How To Answer “Tell Me About Yourself”

One of the most common prompts in an interview is the dreaded “tell me about yourself.” Many people struggle to answer this question for a variety of reasons. They don’t know how personal to be, or how professional. They don’t know if they can talk about their work experience if the interviewer has already read their resume. Most of all, they don’t know where to start. Compiling everything about you into a single answer is a monumental task, which is why it’s crucial to know what about yourself you want to present during an interview.

Understanding The Question

The first part of learning how to answer “tell me about yourself” is understanding why the interviewer is asking. The interviewer often wants to open up a conversation with you when they ask this question, typically at the start of the interview. They’re simply looking for a way to break the ice and get you to open up a bit about yourself.

However, this relaxed question can still be handled improperly. The interviewer doesn’t usually have a specific answer in mind, sure, but they still expect a certain type of response. They don’t want you to go on a rant about your opinions on coffee or your favorite book when you were a kid. Simultaneously, they don’t want you to launch into a detailed description of the way you increased productivity in your latest project using Excel shortcuts. There is a middle ground that you need to hit on to properly answer “tell me about yourself.”

Structuring Your Answer

There are many ways to approach how to answer “tell me about yourself.” In order to ensure success when faced with this question in an interview, it’s important to consider the structure you’ll employ for your answer. Having a well-structured answer ensures that you come off as clear and concise, which is especially crucial in an interview when you only have so much time to leave a lasting impression. Here are some of the best structure tips when answering “tell me about yourself.”

The 30-60 Second Rule

When considering how to structure your answer to “tell me about yourself,” one of the most important factors to think about is the time you’ll spend on the question. As a general rule, aim for thirty to sixty seconds. Any shorter and you risk sounding dull or unprepared. Any longer and the interviewer may become bored or imagine you’re self-absorbed. Finding that sweet spot on the timing will ensure that you appear adequately prepared but not over-eager to talk about yourself for a long time.

The A-B-C Method (Academic, Background, Career)

When structuring your answer, it’s also beneficial to format your content. The best way to structure your response is the use the A-B-C method. A-B-C is an acronym for Academic, Background, and Career. When answering “tell me about yourself,” begin with your Academic background if it’s relevant to the position. Follow that up with your personal background, focusing on previous work experience that’s relevant to the position. Finally, talk about your current role and what brought you to interview for this new role. Following the ABC method guides you through crafting a compelling answer to “tell me about yourself” that reveals the most relevant details about your personal and professional life.

Crafting A Narrative Arc

If you still aren't sure how to answer “tell me about yourself,” consider using a narrative structure. Narrative structures are the backbone of every story you’ve heard, seen, or told. To access a narrative structure, consider the topic you want to hit on in your thirty to sixty-second answer. This might be a formative class in college, a positive interaction with a coworker, or the first time you were put in charge of a team. Whatever event you choose, implementing narrative structure ensures that you tell the best version of your story.

Because of the time constraint, your narrative structure when answering “tell me about yourself” should be brief. Start by introducing the topic, so-called “setting the stage.” Once you’ve done that, identify the challenge that made this story memorable. Maybe there was a team member you didn’t get along with, an impending deadline, or a sudden bout of nervousness. Whatever the issue, follow that problem up with the solution you came up with at the time.

After showing how you resolved the problem, briefly touch on the effects of your solution. What changed from the start of your story to the end? Following this narrative structure allows you to show your problem-solving ability with a real-life example. It also gives the interviewer a real understanding of a time you were challenged and the way you grew from that challenge. Using the narrative structure when asked to “tell me about yourself” is one of the best ways to get a leg up on the competition.

Tailoring Responses For Different Situations

Answering “tell me about yourself” in an interview isn’t an exact science. Everyone has something unique they bring to the table, which means that tailoring your response individually is the best way to ace this part of the interview.

To properly tailor your response, you need to understand what makes you unique. Are you fresh out of school and brimming with potential? Have you just finished a large project and are poised to take a step forward in a new opportunity? Whatever your situation, identifying what makes you stand out is key to giving a personal response when answering “tell me about yourself.” 

How To Answer The Question For Recent Graduates

A great example of what it means to tailor your response to “tell me about yourself” can be found in interviews with recent graduates. Recent graduates enter the job market in a very unique position. They’re often highly trained and ready to jump into high-skill jobs, but their lack of work experience means that they need to approach the interview process in a unique way.

For recent grads, speaking about coursework like work experience is the key to success. You need to articulate specific classes that taught you specific skills to show that you have experience in what the interviewer is asking for. It’s also crucial for recent grads to play up their ability to learn. After spending several years learning, it’s often a skill that recent grads are more proficient in than the rest of the job market. Tailoring your response to highlight the ability to learn and grow in any position is the best way to find success when determining how to answer “tell me about yourself” as a recent grad.

How To Answer When Changing Careers

Approaching an interview when attempting to change careers can be a daunting endeavor. You have a lot of experience in a certain field, but you’re moving into uncharted waters. It can often feel like you have a lot to prove all of a sudden, causing a lot of anxiety around career changes. There are two factors to consider when interviewing while changing careers. The first explanation to give the interviewer is how your past experience is relevant to this new career. Talk about the soft skills you developed in previous positions, like leadership ability or communication skills. You can also focus on the parts of previous jobs that are most relevant to the new role, showing that while the title or even industry is different, you still have some experience you’ll be able to carry over into your new position.

The second piece of information your interviewer is looking for is your reasoning behind wanting to change your role or your industry. Oftentimes, people have a reason for wanting to make such a drastic change in their career. Be clear and upfront with this information; explaining your motivation for pursuing such a big change shows that you have a clear idea of the future. This goal-oriented approach to switching careers will inspire confidence in the interviewer that you’re prepared to make this change.

