Tell Me About Yourself - A Good Answer to This Interview Question

Linda Raynier
14 Dec 201607:06
EducationalLearning
32 Likes 10 Comments

TLDRIn this informative video, Linda Raynier shares valuable tips on how to effectively answer the 'Tell me about yourself' interview question. She advises against discussing personal life, emphasizes the importance of storytelling, and outlines a structured approach to sharing professional experiences and accomplishments. Linda also highlights the significance of aligning your skills with the employer's needs and confidently asserting why you are the best fit for the job, ensuring a strong and memorable impression.

Takeaways
  • 🚀 Start by not discussing personal or family life; focus on professional qualifications and experiences.
  • 📖 Tell a professional story that is engaging, compelling, clear, and complete.
  • 🎯 Provide a snapshot of your work history, starting from the earliest professional job.
  • 🏆 Highlight a major accomplishment in each role, showcasing quantifiable results.
  • 🔍 Acknowledge the employer's needs and how your skills align with the position's requirements.
  • ✨ Convince the employer why you're the perfect fit for the role, going beyond just stating your qualifications.
  • 🌟 End your answer on a strong note to make a lasting impression.
  • 📈 Use specific examples from your career to demonstrate your ability to improve processes and profitability.
  • 💡 Make a connection with the employer by showing awareness of their needs and how you can meet them.
  • 📊 Quantify your accomplishments to provide tangible evidence of your impact on previous employers.
  • 🎁 Offer a free resource for viewers to enhance their resume and increase chances of landing interviews.
Q & A

  • What is the main purpose of the 'Tell me about yourself' interview question?

    -The main purpose of the 'Tell me about yourself' question is to allow interviewees to showcase their professional background, experiences, and qualifications relevant to the role they are applying for.

  • What should be avoided when answering the 'Tell me about yourself' question?

    -One should avoid discussing personal or family life details when answering this question, as the focus should be on professional qualifications and experiences.

  • Why is it important to tell a story when answering the 'Tell me about yourself' question?

    -Telling a story helps make the response engaging, compelling, clear, and complete, allowing the interviewer to better understand the candidate's professional journey and accomplishments.

  • How should one begin their answer to the 'Tell me about yourself' question?

    -One should start by providing a snapshot of their work history, beginning with the earliest professional job and detailing the progression through various roles.

  • What should be included in the work history snapshot?

    -The work history snapshot should include the company names, job titles, duration of each position, and major responsibilities held in those roles.

  • What constitutes a major accomplishment in the context of the interview?

    -A major accomplishment refers to instances where the candidate has saved time, money, improved processes, or enhanced profitability, resulting in quantifiable results for the company or department.

  • How does acknowledging the employer's needs in the answer benefit the candidate?

    -Acknowledging the employer's needs demonstrates the candidate's awareness of the role's requirements and how their skills and experiences align with those needs, creating a connection and showing they are a good fit.

  • What is the final tip for answering the 'Tell me about yourself' question effectively?

    -The final tip is to explicitly state why the candidate is the right fit for the job, ensuring the answer ends on a strong note and leaves a lasting impression on the interviewer.

  • How can one ensure their resume stands out enough to land an interview?

    -By applying the 'Resume Hacks - How to Make a Resume Stand Out' strategies mentioned in the script, or by downloading a free copy of the 10 ultimate resume hacks cheat sheet provided by Linda Raynier.

  • What action should viewers take if they found the video helpful?

    -If viewers found the video helpful, they should give it a thumbs up, subscribe, share it with friends, and consider downloading the provided resources for further assistance.

Outlines
00:00
📝 Mastering the 'Tell Me About Yourself' Interview Question

This paragraph introduces Linda Raynier, a Career Strategist, Speaker, and Coach, who aims to teach viewers how to effectively answer the common interview question, 'Tell me about yourself.' She emphasizes the importance of focusing on professional qualifications and experiences rather than personal life. Linda outlines two ground rules: avoid discussing personal life and instead, narrate a compelling professional story. The paragraph sets the stage for the subsequent tips on crafting the perfect answer to this interview question.

05:02
🚀 Crafting Your Professional Story

In this section, Linda delves into the specifics of crafting a professional story for interviews. She advises starting from the earliest professional job and working up to the present, detailing each role's company, title, duration, and key responsibilities. Linda stresses the importance of highlighting a major accomplishment in each role, demonstrating quantifiable results such as saving time, money, or improving processes. The paragraph concludes with the third tip, which involves acknowledging the employer's needs and positioning oneself as the ideal candidate for the role.

