Job interview prep: Can you tell us about yourself?

Job interviews can be a nerve-wracking experience for everyone, that’s why it’s important to prepare, prepare, prepare! This month, we prepared answers for a very common question that is simple, yet surprisingly complex. “Can you tell us about yourself?” is a question that is almost always asked in an interview, yet often is answered with too much, or too little information.

A “hack” to this question is a simple formula. Think of “Present + Past + Future”.

●     [Present] Introduce yourself by stating your full name and any current job, education, activity.

●     [Past] Talk about anything you have done in the past! It can be your past schooling, classes, activities.

●     [Future] Talk about your goals and dreams for the future. They can be short or long-term goals.

The answer to this question is commonly referred to as an “elevator pitch”. Imagine you are stepping into an elevator and someone asks you to tell them about yourself. You only have from floor 0 to floor 20 to answer this question. That’s only about 30 seconds, so you have to make it count!

Here is an example of my “elevator pitch” about myself:

Preparing your answer to this question will help you nail it when you are asked in an interview. It can also help you think about how you will apply your skills and experience to your new position in the future!

Here you can watch some of the student's videos from the International Trade 1 class. The first one is by Kelly Araújo:

   

This second video is by Pablo Serrano: