How To Introduce Yourself In Interview Sample Answer

How To Introduce Yourself

Here are seven easy steps to introduce yourself to your interviewer and leave a great impression:

Be Concise When Answering

When they say tell me about yourself, its going to be tempting to give a long-winded answer. Its such an open-ended question.

And we covered a lot above, but theres something just as important as any of that. You need to be concise.

Your communication and ability to stay on track with your answer is something they are watching closely.

The interviewer wants to see that you can tell your story from Point A to Point B without getting sidetracked, distracted or scattered.

Because it tells them how youll communicate as an employee when theres a problem, when theres a disagreement, or when you simply need to share your knowledge or opinion.

If you take this answer beyond 2 minutes you are shooting yourself in the foot. In fact, below 90 seconds is ideal. Practice at home with a timer!

Thats why I recommend choosing a starting point based on your experience because if you have 25 years of experience and you start at the moment you graduated from college, your answer will be too long.

Give A Brief Introduction

I have been working as a Project Manager for XYZ company for the last 5 years. Before that I was an intern at ABC company for one year. Currently I am looking for a change, and I think working as a Technical Project Manager in your company would be a good opportunity for that. My role in my current company included managing and leading a team of 12 employees in the innovations department, where we would often brainstorm ideas for new products. Over the course of 5 years I have managed and executed 12 long term projects that have helped increase my companys brand reputation. I would like to experience a similar opportunity with your company, and I believe that we can be a good match.

• I have been working as a Project Manager for XYZ company for the last 5 years. Before that I was an intern at ABC company for one year. Currently I am looking for a change, and I think working as a Technical Project Manager in your company would be a good opportunity for that. My role in my current company included managing and leading a team of 12 employees in the innovations department, where we would often brainstorm ideas for new products. Over the course of 5 years I have managed and executed 12 long term projects that have helped increase my companys brand reputation. I would like to experience a similar opportunity with your company, and I believe that we can be a good match.

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Putting It All Together

Ultimately, with all of the information above, you should have a pretty good idea of how to introduce yourself in a job interview. Use all of the tips to your advantage and, once you craft a solid response, practice it over and over until it feels natural. That way, your first impression will be stellar, allowing you to stand out from the crowd for all of the right reasons.

Good luck!

Show Your Creativeness With A Format Of Your Answer

Most people will start their introduction in the following one: My name is XYZ, I am XY years old, Ive studied at ABC University, etc. And while it isnt a bad opening, and you can certainly win many points with suchif you elaborate on it with something meaningful, you can also try to approach the question in a more creative way.

Why not introducing yourself with three adjectives only? Or with one short but powerful sentence that conveys the most important message you have to tell? Alternatively you can start with words of praisesomething that every leader loves to hearsaying how much it means to you to interview for a job at such a great school. Be creative and stand out from the crowd. In many cases thats the most important thing to do in the interviews

Ready to answer this one? Check also 7 sample answers to other tricky teacher interview questions:

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How Did You Come Across The Job Opening

Do not answer this question like you randomly came across it on job boards and thought, okay, let me just apply. Your answer should be like you have always wanted to work for the company and found the right opportunity now to work for the company since. You can tell you have learned about the opening from a friend and that you are excited about it.

Common Mistakes To Avoid When Answering Tell Me About Yourself

Before you start developing your own answer, make sure youre not committing any major no-nos. Here are some common mistakes to avoid as you go about answering this question at a job interview:

• Dont share personal information that has nothing to do with the job youre interviewing for.

• Dont take a really long time answering.

• Dont discuss your childhood or irrelevant stories that dont showcase your value as an employee.

• Dont talk about politics, or politicized subjects like war, the police, prisons, etc.

Lastly, try not to go too offtopic in general. You want to stay on task as much as you can the more tangents you go down, the less interested the hiring manager is going to be in hearing about you and your life, and the less likely they are to hire you as a consequence.

