By Jamie Grant, C’98 GEd’99
Senior Associate Director for SEAS, Career Services
Congrats! All your effort with online applications, networking and self-assessment have paid off – you’ve got an invitation to interview! As you begin preparing for whatever the process may hold with a particular organization, one question you might overlook in the sample list you’re using is that tried-and-true opening salvo – Tell me about yourself! Whether it’s a 1st round phone screen or an in-person 3rd -and-final round with a committee, 15-minutes or a full “Super Day” of meetings, how you respond to this very first prompt in any of those conversations can arguably make or break your entire interview process.
“Tell me about yourself” is one of only two parts of an interview over which I believe the candidate is fully in control – the second is when they invite your questions towards the end. So, this is a precious opportunity to set the tone for the entire conversation – and a fantastic opportunity to introduce what you believe to be the most important aspects of your qualifications and experience as they relate to the role – rather than waiting (and hoping!) that the questions to come will give you a chance to talk about the projects, learning and experience you know to be most important.
Crafting this first response is actually best saved for the end of your preparation – like how when you write a research paper, the abstract is the last piece you author now that you’re well aware of what the most important highlights are from the entirety of the document. If you’re following the recommended steps of interview preparation, you’ve already done some more detailed company research, and you’ve reviewed point by point the expected contributions and the qualifications (because you’ve wisely saved a copy of the description before it went off their website or thought to ask the person scheduling for their most recent version). You’ve reminded yourself why you are interested in the industry, the company, the role itself and practiced all of the STAR responses you’ll give to their behavioral questions, as well as thought of the questions you’d like to ask….so – what is your TL:DR? Why are you the ideal candidate that can not only do the work but be a great contributor to boot?
All it really takes is some critical self-evaluation and connecting the dots between what you understand the employer is looking for and your first-hand knowledge of what you are capable of. Remember, YOU are the ONLY subject matter expert on your experiences – let that empower you to advocate for what you know has prepared you so very well, rather than wait for questions to tap into those important connections between what you’ve done, what you believe you can do, and what they’ve already expressed that they need.
Feel free to reach out to a career advisor for a practice session – because I guarantee that a strong opening will take you a long way towards making a fantastic case that you’re the one to hire!