Common Mistakes To Avoid

There are a couple of topics to avoid or keep brief when considering how you’ll answer “tell me about yourself.” The first is to avoid oversharing personal details. While this information does provide a lot of insight into you as a person, the interviewer is typically looking for information about you as a professional. Especially when “tell me about yourself” is asked at the start, focusing on giving a professional overview of yourself is the best way to answer the question.

In a similar vein, staying relevant to the job you’re applying to is a must. Talking about your years of experience walking dogs is great when looking to volunteer at a shelter, but the person looking to hire someone for an accounting role is already looking at the clock and waiting for their next interview. Being relevant to the position you’re interviewing for ensures that the interviewer remains engaged with your response.

Speaking of your response, one of the biggest mistakes you can make is not practicing before the interview. Giving “tell me about yourself” an honest try before the actual interview is some of the best preparation you can do. Whether in the mirror or with someone close to you, practicing your response before the interview will help you identify the topics you want to cover and give you a better idea of how long you’ll take.

If you’re working with a coworker, friend, or family member, they can also give you some feedback on your answer, letting you know which areas you should expand on and which you should reduce. Practice makes perfect, and in a high-stress environment like an interview, getting as much practice as possible is the key to success.

Sample Answers

One of the most helpful tools for preparing to answer “tell me about yourself” is looking at some examples of what your answer might look like. Below are three different answers to the question “tell me about yourself,” divided up into different scenarios based on the level of experience of the applicant. Use these examples to inspire different ways you might approach this question in your own interviews.

Entry-Level Candidate

I’m applying for this role because I just recently completed my cybersecurity certification. This was a three-month-long course that held live online sessions twice a week and had a number of tasks to complete on your own. I was able to grow my understanding of how we protect our technology, something that I’ve been passionate about for a long time. For the past few years, the number of phishing emails and spam calls has risen a lot. This impacted my family when my great uncle clicked on one of these links, losing thousands of dollars in the process. Seeing Uncle Algie put in such a hard situation made me truly understand what people go through when they fall for these scams. I set out to help prevent that, and I believe your company affords me the opportunity to help people like my Uncle Algie. 

Besides my skills and passion for cybersecurity, I bring a strong communication ability to the role that I formed in my time as an associate at TJ Max. I worked there for two years, developing a touch for customer service that is crucial to cybersecurity. People in need of security assistance are usually in a difficult position, meaning that tensions are high. My time working retail taught me how to deal with people who are stressed out and in need of a little understanding and care. I know that my people skills and my cybersecurity knowledge make me more than prepared to excel in your role.

Mid-Career Professional

I’ve been working as a risk analyst for Brick Bank for nearly four years. I’ve been put on increasingly larger projects throughout my time with Brick Bank, but I had always worked solo. Recently, however, I was assigned to do risk analysis on one of the largest purchases Brick Bank has ever considered. Because of the size of the purchase, Brick Bank gave me a small team to compile the report. Given all my time spent compiling reports alone, I was a little unsure how to address creating this report with a team working with me. I was definitely caught off guard at first, and I didn't know how to approach the problem.

What ended up working for me was switching my perspective. Instead of approaching the report creation as a leader, I approached it as a risk analyst. I split up the parts of the report for each person to work on a section. Once those first drafts were complete, everyone handed their section to a different team member to ensure accuracy. We ended up with a complete report, double-checked by the whole team. Our presentation ended up giving the higher-ups at Brick Bank the confidence they needed to make the purchase. This purchase has already seen a twenty percent return on investment in the past two quarters, so it’s safe to say that my team was able to find success.

My experience operating a team opened up my eyes to a whole new aspect of risk analysis that I hadn’t considered before. I really enjoyed working with a team, having everyone do their part to get a project done. I’m interviewing for your role today off the back of that success, in the hopes that I can further develop my leadership ability in the risk analysis field.

Career Changer

I come from a pretty unique background compared to the rest of your applicants. I’ve spent ten years now as a safety inspector for machine shops. I’ve worked with companies and as an independent inspector. In my time as a safety inspector, I’ve developed a wide array of skills that I think would be relevant for your logistics coordinator position. The most important skill in my line of work is attention to detail. I need to be sure that standards are being met and that everything is in working order. Otherwise, people’s lives may be at stake. This intensity has made me very critical when it comes to the precise parts of my job, a precision that I believe will carry over very well into the logistics coordinator position.

In addition to my attention to detail, I’ve developed several standard operating procedures in my time as a safety inspector. This experience writing the rulebook on inspections has given me a great understanding of the proper development and implementation of processes. This experience makes me uniquely qualified to be a logistics coordinator because I’m able to understand and implement the small nuances into the various shipments and deliveries being scheduled. I’ll understand when to leave room for tardiness and when to be sure that everything is happening exactly on time.

I’m making such a large change in my career because I want to utilize my organizational ability. I’ve learned through my past decade of experience as a safety inspector that attention to detail is more important than organization. However, I’m a very organized individual in my personal life. I’d like to use that skill professionally, as I get a lot of satisfaction from putting organizational systems in place. I believe that my wealth of experience and my unique skillset mean that I’ll be more than prepared to excel as a logistics coordinator.

Partner With Premier

Finding a new job can feel daunting at times, but applying with Premier can make the process feel like a breeze. Our team has exceptional experience guiding candidates through the application process, including help with interviews, as well as finding open positions and getting settled into a new role. If you’re looking for a new position, find out more today about how Premier can help your career grow.