0:02 hey i'm abby and welcome back to the
0:04 lifeworkbalance youtube channel today i
0:05 want to talk to you about one of the
0:09 most common openings to any interview
0:12 the question is tell me about yourself
0:15 this question makes interviewees stumble
0:17 even though it's something that they can
0:20 easily prepare for and likely anticipate
0:22 and expect to start the interview so how
0:24 do you answer this in a concise and
0:26 strategic way stick around and i'll tell
0:29 you how before we do that please go
0:31 ahead and hit that thumbs up button if
0:33 you're looking forward to today's video
0:35 and if you haven't already please go
0:36 ahead and hit that subscribe button as
0:38 well as the bell so that you can receive
0:40 life work balance advice delivered
0:43 directly to you every sunday when it
0:44 comes to interviewing you need to
0:47 prepare yourself to answer this question
0:49 tell me about yourself it is highly
0:50 likely that this will be the first
0:52 question that you are asked during an
0:54 interview if you're not asked the
0:56 question tell me about yourself you will
0:58 likely be asked a variation of it like
1:00 tell me about yourself and why you
1:02 applied for this position tell me a
1:04 little bit about yourself
1:06 tell me about your experience why don't
1:08 you tell us a little bit about yourself
1:10 and why you're a good fit for this job
1:12 so while there may be variations of this
1:14 question you can expect it to be the
1:16 opening to every interview that you
1:18 participate in as someone who has
1:20 interviewed for many jobs and has been
1:22 on the interview panel
1:24 this has hands down been the easiest
1:26 question to expect in all of the
1:28 interviews that i've been a part of but
1:30 regardless of that it doesn't mean that
1:33 it's easy to answer and most people
1:34 really struggle when it comes to
1:36 answering this question if you haven't
1:39 already i do have a short less than five
1:41 minute video that discusses the do's and
1:44 don'ts of answering this question so if
1:45 you haven't already watched it i've
1:47 linked to it in the description box
1:49 below and i've added it to a card up
1:51 above in order to prepare yourself to
1:53 answer this question the first thing you
1:56 need to do is review the job posting
1:57 while you're reviewing the job posting
2:01 select three to five key aspects of this
2:04 job whether it's responsibilities tasks
2:07 or overall duties of this job and then
2:10 you want to be able to link your current
2:12 and previous experience to those three
2:15 to five items ultimately you will be
2:18 describing your highlights as related to
2:20 this position it may even be helpful to
2:22 write out the highlights of each of your
2:24 previous jobs so that you can easily
2:26 find themes and connections between your
2:28 previous experience and this new
2:30 position after you've gone through your
2:33 previous experience and the job posting
2:35 that you've applied to it's time to
2:38 start crafting sentences that relate to
2:40 those three to five highlights from the
2:42 posting as well as those highlights that
2:45 connect from your previous experience
2:47 now i recommend while you're crafting
2:49 your answer to this question
2:51 that you tailor it specifically to the
2:52 job that you're applying to
2:56 so do not under any circumstance create a
2:57 a
2:59 generic pitch that you will use to your
3:02 answer tell me about yourself that's
3:03 more of your elevator pitch that's
3:05 something that you would use in an
3:07 informational interview or while you're
3:10 networking however you do not want your
3:12 generic elevator pitch to be used as
3:14 your answer to the question tell me
3:16 about yourself so while you may be using
3:19 your elevator pitch as guidelines or a
3:21 template to create your response to this
3:23 question you do not want it to be a
3:25 generic memorized pitch
3:27 you will want to make sure that you have
3:29 these three to five highlights from your
3:31 experience somewhat memorized but you
3:33 don't want to memorize your entire
3:34 answer to this question because you
3:36 don't want it to come off sounding
3:38 robotic and rehearsed
3:39 you want your response to this question
3:43 to be conversational and flow easily
3:45 so that means that you're likely not
3:47 going to memorize the entire thing you
3:49 will also want to structure it in present
