Heard that before?
Well, I heard it a record number of times in the last month..
Why?
Because I took up a new job in January 2021. To understand the company, culture, legacy, vision, strategy and growth map for the future - I was keen on meeting and speaking with as many employees, clients and the industry ecosystem.
Every meeting , every call, every conversation - I got asked
"Tell me something about yourself!"
Talking about oneself doesn't come easy for many of us..
One, many of us don't think or reflect too much about our stories, our past, our present, our future and what we want the world to know about us.
Two, we don't plan how we will communicate our story. Unless you are on a date or it is a job interview :)
Three, we completely undermine the real-time dynamism of our reality - you may be in a foul mood, you may be hungry, you may be sleepy, you may have lots on your mind, you may have had a bad dream, you may be working from your bed !
The truth is - you sometimes get just one chance to tell your story. You get just one chance to make that first impression. You get just one chance to build a solid start for a lasting relationship.
Thinking about how I answered the question, I did it in multiple different ways - based on who I am speaking to, the time of the day, the time at hand and my state of mind.
Here is what you should include in your answer:
What I have highlighted (in bold) above is what was of true interest in all my conversations.
It is interesting that my education, childhood, work experiences and location are what brought me to where I am.... what everyone is keen to hear about is where I am headed, how do I plan to get there and what keeps me going! And this was universal across a diverse set of people - from different nationalities, diverse age groups, different life stages [college kid to grand-dad], diverse functions [leadership, sales, marketing, research, etc.] !
How do you answer the question "Tell me something about yourself?" and what is usually of interest to those hearing you? Leave a comment to let me know.
Thank you for this eye opener!
I feel nervous for my interview. Wish me luck.
Thank you that was helpful. Pierre from France. Good luck guys !
Great tips
To those who are reading my comment best of luck.
I would provide more info about my background, education, work experience and personal hobbies.
Nischala is the Global Marketing Head at Wipro. She is a new age marketer who enjoys work which has a jazz and bass of logic, creativity and making a global impact. She is also an advisor / mentor with several global initiatives involving startups, technology consortia and #WomenAtWork communities. Her expertise is to craft and design high impact marketing strategies for emerging and high growth technology areas like blockchain, AI, next generation solutions. She believes the equation to marketing success is moving the dot from mind-share to market-share to profit-share. Her claim to fame is being among India's 2017 Top 100 Brand & Content Custodians, a TEDx talk, being among Twitterati and featuring in several global "Best in blogging" lists. Nischala holds an MBA from IIM Bangalore. You can follow her on Twitter @nimu9
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