How to Answer: “Tell me about yourself?”

We receive the same questions again and again when someone is preparing for interviews. It’s surprising how the simplest of questions can leave us second-guessing ourselves. That’s often because you really want the job, and when something is important to us, we often overthink the situation.

One of the most common and deceptively tricky interview questions is: “Tell me about yourself.”

Candidates often tell us that they weren’t asked about their experience in an interview when they have been asked this question. They immediately take it to be a personal question such as “Tell me about you – What makes you tick?” And it can mean that, but only when it’s asked at the end of an interview. This happens when an interviewer reaches the stage in the interview where they feel they already have a really good picture of you professionally and now just want to look under the hood to see what else gets you up in the morning. That’s what makes this question a little more complex than it first appears.

Normally, it is used at the beginning of an interview to give you five minutes to recap your CV and get an all-round feel of how your career has progressed, the decisions you’ve made, and achievements you’ve attained. This is the only part of the interview where you are in control, they’ve given you an opportunity to display how appropriate you are for their role so use it!

They may ask this question in a variety of ways, but the way you answer is the same. They may say, “Talk me through your CV?” or “Briefly tell me about your career to date?” In this answer you don’t need to chronologically recite your CV, you also should never say let me pull up my CV so I can go through it! It’s your CV, you should know it.

When preparing for your interview, take a clear look at your career to date. What is it in your past that really sets you up for the job you have applied for? Is it your degree or masters? If it is, start there. If not, you don’t need to mention it as they can see it on your CV. Use the time to talk about what is most appropriate. Review the job description and use that to form your answer, where have you completed similar tasks to the role duties listed in their spec? Review the requirements, make sure you cover these right down to the desirable requirements, if applicable. Write down all the points and now turn it into an answer that flows, hitting the key points.

When you’ve prepared in this way you know when you have answered the question and you’re less likely to start rambling! When you finish the answer, you want to leave the interviewer in no doubt that you are someone with the skills and experience to do the job.

The outcome of preparing well is that you have set the scene, you have started confidently and then they will follow with probing into the skills and experience you have displayed. It’s true that first impressions count, nowhere more so than in an interview.