{"id":53373,"date":"2016-01-05T10:58:17","date_gmt":"2016-01-05T16:58:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/?p=53373"},"modified":"2021-09-07T14:35:50","modified_gmt":"2021-09-07T19:35:50","slug":"tell-me-a-little-about-yourself","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/money-wealth\/career\/tell-me-a-little-about-yourself\/","title":{"rendered":"Tell Me a Little About Yourself"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/content.artofmanliness.com\/uploads\/\/2016\/01\/little.png\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-53411\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-53411\" src=\"https:\/\/content.artofmanliness.com\/uploads\/\/2016\/01\/little.png\" alt=\"Vintage young boy kid standing nervously at microphone.\" width=\"525\" height=\"501\" srcset=\"https:\/\/content.artofmanliness.com\/uploads\/2016\/01\/little.png 595w, https:\/\/content.artofmanliness.com\/uploads\/2016\/01\/little-320x305.png 320w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 525px) 100vw, 525px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><em>\u201cTell me a little about yourself.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s a seemingly innocuous request &#8212;&nbsp;an invitation that\u2019s really an open-ended question. But that openness is what makes it such a difficult query to answer. Which of many possible responses should you give, what things should you mention, and how much should you say?<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTell me a little about yourself\u201d is a request you get from a professor on the first day of class, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/career-wealth\/leadership\/\">leader<\/a> of a new group you\u2019ve joined at church, a job interviewer, or someone you meet at a party. Whether the situation is social or professional, a halting or rambling answer can really get the interaction off on the wrong foot, stymying the emerging conversation and hindering your first impression.<\/p>\n<p>Today we\u2019ll talk about how to give an effective and compelling answer when someone asks you to share a little about yourself. We\u2019ll cover what to say when this question comes up in a job interview, as well as in social situations like the first day of class.<\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">How to Answer \u201cTell Me a Little About Yourself\u201d in a Job Interview<\/span><\/h3>\n<p>\u201cTell me a little about yourself\u201d is one of the most common ways for an interviewer to kick off an interview. It breaks the ice and gets the conversation going. But don\u2019t be lulled into thinking it\u2019s just a time for pleasant chit-chat &#8212;&nbsp;the \u201cofficial\u201d interview has most definitely already begun. Most interviewers make their decision about the candidate within the first five minutes of the interview,&nbsp;so how you start things off matters a lot. Giving a confident, effective answer to this frequent first question will set the tone for the rest of the interview.<\/p>\n<p>But the open-endedness of the query causes many candidates to stumble right out the gate. How far should they go back in their work history? Should they talk about their education? Should they share a chronological timeline of all their previous jobs, or just highlights from their most recent one? In that moment of confusion and hesitation, what comes out of the candidate\u2019s mouth is often a whole lot of hemming and hawing.<\/p>\n<p>So let\u2019s first talk about the most common variations of these undesirable responses, and then discuss how to craft a more effective answer.<\/p>\n<h3>How NOT to Respond<\/h3>\n<p><strong>The non-response, response. <\/strong><em>\u201cI don\u2019t know what you want me to tell you. It\u2019s all there on my resume.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p>This response will mark you as someone overly literal, obtuse, cranky, and\/or cagey. The hiring manger isn\u2019t looking for a verbatim recitation of what\u2019s on your resume; rather, the request is to be translated <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/gp\/product\/B015YOKWYA\/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957&amp;creativeASIN=B015YOKWYA&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=stucosuccess-20&amp;linkId=XBIVE24TSGRQRUU3\">as career coach Peggy McKee suggests<\/a>: \u201c<u>Tell me something that will matter to me as I consider you for this job<\/u>.\u201d The interviewer doesn\u2019t want a list of bullet points, but for you <em>to connect those dots<\/em> for them.<\/p>\n<p><strong>A chronological monologue on your education and work experience<em>.<\/em><\/strong><em> \u201cI majored in accounting in college and received a 3.7 GPA. My first job after graduation was at X Company, where I worked as\u2026Then two years later I moved to Y Company, where my role included\u2026Most recently I worked at Job Z, where\u2026\u201d <\/em><\/p>\n<p>The interviewer has all this information on the resume in front of them, so there\u2019s no need to give a full chronological tour of your credentials. It\u2019s tedious and they\u2019ll start tuning you out.<\/p>\n<p><strong>A soliloquy on your own goals and interest in the job. <\/strong><em>\u201cI\u2019ve always wanted to be a software engineer, and I feel like this is my absolute dream job.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s great for you to have high hopes about the job, but the hiring manager is most interested in what you can do for <em>them<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Oversharing.<\/strong> <em>\u201cWell I was born in Macon, Georgia, but my family moved to Pittsburgh when I was ten, and I\u2019ve been here ever since. I\u2019ve been in the construction industry for fourteen years now. I really liked my last job, but then the foreman started having an affair with my wife, and of course he pushed me out. And now I don\u2019t have a job or a wife, and I\u2019m just looking to start over again.