🌟 Concluding with Impact

Linda concludes the video script by emphasizing the final tip, which is to clearly articulate why the candidate is the perfect fit for the job. She suggests that this proactive approach not only showcases self-awareness but also aligns the candidate's abilities with the employer's needs. Linda advises against ending the response on a flat note and instead, leaving a lasting impression by confidently stating one's suitability for the role. She also offers a free resource for viewers to enhance their resume and encourages engagement with the video through likes, subscriptions, and shares.

Mindmap
Keywords
💡Career Strategist
A career strategist is a professional who helps individuals plan and navigate their career paths. In the context of the video, Linda Raynier identifies herself as a career strategist, indicating her expertise in guiding people on how to advance professionally and make informed career decisions.
💡Interview Question
An interview question is a query posed by an interviewer to gauge a candidate's qualifications, experiences, and suitability for a job. In the video, the focus is on how to effectively answer the common interview question, 'Tell me about yourself,' which is often used as an initial icebreaker to understand the candidate's professional background.
💡Professional Background
A professional background refers to an individual's work history, including their previous jobs, roles, responsibilities, and achievements. In the video, Linda emphasizes the importance of highlighting one's professional background when answering the 'Tell me about yourself' question, rather than personal or family life details.
💡Qualifications
Qualifications are the skills, education, and credentials that make someone suitable for a particular job. In the video, Linda stresses that when answering the interview question, candidates should concentrate on their qualifications to demonstrate why they are a good fit for the role.
💡Work Story
A work story is a narrative that encapsulates an individual's professional journey, highlighting key positions, accomplishments, and the evolution of their career. In the video, Linda suggests crafting a compelling work story to engage the interviewer and showcase one's professional progression.
💡Major Accomplishments
Major accomplishments refer to significant achievements or contributions made in a professional context, often resulting in quantifiable results such as saving time, money, or improving processes. In the video, Linda advises including major accomplishments in the work story to demonstrate the candidate's value and impact.
💡Job Fit
Job fit refers to the alignment between an individual's skills, experiences, and the requirements of a job. In the video, Linda emphasizes the importance of showing the employer why the candidate is the perfect fit for the position, beyond just listing qualifications and experiences.
💡Resume Hacks
Resume hacks are strategies or tips designed to make a resume stand out to potential employers. In the video, Linda mentions a previous video where she discussed resume hacks, suggesting that having a well-crafted resume is crucial to landing interviews and, by extension, job offers.
💡Cheat Sheet
A cheat sheet is a quick reference guide that provides essential information or tips in a concise format. In the video, Linda offers a free cheat sheet with resume hacks that viewers can download to enhance their resume-writing skills.
💡Hiring Managers
Hiring managers are the individuals responsible for overseeing the recruitment process and making hiring decisions within an organization. In the video, the advice on answering 'Tell me about yourself' is tailored to impress hiring managers and increase the likelihood of receiving job offers.
💡Professional Work Experience
Professional work experience encompasses the range of jobs, roles, and positions an individual has held in their career, along with the skills and knowledge gained from those roles. In the video, Linda advises focusing on one's professional work experience when crafting a response to the 'Tell me about yourself' question.
Highlights

Linda Raynier shares 3 tips for answering the 'Tell me about yourself' interview question effectively.

Ground Rule #1: Avoid discussing personal or family life during the interview.

Ground Rule #2: Incorporate a professional work story into your answer.

Tip #1: Provide a snapshot of your work history, starting from your earliest professional job.

Describe your past positions including company, title, duration, and major responsibilities.

Tip #2: Discuss one major accomplishment for each role you've held.

An accomplishment should be a quantifiable result that positively impacted the company or department.

Tip #3: Acknowledge the employer's needs and how your skills align with the position.

Create a psychological connection by showing awareness of the employer's needs.

Tip #4: Convince the employer why you are the perfect fit for the job.

End your answer on a strong note by clearly stating why you are the right fit, even without being asked.

Linda offers a free 10 ultimate resume hacks cheat sheet for those needing to improve their resume.

The video provides a link to download the resume hacks cheat sheet.

Linda emphasizes the importance of standing out in job interviews.

The video aims to help viewers land more job offers by mastering the interview process.

A professional work story should be engaging, compelling, clear, and complete.

The video provides practical advice for career strategists, speakers, and coaches.

Transcripts

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