strengths and gives a little sense of your personality too. It is not easy but it pays to prepare in advance. It should concisely summarize your background.

2.   Highlight your expertise:- Do not assume that your interviewer has read your resume thoroughly and knows your qualification. Use your elevator pitch to briefly describe 2-3 highlights that make you a stand out. Emphasize on your experience, your positive attitude and proof of your performance.

3.   Why you are here?:- You need to be very concise and positive. Never blame your past employer or manager. Don’t be too frank and your answer should not be general where it shows that you are interested in a job, any job.

Remember not to squeeze in too many information in your statement as you will get ample opportunity to elaborate on that and walk through your resume in detail. You have to create enough wise gaps in your statement for the interviewer to dive in and ask you questions and clarifications. Let him/her feel elated that he has caught you off guard with some very astute questions.

Only discussing about how to answer “tell me something about yourself” will leave some loop holes and even may let you commit some common mistakes while answering this question. Hence, it is pertinent to also discuss how not to answer “tell me something about yourself”.

1.   Do not recite your resume in response to this question as all your relevant and impressive points might be lost amongst most irrelevant information and even the interviewer might also lose interest. You have to just highlight all those high points in your career which are relevant to the job opportunity you are sitting for and also on which you are prepared and confident enough to discuss in an elaborate way.

2.   Modesty or being humble while selling yourself is a disaster. It is termed as imposter syndrome in psychology. The imposter syndrome presents itself as the feeling that, even though we have accomplished something, we somehow feel that we don’t deserve the recognition or prestige that goes with it. I was myself suffering from this. I used to never have problem talking about a friend’s accomplishment, when it came to my own, I used to feel embarrassed. Talking about myself and boasting my strengths and capabilities in a straight forward manner seemed to me like bragging. I think this happens with a lot of people and believe me if you prepare well in advance and choose the rights kinds of words you can very well overcome this feeling. Stating facts in support of what you are talking about will also take away the feeling of bragging yourself.

Just don’t say that “I am the best salesperson of my company”. Instead, you can state that “I led my division in sales for last three years and had an opportunity to bring in 20 Cr worth of new business.”

3.   Same approach to all the interviews you face is also a complete thumb down. You need to prepare according to the opportunity for which you have applied for and what all qualities your potential employer might be looking in you to hire or select you.

4.   Over thinking in this regard can confuse you and you may look hesitant and under confident. You may be pleased to say that “Tell me something about yourself” can be interpreted in many different ways. It will only confuse you and make you hesitant in your answer as you might attempt to answer to all your interpretation in one go or any one of your interpretations or might even ask for clarification like “What do you exactly want to know?” Stick to what I have told you regarding this question and if they are looking to know something else or something specific, they will ask.

I would like to share with a template for the positioning statement in response to the answer to “Tell me something about yourself”.

 

Positioning Statement Template

I have more than ___________ years of experience as a_____________ in the __________________ _____________________ industry, specializing in _________________,________________________,and__________________.

I have an [B.A., B.Sc., B.Com, certificate] in ___________________from the University of ________________________at________________________ and an [MBA, M.C.A, C.A.,Ph.D.] from the University of ____________________ at ___________________.

I have also taken (graduate, postdoctoral, vocational, internship) classes in __________________________and _____________________________.

An accomplishment I’m particularly proud of is [write a very strong statement that fits the needs of the company]:__________________________.

 I’ve come here to talk to you about a position as a ___________________________, and I’d like to bring the same or better level of success to my work with you.

            This is just in order to help you out with your preparation. You need to just fill in the information in the blanks and your positioning statement is ready to conquer.

            I am trying to give out a few sample answers I have laid my hand on to give you a feeling as to what would sound best for you.

Example No 1: I have an experience of 2.5 years of working in a BPO which is the fastest growing industry and would like to continue with the same profession. I believe that I will get a lot of opportunities in this field and success. My interests are to play cricket, listen music, interact with new people and make fun with friends. This is all about me.

 Example No 2: My name is XYZ. I am from Gurgaon. I am specialized in giving training and development as a human resource officer and have successfully conducted more than seven training programs in a year. My strengths are organizing learning modules, creating instructional activities and presenting concepts, thus i feel that I can work best is this field. I am willing to input my efforts with your company and moving ahead with this career.

Example No 3: My name is ABC. I am from Delhi. I have an experience of working as a production engineer for two years in ABC Company. Though I had a good working experience in my previous job, I am willing to change my profile and work as sales manager because I am fascinated with this job and I am sure I’ll be able to perform really well with all my interest and determination towards it. I have some part time experience of sales and was successful in selling several insurance plans in a year.

Example no 4: My name is ABC. I am from Delhi and the youngest of three siblings. All of my older siblings are professionals in the fields of Accounting, Law and Medicine. I have decided to pursue a career in Information Technology, having graduated with a degree in IT. This is also the ideal career path for me since I have always been interested and good at database management and systems development.

Example no 5: Well. I’ve been working for the past six years as a systems analyst and data manager. During that time I’ve been trained and certified on a number of different software platforms and systems.

          I'd really describe myself as a person with a versatile skill-set, a lot of integrity and a willingness to go the extra mile to satisfy a customer.  Perhaps the best way to let you know what I'm about is to share with you a quick experience I had.  

Recently while working at a location with a client, they mentioned that they had just purchased some software that I was familiar with but that their computer systems were having some difficulty integrating the program. I offered to take a look at the install and found that there was a step that had somehow been forgotten. I told him I would be happy to wipe the system and reinstall the software correctly. At first the client refused and when I asked him why, he told me that it was too expensive and that they were just going to learn to work around the problem. When I asked him further, he told me a different analyst had been in, looked at the problem, and told them that the files had corrupted their system overall and that it would take at least $25,000 to fix. When I told him it was a simple matter of wiping the previous version and reinstalling it, he was stunned. I did the whole project for a fraction of the cost the other “analyst” had quoted. My client was so happy he referred me to his friends and I’ve done similar work for several other companies in town as a result.

          Now I’m looking to take my career to the next level and move out of contract work into a full time employee for a company where I can be a part of a team, but also allows me to focus my energy on my best strength, working directly with customers. I’d like to build a long term career that lets me focus on professional growth.

Example No 6: I have 7 years’ experience as a case manager, specializing in issues of adolescent behavior, substance abuse, and juvenile delinquency. I earned a B.A. in psychology from the University of Wisconsin and a master’s degree in social work from the University of Texas at Austin. In my last position at the Teen Discovery Center, I developed a curriculum to train juvenile offenders for job readiness. Within a year of the implementation of the program, over 75 percent of our clients found gainful employment and kept their jobs for at least 1 year. I’m applying here today as a licensed clinical social worker because I’d like to prove we can get similar results with your clients.