Your Key to Interview Success By: Peter Fisher
Job Interview – Self Introduction – First Question – Tell me about yourself.
Example of a good answer: Start off with a quick summary, then offer to give examples to back it up, cover your education and experience, including your achievements, then offer to give some examples. Always give the interviewer an opportunity to break in with a new question at the end of each example (by using a pause or even asking: “Would you like another example?”).
If this is your very first job, It is a good strategy to talk about your academics, projects, certifications, any part work experience, internships, competitions and end the question with talking about your core competencies ….
Once you have been invited to an interview you must get ready to create the image of someone they will surely want to hire above all other job applicants.
Yes, they should have read your resume and cover letter you sent in, but that only gave them enough for them to want to see you in person. Now you are going to meet the hiring manager in person, you have a one-off make or break opportunity to get them to see you as the only person they want to employ.
As you know, interviewers will often rely heavily on their first impressions, to the extent that the interview becomes merely a confirmation of that first impression, either good or bad. So if self-introduction is your key to interview success, the first and most important aim is to create a positive first impression.
Everybody has an opinion as to how you do that:
- look ‘em in the eye
- give ‘em a firm handshake
- speak up and don’t mumble
- know your stuff
All good ideas, but what do you actually do and what do you say?
Are you ready for that interview?
Create A Favorable First Impression
The way to create a favorable first impression is to be sure you appear confident and open. When you meet your interviewer for the first time:
- Make eye-contact at the introduction
- Repeat the interviewer’s name as you shake hands
- Thank them for inviting you to the interview.
- As you get seated, smile to indicate you are ready to get down to business.
What often follows is the invitation to ‘tell them about yourself’ which allows you to commence your self-introduction that is so important to your interview success.
You must have previously prepared exactly what you are going to say. This must be a short (less than 3 minutes) focused statement that sounds interesting to the listener. You make it interesting by keeping it short and by showing that you are interested in both the job and the organization. This means you need to do some research about the business beforehand.
Strengths And Achievements
In your self-introduction you will include some examples of your strengths and achievements which relate directly to the requirements of the new job. This must also demonstrate your personal qualities that you apply when you are doing the job because the type of person you are is often far more important than just having the ability to do a job.
The way you outline your self-introduction, in particular the way you speak, tells the interviewer whether you are confident in your abilities so you must rehearse it well, but don’t try to be what you are clearly not – you’ll only be found out at a later date.
Get a friend to listen to your self-introduction with a critical ear, because if it sounds false it will set the alarm bells ringing with the interviewer. Practice speaking faster or more slowly, louder or quietly and try to vary it throughout.
When you have prepared your self-introduction, ask yourself this question:
The answer is that the interviewer needs to identify the best candidate to hire, whilst keeping the costs to a minimum and the fewer people interviewed the better. The need is also for the person who appears to be the best ‘fit’ in terms of both personality and technical ability. Also remember that they may need to justify their decision to hire you, to someone higher!
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