Tell Me About Yourself - Structure a Strong Answer
Summary
TLDRThis video script offers a strategic approach to answering the 'tell me about yourself' interview question. It emphasizes structuring a strong answer using the 'addressing weaknesses' framework, highlighting how to align the role with one's career narrative, and avoiding common mistakes like going off-topic or being too verbose. The script provides a clear method to impress interviewers by proactively addressing perceived weaknesses, showcasing enthusiasm for the role, and maintaining a concise, coherent narrative.
Takeaways
- 📝 The 'tell me about yourself' answer sets the tone for the rest of the interview and can lead to rejection if poorly executed.
- 🔨 Use the 'Addressing Weaknesses Framework' to structure a strong answer by identifying and proactively addressing perceived weaknesses in your candidacy.
- 🔍 Return to the job description to pinpoint potential weaknesses that the interviewer might be considering based on your resume and experience.
- 🚀 Highlight your strengths by connecting them to the job requirements and showcasing how you've overcome or compensated for any weaknesses.
- 🎯 Make the role you're interviewing for seem like a logical next step in your career narrative to avoid disinterest from the interviewer.
- 🤩 Show genuine excitement and interest in the role and how it aligns with your skills and passions, especially if the role involves new technologies or initiatives.
- 🔑 Understand that humans think about careers linearly; help the interviewer see the job as a natural progression in your career path.
- ⏱️ Keep your 'tell me about yourself' answer concise, ideally under 2 minutes, to avoid taking up too much interview time.
- 📚 Be prepared with details and metrics from your past experiences to avoid fumbling when asked follow-up questions based on your initial answer.
- 🧠 Have a clear and easy-to-follow narrative in your answer to avoid confusing the interviewer with a disjointed or scattered response.
- 📈 Practice your answer before the interview to refine your response and ensure it meets the criteria of being concise, relevant, and memorable.
Q & A
What is the most important aspect of answering the 'tell me about yourself' question in an interview?
-The most important aspect is structuring a strong answer using the addressing weaknesses framework, which involves identifying perceived weaknesses in your candidacy and addressing them directly while highlighting your strengths.
Why is it crucial to refer back to the job description when crafting your answer to the 'tell me about yourself' question?
-Referring back to the job description is crucial because it provides the best signal about what the interviewer might perceive as weaknesses in your candidacy, allowing you to address these concerns head-on.
How does the 'tell me about yourself' question influence the rest of the interview?
-This question sets the tone for the interview. If you address potential weaknesses and highlight your strengths effectively, it can positively influence the course of the interview by leading the discussion towards your strengths and qualifications.
What is the addressing weaknesses framework and how does it help in structuring an answer?
-The addressing weaknesses framework is a method of identifying and proactively addressing the perceived weaknesses in your candidacy as seen by the interviewer. It helps in structuring an answer by allowing you to turn potential negatives into discussions of your strengths and qualifications.
Why is it a mistake to let weaknesses linger in the interviewer's mind without addressing them?
-Leaving weaknesses unaddressed can lead to follow-up questions that revolve around those weaknesses, potentially overshadowing your strengths and qualifications, and increasing the risk of rejection.
How can mentioning the role you're interviewing for as a great next step in your narrative help your interview?
-By positioning the role as a logical next step in your career narrative, you show excitement and alignment with the job, which can make you stand out as a candidate who is genuinely interested and a good fit for the position.
What is the recommended length for the 'tell me about yourself' answer in an interview?
-It is highly recommended to keep the answer under 2 minutes to avoid taking up too much of the interview time and to maintain the interviewer's interest.
Why is it important to have an easy-to-follow narrative in your 'tell me about yourself' answer?
-An easy-to-follow narrative helps to keep the interview structured and coherent, preventing the answer from becoming a jumble of topics and ensuring that the interviewer can clearly understand your career progression and qualifications.
What are some common mistakes people make when answering the 'tell me about yourself' question?
-Common mistakes include bringing up details or stories they can't fully recall, going on for too long, and lacking a clear, cohesive narrative structure in their answer.
How can practicing your 'tell me about yourself' answer before an interview help?
-Practicing helps you to refine your narrative, ensure you include all relevant details, maintain a concise response, and deliver it confidently, which can significantly improve your interview performance.
What is the purpose of the sample answer provided for a college student interested in an APM program at Spotify?
-The sample answer demonstrates how to effectively address potential weaknesses (lack of PM internship, no music industry experience, and attending a middling school), express genuine interest in the role and company, and connect personal experiences and skills to the job requirements.
Outlines
📝 Crafting a Strong 'Tell Me About Yourself' Answer
This paragraph focuses on how to effectively answer the common interview question 'Tell me about yourself.' It emphasizes the importance of structuring the answer using the 'Addressing Weaknesses Framework' to counteract any perceived weaknesses in the candidate's profile. The speaker provides a step-by-step guide, starting with identifying potential weaknesses from the job description and then addressing them directly in the narrative. The example of a PM candidate at Microsoft is used to illustrate how to highlight strengths while acknowledging gaps in experience. The summary also touches on the importance of making the role seem like a natural progression in the candidate's career and avoiding common mistakes such as lingering weaknesses, long-winded answers, and disjointed narratives.
