How to answer: tell me about yourself

- This is how to answer the most common interview question, "Tell me about yourself." The tricky part to this question is they're not really asking about you. Instead, this question means, What skills and experiences do you have that make you a great fit for this specific role? Most people get it wrong by answering with this framework. They say, my name is this. I want to school here, my current job is this, my last job was that, and on and on and on. But the thing is, they already know all of this from your resume. So what I recommend is that you start off with a hook that summarizes your entire career and then emphasize the specific skills and experiences you have that make you a good fit for this role. So let's break that down with an example. Hey, thanks so much for coming in. Can you tell me a little about yourself? I would say I'm at my best when I can take something complex and simplify using data. That's what I've done my entire career. In my current role, I lead the sales analytics team and I've been able to help my team dissect the numbers to increase our sales revenue by 25%. In my five years of experience, I've been able to develop a great foundation of skills in A, B, C, and believe they'd be a great asset to the data management team here. Thanks again for having me. Now you know how to answer the most common interview question; good luck.