In this series of Job Interview Tips, I shall bring you some very common Job Interview Questions and provide helpful tips on how to answer them.
One such question is “Tell me about yourself” or “Tell me about your background”. It is a common question most of the interviewers ask, and sadly most of us fail to give a perfect crisp answer. If you fail to give a proper answer this may show some of your weakness.
This question in other terms asks you “Why should we hire you?”
Most of the time as candidates for job interviews we give huge emphasis to each and every question the interviewers ask us and we take every one of those as a litmus test. Don’t worry. You need not panic. Once the interviewer asks the question “Tell me about yourself”, just relax!
Have you ever thought of why it is one of the common questions in a job interview? There is a very prevalent notion that this question is asked to judge a candidate’s smartness, the presence of mind, self-confidence, verbal fluency and what not.
But be assured this is not the case. If you asked seasoned interviewers and human resource professionals, they would tell you it’s just another breaking the ice ritual!
Now, what is breaking the ice? It’s just on the part of the employer or the interviewer to make you feel comfortable and have the first impression about yourself. Moreover, the truth is, even if you provide a detailed resume to the HR or interviewer, chances are there they haven’t read the whole resume.
It’s also true that whatever you have put in your resume can not sum up your total personality, and at times the interviewer is trying to explore more about you than what you have written in the resume.
Now, we make this simple question quite complex when we attempt to answer the same. Mostly it arises due to the reason we want to answer too many things at one go. And we do it mostly to create a lasting first impression.
My suggestion is shunning all your attempts to create a killer first impression if you are not a seasoned professional. Though this question is quite simple, you need to practice it at home to master the answer to this job interview question. This is one invaluable Job Interview tip from my end.
What are the perfect ingredients to answer the job interview question: “Tell me about yourself”?
Remember these 4 Job Interview Tips to ace the question “Tell me about yourself?”
a) Keep Calm and Smile:
Keep calm and smile at the interviewer while you hear such a questions. Don’t jump in and go Ga Ga and blurt the answer you have practiced at home.
You need to understand the mood of the person and their talking style and pace. I would advise you to follow the verbal and non-verbal cues of the interviewer and shadow the tone and pace. Before giving the answer don’t forget to greet him/her at the very onset.
b) You don’t have to tell too much:
Now, this is a nice balancing game you have to handle in any job interview. You should talk not too little or too much. You need to talk about your family, all your work experiences or each of your hobbies.
Talk nice and short. Keep in mind you have come for a job interview. My tip is it is best if you make a nice summary of your current job and duties with a dash of your persona. All other things are irrelevant. Keep the conversation curt so that the interviewer is tempted to ask you more queries.
c) Do homework about Your Future Job Role and the Company’s Background:
You have to do homework about what you need to say at the interview. You should spend a considerable amount of time researching about the Company’s culture and your job roles. You fail to grasp all these details you would surely fail to answer this question emphatically.
d) Brush your English and practice assertiveness:
In most cases in our country, English is our second language. Thus we are always not so fluent in English.
Mock interview sessions help if you regularly practice it with your friends. Moreover, practice assertiveness while speaking.
Assertive speakers do always have an upper hand over another type of speakers. If you don’t have a natural assertive style of speaking it is the best time you practice the same. This is one of the invaluable job interview tips on how to answer “Tell me about yourself”!
Sayak takes care of both recruitments and assessment projects of The HR Monks team. He loves helping people finding their dream job.
He started his journey in career leaving the shores of Waiting for Godot and found The HR Monks a better place, where he can change the lives of people by helping them achieve their dreams.
He has been to quite a fewer place across India and loves to travel. He loves two books, in particular, one Siddhartha by Herman Hesse and the other The Shift by Dr. Wayne Dyer.
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