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Saturday, February 16, 2008

Tell Me About Yourself

This is probably the first question every interviewer asks you. And most of the interviewees fail to give exact answer. Why? Because this question is not as easy to answer as one thinks. So my advice is: Don't tell them about yourself! Rather tell them how confident you are and what special knowledge you have and how much experienced you are. But tell all these in a tailored fashion. To win a tactful question as this one, one has to already make up his mind. To help to prepare oneself , I am answering this great question.

What does the interviewer want?
Here are the points.
1. He wants you to start the conversation.
2. He wants to know how you present yourself.
3. He is trying to estimate you- 'You are what you speak!'.
4. He wants to see if you have sufficient communication skills.
5. Lastly, he wants to fire the interview process. At least one has to speak first!!

What should be your answer?
Here are the clues.
1. Start by briefly introducing yourself. But not much. Try out like this: I am a computer engineer with distinction from <your college name>. I am an energetic and self starting person. I have friendly attitude and I am very enthusiastic in programming.

2. Since you have to complete your answer within two minutes (at most), now directly jump into what you have to offer to the organization. State your experiences and the projects you have been involved. Stress on your knowledge in the specific field.

3. End by focusing on your usefulness to the organization. You can say: I hope I can do a lot in the environment like your organization's.

How to balance your answer?

Try to figure out the employer's mentality. If he is showing disinterest which you can guess through the gestures he is showing, just pause lightly and stress on other points. But never make your presentation longer than two minutes.

Use simple and impressive words. Tough words can not win the interviewer. Be information oriented. Remember that few words with high information always improve conversations. Do not try to pour all your answers at once. Rather prioritize your points and present them in a smooth flow.
If the interviewer is trying to pause you, be quick to respond. Just terminate your last word and be pointed towards his face as if you are waiting another question. It is always best to evaluate your performance after you answer a question. Think for 5 seconds, could you tell him well about yourself? Your own evaluation can make further conversation easy and effective.

___________________________________________________
Are the clues I suggested effective? Please comment them along with your own experiences. You can put the comment below each post. You can contact me at sangam57@gmail.com.

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