Ep.01: Tell me about yourself

We cover how to answer "Tell me about yourself."

This video is part of the job-applications.com Ultimate Guide to interviewing. Our goal is to teach you how to give the best answers to common interview questions. How it works is we examine a common response from a real person, evaluate it, then give you tips on how to give an even better answer.

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[Transcript]

Welcome to the Job Applciaitons.com Ultimate Guide to Interviewing, a web series where we evaluate real responses to common interview questions and give you tips on how to provide the best answers. In today's episode, we cover "Tell me about yourself."

This answer is okay, but it's a bit off target. He opens up about his personal life by talking about his hobbies, interests, family, and even where he grew up. Although he gives insight into his life outside of work, he does not show traits that would benefit an employer.
Remember, with any interview question, it is not as much about you as it is about the employer. You want to talk about yourself in ways that relate to the job. You do this by highlighting qualities that would benefit the employer.
Here is an example of an answer with the candidate interviewing for a customer-service-based job. Notice how he highlights qualities an employer for that role would be interest in.
If you're still having trouble crafting your answer, I have an easy structure you can follow. You just have to answer three questions.
First: Who are you professionally?
You want to say how long you have been working in your industry, what types of tools you use, or which functions you regularly perform.
A good answer would start out something like this, "I've been working as a graphic designer at a boutique agency for over four years. I'm proficient in Photoshop and InDesign, which I use do design everything from print advertisements to logos."
Second: What's makes you great?
Mention one of your main strengths, particularly something important to the role. Drive your point home by highlighting an example of how your strength makes you great at what you do.
The graphic designer in our example could continue the answer with something like, "In my time doing this, I have discovered that I'm a great communicator. I ask the right questions to understand my client's wants and needs so I can turn around and give them exactly what they envision. Knowing what the client wants right off the bat allows me to work fast. Clients often praise me for creating exactly what they wanted in very little time."
Finally: What do you want?
Now, tie in what you want out of your career. Make sure to show that this job relates to your goal. For our graphic design example, a good final part would be, "Now, I'm looking for bigger challenges, and I want to work for a mid-sized agency with well-established clients. This is why your position is very appealing to me."
Interviewers expect the answer to be about 60 to 90 seconds long, so avoid getting of track.
Now with this three-step approach, you have you have an easy way to craft your answer for one of the most daunting interview questions.