You are bound to face a lot of questions when you sit for an interview, and while you may be really prepared, the one question a lot of us don’t pay enough attention to is the one that can give your potential employer the much-needed details about you.
The question is – “Tell me about yourself.”
So how do you answer this without sounding as if you are waiting to spill out every detail of your family and personal life, or coming across as too prudish to share anything?
Here’s how:
First, Understand What Your Employer Is Trying To Find Out
Your future employer’s main aim to ask you this question is to understand whether or not you will be a perfect fit for the role you are being interviewed for. This means that you will have to give them enough details that they can then tally with the job in hand, and compare whether or not you will fit in.
Answer The Question Keeping Your Profile In Mind
No two roles can have the same answer to this question, and whatever you choose to say should depend on the role you are applying for. For instance, if this is a people-oriented role, you need to add some fun elements in your answer that can make your employer feel that you will do well when you have to interact with people. You could say how you enjoy meeting new people, love group activities and so on. On the other hand, if this is a more serious role, you can talk about your interest in research work, reading up, solitary travel and so on.
Venkatesh Donglikar is an Account Manager at SRV Media and feels that the answer to this question should be small and precise. To answer the question about telling more about yourself, it is best that you start by saying your name and the name of the organization where you are currently working. You can then move on to your current designation and a few achievements that you may have achieved in your current or previous roles. After this, to make it a little more personal, you can add some details about your family background and talk a bit about your hobbies and any interesting things that you like to do.
Don’t Do These
- · Don’t try to reword what’s already written in the resume
- · Keep out the previous work history
- · Focus on your interests that keep you busy when you are not working
- · Let them know who all are there in your family but no need for more details regarding them
- · Don’t try to play down your achievements
- · Don’t be boastful
- · Don’t talk about things such as what you like to eat, what celebs you have a crush on and so forth
While the question is about you, it’s a tricky one, and all your employer is trying to do is to gauge your personal life to see if you will live up to the role. So play along and be smart about it.
