Many of the interviews that I have taken started with this statement. The way you answer this statement will set the tone for the entire interview. Talking about yourself to the interviewer should be an easy task as no one is more qualified to speak about you than you. However, strange things happen in interviewing scenarios when you begin talking about yourself. Even though you are more familiar with yourself than anyone, people have a difficult time knowing where to begin when approached with this statement.
Let us talk about beginnings: where do you start to answer this statement? Your answer will vary, depending where you are in your career. If this is your first major job after college, you may want to talk about your education, what aspect of the potential job that interests you and sprinkle in a few remarks about your personality so the interviewer gets to know you as a person.
If you are farther along in your career, you may want to talk about your career accomplishments and also a few remarks about your personality to facilitate your interviewer’s understanding about who you are. The statement dictates that you be yourself.
Whenever an interview begins in this manner, following the body language of the interviewer is crucial to the rest of the interview. If you happen to get lengthy in your answer and you see your interviewer losing interest or easily distracted, take that as your cue to curtail your answer as quickly as possible. Saying too little is preferable to saying too much because most interviewers will ask you to elaborate if you have not said enough.
Remember to keep your answer professional, speaking almost entirely of your education or accomplishment experience and throwing in a remark or two about your personality. An experienced interviewer will know exactly how to glean the information that they need to form an intelligent decision.
Psalms 139:16
