“Tell me about yourself.” This might be one of the hardest questions to answer in an interview. It tends to catch people off guard because they have spent all of their time preparing to answer the tough questions, and very little time focusing on their life outside of their resume. However, it is probably one of the most important questions that you are going to answer in an interview because it solidifies the interviewers first impression of you as a future employee. This means that it is important not to “uhhh,” “ummm,” and “like” your way through your answer. But, how should you answer such a vague question? I have been perplexed by the “tell me about yourself” question for quite some time, so I started asking around about how to answer this question. So far, the best advice I have gotten is the two-minutes commercial.
A two-minute commercial is your opportunity to sell yourself to your future employers. For this two-minute commercial think about everything that your interviewers would not know from looking at your resume. Ask yourself: What in my life has prepared me for this job? What makes me unique from the other applicants? What strengths do I want to emphasize to these employers? Then, stand in front of a mirror or a helpful friend, and come up with a clear, concise way to communicate that information in approximately two minutes. Practice your commercial a couple of times, but don’t overdo it because you don’t want to sound like you are reciting from a script. Now, walk into your interview with a confident and impressive answer to their first question!
If you’re still a little confused here is a commercial that I used in a recent interview for an English teacher position:
“I’m from Aurora, Illinois and have lived there almost my whole life. My mom is a first grade teacher and my dad works at Northern Illinois University. So, from a very young age, I have been surrounded by teachers, educators, and books. I grew up with my mom writing morning messages on our whiteboard before I would go to school and my dad and I reading all the Harry Potter books out loud. And, since fourth grade I have kept a journal of every book I have read. Once I got to high school I enjoyed taking on different roles where I worked with students. I was a nanny, swim coach, and camp counselor. Then, in college, I decided to make a definitive decision to major in Education. I will graduate from Loyola this spring with degrees in Secondary Education and English and a minor in ESL.”
Obviously, this is simply my own example of a commercial, but hopefully it gives you a bit of an idea of what you could prepare for the future. Make it your own, have fun with it, and good luck in your future interviews!