lifehacker.com: Job interviews are notoriously stressful. While you can’t really prep for every single question an interviewer is going to hit you with, there are a few questions you can prepare yourself for that will likely set the tone for the remainder of that hour-long interview. The first question someone is likely to ask you: “Tell Me About Yourself.”
5 comments:
I completely agree with this article but it seems common sense to present stories that highlight your strengths. I think the article is written simply and could be expanded upon. I think when an author takes a someone common sense topic, it is the author's job to make it interesting. I understand that not everyone or not even a lot of people might think this advice article is common sense but I feel the author had room to provide an example. When I saw this headline, I was expecting something more and was a little disappointed.
I think the last part of the article is the most important part - being confident in what you are taking about. I have found myself being in the middle of a story and faltering because I don't think that it is going to be good enough. Sometimes the fake it until you make it is the best thing to do, even if you are not confident and feel like you have no chance of getting the job. In my business class I am taking, we were discussing the idea of elevator pitches and answer the question, of 'tell me something about yourself'. I think that while it is good to have stories ready and have something ready to say, it is also important to be in the moment. Being yourself is what you hear all the time, and it is one of the most important things because often the person you are talking to is something you could potentially be working with. So if they don't seem like someone I would want to work with, that may reflect other members of the company as well, and its not going to be the right fit. Even if they liked your rehearsed speech.
This question has always felt like a trap to me. I feel as if the interviewer always wants it to feel as if your responses are off the cuff while at the same time be very specific and straightforward (which I find is difficult to accomplish when being "off the cuff"). Also it seems the article isn't very specific about how to achieve this. If seems to just boil down to "be confident" and "talk about yourself without being too pointed about the job." It's advice of tailoring your stories to fit the job is common sense but they didn't go into enough detail about how to achieve this in a way that doesn't sound fake or faltering. There also isn't any advice about not only detailing experience but how your personality traits that best fit the job can be put into the conversation without sounding conceited or false. Essentially this article was vague and did not go nearly as in depth as would have been truly helpful.
I agree with what a few people have already said. The article offers basically two kernels of advice: be confident and tailor your response, but then doesn’t do anything to illustrate how to do those things. And, crucially in my opinion, it doesn’t make a suggestion about how long you should ramble on about yourself – at some point your interviewer is going to get bored. Honestly, I think the “tell me about yourself” question is a terrible one. The best interviewers I’ve met certainly don’t use it. It kind of seems like a cop out, so the interviewer can just sit back and not have to ask more thoughtful, pointed questions.
There are so many directions that question could go, even when tailored. Do they really want you to answer with more work experiences or are they looking to hear about where you’re from and whether you have hobbies (that you’re a well-rounded person)? I think it’s best to have a relatively succinct, but thoughtful response that touches on a little bit of everything.
This is a question I struggle with more than any other. No matter how much I prepare I am always intimidated by it. I always seem to knock myself down when answering this question. I found this article was useful to a point, but I already know that I should tailor my story to my interviewer. I found myself scrolling down to look for more but it was incredibly short and did not provide as much information as I would have liked. It just did not provide enough information or tips to be useful on how to respond when an interviewer asks you about yourself. It can be hard because no matter how much you prepare it is so easy to lose those thoughts and get off topic. You can’t write a script as even over zoom an interviewer would notice you reading off your computer. As the article says confidence is key, and that is not a tip, that is a skill that must be built up.
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