Interview questions 101: how to answer “tell me about yourself”

Interviews offer both businesses and potential candidates a chance to learn more about each other. It’s an opportunity for a company to share more about its culture and ways of working, while the interviewee can chat about themselves, their relevant experience and why they believe they are a good fit for the role.

Business leaders often start interviews with the general question, “tell me about yourself.” Before an interview, it’s important to consider how you want to approach this and any key points you wish to raise. 

This article will explore how best to respond to this question and what the interviewer is hoping to gain from asking this.

Why do interviewers ask this question?

Meeting for the first time ahead of an interview lends itself to friendly small talk, and “tell me about yourself” is a gentle nudge towards the direction of the formal interview. 

The question offers candidates the opportunity to share a little bit about their current and past work experience, as well as anything else they would like to share about themselves personally.

A candidate may also ask the question back to the interviewer to learn more about the company and its values.

How candidates should answer ‘tell me about yourself’

Prepping for this question will help you avoid talking for too long, oversharing about personal details or going off on a tangent. A formula to follow to get you started is the present-past-future approach. This entails:

Present: Start by discussing your present job role and a short overview of what it entails – include factors here that are relevant for the job you are interviewing for.

Past: Go on to give a brief overview of your past work experience, highlighting any key appointments or projects that directly relate to the role you are interviewing for.

Future: Then, use the above as the lead up to what you are looking for in your next role and why you believe the job you are interviewing for could be a great fit. 

Remember, an interview is your opportunity to highlight your key skills and why you would be an asset to a business. Pinpointing some of your standout skills and achievements at the very beginning of the discussion pitches yourself to the interviewer immediately.

If you feel comfortable, you could also share some things you like to do outside of a professional setting, such as hobbies or volunteering. Don’t discuss sensitive and personal topics like religion, marital status, whether you have children or your political views – this isn’t relevant to the interview and doesn’t demonstrate your suitability for a job.

As a very rough guideline, you should aim to answer the question in no more than two minutes. Here is an example response:

“I’m currently working as a supervisor at a local bakery. I oversee a small team, I’m responsible for opening and closing the bakery on weekends, I’m in charge of cashing up at the end of the day and I serve our customers too. Previously, I’ve worked in retail settings as a sales supervisor where I learnt key skills like supporting customers with any questions they may have, conducting stock checks and operating a till.

“For my next role, I am looking to take the next step to a managerial position and utilise my varied experience so far. I feel like this role with you could be a great fit and I’m excited to learn more today.

“Outside of work, I’m a huge music fan and love going to concerts. I’m also a keen runner and I’m currently training for my first half marathon, which is exhausting but rewarding!”

Variations of ‘tell me about yourself’

Interviewers may use different phrasing to learn more about the candidate but still expect a response similar to that described above. Other similar questions include:

• How would you describe yourself?
• How has your professional experience led you here today?
• How would you describe your professional background?
• What makes you a great candidate for this role?
• Tell me something interesting about yourself.

Getting to know you

Asking a candidate to tell you about themselves is their chance to give the interviewer a top-line overview of why they are right for the role, what they can offer the business and an insight into their communication skills – it’s a great opening question that sets the tone for the rest of the interview.

For more tips on hiring, check out our recruitment guide.

Kirstie Pickering - business journalist

Kirstie is a freelance journalist writing in the tech, startup and business spaces for publications including Sifted, UKTN and Maddyness UK. She also works closely with agencies to develop content for their startup and scaleup clients.