3:51 present
3:53 past and future formats
3:55 so this means what are you doing right
3:59 now so your current position or your
4:01 current training and education
4:03 what have you done in the past to
4:05 prepare you for this position
4:07 and where do you want to go
4:09 and as a part of that where do you want
4:11 to go how does this organization and
4:14 this position fit into that so while
4:17 you're describing your present your past
4:19 and your future
4:21 you will be able to incorporate and
4:23 intertwine your highlights from your
4:26 experience and show how it matches with
4:29 those three to five key aspects of the
4:31 job posting that you've reviewed
4:32 now i've mentioned this in my other
4:34 video about the do's and don'ts of how
4:36 to answer this question but i feel like
4:38 it's important to reiterate here
4:40 do not
4:43 just verbalize your resume
4:45 if you've gotten this far
4:46 to the interview process
4:48 it's likely that everyone that you're
4:50 interviewing with has reviewed your resume
4:51 resume
4:53 even if it is a brief review on their part
4:54 part
4:58 so do not spend this valuable time
5:00 just reviewing all of the items on your resume
5:02 resume
5:04 you want your answer to this question to
5:06 feel like a conversation to feel like a
5:08 story that you're telling them this is
5:10 your first opportunity to convince the
5:13 interview panel that you are the best
5:14 fit for this position
5:17 imagine that this is your only
5:19 opportunity to convince them of this
5:21 that is how seriously you should take
5:24 answering this question your answer to
5:26 this question sets the tone for the rest
5:28 of the interview it's also important to
5:30 remember to keep your answer to this
5:33 question brief now i've talked with
5:36 other career coaches and interview
5:38 strategists about how to answer this question
5:39 question
5:42 and the feedback about length to this answer
5:43 answer
5:46 actually varies pretty dramatically i've
5:47 heard people say that your answer to
5:50 this question should be between three to
5:54 seven minutes long that is way too long
5:56 it also shouldn't be 30 seconds your
5:58 answer to this question should be about
6:01 one to two minutes maybe three minutes
6:03 depending on the interview
6:05 but the sweet spot for answering this
6:08 question is at that 90-second mark i'm
6:09 going to start a timer right now with
6:13 this video that will time 90 seconds and
6:15 three minutes and you will see how long
6:17 it actually feels for that type of
6:19 answer for that type of question in the
6:21 interviews that i've been in where the
6:23 answers to this question have been three
6:26 minutes or longer the interviewers are
6:27 typically beginning to look at their
6:31 watches and are just expecting every
6:34 answer to all of the future questions to
6:36 be long-winded you do not want to start
6:38 your interview off with that sort of
6:40 tone and that sort of expectation you
6:44 want to be seen as organized concise and
6:47 well-spoken you do not want to be seen
6:49 as someone who rambles
6:51 shares too much information and can't
6:54 manage their time appropriately so your
6:56 timing to this question is essential to
6:58 your overall success in the interview process
7:00 process
7:02 now i know i'm not providing you with
7:05 very specific guidance on how to answer
7:06 this question
7:08 and that's because your answer to this
7:11 question will vary significantly based
7:12 off of your experience and the position
7:14 that you're applying to
7:17 however i do recommend following the
7:20 format of present past future
7:22 that will help you organize your
7:24 thoughts so that you can share the
7:26 information that you have about your
7:28 experience and how you best fit for this
7:32 position in the most strategic mindful
7:34 way once you've crafted your response
7:36 and you know what types of things you
7:38 want to share in your overall answer to
7:39 this question
7:42 i highly highly recommend practicing
7:44 your answer to this question
7:46 this does not mean just rehearsing it
7:48 silently in your head
7:50 it also doesn't mean just practicing it
7:52 out loud looking at yourself in the
7:54 mirror in the bathroom i
7:55 i
7:57 fully recommend recording yourself
7:59 answering this question
8:02 you will be able to not only tell how
8:03 long you talked so
