Careers expert: How to answer the tell me about yourself job interview question and what not to say
How to answer the most common interview question: “Tell me about yourself”
- Job interviews often ask candidates: ‘Tell me about yourself’
- A career coach revealed the perfect answer
- She said not to repeat your entire work history
A career expert has revealed how to prepare the perfect answer to the one question asked in every job interview: “Tell me about yourself.”
Sam DeMase, who is a career coach, self-advocacy expert, and author, shared the type of answer employers want to hear and a foolproof method for remembering it.
She said the one thing interviewees should avoid when asked to talk about themselves is to go through their entire employment history.
“Don’t repeat your entire resume, your entire work history, they already have that,” she said in a TikTok clamp.
Instead, Sam, from the US, said to use her WHAT method by stating what you do, your achievements and linking that to the position you’re applying for.
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A career coach revealed how to give the perfect answer to a potential employer when they say ‘tell me about yourself’
She advised job seekers to briefly describe what they do, their most relevant accomplishments, and tie those accomplishments to how they can benefit the position they’re applying for.
She shared an example of a good answer to the question to tell a potential employer about yourself.
“I am a training and development leader with over a decade of retail experience. In my most recent role, I launched a brand new LMS program that increased employee completion rates by more than 60 percent,” she said.
“I know in this role you are looking for someone who is a results-driven builder who has launched projects from the ground up, which is exactly what I do, so I am especially excited to discuss this role today.”
The helpful clip was viewed more than 906,500 times and hundreds expressed gratitude for the “good advice.”
“This is good stuff,” said one woman and another wrote, “This is what I was looking for! Thank you!’.
“I only talk about my cats. Somehow I got the job as leader,” a third laughed while a fourth joked, “I was going to tell them my life story.”
Sam DeMase (pictured) said to use the WHAT method by answering what you do, your achievements and linking how those achievements are relevant to the role
“As someone new to recruiting, these videos have been so helpful in understanding what I should be looking for in candidates,” added another.
However, others thought that intertwining with details about your personal life, such as interests and hobbies, could also be effective.
‘I always say something nice about my personal life rather than tie in, they already know how to tie in. Stand out from everyone else,” said one viewer.
“So you can’t say anything personal here? Like everything that makes you you?’ a third asked to which Sam replied, “You can also share that at the end if you want!”.