Tell Me About Yourself - A Good Answer To This Interview Question

Summary

In Dan Lok's insightful video, he addresses a common interview question – "Tell me about yourself." Many interviewees falter at this initial stage, leading to a poor first impression. Dan, with his extensive experience as a CEO and hiring manager, highlights the importance of showing value rather than sharing a life story. He provides a simple formula: Success, Strength, Situation, to craft an impactful response. This method helps candidates demonstrate their skills succinctly, relate them to the job, and pose a return-directed question. Memorizing and rehearsing this structured answer ensures smooth delivery, boosting confidence and interview success.

Highlights

• Panicking during the 'Tell me about yourself' question is common – breathe and refocus! 😅
• Discuss your accomplishments, not personal details. Success sells! 🚀
• Ask about what the company is looking for – turn it into a dialogue. 🔄

Key Takeaways

• Don't narrate your life story; show your value to the company instead! 💪
• Use the 3 S's formula: Success, Strength, Situation, to craft your answer. 📝
• Practice makes perfect: rehearse your answer to deliver it confidently. 🎯

Overview

Interviews can often start on a nerve-wracking note, especially when faced with the ubiquitous 'Tell me about yourself' question. Dan Lok dives into this initial hurdle, uncovering why many candidates falter and how to pivot this question to your advantage. Instead of delving into personal history, he emphasizes the importance of conveying what value you can bring to the company.

Dan offers a straightforward and memorable approach to tackling this question – the 3 S's formula. By structuring your response around Success, Strength, and Situation, you can both showcase your qualifications and speak directly to the needs of the employer. This ensures the conversation is focused on mutual benefits and your potential impact.

Preparation is key, as Dan recommends memorizing and practicing your response until it feels natural. This attention to detail not only boosts your confidence but also demonstrates your professionalism and readiness to the interviewer, increasing your chances of making a stellar first impression.

Chapters

• 00:00 - 00:30: Introduction and Importance of First Impression The chapter discusses the critical role of first impressions, particularly during job interviews. It highlights the common question, 'So tell me about yourself,' illustrating varying responses and the pressure candidates feel. The narrative reflects the anticipation and preparation leading up to an interview, underscoring the significance of presenting oneself effectively to potential employers.
• 00:30 - 01:00: The Common Mistake The chapter 'The Common Mistake' explores the anxiety and pressure candidates face during job interviews, particularly when asked to introduce themselves. It highlights a typical scenario where a candidate panics in response to this common interview question and reflects on the importance of making a strong first impression, as hiring managers often form an opinion in the initial moments of the interview.
• 01:00 - 01:30: CEO Perspective on the Question The chapter 'CEO Perspective on the Question' discusses how to effectively respond to the common interview question 'tell me about yourself.' The chapter provides insights from a CEO, a hiring manager, and an employer, emphasizing the importance of making a good impression during interviews. It highlights the frequent struggle of interviewees with this question, based on the experience of interviewing thousands of applicants.
• 01:30 - 02:00: The Interview Question Misunderstanding The chapter titled 'The Interview Question Misunderstanding' serves as a guide for effectively responding to a common interview question. The chapter highlights impressive responses from real incidents and aims to provide readers with a formula to craft their replies. The author promises that by the end of the chapter, readers will be equipped with a script or template to handle this interview question confidently during their next real-life interview scenario.
• 02:00 - 03:00: Be Your Best Self The chapter titled 'Be Your Best Self' offers insights into effectively responding to the interview question, 'Tell me about yourself.' It highlights that the question is not an invitation to share one's entire life story or personal anecdotes about family pets. Instead, it prompts a more focused and relevant answer tailored to the professional context.
• 03:00 - 05:00: Example of a Poor Response When asked to 'tell me about yourself,' people often share lengthy life stories, which might not address the real question. The focus should be on what value they bring to a company and the problems they can solve.
• 05:00 - 05:30: The 3 S's Formula This chapter delves into the importance of presenting oneself effectively during an interview by following the '3 S's Formula'. The key takeaway is to be yourself but present your best self. It emphasizes the need to maintain authenticity without oversharing personal information. Instead, focus on aligning your personal attributes with the expectations and needs of the role you're applying for.
• 05:30 - 07:00: Step 1: Success This chapter discusses the analogy between a job interview and a first date, suggesting that one should present their best self and lead with their strengths. It emphasizes the importance of framing responses in terms of W-I-I-F-M, or 'What's in it for them,' to align with the interviewer's perspective and needs.
• 07:00 - 08:30: Step 2: Strength The chapter features a scenario where a candidate is interviewing for a social media manager position. The hiring manager asks the classic question, 'Tell me about yourself.' The candidate provides a typical response, mentioning their lifelong familiarity with social media, and their decision three years ago to pursue it more seriously. This response demonstrates a common situation in interviews where candidates try to connect personal history with professional aspirations.
• 08:30 - 10:00: Step 3: Situation This chapter explores a pivotal moment in the narrator's life, where they contemplate making a living from their interests. Initially, they experimented with taking on a few clients and enjoyed some freelance work. As they plan to get married, their fiancé's advice prompts them to seek a stable job with a company that offers growth potential and opportunities for career advancement.
• 10:00 - 11:30: The Importance of Preparation The chapter titled "The Importance of Preparation" addresses the significance of being prepared, particularly in the context of job interviews. It highlights a common mistake where candidates focus too much on their personal needs and convenience, such as the proximity of the job location to their home, rather than aligning their responses with the needs and expectations of the hiring manager. The transcript suggests that such self-focused responses can be perceived negatively by potential employers. The emphasis is on the importance of understanding and empathizing with the interviewer's perspective and preparing answers that are relevant and beneficial to the organization.
• 11:30 - 13:00: Conclusion and Call to Action This chapter focuses on equipping the reader with a practical approach to presenting themselves effectively, especially in job applications or interviews. It emphasizes highlighting benefits and potential contributions to the hiring manager rather than merely stating personal background. The chapter introduces a simple formula, referred to as the 'Three S', to construct a compelling narrative for discussions about one's achievements and experiences.

