Is "tell me about yourself" another way of asking "Why you?"

[SLKEJRWOI97]

Hi everyone,

I wanted some guidance for an AC I have coming up.

When an interviewer asks "Tell me about yourself" or "Tell me about your background", is this a genuine "Tell me about yourself" question i.e. would I mention what I'm currently doing, what I'm hoping to achieve, what my extracurriculars are, etc?

Or, is the interviewer asking "Why you"?

I appreciate this would depend on a lot of factors but I'm struggling a little on how best to answer this question.

Thanks!

 

[LEL]

Hii, I usually give an answer of my degree background, and how I've ended up here (i.e. my entrance into commercial law) and that I'm hoping to train at the firm. It is never more than 40 seconds - 1 minute. Then they will naturally ask questions from what you've said. It should just be an introduction, you don't want to babble too much from the very start of the interview.

Hope that helps feel free to dm me!

 

[AvniD]

Hi everyone,

I wanted some guidance for an AC I have coming up.

When an interviewer asks "Tell me about yourself" or "Tell me about your background", is this a genuine "Tell me about yourself" question i.e. would I mention what I'm currently doing, what I'm hoping to achieve, what my extracurriculars are, etc?

Or, is the interviewer asking "Why you"?

I appreciate this would depend on a lot of factors but I'm struggling a little on how best to answer this question.

Thanks!

The interviewer is not asking 'why you' and should not expect you to rattle off a list of reasons why you're a good fit for the firm. In fact, bringing up the firm at all in answering this question seems distracting/irrelevant because the question is about you. I'd approach this by talking about my background (cultural, educational etc.), interests and what I'm up to currently.

 

[Jessica Booker]

This is like an elevator pitch. You need to think what your most important points are from all the things you could talk about and what are relevant to the situation, and focus on no more than 3-4 main points you want to cover.

 

[lawyering]

This is like an elevator pitch. You need to think what your most important points are from all the things you could talk about and what are relevant to the situation, and focus on no more than 3-4 main points you want to cover.

Hi @Jessica Booker I wanted to follow up on this, as I'm struggling to come up with a good answer for this question.

If this comes up in a VI (90 seconds) would you expect candidates to take a slightly different approach to simply introducing themselves and their background as @AvniD suggested, given they'd have over 1 minute to answer? And if it may come up as the second or third question when I've already spent time talking about myself in previous questions...would it be odd to introduce oneself in the above suggested manner or would you suggest the same approach? Thank you!

 

[Jessica Booker]

Hi @Jessica Booker I wanted to follow up on this, as I'm struggling to come up with a good answer for this question.

If this comes up in a VI (90 seconds) would you expect candidates to take a slightly different approach to simply introducing themselves and their background as @AvniD suggested, given they'd have over 1 minute to answer? And if it may come up as the second or third question when I've already spent time talking about myself in previous questions...would it be odd to introduce oneself in the above suggested manner or would you suggest the same approach? Thank you!

Personally, I’d still take the elevator pitch approach - 1-2 minutes is not a long time. That doesn’t mean you have to introduce yourself though, you are just picking out the elements that are your strengths/unique elements rather than telling someone your journey.

If it comes up and as a second or third question, then just make sure you aren’t repeating information from those questions.

 

[lawyering]

Personally, I’d still take the elevator pitch approach - 1-2 minutes is not a long time. That doesn’t mean you have to introduce yourself though, you are just picking out the elements that are your strengths/unique elements rather than telling someone your journey.

If it comes up and as a second or third question, then just make sure you aren’t repeating information from those questions.

Thanks for your prompt reply and sounds good - cheers!

 

[James Carrabino]

Hi @Jessica Booker I wanted to follow up on this, as I'm struggling to come up with a good answer for this question.

If this comes up in a VI (90 seconds) would you expect candidates to take a slightly different approach to simply introducing themselves and their background as @AvniD suggested, given they'd have over 1 minute to answer? And if it may come up as the second or third question when I've already spent time talking about myself in previous questions...would it be odd to introduce oneself in the above suggested manner or would you suggest the same approach? Thank you!

@fn1999 I wrote a post here where I actually mention this question and I think it sort of represents a big culmination of your motivations, unique selling points and ambitions! Please reach out if you have any further questions