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p>An interviewer\u2019s not looking for many personal details of your life &#8212; just stick to the highlights of your work experience.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Vague overeagerness<\/strong><em>. \u201cI\u2019m willing to do whatever it is you need.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p>A hiring manager wants to hear specifics about what you bring to the table; it\u2019s details, rather than generalities, that will invite follow-up questions and get the conversation going.<\/p>\n<h3>How to Respond<\/h3>\n<p>Potential employers sort through hundreds of resumes and may interview a dozen candidates. After awhile, all those guys in suits and gals in pencil skirts turn into one big blur of resume bullet points, and the hiring manager will start categorizing folks and lumping them together. Your job is thus to break from the pack right from the get-go &#8212; as soon as they say: \u201cSo tell me a little about yourself.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Here\u2019s how:<\/p>\n<p><strong>Keep your response short.<\/strong> Your answer should last <u>no longer than about a minute<\/u>. Any longer and the interviewer will start to lose interest. Don\u2019t repeat yourself. Don\u2019t ramble.<\/p>\n<p>Realize that you don\u2019t have to say everything you want the interviewer to know about you in this statement; rather, <u>the goal should be to say things that invite follow-up questions in areas that will allow you to elaborate on your strengths.<\/u><\/p>\n<p><strong>Start with a brief bio of your work history. <\/strong>Succinctly summarize the highlights of your resume.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><em>\u201cI started my first business when I was 19, I\u2019m a graduate of the University of Oklahoma\u2019s College of Business, and I\u2019ve been the sales manager for X Company for the last five years.\u201d<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Give a concrete example about the value you could bring to the employer.<\/strong> What unique skills and experiences do you have that set you apart from other candidates? How do your own goals align with those of the potential employer? How are you going to bring value to the company and help them reach their objectives?<\/p>\n<p>A hiring manager is most interested in what you\u2019re going to bring to the company\u2019s table. You should have already spent some time brainstorming the needs of the potential employer and how\/where they align with your own strengths (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/articles\/how-to-control-a-job-interview\/\">here\u2019s exactly how to do this).<\/a> You\u2019ll want to weave these \u201cmatches\u201d into your response by offering a concrete example of a time you used your skills to solve a problem, save money, or improve quality &#8212;&nbsp;one that directly overlaps with the company\u2019s objectives.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><em>\u201cAt Company X, I helped introduce three new hit products to their line-up and increased sales 5% each year I was there. I feel confident I can do the same for your company.\u201d<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Mention things that point to positive underlying qualities.<\/strong> You don\u2019t want to brag in your response, but you do want to seem valuable and confident. One way to walk this line is to mention things that point to positive underlying qualities without spelling them out explicitly. For example:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><em>\u201cI graduated college in three years.\u201d<\/em> (points to work ethic)<\/li>\n<li><em>\u201cI was the youngest person ever to be made sales manager.\u201d<\/em> (points to beyond-your-years competency)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Mention anything you have in common with the interviewer.<\/strong> If you\u2019re able to research the person who\u2019ll be interviewing you beforehand, or notice something in their office you have in common, mention it in your response. Maybe they went to the same college, belonged to the same fraternity, or once worked for the same company as you. Or let\u2019s say you know they\u2019re originally from Texas and so are you. While you wouldn\u2019t normally mention the fact you grew up in Texas&nbsp;in your response, you would want to with that interviewer. People like people who are like themselves.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Keep it all relevant.<\/strong> Relevancy is the byword of a good response. Just because you\u2019re proud of something, doesn\u2019t mean it\u2019s relevant to the company you\u2019re interviewing with.<\/p>\n<h3>Putting It All Together<\/h3>\n<p>The basic principle of a good \u201cTell me a little about yourself\u201d response is to cover as much territory as you can in as small a space as possible; you don\u2019t know what\u2019s going to pique the interviewer\u2019s interest, so you want to include as many things as possible that might get the conversation going, with a focus on things that show your strengths, and invite follow-up questions that allow you to elaborate on them. It\u2019s basically a little elevator pitch, where what you\u2019re pitching is yourself.<\/p>\n<p>Here\u2019s an example of how all the above points could come together to form a compelling and effective response to a hiring manager who\u2019s from Texas&nbsp;and is looking for an ambitious self-starter to improve his company\u2019s sales:<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">\u201cI grew up in Texas&nbsp;and then crossed the border to attend the University of Tulsa for my undergrad. I earned my degree in accounting in three years, and also started my own business my sophomore year, which I was able to sell after I graduated. I got my MBA from the University of Oklahoma\u2019s business college, and interned with Y Company during that time. I\u2019ve spent the last five years working for X Company, where I was the youngest person ever to be made sales manager. I helped introduce three new hit products to their line-up and have increased sales 5% each year I\u2019ve been there. I feel confident I can do the same for your company.