Job Interviews: What Can You Tell Me about Yourself? - Answering a Very Broad Question Specifically

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In trying to figure out whether you're the right person to hire, interviewers usually open fire with the big bazooka of self-revealing questions, often phrased as a statement:

Tell me a little about yourself.

No matter how the question is worded, take care to get your act together for it because it comes early in an interview — at the very time when an interviewer is forming an initial impression of you.

A good beginning sets the stage for the halo effect to kick in. The halo effect happens when an interviewer is impressed with you right off the bat and may assume that if you excel in one area, you excel in others.

When you start to tell about yourself, focus on aspects of your life that illustrate your value as a candidate for the position you seek. In addition to knowing you have competencies, skills, and experience related to the potential work, employers want to feel confident that you're the sort of person who

• Can do the job
• Will do the job
• Gets along with others while doing the job

Employers want to know how well you accept management direction. They want to know whether you have a history of slacking off as you get too comfortable on a job. They want to know whether — despite their lack of long-term commitment to you — you will jump ship at an inconvenient time if another employer dangles more money before your eyes.

When answering the Tell Me About Yourself question, bear the following thought in mind:

Focus on the Best You.

In sticking to the Best You theme, you may ask, "But isn't that kind of like lying?" No. Lying is a time bomb that doesn't travel well.

I know a woman who did not inflate her previous salary - instead, she did the opposite, lowering it because she didn't want to be considered overqualified for a job she wanted. After 11 months she was fired for lying when her reference checks finally caught up with her. The week before that she had been offered a promotion!

Always be honest about the wonderful parts of you. But don't blurt out anything that could make you look like a poor hiring choice. Neither should you wildly exaggerate your best traits to the extent that your performance bears no relationship to your promise — remember that the piper who lives down the road will demand to be paid.

A contrarian expert speaks

In the Different-Strokes-for-Different-Folks Department: Ace placement professional Neil P. McNulty (www.mcnultymanagement.com) of Virginia Beach, Virginia, has made hundreds of individual placements over 25 years. McNulty is a cut-to-the-chase kind of guy who advises his candidates to stick to business. Here's McNulty's take on the Tell Me About Yourself question:

"Job hunting book experts say the question is asked because the interviewer wants to hear how you organize your thoughts, learn how you articulate your career ambitions, and see how you present yourself when under pressure. That's not always the case.

"The real reason it's asked is often because the interviewer is unprepared, doesn't know where to begin, and while you are speaking, he or she is trying to figure out what to ask you next.