After reading this the ‘Hiring Powers That Be’ are going to revoke my membership and then cut me off from ever working in the Human Resources field again. OK that may be a bit dramatic but I am revealing one of a hiring manager’s secret weapons.
The first question an interviewer most likely asks is “So tell me about yourself.” It may sound harmless but watch out, this is where it can get you in deep trouble and cost you the job! Yes, before you have even discussed qualifications and background experience your answer to this question will either keep you in the running or boot you out before the interview is over.
The question is designed to be a warm up. When you first greet someone for an interview they would like to get to know you, most likely so you’ll warm up, feel more comfortable and at ease talking to them. But be careful because this question often entices people to share personal information. When I say personal information I’m not referring to your social security number and place of birth. I’m referring to you, what you do, who you are, where you go, your family, etc.
When I have asked this question in interviews (Yes, I am guilty of being one of those people) I am surprised at the responses that I get. They are hardly ever professional and career focused. Normally a candidate will start of with well I was born in New York City in ‘74 went to school at Green Park Elementary, had two dogs, I love to play basketball and now I’m married and have two kids.
Wrong answer.
Sneaky recruiters will use this information against you. They know they can’t come out and ask you about your age, religion, marital status, etc. And this is exceptionally tricky for STAY AT HOME MOMS!!!
I warn you! USE DISCRETION.
I once had an interviewer start of with the ‘So tell me’ question. Knowing what I know, I kept it strictly professional. I said I graduated from XYZ University with a Bachelors of Science in Communications and started my career in Recruiting with a National Staffing Agency, I progressed through the ranks, then moved on to a better opportunity with ABC Corp. I have been with them 6 years and am now seeking a more challenging role as the Human Resources Manager for LMN Inc.
See how I kept it purely about my career progression? This is the proper way to answer the question. But the interviewer was not satisfied that I didn’t come out and tell him about my personal life and later on in the interview he just came out and asked the illegal personal question. “I am sure you have a family and children don’t you? Tell me about that.”
WHOA! Hello illegal question. I said, you’ll have to pardon my response if it comes off negatively but actually I think you really need someone in this Human Resources position that is knowledgeable about current employment law because that is an illegal question and could really get you into a lot of trouble if you ask the wrong person.
Thankfully he laughed it off and said “oh, I didn’t know that – it’s a good thing you said something. We really do need someone that knows that information.” The next day I had an offer on the table. And he never interviewed anyone again – phew, lawsuit averted.
The reason why I mentioned previously this question is tricky for stay at home moms is because you get caught in the trap. When they say, so tell me about yourself you immediately want to say “Well, I have two kids and for the last 4 years I have been staying at home taking care of them.” I hate to even say this but **some** employers will look down on this. They’ll think oh she has kids and that may detract from her job duties and what about absences if her kids get sick? How much work will she have to miss?
I am not saying every employer is like this by any means but there are some out there. Know what your rights are and what is and isn’t OK for an interviewer to ask. And if someone says to you in an interview “So tell me about yourself” keep it professional and about your education and experience. Refrain from telling them your whole life story.
Hopefully, this will help many of you make it to that next step in the interview process and one step closer to the job of your dreams.
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About Jessica: Jessica Holbrook is a former Executive Hiring Manager for Fortune 500 companies and President/CEO of Great Resumes Fast. She creates powerful, customized, and targeted resumes that are guaranteed to get her clients interviews. For a free resume analysis visit http://www.greatresumesfast.com or for a free phone consultation call 1.877.875.7706. |
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{ 19 comments… read them below or add one }
Click on the website link for a great coaching response to that very question.
My experience has been little different which I want to share. Its true and I agree that we should keep it professional. But when the conversation extends a bit longer, you might have to reveal some of the personal info that is closely associated with your professional life.
I have been hiding lot of holes in my career fearing that it would play out negatively. But when I decided to be 100% honest and even published all about me, my current employer was impressed and recruited me. Becasue they needed people who are trustworthy.
btw, what is the point in hiding info. I am seeking career with a company and they need someone who can help them out. Both of the parties hiding info only will make a wrong match. Whether its revealed or not, the truth is same right? I beleive that telling the truth and keeping it open may not get you that job you want but will get you the right job and will put right people around you.
Cheers
Ganesan
Books are written on how to answer the ‘tell me about’ question. The info above is terrific. The key is they don’t want a complete Biography.
If asked about family another approach is, “Shall we focus on my work experience and how it maps to your needs?”
For executives, there is only one answer. What they really want to know is, “Why am I talking to you?” I am a xxxx who xxxx. I am especially proud of [insert an example that reflects their top priority here]. It ain’t easy but it is simple.
Rita Ashley, Job Search Coach
coach@jobsearchdebugged.com
Jessica,
Thank you for going into this. I liked how you corrected the interviewer. It was a great strategic move. Obviously we shouldn’t all do that, but it was great that you were able to use this to your advantage.
Samuel Diener
Thinks for all the great comments everyone! I appreciate your feedback.
Thanks** I can spell.
Great article Jessica. It is so true that the “tell me” question could make or break your interview with potential employers.
hopefully people would learn from this and use it to their advantage as well
‘Tell me about yourself’ is a tricky question indeed. People usually start telling the story of their life. But In India the scenario is different, if you have been asked an illegal question and if you are a fresher then unwillingly you have to deal with such questions.
In the real world, people ARE going to want to know personal details of a candidate because indeed, that candidate’s personal situation IS going to impact that future employee’s performance.