Tell Me About Yourself - A Good Answer To This Interview Question Transcription

• 00:00 - 00:30 - So tell me about yourself. - I um.... - So, tell me about yourself. - Well, I...I like... - Hmm. So tell me about yourself. - Can I call a friend? - You submitted the resume and you waited and you waited patiently and finally, you got that phone call, and now you got the interview.
• 00:30 - 01:00 You're sitting across the table and the hiring manager smiles and asks you the question... Tell me about yourself. And you panic. And you don't know what to do. You don't know what to say. You start to stutter. And halfway through the conversation you say to yourself, "Ugh! I blew it! Why did I even say that?!" You never get a second chance to make a first impression. Usually that hiring manager makes up his or her mind in the first three minutes during the interview.
• 01:00 - 01:30 Do you make a good impression? So today I'm going to share with you from a CEO perspective, from a hiring manager perspective, from an employer perspective, what is the best response to the question "tell me about yourself." You see, we have interviewed thousands and thousands of potential applicants and I cannot tell you how many times I see people kind of struggle with this question
• 01:30 - 02:00 but however, there are incidents that we are very impressed with the response. This is not theory. We have taken some of the best replies, some of the best responses to this question. I'm going to teach it to you, and by the end of this video you're going to walk away with the exact formula exactly what do you need to say and how to say it. I'm also going to give you a little script, a little template, so next time when you are asked this question
• 02:00 - 02:30 you know exactly what to say. And now let me give you a couple keys first. Key number one. When the hiring manager is asking you the question "tell me about yourself" they are not actually asking about your whole life story. They're not asking about your parents, your background, and your dog's name, and what kind of cat do you have. It is not about that.
• 02:30 - 03:00 So when people hear that question, they think, "Oh, let me tell you my life story!" and twenty minutes into it, you have not talked about anything important. So, what they're actually asking is what are you bringing to the table. So from now on, when you hear the question, "tell me about yourself" I want you to make the mental switch. That equals what value could you bring to the company? What problems can you solve for the company?
• 03:00 - 03:30 That's what they are asking. And you shouldn't go on and on and on about all your background and all of that. No. Don't do that. Key number two. Be yourself, but be your best self. See, one of the mistakes people make here is they believe in the interview, "well, I just want to be myself". Yes, you want to be yourself, but you want to be your best self. You want to be authentic, you don't want to be fake. But it doesn't mean that you just share everything. This is the first time you just sitting across the table
• 03:30 - 04:00 from a hiring manager, it's like a date. Right? You're just getting to know each other. This is like a coffee date. So make sure that you present your best self. Lead with your strong foot forward. So when they are asking you the question, everything you share, any statement that you make, you always want to tie it back to what's in it for them. W-I-I-F-M. What's in it for them? So let me give you an example. Let's say someone is hiring and you're applying
• 04:00 - 04:30 for a social media manager position. And the hiring manager is asking you, "well, so tell me about yourself." A typical response, someone might say, "well, you know, I um, I-I-I grew up with social media and, um, I've used social media for a long long time my whole life actually. So I'm very familiar with it. And just about three years ago, I thought to myself
