How To Conquer The Hardest Interview Question In Under 2 Minutes

While you are interviewing for a job or networking with a hiring manager, you might be asked "tell me about yourself." The subtext to this seemingly simple and benign question is actually quite complex. You are really being asked to answer multiple questions; Why are you interested in this role? Why should I hire you? What got you to this point in your career? What are you like to work with? The way in which you tackle the answer to this question can help frame and direct an entire networking conversation or interview. Your response can also help set you apart from your competition.

Most candidates or job seekers answer this question in one of two ways-- they either offer insight into their life story or immediately dive into why they are looking for a job and then provide a listing of their skills and qualifications. Their response is also typically long and might not be as clear or specific as it should be. In conversations with hundreds of candidates, we can tell you that the most impressive and thoughtful responses generally follow the following structure and last roughly two minutes.

HUMAN CONNECTION (30 seconds)

Interviewing is an unnatural and often uncomfortable experience for both candidates and interviewers. When asked to tell someone about yourself, you might consider doing just that. Consider starting your response by saying, "on a personal level..." Then, sharing the fact that you have lived and worked in multiple cities, that you left the workforce to raise a family or care for a loved one, that you love spending time with your kids or fur baby, that you enjoy reading within a certain genre, and that you love to travel are tremendous examples of ways to build a connection with someone and start the process of rapport building. In sharing some specific examples of your personal background and preferences, you will afford the person with whom you are speaking an opportunity to identify a point of affinity with you. This will help build trust, cultivate interest in you as a person, and serve to humanize you. It will also help you as the candidate get the "jitters out" of the conversation. We don't suggest taking more than 30 seconds for this, but that allotment should be sufficient. Then, you should transition to a brief description of your professional highlights.

PROFESSIONAL HIGHLIGHTS (45 seconds)

Once you have shared some personal information, we recommend transitioning to providing a few relevant highlights from your work experience. Knowing which experiences to share and how to present them is key, but laying out a few relevant highlights of your accomplishments and connecting those experiences to the job description of the role to which you are applying is essential. For any candidate, it is important that these examples follow our suggested framework of RSTAR (Result, Situation, Task, Action, Result). Providing highlights of your experience in this format will demonstrate to the hiring manager the value that you might bring to their organization. For any candidate, having 5-10 examples to draw from should allow you to present 3-5 relevant highlights for any position to which you are applying.

GRATITUDE + INTEREST + CLOSING (45 seconds)

After the first 75 seconds of your response, your interviewer should know a little about you as a person and the results you achieved as part of your professional highlights. Then, it is time to share three essential points-- why you are grateful for the opportunity to interview, why you are interested in this particular position and organization, and why you believe you would be a good fit for the role. Expressing gratitude for the opportunity to interview displays the requisite humility for anyone applying for an opportunity. Conveying a genuine interest in the position to which you are applying sounds like an obvious statement, but far too many candidates neglect this point. For a multitude of reasons, people want to hire those who are interested and passionate about their work. Don't hide the fact that you are interested and passionate about the role to which you are applying. Finally, you should ensure that you close your response by stating why you believe you would be a good fit for this role.

We work with our clients to ensure that this approach is second nature to them, allowing them to deploy this technique during both interviews and networking conversations. We draft our responses to these types of questions, practice our answers aloud, and ensure that we are timing ourselves to ensure we are not exceeding the time limit by more than a few seconds. If done correctly and presented in a natural manner, not only will this approach advantage you in your job search, but you will be also be making it easier for your interviewer to better understand you and your unique talents and passions.

Job Seekers Should Break Their Searches Into Three Discrete Steps

Job search candidates fall into one of two categories -- either active candidates or passive candidates. Active candidates are vigorously engaged in a job search - modifying resumes, applying to jobs, networking within targeted employers or contacting recruiters. Passive candidates might be open to new opportunities, but are not taking systematic steps towards marketing themselves. For active candidates, we encourage you to compartmentalize your job search into three discrete steps.

The first step in a job search is developing the requisite tools and an effective and efficient strategy.  The main tools required by most candidates include a resume, an optimized LinkedIn profile, and a cover letter. Some candidates benefit from utilizing other tools such as an executive profile, a “pitch deck,” social media campaigns, and other marketing tools. These tools should all work to support a job search strategy, which provides a detailed plan of how a candidate will pursue the opportunities he or she wants. A search strategy is not simply a wish list of job titles, compensation expectations, or geographic preferences. Rather, a search strategy is a detailed plan that allows one to track, gauge, and adjust the search to pursue the opportunities he or she needs and wants. With well-developed tools and an executable strategy, active candidates will achieve greater success and be efficient in their search. Without the requisite tools and strategy, candidates are more likely to engage in an inefficient search, miss viable opportunities, and lead themselves into an emotional process.

The second step in a job search focuses on marketing yourself and applying to jobs. During a job search, a candidate is essentially selling themselves to prospective employers. Knowing how to tell the right story, to the right people, at the right time is the key to successfully selling anything, including yourself. Whether you engage a firm to help you market yourself or not, telling a clear story about the value you bring to an employer is essential. Equally important is accessing the right people to whom you can present your value proposition. An element of luck or patience with respect to timing is also required. An opportunity either needs to be available, or a candidate must be patient until one becomes available or one is created for them. Telling the right story, to the right people, at the right time is essential.

The third and final step to a job search involves interviewing, negotiating, and on-boarding. At the risk of stating the obvious, the goal of the first two steps in the job search process, is to reach the third step. Once a candidate receives an interview, particularly an in-person interview, their chance of receiving a job offer is enhanced greatly. With hundreds of applicants for many positions, getting to the interview stage of a job search means that you likely possess the requisite skills and experience to perform the tasks associated with the position to which you applied. It is during the interview that an employer will screen for many of the intangible qualities a candidate brings to a position -- drive, value creation and cultural fit, are a few examples. In order to have the best interview possible, candidates are wise to research, prepare, and even rehearse for each interview. Once final interviews are conducted and candidates receive an offer, it is prudent to develop a compensation negotiation strategy and an on-boarding plan. Both of these activities will ensure your proper compensation and an efficient transition to a new employer.

The benefits of deconstructing the job search into three steps can help make the daunting task of searching for a job more manageable. Like dieting, training for a marathon or studying for a licensure exam, understanding and planning for the discrete steps of the process adds efficiency, reduces stress, and enhances efficacy.