A saavy prospective employee ANSWERS that question in the way that the interviewer NEEDS, so that the interviewer can succeed in having the confidence that the employee is both willing and ABLE to meet the demands of the job. The smart interviewee USES this opportunity to further build the right image and drive home positive attributes. Anticipate, be prepared, and deliver — just as will be required if you do get the job.
Standing on legality here (except in the case that you are an HR professional, like Jessica, and likely gained points from the demonstration of a good knowledge of the legalisms inherent in her field) is simply self-defeating. Although I believe that Jessica was joking here, it needs to be said that no one is going to win a suit based upon a deniable question in a private interview – and they certainly won’t get the job. Further, being party to a suit against an employer has a huge amount of negative baggage…truly the “nuclear” option where everyone loses in most cases.
Great! I have seen this in action many times. I am in the midst of career search and these tips keep me on my toes. I like the age questions as well as, “We run a 24/7 operation here is that a problem with you schedule?” They are probing to see if you have any religous issues with working on Sunday…I have seen that happen.
Thank you for this information! I am one of the foolish ones who take the question at face value and I probably say too much. I would not be able to say what you said, without looking like I was paranoid, (you were able to do it because you KNOW what you are talking about!) so I will have to come up with a better way to answer the question with harmless information.
Thanks for sharing!
Jessica,
This is an excellent article. I have worked with thousands of candidates on preparing them for interviews. Believe it or not, a lot of people are still stumped with this one. People get nervous and they just start rambling. That is why I always say, for this opening question, give your 30 second elevator pitch and then turn the question back on the interviewer “What skillsets does someone need in order to be successful in this position” What that does is it allows the interviewer to tell you what they are looking for so that you can gear the rest of your answers around thatn, and it takes away the nervous chatter that most candidates seem to have.
Jessica this was an excellent article. Thank you for sharing!
Trish Ellis
Hi Jessica! When I first saw the title, I must admit I thought whoa…this is a basic warm-up question and a great chance to get them interested in you…so whatever you do DON’T stop. But I was happy to read your excellent take on the question – and your excellent advice. True…so many people get tripped up going into things you might not tell an employer after a year on the job! It’s a business interview, not a date. Thanks for the great new look at on an old standard.
Great article.
When the interviewer wants you to tell him/her about yourself, this is your only opportunity to set the tone for the interview, by influencing them to want to know more about the strengths that you brought up in your introduction.
“My name is (______________). My most recent position was (job title) at the (name of company). My most significant contribution was in ________________ (also provide a quantifiable number – how many accounts, dollar amount of sales, number of employees, % of customer satisfaction rate, etc). I’m seeking a position as ________________ in your organization (insert some language from their job description or company mission/values statement) to reach these objectives.
Key Points: Your strengths/what you have done/what you can do for them.
Know your resume and have stories ready (examples of what you did and how well you did it!)
I concur, great article!
One aspect not touched upon in the above responses is – context.
The “context” that I refer to is industry. I have come to believe that each industry has a sub-culture in which this question is asked, typically in the face-to-face interview.
So, my take-away is to be aware of that context in which the question is asked. I agree with the about advise, keep it professional, but also exercise discernment when formulating and delivering your customized answer to this very question.
Hey that is quite nice to read. I would follow this approach in my interview.
Here’s my contribution to illegal questions; “What would (your former supervisor/employer) say about you?” Many employers will no longer expose themselves to the liability of commenting on former employees, and this is a disingenious evasion.
Back in 2000 I was working as an engineer for a company in CD Juarez, Mexico. We had an opening for another engineer in our department so we started interviewing several candidates.
One gentleman came in for an afternoon interview; we practiced “group” interviews and, as most everybody else had just returned from lunch, things were a little slow getting started so I asked the typical opening question, “tell me a little about yourself.”
What I expected was his “elevator speech”, a quick summary of his professional background (in other words, how I would respond to that question).
What I got was about 5 minutes on his hobbies, reading habits, basically everything about him that was non-family and non-work related.
Turns out that, in Mexico, such questions really are used to elicit personal information, which is not only legal but expected. He, apparently, assumed we were all manager-types and he answered the way he would normally answer a manager; i.e., he told us what kind of a guy he was. Unfortunately, we were all engineers (and only 2 of us were Mexican nationals) so we were mostly sitting there with blank looks, wondering what this guy was going on about.
Two points: first, be mindful of the culture you are in. Second, ask the question you want the answer to (being mindful of what questions are illegal). What I should have asked is “give me an overview of your career.”
I once had an interview with a firm principal who interrupted me five times during the discussion to answer his cell, wander around the office doing who-knows-what, and was quite late in the first place. I knew I didn’t want to work for this (ahem) person based on those red flags (not to mention the sad, miserable looking people in the office), but also that I needed to keep my cool since you never know where an unpleasant experience will end up in the gossip chain.
He liked me and wanted to offer me a position, promised to look into specifics about their benefits package, etc. He said he would call me the next day and actually did. He wanted to know if I had any dependents … ‘you know, for the health insurance’….
I told him that I would not answer that question. In those words. I thought ‘never mind who hears about our conversation now, he crossed the line’. He said “why, too personal?” I replied, “no, too illegal. You can’t ask me that, I suggest you hire someone else.”
He called again a day or so later, and I repeated that I was sorry, but he needed to find someone else. I found out later that a friend had worked for him briefly and she said it was AWFUL. One bullet dodged.