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Variations On Tell Me About Yourself

Since youre trying to get straight to the heart of what your interviewer is asking you, its important to listen for all the variations you may hear on the tell me about yourself question.

If the interviewer doesnt ask you to tell them about yourself straight out, they may ask one of these questions:

Walk me through your resume

This may sound like an invitation to simply repeat all of the information on your resume, but that is the absolute wrong approach to take.

Think of this question as merely a conversation starter. Even though they asked you to walk them through your resume specifically, you dont want to merely recite your resume bullet points and give them no additional useful information.

Tell me something thats not on your resume

Another very similar variation is:

Tell me something unique about you.

These questions are phrased in such a way that it may make starting the conversation easier. You probably can think of something thats unique about you, but remember you dont want to raise any red flags or go off on too many rabbit trails.

If you have a hobby, interest, or unique history that can be folded into a discussion about your job skills, so much the better!

How Do You Introduce Yourself Example

Here are some examples:

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Self Introduction In Interview

Courtesy: Career Sidekick

The moment you are escorted to the interview room, you start panicking and thinking about all the possible questions and answers you could frame in that short period of time. However, we often ignore the importance of the very first question about our introduction in the interview. Just sit back and note down the following pointers on how to ace self-introduction.

Describe How The Role Fits Your Career Goals

Finally, you can share your career goals in a way that supports your application. But be careful although it may be tempting to answer this interview question by talking about the reasons why you want to leave your current employer, this part of your answer should instead be centred around why you want the role within this new organisation. Avoid complaining about your current role and organisation at all costs. Have a positive rather than negative outlook.

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How To Prepare Yourself For The Question Tell Me About Yourself

Considering that you are a fresh graduate without having any real-life work experience, what I would suggest you is to go through these sample answers to the question Tell me about yourself, and make a few such responses for you which you would give when you are asked. Now, practice a lot by speaking this again and again. You can have some variations in the answers which you have made for you. Dont just practice one but practice multiple that you can speak in different ways.

Remember, that you dont have to Memorize them rather Practice them.

Second thing is, always be ready for this question because more than 99% time you will be asked this question in an interview.

Young Man Applying For An Entry Level Position In An International Corporation

I am Mario, 25 years old, and I have just finished my Masters in Economy. More than anything else I enjoy team work, and I am looking for my first job, ideally in a big company. I want to learn, and meet like-minded people in work. In my free time I like to run, read, and meet with friends. I try to have positive outlook of life, and take everything that comes my way as an opportunity to become a better person.

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Example Answer If Youre Job Searching While Employed:

Well, Im currently working at XYZ Company and I specialize in doing ___. The reason I applied for this job is I saw ___ on the job description and I think I would be able to help you ___ and ___. One of my key accomplishments in my current role was helping my employer do ___, and Im confident I can help your team get similar results here.

How To Structure Your Answer To The Tell Me About Yourself Interview Question

How you respond to the Tell me about yourself question can set the tone for the rest of the interview. Overall, when you practise your answer, you want to tell a great story about yourself that you can share in no more than two minutes. In your response, do the following:

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Tell Us About Your Greatest Achievement

This is your cue to highlight your skills and talk about how your skills helped you achieve your goal. There is something called the STAR formula which stands for situation, task, action and result. You can be like, My finest achievement was during my previous role. I have created an innovative business model that helped us to finish the project days before the deadline. This model also helped us to meet the client requirements effectively.

How To Answer The Tell Me About Yourself Interview Question

Although it might be tempting to share a list of your most compelling qualifications for the job, a more low-key approach will probably help you to develop a personal rapport with your interviewer.

One option for your response is to share some of your personal interests which don’t relate directly to your career:

• Examples might include a hobby that you are passionate about like quilting, astronomy, chess, choral singing, golf, skiing, tennis, or antiquing.
• Interests like long-distance running or yoga that help to represent your healthy, energetic side are worth mentioning.
• Pursuits, like being an avid reader or solving crossword puzzles or brain teasers, will help to showcase your intellectual leaning.
• Interests like golf, tennis, and gourmet food might have some value if you would be entertaining clients in your new job.
• Volunteer work will demonstrate the seriousness of your character and commitment to the welfare of your community.
• Interactive roles like PTA volunteer, museum tour guide, fundraiser, or chair of a social club will help show your comfort with engaging others.

