What to answer in an interview when asked to tell about yourself

Experience, skills, goals and other topics that you can talk with a recruiter cites as an example Lifehacker

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First, do not be afraid of such a request. The person who conducts the interview most wants you to succeed, because he needs an employee. Secondly, remember that it’s definitely not worth talking about some things. For example, do not retell your whole life. An employer does not need to know in which school you attended, which circles you attended and who you dreamed of becoming in your childhood.

Focus on useful information: talk about recent professional successes and what kind of education you received. Remember useful skills and highlight your career goals. And be sure to explain why you are interested in this company. Allow each category no more than 30 seconds, and in total your story will take 2,5 minutes. Let's analyze each item in more detail.

1. Recent professional successes

This part is the most important. Prepare yourself carefully in advance so as not to rummage through your memory for an interview.

• Choose three to five of the latest achievements that are important for the position you are applying for.
• Briefly describe them with specific examples.
• Tell us about a case from your practice that characterizes you as a professional.

What to avoid

• Retell the resume verbatim. The interlocutor himself can read it. Better focus on what you did cool.
• Talk about your experience without supporting the words with examples. Otherwise they will think that you embellish the reality or even lie.
• Mention achievements that are not related to the profession. It's great that you bake delicious buns. But this is unlikely to help get a job as an accountant or editor.

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2. Education

It is important to show not the availability of education and a diploma, but the experience gained in practice - during the implementation of a project or at a master class.

What to talk about

• Tell us what you learned at your last job.
• Explain how these skills will help you cope with new responsibilities.
• Describe the experience you gained while working on the largest project.

What to avoid

• Stay at all points of their education (school, university, courses). It's too much. In addition, it is unlikely that school skills will greatly help you at work.
• Show off with honors. Its mere presence does not yet speak about your professionalism.
• Mention every course you took and every conference you attended. Name the latter - this is enough to show that you are developing in your field.

3. Useful skills

These are extra points in your favor. If you lack experience, pay special attention to them.

What to talk about

• Remember two or four useful skills that you know well and that will come in handy in a new place. If you don’t know what exactly you have to do, choose the universal ones: the ability to work in a team, the willingness to learn new things.
• Explain how these skills have helped or will help you in practice.
• Tell us how you got them.

What to avoid

• Lying about your skills. Such a lie will quickly open. Perhaps already at the second interview or at the stage of the test task.
• Talk about skills that are not related to work (I had a rock band, my paintings were shown at the exhibition). This characterizes you as a versatile person, but does not necessarily mean professionalism.
• Get off with commonplace phrases about stress resistance and multitasking. These words mean almost nothing.

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4. Career goals

If you have not thought about what you want to achieve in the future, it's time to do it. This will help you decide which vacancies to respond to, and at the interview show yourself a purposeful person.

• Mention goals that are consistent with the mission of the company. To do this, study her site in advance. If there is no necessary information, try to imagine what the organization wants to achieve with its activities.
• Tell us how the company will help you achieve these goals and how you, in turn, will help her.
• Show that you want stability and career growth.

What to avoid

• Talk about common life goals (I want to buy a house, have children and a dog). You probably already understood: everything that is not related to the profession is better to omit. Unless, of course, you are asked directly about this.
• Mention goals that a company cannot help you achieve. This will give the impression that you are moving in different directions.
• Say that you have no specific goals. If you do not know what you want, you may be an unorganized person who does not think about the long term. It is unlikely that this will attract the employer to you.

5. Reasons why you are interested in the company

This is a trivial question, but it is he who can win the recruiter's location. Try to tell sincerely what exactly this vacancy attracted you to.

What to talk about

• Say that the goals of the company are close to you (and list which ones). This will show that you are close in spirit.
• Describe how a new position will help you become better.
• Hint that you see yourself in this company in the future. Just don’t say that you want to head it in N years, this is too much.

What to avoid

• The first thing to mention is an attractive salary. Everyone needs money, but first it’s better to talk about interesting tasks, professional growth and other advantages of the company.
• Say "I just need a job." This will definitely not increase your confidence.
• To refer to the fact that here are good people. You are not going to make friends, but to fulfill your duties and make a profit for the company. You can praise the professionalism of employees and say that you want to learn from them, but do not expose the future team as the only plus.

Following the rules listed above, you will save yourself from awkward pauses and do not force the employer to listen to information that he does not need at all. And this will significantly increase your chances of a successful interview.

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