Tell Me About Yourself Interview Question - Correct Way To Answer

One of the most frequently asked question, typically in HR interview is straightforward: "Tell Me About Yourself". Almost all the HR interviews I've faced and have been a part of (as an interviewer) began with this simple question and yet it's so amusing to see no one prepares for this question as much in depth as they should. Note that answer to this question can play a big factor in your success in the interview. A well thought and revised answer to the question can help you win an upper hand during salary negotiation as well; if you are applying at a lateral position in any organisation. Is there a correct way to answer this question that can take care of 99% of the situations? I think there is!

First of all, I've briefly discussed this HR interview question in another discussion on <a href="https://www.crazyengineers.com/threads/how-to-answer-tell-me-us-about-yourself-in-interviews.3959">How to answer "Tell me/us about yourself" in interviews</a>. I however think we need to go in-depth so that every CEan here understands the proper way and easy to remember technique of answering it. If you haven't read that post, I'd strongly recommend you to go through it because the basics remain the same:

• No mugging up of your introduction. Make it very natural.
• Strictly no 'Myself <name>' start. It's incorrect.
• A little smile on your face - it's not your viva question that you must recall from memory.
• A little background information about your family is okay; but optional.
• Avoid robot-like repetition of what's already in resume.

In this short guide, we'll discuss and analyse the most common responses and come up with the perfect 'way' of answering it; because there cannot be ONE answer that suits everyone. Our goal is to find out what information you can convey and what to avoid. Our quest to find the most correct way to answering this question would begin with what's going on in the Interviewer's mind and what is it that they want to hear.

What Response Does Interviewer Want To Hear:

In most of the HR interviews I was a part of, interviewers throw this question as a traditional way of starting. They do not always have anything specific; but they'd definitely look for clues for their NEXT Question! Note that majority of the HR interviewers would be focused on finding whether the potential recruit is suitable for the environment in the company. They'd also want to find out whether you're in for a longer term or just a casual player who'll always be looking for the next job. They'd also want to check your reliability factor. Through careful scripting of your response, you can not only be in command of the next interview (meaning, you specifically drop clues as to what the interviewers can ask) but also ensure that you come up as a positive human being who's quite interested in the work that you do - a winning combination for any employee; that HR's can't afford to reject.


Scripting Your Response:

Let's take the most typical response to tell me about yourself question and script it differently. This should give you clues on how to craft your own 'about yourself' story. Imagine any typical interview room where you are sitting in front of the HR interviewer from your 'dream company' and he/she's holding your resume and begins by throwing the question.

HR Interviewer: Good Morning, Rahul. Tell me about yourself?
You: (5 seconds to recollect all important points that you mugged up) My name is Rahul Kapoor. I was born and brought up in Indore. I did my schooling from MG School. I come from a middle class family. My family comprises of my father, mother, sister and and myself. My father works with Indian railways and he is a very hard working person. My mother works in a regional bank and my sister is currently in junior college. I did my electrical engineering from GV College Of Engineering. I have been a hard working student. I got a backlog of 2 subjects in 4th sem because I had an accident when just on the day of exam.

I am very hard working person and I really need this job to repay my educational loan. I'm ready to do any job that you offer to me. I will make sure that that my bosses are always happy with my job and I will learn very fast. My hobbies including reading books, playing cricket and making friends.

What You're Thinking: Wow, I've just presented myself as a needy candidate who will do any job my bosses will throw at me. They are also aware of my humble background and they'll feel bad because they must sympathise with my situation. Also, they will notice that I've educational loan to pay and here's their chance to help me get out of my situation.

What HR Interviewer Thinks: Here's a needy guy who wants this job to repay his loan and has no interest in the job or our organisation at all. He wants us to do him a favor by offering him a job. Overall, an average candidate who's definitely not read a book and at best, played cricket in his backyard.

Impression: Average person with average skills.

Redoing The Script: A smarter candidate however can re-do above script as follows:-

Smarter You: (Smile) Thank you, <name, if you know HR's first name>. Very good morning to you too. I'm Rahul Kapoor. I belong to Indore, the mini Mumbai of the MP. I've had to struggle on multiple fronts to get into electrical engineering course at GV College Of Engineering. It was during my second year that I developed interest into various programming languages and decided to make a career as a developer and I believe <company name> would be great to start my career with.

I have taken up a new challenge to develop a hobby - and currently trying my hand at reading novels. I'm blessed with a family that's stood by me during all the ups and downs in my life so far and all the little successes I've had are all because of their blessings. I look forward to getting accepted in <company>.

Now That's Quite Impressive, Right? Yeah, It Is!

Interviewer's impression:-

• Not a regular, run-of-the-mill introduction: Check
• Positive attitude: Check
• Struggler: Check
• Gives credit of success to others: Check
• Interested in joining my company: Check
• Is passionate about work: Check
• Can be trained easily: Check
• Do I want him in our organisation: Check Check Check Check!

With that kind of a response, you've not only made a GREAT impression; but also dropped SEVERAL hints for the interviewers next question for which you already have prepared answers. Like -

• You said, you've struggled a lot to get into engineering college. Tell me about it? [You will now tell your story of how your financial background required you to apply for educational loan, your struggle and how you emerged successfully out of your situation]
• Why only my company to start your career? [You will now tell them about the research you've done about the company, how mesmerised you are just by looking at beautiful campuses, how you think the company will help you grow and learn.]
• Tell me about your strengths and weaknesses. [You are now just waiting for this question! Throw your story of how you had an accident just before the exam. How it affected you, how difficult it was to get back and attempt the paper even when you knew you'd not be able to write. A strength explained with an example - what'd the HR manager need more?]
• Tell me about your family. [Go on, they gave you a chance]
• Which novel are you reading [do a favor for yourself and read a novel if you are mentioning reading as a hobby]

Basically, you just took total charge of the entire interview process. With that kind of a start, there's 99.99% chance that you'll be selected. There are several ways of making your answer even more impressive - by including information about special achievements. Everyone loves winners, you see! I will now summarise all of the above to come up with a template answer to 'tell me about yourself' question.

The template to answer 'tell me about yourself' question in HR interview

• Keep your introduction short: about 30 seconds to 45 seconds, unless you have really significant information to share.
• Script your response in such a way that it portrays you as a struggler who fights and wins. Everyone loves fighters who win (not lose).
• Show interest about the job/work and the organisation. Keep your responses prepared.
• Mention about your strong support (family, friends) and region you belong to (how? go figure out yourself.)
• Mention about your hobby - only if you have one or be smart, like in the response above.

I'd recommend that you should read two excellent articles on #-Link-Snipped-# and #-Link-Snipped-# about how to answer this question. That said, you should always be prepared with few surprise questions. Here's one from personal experience.

Me: ..blah blah....I'm passionate about playing guitar......
HR: Interesting. But I don't think your guitar playing skills going to help our organisation.

Me: (smiling) I think guitar playing is one of the most important skills I have. It's helped me develop higher levels of concentration and also taught me the importance of patience and perseverance in order to get that one chord or melody right. A quick guitaring session helps me relax quickly after a hard day at work.

HR: (smile)
Me: (smile)

I hope you will find this guide useful. Do let me know your thoughts below.