Answering “Tell me about yourself…” | Top Interviewing Questions Series

Published on September 6, 2022

Picture of a road with text saying "Tell me about yourself… I have your resume here; can you just walk me through your background?"

Each Tuesday, the CSE Connect “Top Interviewing Questions Series” will highlight a different question from the CSE Top Interviewing Questions Guide, detailing 1) How the question is typically asked, 2) Why interviewers tend to ask the question and what the interviewer is looking for when asking the question, and 3) Tips for a successful response.

This week’s question is : “Tell me about yourself”

How the Question is Typically Asked/Common Variations

  • Tell me about yourself (nice and simple)
  • I have your resume here; can you just walk me through your background?
  • Can you quickly introduce yourself and your professional experience

Special Tip: Pay careful attention to how the interviewer asks the question. If they use descriptors like “brief” or “quickly”, then they definitely don’t want a long winded description of your entire life story. Practice summarizing the highlights so you can quickly run through them – hitting the important parts without taking too long!

Why Do Interviewers Ask/What are their Expectations

This begins the majority of job interviews. Start strong, make a great first impression and you can shape the upcoming tone and conversation. As most interviewers ask this, they do expect your answer to be robust.

Tips for Success

Take the time to prepare how you want to tell your story and think about it as an elevator pitch, a focused overview that’s concise enough to deliver during an elevator ride (guide here).

Include your top selling points as a candidate with Three Key Components:

      • First, confident, compelling statement of who you are professionally (lead with most recent or current position)
      • Second, why you are qualified. This is the most important piece; plan details in advance to wow your interviewer
      • Third, why are you here. Express enthusiasm for the position and keep it clear and concise

Alumni Advice

“The thing that sets you apart doesn’t have to be a project or work experience. It can be anything about you…have stories in your life that you can spin as successes or failures… people remember this more than the technical things” Annick Hirwa MA’19

For practice with this question please visit: Big Interview > Practice > General

Visit the CSE Top Interviewing Questions Guide for more information regarding top general interview questions!

By Career Strategies and Engagement (CSE)
Career Strategies and Engagement (CSE)
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