🎓 Navigating the 'Tell Me About Yourself' Pitfalls for New Graduates
The second paragraph extends the discussion to new graduates, addressing the specific challenges they face, such as lack of internship experience or industry-specific knowledge. It outlines the three main mistakes to avoid: forgetting details, being too verbose, and lacking a coherent narrative structure. The speaker suggests keeping the answer under two minutes and practicing beforehand. A hypothetical example of a college student applying for an APM program at Spotify is provided, demonstrating how to weave personal projects, technical skills, and career aspirations into a concise and compelling story. The summary underscores the need for a clear and memorable narrative that showcases the candidate's fit for the role and enthusiasm for the opportunity.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Addressing Weaknesses Framework
💡Resume
💡Job Description
💡Consumer Growth Experience
💡Hardware Platforms
💡Narrative
💡Interviewer
💡Co-pilot for Teams
💡APM Program
💡Side Projects
💡Behavioral Interview Questions
Highlights
The importance of structuring a strong answer to the 'tell me about you' question for an impactful interview.
The 'Addressing Weaknesses Framework' as the most powerful method to answer the 'tell me about you' question.
The need to identify and address perceived weaknesses in your candidacy based on the job description.
Using the job description as a signal to understand potential weaknesses in your application.
The example of a PM from Microsoft applying for a job, highlighting the importance of aligning experience with job requirements.
Identifying specific weaknesses such as years of experience and lack of industry-specific knowledge.
The strategy of leading with strengths to counteract perceived weaknesses in the interview.
Making the role you're interviewing for seem like a natural next step in your career narrative.
The common mistake of letting weaknesses linger in the interviewer's mind and its impact on follow-up questions.
The significance of showing genuine excitement for the role to avoid disinterest from the interviewer.
Incorporating personal interest in AI and technology to connect with the job role at Tinder.
The importance of having a linear career narrative that makes the job seem like a logical progression.
Common mistakes people make when answering the 'tell me about you' question and how to avoid them.
The advice to keep the answer concise, under 2 minutes, to maintain the interviewer's attention.
The necessity of having an easy-to-follow narrative to avoid a disjointed interview response.
Drafting and practicing your answer before every interview to refine your response.
A sample answer for a college student interested in an APM program at Spotify, addressing specific weaknesses.
The formula for a successful 'tell me about you' answer, including addressing weaknesses, showing excitement, and maintaining conciseness.
The offer of a newsletter for more behavioral interview question preparation.
Transcripts
most people know that the answer to the
tell me about you question influences
the rest of your interview what most
people Miss is that a bad answer gets
you
rejected let's dive right into the three
main things you need to know number one
how to structure a strong answer using
the addressing weaknesses framework
number two making the role you are
interviewing for seem like a great next
step in your narrative and number three
how to avoid the most common mistakes
people make at the end we'll put
together a sample answer you don't want
to miss it now on to number one how to
structure a strong answer using the
addressing weaknesses framework this is
the most powerful way to answer the
question bar nut and don't let anyone
tell you otherwise the trick is to ask
what are the weaknesses in my candidacy
interviewers are looking at your resume
while you're answering the question or
they've just looked at it so they're
forming or they have formed certain
opinions about weaknesses in your
candidacy so you need to address what
they perceive are weaknesses and shine a
spite light on your strengths the
fastest and most objective way to do
this is to return to the job description
I know right most of those things are
copy pasted junk but they are still the
best source of signal for you on the job
let's say I'm this PM from Microsoft
I've had a couple years experience at
Microsoft I've worked at wafer before
that worked at ly and now here's the
school and I'm applying for this job
here we can see they're working on AI
and ml initiatives which aligns up with
my experience uh they want experience
with things like The Vision Pro that's
interesting and it looks like they have
a years of experience requirement so
this helps me then think about what are
the potential weaknesses the job is
looking for six plus years of consumer
growth experience which we just saw but
the candidate I was a consultant before
so the specific consumer growth
experience is about 4 and 1/2 years so
this is the first weakness by the way
don't worry if you're a student our
sample answer at the end is just for you
the job is also focused on new hardware
platforms like apple Vision Pro but the
PM doesn't have experience with that so
this is the second weakness finally the
job is at Tinder in the dating realm so
the interviewer is definitely going to
resonate most with those candidates but
as a candidate I don't have that
experience so the answer that we come up
with should address all three of these
weaknesses head on since graduating for
my MBA in 2019 at Duke I've been a PM at
Wayfair for a year and then Microsoft
for the last 3 years at Microsoft I'm
most recently proud of our co-pilot for
teams launch which I actually LED and I
presented on stage and ultimately
outperforming a lot of our launch
metrics I also worked on teams across a
variety of Hardware devices including
