Here’s How To Answer The Worst Interview Question

Here’s a scenario worthy of the scariest movie: you’re in an interview for a job you’d really love to get, and you’ve prepared to the nth degree. All your case studies are top of mind, you’ve got performance figures and KPIs at your fingertips and you’re confident you’ve got lots of great work-related answers for, well, pretty much anything they can throw at you.

Then the worst thing happens. One of your interviewers leans forward and asks you, “so, tell us about yourself?”

On the face of it, this should be an easy one to dash out an answer to – after all, we’re all the main character in our own lives. But in actual fact, your hiring manager doesn’t want to hear about that holiday you just took, or your love for the The Real Housewives franchise.

Think context

So what is the purpose of the question? Quite simply, think context. Re-frame this question in your head as “tell us about your work self” because what is actually being asked here is for you to give a professional summation of your work experience to date in relation to the role you’re applying for.

Sometimes the same question is asked as, “can you walk us through your CV”, but it is essentially the same request, and it’s vital to remember that you should leave personal information out. There is no need to bring up anything around your personal situation, your religion or your political leanings. Not only are they not germane, but they are also not appropriate for an employer to use in making a hiring decision.

How to answer

Prepare for this question ahead of time by getting a couple of things straight in your head: why you want the job, what work experience or qualities you have that are particularly relevant to the role, and how you would aim to bring them to bear should you get the job. Matching your skills and qualities to some of the keywords in the job description is a good way to show you understand what is being asked, too. Tailor your “tell us about yourself answer” around these key pillars, and you won’t go far wrong.

Ready to go ahead now and look for a new role? We have three that are currently hiring below – and there are thousands more to discover on the City A.M. Job Board too.

Technical Product Manager, iwoca

Iwoca is looking for a Technical Product Manager to join a multi disciplined product team to develop real-world useful products, and work with a small team of product managers to achieve overarching company goals. You will collaborate with developers and designers, and key business teams such as marketing, sales and ops and you’ll be in charge of the swift delivery of new features: managing step by step the intermediate milestones and removing blockers. You will need significant experience in either a project/product management role or a technical (programming or analyst) role and will be delivery-focused, and driven to make things happen. You have a track record in successfully managing multiple projects and relationships at the same time and have a natural curiosity to spot, break down and resolve problems. Find out more.

Business Analyst, Credit Documentation, Royal Bank of Canada

The Business Analyst, Credit Documentation at RBC will be responsible for business analysis management and the coordination of activities within credit products. You will work directly for the head of documentation and mortgage execution in liaising with third party service providers and taking ownership of projects and initiatives relating to innovation and the streamlining of the documentation process. The role will require some involvement in credit transactions in support of BAU as well as to support implementation of changes and innovations. You will also be involved with day-to-day transactions, and to monitor existing processes to look for improvements. To do the job, you must have an ability to manage competing priorities and deadlines and work within a dynamic and fast-paced environment and have a collaborative approach, with all interactions designed to achieve results. Find out more about the role.

Software Engineer, Codat

Codat builds developer-friendly infrastructure that gives businesses the ability to create their own next-generation products. The Software Engineer will work within a small, focused, multidisciplinary, and highly autonomous team, using a “Scrumban” style of work, stand-ups, retrospectives, planning, and refining. Teams move rapidly, releasing at least once a day. To work at Codat, you will; need to be a clear and concise communicator; the company expects engineers to collaborate with other team members, including developers, quality assurance engineers and product stakeholders. You’ll be up to date with C# and have an interest in design patterns, have a passion for testing and working with frameworks like XUnit (or similar) to do behaviour and data-driven unit tests and you will be self-motivated, and have a logical and systematic approach to problem-solving. Apply now.

Ready to look for a new role? The City A.M. Job Board is your first port of call with thousands of opportunities to discover all across the UK