8:04 so
8:06 try to keep it at that 90 second mark
8:08 but you will also be able to hear what
8:10 it sounds like from an interviewer's
8:13 perspective now i know you may cringe at
8:15 the thought of hearing your own voice if
8:17 you've recorded yourself
8:20 but it is great feedback for yourself to
8:22 be able to re-watch yourself answering
8:23 these questions
8:25 you will understand your timing better
8:27 you'll understand your tone you'll be
8:29 able to watch your body language it will
8:31 be very helpful for you to be able to
8:34 watch yourself answer these questions
8:35 but don't be too hard on yourself if you
8:37 hate the way that you sound or you feel
8:39 like you look awkward on camera the
8:42 point of recording yourself is to just
8:44 give yourself valuable information so
8:46 that you can have the most effective and
8:49 strategic answer to this question and
8:51 future interview questions
8:52 now the other thing that i want to touch
8:55 on in this video
8:58 before i wrap up is what about the
9:00 personal stuff
9:02 that is often a question that i am asked
9:04 when i'm helping people strep when i'm
9:06 helping people structure their answers
9:08 to this question
9:10 you likely do not want to share any
9:12 personal information
9:14 with your answer to tell me about yourself
9:15 yourself
9:16 you don't need to share information
9:18 about when you were born
9:21 if you're married how you named your cat etc
9:23 etc
9:25 however if you have personal information
9:28 that directly relates to this position
9:30 feel free to share it because having a
9:32 personal connection to the position or
9:36 the organization will likely help you so
9:37 for example
9:40 i likely would not share in the answer
9:43 to this question that i enjoy going to a
9:45 specific type of gym
9:47 however if i am applying to work at that
9:50 specific type of gym then i would likely
9:53 describe how i'm a member how often i go
9:56 what i like most about that gym
9:58 and that would really show the hiring
10:00 team that i am committed and loyal to
10:03 their organization i am passionate about
10:06 it and i'm excited to work for them not
10:08 just for the paycheck but for the other
10:10 aspects of what working for that
10:13 organization means to me
10:15 so just to recap when you're answering
10:18 this question you want to keep it brief
10:21 about 90 seconds is the sweet spot
10:24 one to two minutes is on average okay
10:26 three minutes is the upper limits and
10:28 pushing it
10:30 do not share any personal information
10:31 unless it relates directly to the
10:33 position that you're applying to
10:36 and when you're crafting your answer you
10:39 want to do two things the first is craft
10:42 it using the present past future format
10:44 and then you also want to craft it by
10:46 pulling your highlights
10:48 that relate to about three to five of
10:51 these specific items from the job
10:53 posting that you pulled during your
10:56 review prior to this interview
10:57 and finally
10:59 once you've decided how you might answer
11:02 this question record yourself and
11:04 practice answering it
11:05 watch it back
11:08 just gather data about how you look how
11:11 you sound what the words sound like how
11:13 it sounds and looks all together and you
11:16 can really use that to refine and
11:18 fine-tune your answer to this question
11:20 so i hope you found this video helpful
11:22 if you have any questions comments
11:24 thoughts or ideas please put them in the
11:26 comments box below as i've mentioned in
11:28 all of my previous videos i love
11:30 receiving comments i look at them all
11:32 and i respond to them all individually
11:34 so if you leave me a comment i will get
11:37 back to you as soon as i'm able so again
11:38 if you have any questions comments
11:40 thoughts or ideas please throw them in
11:42 the comments box below if you enjoyed
11:44 this video please go ahead and give it a
11:45 thumbs up
11:47 and as usual please go ahead and hit
11:49 that subscribe button as well as the
11:51 bell so that you can receive life work
11:53 balance advice delivered directly to you
11:55 every sunday and if you're looking for
11:58 one-on-one job coaching career coaching
11:59 if you have questions about your
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12:05 cover letters etc i'm on twitch and i
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