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  • So you sent off your CV and your covering letter for that dream job and they're

  • impressed! You're called to the interview they welcome you, you shake hands and

  • they ask you the first question "Tell me about yourself?"

  • what do you do? what do you say? where do you begin?

  • well this question will be asked at almost every interview and let me tell

  • you that this is a trick question they are NOT asking you to tell you about

  • yourself. To find out why stay tuned

  • Hello and welcome to LetThemTalk and today we're going to look at how to

  • answer the interview question tell me about yourself we've got some general

  • tips and if English is not your first language we'll look at how you can

  • approach it if you're not so confident about your English level. As I said

  • at the beginning this is kind of a trick question they are not asking you to tell

  • them your life story and they're not asking you to talk, in detail, about your

  • professional and educational experience and background why should they do that

  • they got your CV they've read your covering letter, they know all there is

  • to know, so why should they ask this question? What they want to know is if

  • you possess the art of communication can you engage? can you keep them interested?

  • can you tell a story? the question beneath the question is we know you have

  • got what it takes to do the job on paper but let's see what you're like as a

  • candidate. And this is your chance to make a good first impression so

  • let's look at how to answer the question. Rule number one: Keep it brief. Very

  • important keep it brief one,two, three minutes should be enough I would say

  • five minutes is too long ten minutes way too long you could

  • probably say goodbye to the job don't tell your life story, you don't get any

  • points for giving a long answer and you risk alienating the interviewers you do

  • not need to talk about everything on your CV this is just the first question

  • and if you forget something, if you get something important, it doesn't matter

  • you can discuss it later in the interview. Your answer should pique

  • curiosity and the interviewer should be thinking "I want to know more" and not

  • "I already know too much". So what's the content of your answer you should

  • basically tell them a story about your professional background and educational

  • background if it relates to the current position. now you should mention some of

  • these things: so start by giving some adjectives to describe yourself,

  • especially ones that are relevant to the job you're seeking say something about

  • how you started you could mention an accomplishment you could talk about your

  • motivation tell them a story of how you changed something or made a difference in

  • your previous job or at university tell them what you can do for them and what

  • you want for the future and why you're best suited for the job. So you

  • can cover some of those points that'll be great and finally give some

  • personal detail to add colour or to show that you are and all rounded individual

  • and your life doesn't revolve exclusively around work but this should

  • be very brief, very brief just a few words. I know that some recruitment

  • advisors say that you shouldn't say anything personal when answering this

  • question but personally I think it's good to show that you have a life

  • outside of work and if one of your interviews shares the same interest it

  • can help you bond. but as I said keep it very short so that's essentially the

  • WHAT but HOW you tell it is much, much more important as I said the question is

  • a challenge to you to engage with them and to connect with them on an emotional level.

  • Often the words you use are less

  • important than how you say them so remember rule number one: maintain good

  • eye contact throughout. This seems obvious but I've seen so many

  • candidates who don't look you in the eye and it's quite disengaging. Have a good

  • tone of voice with nice rolling intonation not flat so that you sound

  • like a robot. When you get passionate raise your voice a little

  • don't shout though. You can speed up, you can slow down, you can use hand gestures.

  • personally I like that some people sit with their hands on their lap but I

  • think it's good to look a little animated and speak informally your

  • covering letter and your CV is probably written in formal English but when you

  • speak make it sound more conversational if it sounds too formal you can sound

  • distant and unapproachable and for the same reason don't memorize your answer

  • learn the key points, yes, but let the words come out naturally and leave room

  • for spontaneity. If English is not your first language you might be worried

  • about your grammar mistakes well certainly you shouldn't be. First of all,

  • the interviewers are not grammar teachers (unless of course you're going

  • for a job as an English language teacher and that's a different story) I assure

  • you that they won't notice any small grammar mistakes they want to

  • know that you can communicate in English. You can have perfect grammar and be a

  • bad communicator and you can have not good grammar and be a great communicator

  • and that's what they want and, as I said, the words you use are much less

  • important than the way you communicate and the story you tell. So even if your

  • level of English is not that great you can answer this question and it will put

  • you in a good position for the rest of the interview.

  • OK I've talked enough about this so let me just finish by giving an example

  • so imagine I'm a project manager at an interview for a new job so "Tell me

  • about yourself" I would describe myself as someone who is versatile and

  • determined and someone who loves learning. I'm creative, open-minded and

  • easygoing and I enjoy working with others and I try to use all these

  • qualities in my professional life for the last six years I've been working at

  • XYZ company I started out at the help desk where I worked closely with clients

  • and I built some good relationships. After that I did a number of roles in

  • the company and have been promoted several times now for the last three

  • years I've been working as a project manager. The company has been pretty

  • successful and I'd like to think that I contributed to that success my team has

  • been developing accounting software for the publishing industry and within two

  • years we came from nowhere to being the number one product in the field. And you

  • know actually I wasn't looking for a new job

  • I'm quite happy where I am and I kind of came across your job ad by accident but it

  • really captivated my imagination your company is renowned for being one of the

  • most innovative in the sector. And I know this is a more

  • senior than my current position but I do have the skills and the experience and

  • the passion you need and I do believe I can make a positive impact and that's

  • why I'm here today. So in a nutshell that's who I am professionally and when

  • I'm not working I like to go hiking at weekends and I like reading books.

  • OK that's it I hope you found that useful and if you have any tips of your own

  • about how to answer this question do put them in the comments and good luck with

  • the interview stay mellow and I'll see you next time.

So you sent off your CV and your covering letter for that dream job and they're

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