This question may pop-up at a
barbecue, during an informational interview, a college reunion, a screening
interview or a conference. Depending on the context, this question could
be asked as:
- What should I know about you?
- What’s your background?
- How can I help you today?
- Do you work outside the home?
- Tell me in your own words, who is [your name]?
- Tell me about yourself.
Whether formally or casually asked, ‘Tell me about yourself’ is an
opportunity. When you have an articulate, confidently delivered response
that takes into account what the listener wants to know, you can
distinguish yourself and make a positive impression.
Here are three points to help you prepare. (For convenience sake,
all forms of Tell Me About Yourself will be referred to as TMAY.)
1. Prepare.
Don’t wing this. Your response to
TMAY is an important part of how you market yourself, just as your
resume and Linked In profile are. It’s hard to come up with a good
response to this deceptively difficult question on the fly. By preparing
bullet points in advance that you’ve committed to memory and can tweak
and integrate into conversations as appropriate, you’ll be ready.
2. Consider Your Audience.
What a prospective
employer wants to know about you is not the same as what your best
friend’s spouse wants to know at the neighborhood holiday party. Don’t
reflexively tell the person what you want to tell them. Instead, think
about what they might want to know and make it part of your response.
- Strengths. For job interviews, make sure that the
beginning of your response includes 2-3 key features about you that
would be compelling to that employer. Here’s an example:
Q. Tell me about yourself.
A. I’m a career relauncher and project manager
with 10 years of experience in pharmaceutical marketing. I’ve always
loved project management work because I can use my excellent
organizational and technological skills to make sure that all the moving
parts of a project sync. During my 7 year career break, I became a
trustee for my local public library and chaired our technology committee
so I’ve been able to continue to use and hone those skills. Also, I was
a four year DI college athlete, and when I worked at Rose & Whitney
as a project manager, I was consistently recognized for my strong team
orientation, and how I coordinated and communicated well with all team
members, regardless of seniority.
- Relauncher Status. It may be okay in some
circumstances to explain that you’re exploring, researching or
considering more than one relaunch career path. Usually, this will
likely be in a social or casual situation or in informational
interviews, but not in job interviews. An example of how to explain
your ‘undecided’ status as part of a TMAY response to a networking or
social contact who might be able to help you is:
I’m a relauncher and before my 10 year career
break, I practiced as a health law attorney at a large law firm for 5
years. I’m planning to return to work as a practicing attorney. I’m
currently exploring either a path to a hospital legal department
position or practicing elder law at a small firm. I’ve always been
interested in health care and was pre-med in college. I became
interested in elder law when I helped my parents navigate some
challenging long term care, Medicare and estate planning issues.
- No Chronologies. Your response to TMAY should
never be a chronological story that starts with where you were born or
what you did after grad school. Instead, it should highlight who you are
now and what your strengths, ‘value adds’ and/or career relaunch plans
are.
- Mind the Time. Your TMAY response should be
between 30 seconds and 90 seconds long -- at the most. You’ll lose your
listener’s interest and attention after that.
- Fluid Not Static. Your TMAY response will change
over time, as your goals and targets do. Check in on your TMAY response
periodically to be sure that it’s still doing the job of conveying an
accurate picture of you.
3. Practice Delivering with Confidence.
Your
listener in some cases may remember how you delivered your TMAY response
more than what you’ve actually said! Practice with a friend, in front
of a mirror and/or with the recording feature on your phone. If you’re
not feeling particularly confident about your TMAY response at first,
pretend! With repeated delivery, you’ll get better.
Many job searchers and relaunchers flounder when asked to tell about
themselves. By nailing this question and making it a positive part of
how you market yourself, you’ll become more memorable and compelling as a
relaunch candidate.
