Answering The Toughest Interview Question

For people who find it awkward to talk about themselves

Photo by The Jopwell Collection on Unsplash

So, tell me about yourself..?

I’ve seen this question bring down some of the smartest, most articulate people I know. Maybe it’s a British thing, we hate to brag, but in an interview you will do better if you brag a little.

Noob

The noob answers with way too much detail and gives a full history of their life

“So I was a heavy baby. I came out crying and I’ve never stopped since, at university I studied astrology because Saturn was really affecting my moods and I wanted to know why. I have always needed to know the ‘why’ of things, you know?

Then my first job was as a Sandwich Artiste at a well known long-sandwich dispensary. I was a wizard with those things, I made the salami sing and the sweetcorn weep.

My next job …

My next job…

My next job…

And that brings us to today”.

Your future employer doesn’t need your full history, just hit them with some key points that sell you.

Intermediate

“I studied Physics at university where I learned some Fortran90, MatLab and C. Since then I have worked as a Business Systems Analyst for 2 years where I learned SQL, SSRS, PowerBI and the Microsoft Low Code tools such as PowerApps and Power Automate. Now I want to focus on learning SQL more deeply to become a better SQL developer”

This is pretty much exactly what I said at the job I have had the longest in my career. It was a short history of Jack Webb, with some technical knowledge sprinkled throughout and an impressive sounding degree that raises an eyebrow in most interviews (not why I studied it, I was just really into Big Bang Theory at the time).

Advanced

Here you want to give a succinct answer that hits your 3 key points and makes you an attractive candidate.

The point of this question is to sell yourself in a quick summary, not to give random facts about your life.

A better answer from me would have been something like:

“I love solving complex, logical problems, after graduating from my degree in Physics I found I could solve more interesting problems in coding. In my last role, I learned a lot of SQL, Excel, SSRS and some low-code technologies.

I found SQL the most enjoyable and solved 90% of my tickets within SLA.

Now I’m ready to go deeper into SQL, where I can learn better coding practices and solve bigger problems, and I can bring my skills in SQL to this company.”

Here I have kept it short, concise and made my key points:

• That I love SQL

• That I solve a lot of problems reliably

• That I want to keep learning more.

This was a junior SQL developer role, so these points would all have been attractive to my potential employer.

Jack’s Picks

• Avoiding Career Irrelevance by

  Rishad Tobaccowala
  
  This quote stood out to me “When everybody has the same knowledge it will be how we convince and inspire that will make the difference”, does it seem right to you?

• On the Move by Oliver Sacks
  I am re-reading this book at the moment, Oliver Sacks was such an amazing writer and interesting guy. He was a neurologist, power lifter, motorcycle rider, author and so much more.

• How to Negotiate Your Salary, with Ramit Sethi
  It’s an old video, but it checks out, great tips on salary negotiation

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