So, Tell Me a Little about Yourself

            This question tops the list of the five most favourite questions of the interviewers world-over. This question will be one of the first three questions asked; often the very first one. And this seemingly harmless question can make you stumble at the first step itself. The success or failure of many interviews depends on this simple question.

             This question is considered to be a nice ice-breaker. Chance for the interviewers to judge the comfort-level of the interviewee; to get a little insight into the stranger in front of them﴾i.e., YOU﴿; to force you to do all the talking, for atleast a couple of minutes. An opportunity for the interviewee to create a favourable first impression; to convince the interviewer-face to face-that you are the right person for the job; to motivate the interviewer to ‘buy’ you. The interviewee is expected to carry the conversational load, while the interviewer sits back and decides whether he is ready to buy what you are selling.

             Like most people you are a complex product,made up of a unique blend of abilities, skills and personal qualities. The better you know about yourself, the better you can sell yourself to a prospective employer at the time of an interview. If you are prepared, this can be your golden opportunity to demonstrate the traits the interviewer is desperately searching for; intelligence, enthusiasm, confidence, dependability, initiative to learn, honesty, versatility,responsibility,resourcefulness,motivated,smartness,friendliness, someone who needs little supervision, someone who gets the job done and even physical and mental healthiness.

              You should view this question as a wonderful opportunity to sell yourself to a prospective employer. It may be the only time during the whole job-hunting process that you can highlight those very things that make you uniquely suitable to the needs of the job/organization. Match your skills and talents with the requirements of the job/organization. Articulate your strengths, skills and the values you can add to the   organization. Show that there is a fit between you and the position you are seeking. To achieve this, prepare well, and do research on yourself and on job/organization. Connecting these two successfully is the best way to get you selected.

              Research on yourself enables you to know precisely what you are selling. You are selling your skills and yourself as a person. First: your skills. An easy way to uncover your skills is to list your achievements and then think of which skills it took to achieve them. You can explain this ‘package’ within a minute. Next: you as a person. As seen earlier, most organizations seek employees with the traits listed in para-3.And in addition, How do you deal with people? Are you flexible? Do you have the courage and determination to overcome adversity? These qualities can be made into a ‘package’ and explained away within a minute. The time you spend outlining these details will pay off in interviews, and, ultimately job offers.

            Employers know what they want. To find what they really expect, make efforts to research your target organization/job position. As you do this research, make notes of the  organization purpose, history and future plans, products or services, policies, customers and markets, organizational aspects of the company, kind of person being sought for the job position, knowledge and skills specifically needed for the job, job profile, job stabilization, promotion, transfer, rules regarding working hours/shifts, non-monetary benefits, selection criteria etc. Job announcements or advertisements or web search engines or the organization websites provide these details.

           With these information in place, it will be easier to develop a concise and convincing answer to the question-an answer that will set you apart from the competition. Construct a well-thought-out, logically sequenced summary of your experience, skills, talents in the light of what we discussed in para-5.Be factual. Do not either praise or underestimate yourself. Both can damage you. Be sure to keep it tightly focused-about 250 to 350 words, full of specifics. It should take you no more than two minutes to recite the answer. Let this brief answer clearly match you and your specific strengths, skills,  talents and experience to the requirements of the organization/job position.

          Your answer should not be a repetition of your resume. At the same time it should not contradict it. It should supplement as well as complement it. Your answer should not appear as if you are reciting a prepared text. Practice speaking it until it sounds sincere and spontaneous. Your advance preparation should give you the power to take control of the interview, allowing to emphasise the many ways in which you will be an asset to the prospective employer. As this question appears in the early part of the interview, it gives you an opportunity to steer the interview in the direction you want it to take. This can be achieved only if you are confident enough. You can be confident if you are prepared enough. Preparing for interviews involve relentless effort and practice. Effort and practice make perfection.