How To Nail The Interview Question, "Tell Me About Yourself!"

"Wait, wait, I know this one!" / iStockphoto.com (Wavebreakmedia)

The interview question, "Tell me about yourself," is painful for so many reasons:

• It's vague, and wide open to interpretation.
• It's unclear what the interviewer wants to know about you. Are they interested in your work history? Or are they interested in knowing your golf score? Your inability to read the interviewer's mind can toss you out of the running.
• It is, quite frankly, a lazy question. It requires no imagination or planning on the part of the interviewer, and places the burden squarely on you to make of it what you can.

When I was a recruiter and I had to run into an interview with acandidate with little time to prepare, I asked this question, too. Sorry.

Regardless of how the interviewer asks this question, you should really be hearing the following question:

"Why should I hire you?"

The best strategy here is to toss out your best "elevator speech." In case you haven't heard the term, an elevator speech refers to a short sales pitch that can be delivered during a brief elevator ride with your intended target.

As an example, let's say you devised an incredible new chemical process for converting lead to gold, and you find yourself in an elevator ride with the president of a chemical company. The ride in the elevator might last two minutes, at most. How can you sell your idea to the president in that time?

You only get one chance to make a first impression, right? How can you open your interview as strongly as possible? You need to load your answer with your qualifications, and give the hiring managers reasons, to hire you.

Let's say you're a teacher interviewing for a tenure-track educator position at a school district. The conversation might look something like this:

Interviewer: So, tell me about yourself (yawns).

Job Hunter: I would be glad to. I am a highly skilled and experienced educator, with over ten years of experience in changing the lives of young students for the better. My teaching methods have been recognized as highly advanced, and I currently hold the latest state certifications. Over the last three years, my classes have consistently ranked in the top tier of standardized test scores. In addition, I have experience mentoring students in not just the classroom setting, but through my leadership in extracurricular activities such as coaching the soccer team and academic tutoring.

Interviewer: (Perking up) Very interesting! As you know, we have a teaching position available, but we also lost our last soccer coach last week.

Think about what makes you unique and exciting to a hiring manager. Then polish it into your own elevator speech. Then you'll be ready the next time an employer asks you to, "Tell me about yourself."

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Scott Singer is the President and Founder of Insider Career Strategies Resume Writing & Career Coaching, a firm dedicated to guiding job seekers and companies through the job search and hiring process. Insider Career Strategies provides resume writing, LinkedIn profile development, and career coaching services, including a free resume review. You can email Scott Singer at scott.singer@insidercs.com, or via the website, www.insidercs.com.

Don't Let Age Discrimination Win: Interview And Resume Tips For The Over-40 Set

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Age discrimination exists – it’s illegal, and it’s regrettable. Sadly, employers miss out on many highly qualified candidates if they consider age as a factor in the hiring decision.

The good news is there are tactics older workers can use to compete effectively for jobs. Remember, the job interview is an opportunity for the employer to not only meet you and get a sense of your technical abilities, but also whether you fit the competencies (i.e., “soft skills”) required to do the position.

And if you hear post-interview feedback such as, “We don’t think you can keep up with the fast pace," age may be creeping in as a factor. I’ve seen several job seekers from the over-40 set turned down for positions for that reason – but I've also seen it happen to recent college graduates who didn’t convey the sense of urgency or excitement that interviewers wanted to see.

You've got the skills, and you've got the experience. Here are some tips you can use to overcome age discrimination and demonstrate your true value to an employer.

ACING THE JOB INTERVIEW

Your job in the interview is to sell yourself. You need to prepare – and be aware of – how you project yourself.

Record and review a practice interview on video. This way, you can see for yourself how you come across, and you can have someone critique your practice interview with total honesty. Do you convey tangible energy that employers want to see? Do you smile enough? Do you ask impactful questions during the interview? Does your body language show that you're fully engaged in the interview?

Prepare your interview answers. Employers want to see examples from your prior work experience which demonstrate how you will deal with situations in the future. You can prepare your answers in such a way that they show your ability to add value over less experienced candidates.

Prepare concrete examples from your work history of how you dealt with tight deadlines, adapted to fast-moving work environments, and successfully brought programs to conclusion. Some sample questions you might be asked:

• How did you meet that impossible deadline? (Demonstrates quick reaction time)
• How did you rally your coworkers around meeting a time-sensitive task? (Demonstrates team-building and leadership abilities)
• How have you dealt with balancing a heavy work load? (Demonstrates energy and planning skills)
• How did you train and develop your team to be successful? (Demonstrates leadership and succession planning)

Review your wardrobe. Does your outfit reflect current fashion trends, or does it need updating? A modern suit can do wonders in helping make a great first impression.

OPTIMIZING YOUR RESUME

Your primary task with the resume is to have an employer spend more time focusing on the value you've added lately, and less on your age.

Focus on the past 15 to 20 years. Don’t list jobs from any further back than you need to.

Don’t give too many “tells” of your age on the resume. Examples of these include the year you started your first job, or the year you graduated college.

Include as many recent professional successes as will reasonably fit. Show that you're continuing to make an impact and add value to your organization

Check for – and remove, if possible – clues which may make you look older. For example, if you list a skill it should be because you've been working in it recently as an important part of your career. An example of this is COBOL – it's an older programming language, and it still exists in some corners on older computer systems; if you've been using COBOL the last few years and think you can get a job writing code in it, by all means include it. Otherwise it could be considered old and may adversely date both you and your skills.

