5 Good Ways To "Tell Me About Yourself"

You know it's coming. "Can You tell me about yourself?" Blecch. What a boring, vague, open-ended question. Who likes answering that?

I know. I'm with you. But unfortunately, hiring managers and executive recruiters ask the question. Now, before I share a list of five memorable answers, consider the two essential elements behind the answers. 

The medium is the message. The interviewer cares less about your answer to this question and more about the confidence, enthusiasm and passion with which you answer it

The speed of the response is the response. The biggest mistake you could make is pausing, stalling or fumbling at the onset of your answer, thus demonstrating a lack of self-awareness and self esteem.

 Try these:

"I can summarize who I am in three words" grabs their attention immediately. It demonstrates your ability to be concise, creative and compelling. 

"The quotation I live my life by is..." proves that personal development is an essential part of your growth plan. It also shows your ability to motivate yourself. 

"Well, I googled myself this morning, and here's what I found..." Tech-savvy, fun, cool people would say this. It is unexpected and memorable.

"My passion is..." people don't care what you do, people care who you are. And what you're passionate about is who you are. Plus, passion unearths enthusiasm.

"The compliment people give me most frequently is.." is almost like a testimonial. This response also indicates self awareness and openness to feedback.

Keep in mind that these examples are just the opener. The secret is thinking how you will follow up each answer with relevant, interesting and concise explanations that make the already bored interviewer look up from his stale coffe and think, "Wow! That's the best answer I've heard all day!"

Ultimately, it's about answering quickly, it's about speaking creatively and it's about breaking people's patterns.

Source: Scott Ginsberg

www.theladders.com