• 04:30 - 05:00 well, maybe I could actually make a living doing this. So I started playing around with it, and, um, take on a couple clients here and there and I've worked with a couple people, uh, and then, now, you know, I'm planning to get married and my fiancé told me, you know, I should get a stable job. So here I am, and, I'm looking for a company that offers good growth potential, good growth opportunity.
• 05:00 - 05:30 And this place is not too far from my home. It's good, it's only a ten minute drive." You see the problem? Like this, all me me me me me me me me me me me. It's all about that person, what they need and all of that stuff. Bad idea. Now, how do you feel if you are the hiring manager when you ask that question, comment below, if that's the answer that you get. So, instead of rambling on about that,
• 05:30 - 06:00 about my background and all this stuff, what I want, no. If you turn it into a benefit, what's in it for them, what's in it for the hiring manager. What could you say? I'm going to give you a simple formula. Write this down. Three S. Three S. First, success. Now here's a script that you could use. "I have been blank". Or, "my background is blank".
• 06:00 - 06:30 So, let me demonstrate. Let's say it's the same position, social media manager, that you're applying. First, success. I have been. I have been doing social media for the last three years and I specialize in helping companies and entrepreneurs growing their Facebook fan page. And in the last three years alone I have helped dozens of clients in over ten different industries. And on average I've been able to help my clients
• 06:30 - 07:00 to really increase their engagement and grow their fan page by three to five hundred percent in less than six months. And that's what I am passionate about. In fact I have listed some of those clients that I've worked with on the reference letter. You see how that works? You're talking about your success but without bragging. It's more to demonstrate and showcase your skillset. What are you good at?
• 07:00 - 07:30 That's that number one, success. And then, step number two is strength. And here's the script. "My strength is" or "my real strength is" fill in the blank. My real strength is my ability to truly understand what your audience wants. I pride myself on my reputation to creating engaging and compelling content that I know your audience loves and wants to share.
• 07:30 - 08:00 That's the second step. My strength is blank. Third, situation. Meaning, how does that apply to the position that you're applying. How do you apply your background, your strength into the new company, the new opportunity. Situation, "what I am looking for is". "What I am looking for is", fill in the blank. What I'm looking for is a company that I could add value to,
• 08:00 - 08:30 that I could produce a positive return on investment for. Where I could join a strong team. Is this what ABC company is looking for? You see? At the end you ask a question. Whoever asks a question controls the conversation. So you want to ask a question. And now the hiring manager will be like "okay, yeah, I guess that's what I'm looking for", or "no that's not what we're looking for". And you got from there.
• 08:30 - 09:00 Just because you are in an interview it doesn't mean that you don't need to sell. The next question you might have is well, Dan, does that mean that I have to memorize a script of some sort? And the answer is absolutely yes. You don't want to go in unprepared. In fact, you want to write it out, practice it, rehearse it many many times. So when you are in front of that potential hiring manager, you are ready to go.
• 09:00 - 09:30 You need to memorize it and say it many many times and repeat it many many times so it comes across very very natural. The last thing you want is to panic and stutter and you don't know what to say. You do not want to do that. If you find this video useful, comment below. If you want to equip yourself with practical business knowledge, if you want to learn how to communicate with conviction so you can finally get the respect that you deserve
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