Pile on the latest technology or business strategies you've been using. If it's current, in demand, and you're an expert, include it. Examples - cloud solutions, talent management, SAAS, etc. are all hot and current terms.

Lastly, if you're an older worker and would like to learn more strategies about how to succeed in the job hunt, here's an additional resource for your review, a webinar on this very topic I presented last year in partnership with Boston University: https://youtu.be/igIWEBIRYow.

(Special thanks to Jeffrey Murphy, Associate Director of Career Programs with Boston University's department of Development & Alumni Relations).

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Scott Singer is the President and Founder of Insider Career Strategies Resume Writing & Career Coaching, a firm dedicated to guiding job seekers and companies through the job search and hiring process. Insider Career Strategies provides resume writing, LinkedIn profile development, and career coaching services, including a free resume review. You can email Scott Singer at scott.singer@insidercs.com, or via the website, www.insidercs.com.

Real Job Hunting and Interview Advice – From Real Recruiters

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Nobody comes in contact with more job seekers on a day-to-day basis than recruiters. It doesn't matter if they work inside an employer's Human Resources department, or if they're employed by a staffing agency – they're going to meet, screen, and evaluate more candidates than anyone else on the planet.

I took an informal poll of HR leaders and professional recruiters. I asked them the following:

"What is the one piece of advice you would offer to job seekers as they apply to or interview for opportunities?"

Learn from their feedback! Here's their advice – raw and unfiltered (in no particular order):

ON APPLYING TO JOBS:

• I would definitely advise job seekers to apply to a position for which they have the skills and experience required – that is the job they are are looking for, and not to apply just because of the company or level (of the position).

• Way back when I was not a recruiter, I wish I had known to use a professional email address when applying. I had a nickname as an email address, and it was one of the reasons why I didn't get any call backs.

• My advice would be to have good phone and email etiquette. Be excited, use spell check, do not be too informal, but show your personality and follow up quickly.

• Research the company, the company’s products, and the industry.  I'm surprised sometimes how some people don’t bother to do so.

• Persistence, persistence, persistence. Always follow up if possible, and network.

• During the transition process, while applying for jobs, use free training resources to keep yourself abreast of the workforce.

ON INTERVIEWING:

• Practice for the interview. Be able to answer questions and ask questions through your resume.

• Have a mock interview done for you.

• Candidates should bring a copy of their resume (even though I send it to the hiring manager, they like to see the candidate come prepared).

• Dress professionally – a suit for men, and a dress, skirt, or pants for women.

• Research your interviewer.

• Research the company and division you are interviewing with, get familiar with what they do.

• Come with questions to ask the interviewer about the role.

• Always always be your authentic self. Otherwise you and the company risk being mismatched and therefore resulting in turnover.

• Of course, research the company before the interview, so you’re able to speak to it.

• Dress appropriately, there's nothing worse than being distracted from someone’s’ skills because of their presentation.

• I would tell candidates to try to tailor their experience to the scope of the role they are applying for. I used to tell candidates if you are applying for a position that is more analytical it’s not necessarily helpful to go into great detail about the camp counselor role you held 5 years ago, unless your role as a counselor had some sort of statistical analysis responsibilities or something.

• One thing I’ve noticed that shoots candidates in the foot is going in with a self-deprecating attitude. Starting off with, “I’ve never done X,” or “I don’t have experience in X,” always seems to leave the hiring leaders with the notion that because they may not have 1 or 2 skills, that they are not suitable for the role.

• I would tell them to make sure they do some research about the company. It is a pet peeve of mine when I speak to an applicant and they have no idea what the company does.

• Prepare for the interview. Research all about the position, the company, and the job description.

• Be curious…. about everything.

• My advice to candidates would be to be prepared for that interview!  Go back to basics and really prepare – you only get one chance to pass the gatekeeper!

• Be excited about the opportunity for which you are interviewing. A passionate candidate who shows sincere ambition to want to work for the company and do a good job in the position rates far above a more qualified applicant who just knows how to say the right answers.

• Candidates should remember that the interview is a two-way process. They should research the company and prepare questions in advance that will help them ascertain whether the company is a good cultural fit for them.

• They should find their unique selling point. Everybody is 'organized, hardworking, motivated, creative, flexible' these days. Gets very boring!

• Confidence. It is difficult to interview people who are nervous or second doubt themselves. If the applicant wants to answer only "yes or no" to the questions I ask, I can imagine how the communication with customers will go.

• Be excited about the opportunity for which you are interviewing. A passionate candidate who shows sincere ambition to want to work for the company and do a good job in the position rates far above a more qualified application who just knows how to say the right answers.

• Be confident. The interview goes both ways, you should also interview the organization to make sure it is the right fit for you.

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Scott Singer is the President and Founder of Insider Career Strategies Resume Writing & Career Coaching, a firm dedicated to guiding job seekers and companies through the job search and hiring process. Insider Career Strategies provides resume writing, LinkedIn profile development, and career coaching services, including a free resume review. You can email Scott Singer at scott.singer@insidercs.com, or via the website, www.insidercs.com.