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s succinct, but covers a lot of ground. Think of all the promising follow-up questions the interviewer can now ask:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Oh you\u2019re from Texas? What part?<\/li>\n<li>What kind of business did you start in college?<\/li>\n<li>How did you graduate from college in 3 years?<\/li>\n<li>Why did Company Y decide to make you manager at such a young age?<\/li>\n<li>What new products did you introduce at Company Y?<\/li>\n<li>How have you been able to improve their sales 5% each year?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>It pays to always know what you\u2019re going to say before the interview, rehearsing it to yourself a few times over. With a little effort, you can really get the interview off on the right foot.<\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">How to Answer \u201cTell Me a Little About Yourself\u201d in a Social Situation<\/span><\/h3>\n<p>In comparison to answering \u201cTell me a little about yourself&#8221; in a job interview, coming up with a response to this query in a social situation is pretty simple and straightforward.<\/p>\n<p>Just as in the interview context, you want to keep it short (again, less than a minute), while offering up some interesting tidbits that may invite follow-up questions. Here you\u2019re not trying to impress anybody per se, you\u2019re just giving folks a sense of who you are, whether you might have things in common, and fodder for things they might talk to you about &#8212;&nbsp;whether the conversation is going to continue in that moment, or whether they might come up to you after class to ask you about something you said.<\/p>\n<p>Here are some things that are typically appropriate to mention in various situations:<\/p>\n<p><strong>The First Day of Class:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Where you\u2019re from<\/li>\n<li>How you decided to attend that college (especially if you\u2019re from out-of-state)<\/li>\n<li>What your major is, or if you\u2019re like, totally undecided<\/li>\n<li>Why you\u2019re taking the class and what you hope to get out of it (professors enjoy hearing this; it\u2019s also a question that can convey a lot of your personality to your classmates)<\/li>\n<li>A unique, funny, and\/or random fact about you (you used to be in the Army and did a tour in Iraq; you drive a PT Cruiser that your aunt gave you and kind of love it; you play a mean harmonica; you once had hair down to your butt; Bill Clinton kissed you as a baby at a 1996 campaign rally; you just got home from serving a two-year mission for your church in Brazil). A unique fact can make your classmates laugh, or simply make you memorable.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>A New Club\/Meet-Up\/Church Group<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Where you\u2019re from, if you just moved into the area<\/li>\n<li>What brought you to your new home (again, if you just moved in)<\/li>\n<li>How you came into the club\u2019s interest or faith<\/li>\n<li>Why you joined the group, and what you\u2019re looking for out of it<\/li>\n<li>Any talents or interests the group might put to use<\/li>\n<li>A unique, funny, and\/or random fact about you<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Meeting Someone New at a Party\/Conference<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Where you\u2019re from<\/li>\n<li>What you do for a living<\/li>\n<li>Why you\u2019re at the conference<\/li>\n<li>How you know the party host<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Part of the art of small talk is not just coming up with things to say yourself, but offering up material that makes it easy for people to know what to say\/ask in response. So just think about throwing out a few things that will make other folks want to get to know more about you, while making it as easy as possible for them to do so.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u201cTell me a little about yourself.\u201d It\u2019s a seemingly innocuous request &#8212;&nbsp;an invitation that\u2019s really an open-ended question. But that openness is what makes it such a difficult query to answer. Which of many possible responses should you give, what things should you mention, and how much should you say? \u201cTell me a little about [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":101138,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[424,6,42279],"tags":[],"yst_prominent_words":[],"class_list":["post-53373","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-career","category-featured","category-money-wealth"],"featured_image_urls":{"large":"https:\/\/content.artofmanliness.com\/uploads\/2016\/01\/tellme2-521x280.png","aom":"https:\/\/content.artofmanliness.com\/uploads\/2016\/01\/tellme2-372x230.png","reactor-320":"https:\/\/content.artofmanliness.com\/uploads\/2016\/01\/tellme2-320x237.png"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53373","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=53373"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53373\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":138259,"href":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53373\/revisions\/138259"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/101138"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=53373"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=53373"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=53373"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=53373"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}