Mac OS Windows Chrome pad Android and
iOS although I've been a PM in consumer
products for 4 and a half years before
my MBA at deoy I actually worked as a PM
consultant for a variety of other
consumer products so my total time as a
PM is about 7 years one of my clients at
deoe was actually a competitor of
tenders a large public company this is
how you actually influence the course of
the rest of the interview you have head
on brought up the topics that the
interviewer might consider weak about
your candidacy the big mistake that most
candidates make is that they let those
weaknesses linger in the interviewer's
mind so the follow-up questions from the
interviewer all revolve around those
weaknesses on the other hand this
framing lets you lead with strengths
number two making the role you're
interviewing for seem like a great next
step in your narrative have you ever
asked someone if they wanted something
and they just felt disinterested this is
exactly how you do not want your
interviewer to feel people who get the
job seem excited about the role that
they're interviewing for so let's go
back back to our example this role at
Tinder is about things like working on
Vision Pro and AI so you should
incorporate your interest in those
here's how you could add that into your
answer with my experience working on
teams co-pilot using GPT 4 at Microsoft
I'm very excited about this role I
believe that AI really can be at the
Forefront of a lot of nextg products
like Tik Tok and so although things are
going super well at Microsoft I was
excited when I saw this posting and I
just had to apply the key to answering
these questions is realizing that humans
think about careers linearly so even
though your career has likely had its
twists its turns you need to help draw
the through lines in the interviewer's
mind that this job is a natural Next
Step that you're a natural qualified
candidate so for our candidate she's
connected to this back to her AI
experience and you should make your own
languages three addressing the key
mistakes that most people make
tell me about yourself question
definitely influences the rest of your
interview and that's mistake number one
bringing up details or stories that you
don't remember everything about a lot of
people tend to do this they
underestimate how many of the details
they've actually forgotten about stories
that are relevant to a job and then they
come into the interview and when the
interviewer asks follow-up questions
they're just like and so you don't
really want to be that person you want
to be the person who is I know all the
details I know the metric I I know all
the details I know the metrics that I
drove I know the initiatives that I took
on in order to drive those metrics so
you need to be that person who is on top
of everything mistake two is that people
go way way too long and I just can't
overemphasize this enough I have to
admit that even when I was a interviewer
this was the number one reason I
rejected candidates they just take up
most of the interview time and so I
highly recommend that you keep it under
2 minutes and you get good at staying
under 2 minutes and the way I like to do
that is that I like to practice it
before the interview but you can take
whatever works for you mistake three is
that people don't have an easy to follow
narrative so this looks something like a
jumble of a structure where you're
jumping from one topic to the next oh
hey I'm my
gosh yeah so that's my
background so whether it's chronological
or reverse chronological try to have
some flow to your answer the best way to
do this is to draft your answer to this
question before every
interview then record yourself and
finesse your
response now let's put this all together
for a good answer but this time let's
have a new example let's pretend I'm a
college student and I'm interested in an
APM program at Spotify my weaknesses are
I don't have a PM internship I haven't
worked in the music industry and I went
to a middling school I am really excited
about this role at Spotify I have been
using Spotify for over 10 years now I
constantly have ideas for how it could
be better that's because I actually
worked on several side projects in
college in a similar space one of my
favorites was generate a song with AI so
this was a website that I released I
leveraged some of those latest open-
Source apis from meta and with my CS
background I was able to build this app
and grow it to 5,000 users the fun I had
with that makes me really excited about
spotify's APM program I want to spend my
career in product management when I did
my soft engineering internship at Amazon
I loved working with PMS it made me
realize that this is the job I want to
take up in my
career it's the intersection of my
technical music and Builder talents this
really answers all three of those
criteria on the first it answers the
weaknesses on the second it really
brings into the relevant details in your
background that are relevant to this job
and then number three the mistakes it's
fairly concise it has stories that we
remember the details of so it's exactly
what we're looking for that's it that's
the three-part formula for your answer
to the tell me about you questions so do
you want to prepare for more behavioral
interview questions you'll love my
newsletter which I've linked below
that's it if you're interested in
getting more job content like this like
subscribe comment down below and I'll
see you in the next one
Voir Plus de Vidéos Connexes
Tell Me About Yourself - Structure a Strong Answer
Top 10 Answers to Interview Questions
Tips Menjawab Temuduga Sila Perkenalkan Diri Anda/Tell Me About Yourself.
“Tell Me About A Time When You Failed” (The BEST ANSWER to this Behavioural Interview Question!)
TOP 7 INTERVIEW QUESTIONS & ANSWERS! (How to PASS a JOB INTERVIEW!) INTERVIEW TIPS!
How to Answer Tell Me About Yourself—Job Interview in English
5.0 / 5 (0 votes)