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If you've ever been in a job interview, you've probably been asked the question, "Tell me about yourself."

It’s pretty much guaranteed that you’ll get asked this question at the start of your conversation.

But did you know there’s a right and a wrong way to answer this question?

Yep. You can say good-bye to a second round interview if you mess this question up. Trust me, I’ve been on the other side and mentally declined a candidate if they couldn’t answer this question well.

Why?

Well, first impressions matter.

Here are 5 ways to NOT answer this question

1. Sharing personal or irrelevant information
2. Being too brief or too long-winded
3. Repeating your resume
4. Being negative
5. Being too vague

Ok, now that you know the top 5 ways to NOT answer this question, let’s dive into my recommended “Tell me about yourself” framework that I use with my one-on-one coaching clients.

Ready to go?

Let’s dive in.

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It's time to tell a story

This is your opportunity to tell the interviewer who you are, what drives you and why you’re excited to be sitting across from them.

It’s your opening act before you dive into the details of your past experiences.

That’s why this question is so important to help set the scene of the interview.

So, how do we do that?

The great storyteller Stan Millar recommends framing your answer like a book with 3 chapters.

To tell your story, you convert your experiences into a timeline and give each chapter a name.

Then, each chapter in your story includes a:

➝ Goal

➝ Challenge

➝ Defining Moment (fork in the road)

➝ Resolution

➝ New Reality ( bridge to the next chapter)

Let’s dive into an example.

Breakdown of my "Tell me about yourself" answer

My 3 chapter titles are:

1. New graduate to experienced people leader
2. Entrepreneurial adventure
3. Serving others as coach and business consultant

Here's my answer (from a few years ago)…

"I like to think of my career in 3 chapters. I call Chapter 1, "New graduate to experienced people leader".

My early career goal [GOAL] was to learn as much as I could about Fortune 500 companies as a management consultant before starting my own business.

[CHALLENGE] I was hired fresh out of undergrad into a strategy and operations consulting team with a question mark above my head about how well I’d perform on data and analytics projects based on my interviews.

I was determined to prove to the team’s leaders and myself that I could successfully deliver modelling and analytics projects.

So I requested to be staffed on projects related to the corporate finance function and M&A activities. The first project I was on was challenging. I was thrown in the deep end with limited analytical and financial modelling training.

[DEFINING MOMENT] But with the support of my mentors plus long hours behind the scenes, [RESOLUTION] I successfully delivered my first financial assessment to a Fortune 500 company to help them determine which capital project investments they should make.

[NEW REALITY] Once I mastered this skill, I threw myself into every leadership position I could find while expanding my network and project experience.

I became known as a key player in the office and was requested by partners to support high profile projects due to my client skills. I also led recruitment activities to grow our group on a regional and national basis. Throughout my time in consulting, I led multiple projects worth over +$15M in billings and worked with clients in oil and gas, insurance, banking, consumer goods, public sector and retail industries.

But as conversations about my future at the firm started to ramp up, I realized that I wanted more out of my career…

That leads me to Chapter Two of my story, "My First Entrepreneurial Adventure"…

Later on I joined a startup called Prosper as Co-Founder and Chief Customer Officer.

Our [GOAL] was to build a platform to help the modern workforce level up their career through exercises, content and asynchronous coaching.

We raised seed investment to build our platform and after launch, Prosper was featured by Apple as the App of the Day twice. [CHALLENGE] However, we quickly learned that we didn’t have the monthly marketing budget to continue to fill the top of funnel with enough new prospects in this business model.

In response, we pivoted the company to focus on leadership coaching and sold our programs to corporations like lululemon and RBC. This move stabilized the business and we continued to grow.

[DEFINING MOMENT] After hitting a sales slump and unable to raise another round of funding, we found ourselves low on cash and made the hard decision to close the business down. [NEW REALITY] We sold the business to a US executive search firm.

Chapter 3: Serving Others as Coach & Business Consultant

After selling Prosper, [GOAL] I pivoted my career and opened my own coaching and business consulting company.

One of my anchor business clients was a startup called bluSPARC. [CHALLENGE] The founders wanted to build a leadership development coaching company and needed a leader who understood the market and how to build a tech-enabled service company. [RESOLUTION] That leader was me.

[NEW REALITY] Within 12 months, the founders and I scaled the company to their first multiple 7-figure year, established a team and launched their coaching platform to serve Fortune 500 US-based companies.

That leads me to our conversation today..."

Benefits of this framework:

One of the biggest benefits of this framework is that it's predictable, repeatable and interesting.

Did you catch yourself wondering what was going to happen next?

Did I hook your attention?

Chances are, when you use this framework, you'll have the interviewer's attention hooked too.

Now, the interviewer can ask you more questions about each chapter as they see fit.

Let's re-cap...

To answer the question, "Tell me about yourself", breakdown your professional career into 3 chapters. Give each chapter a name and use the following structure for each chapter:

1. Goal
2. Challenge
3. Defining Moment (fork in the road)
4. Resolution
5. New Reality ( bridge to the next chapter

Your turn!
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Want more feedback before you hit the interview?

Book a FREE Discovery Call H​ERE so we can talk about your goals and how to ace the interview.

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