Remember, as with “tell me something about yourself that’s not on your resume,” one of the goals of this question is to get to know you a little bit beyond your career and on-the-job attitude and experience.

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How To Answer An Unstructured Interview Question

Heres the deal.

A good interview candidate always prepares before she goes in for an interview. She does her research. She works on her resume and cover letter.

She runs through hundreds if not thousands of practice interview questions and refines her answers until theyre tailored, precise, and perfectand interviewers know this.

Theyre not stupidthats why theyre the ones doing the interviews!

Their job is to find the perfect candidate and weed out the less than ideal matchesand its a tough job, especially when faced with hundreds of candidates who have all worked equally hard.

So a casual or unstructured question is one thats meant to throw you off your game and break you free from the memorized answers.

Rather than simply parroting back something youve studied for hours, youre being called on to speak freely and off the cuff.

But why would they want to throw you off your game?

Well, chances are the position they are hiring for is going to require the candidate to make some decisions and think on his/her feet.

Anyone can prepare for a situation that they know is coming, much like anyone can prepare for an interview question that they know is coming.

Tailor Your Answer To The Role And Company

When an interviewer asks that, they really mean tell me about yourself as its relevant to the position youre applying for and this company. I think theyre giving you an opportunity to articulate succinctly why you have the right qualifications, says Muse career coach Tina Wascovich.

Take advantage of the opportunity! In order to do that, youll want to spend some time combing through the job description, researching the company, and figuring out how you can tell your story in a way that makes it crystal clear why youre interested and what you bring to the table that aligns with the role and company.

This is the best chance to be very direct and share your objective. But your objective needs to fulfill their goals, says Muse career coach and recruiter Steven Davis.

For example, a client he worked with was leaving a job where shed worked on a team developing a new antibacterial cream and getting it ready for clinical trials. The new job she wanted entailed working on an entirely unrelated product, so the important thing for her to mention in this case was that prior to her current role, shed never had experience working on antibacterial creams and was able to come in and figure out how to move the process forward, just as she could do in this new role.

Generally the that always resonate with me show that they really get the role, she says, as well as why they applied. I get more engaged because I can see that its going to go somewhere.

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What Are Your Salary Expectations

Do NOT give a number here. If you say a number thats too high, youll scare them off. If you go too low, youll hurt your negotiating power later. Its a no-win situation for you.

Theyre not even sure they want to hire you or continue interviewing you yet, so you have no leverage. Theyre just gathering info that will help them.

The best strategy for this interview question is to tell them you dont have a number in mind yet. That way, they cant push you or pressure you with multiple questions.

Heres how to answer this question in a phone interview:

I dont have a specific number in mind. Right now Im focused on finding the position thats the best fit for my skills and my career. Once Ive done that, Im willing to consider any offer you feel is fair.

If they push back, just repeat, I really dont have a number in mind yet.

If you want more help, heres a full article on how to answer salary expectations questions.

What Do You Know About Our Company

With this question, you want to show off your knowledge and demonstrate that you did research before applying for the job.

Employers dont want to hire someone whos just applying to every job, and not taking the time to learn anything about the company. They want someone who applied for a reason and wants to work at THEIR company.

For help with company research, we have a full article on how to research a company before your interview.

And for help with your interview answer after youve researched the employer, you can see the example response below or read our full article on how to answer, what do you know about our company?

Example answer:

I know youre one of the top alarm system manufacturers in the US. I did some reading on your website and discovered that you create alarms for businesses and office buildings, not just individual homes. I also did some reading on your corporate culture and it sounds like you do a lot to support the development of your employees, and get involved in community service too. Thats something I care a lot about and something that attracts me to an employer.

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