Desk Lite

You have sat down to begin your interview with a candidate and the first thing you ask is, “Tell me about yourself”.

And in theory it makes sense to ask this at the start of an interview as it acts as an ice breaker, a rapport builder and even a way to ease yourself and the candidate into the interview.

You say that you are asking this because you want to know how well the candidate can articulate themselves. You want to know how well the candidate can put a story together. You want to hear the initial elevator pitch to hear how much they engage you and get you excited about pursuing the interview.

You may think that you are asking for the highlight reel that brings a resume to life in a more concise way.

You want to know what this person brings to the table and how that is highlighted through past experiences.

The Obvious Formula

You may think that there is an obvious formula for answering “tell me about yourself” that comprises of candidate saying:

1. Who they are professionally
2. Why they are the person for the job and
3. Why they are specifically sitting in the interview.
4. Why they are excited about the role and how it aligns with their career goals

You may be thinking that this is so blooming obvious.

Alas let me tell you right now.

It is not.

This is not a wonderful gift you are imparting onto a candidate to really showcase themselves as the best person for the job. You have asked a question with so much hidden meaning. And there is no one size fits all appropriate response.

It is really unclear from those four words if you want to hear about someone career history, their passion projects, their family life or their dream to win a Grammy Award.

It really is an absolute tizzle of confusion for the candidate. Candidates are not mind readers.

The issues of asking Tell Me About Yourself

1. You appear disrespectful.
   It sounds like you don’t know who is sitting in front of you and you sure as heck haven’t read their resume
   
2. You haven’t provided an indication of how long the answer would be.
   How long is a piece of string right?
   
3. You seem unprepared.
   It is a lazy go to question, and it doesn’t answer the ultimate question of “does this show me the person can do the job?”
   
4. You don’t know how to further prompt.
   When you hear an answer that doesn’t quite match the answer in your mind, rather than asking follow up questions you dismiss and move on. You make your decision then and there

If the candidate says something you don’t like, you are unlikely to continue the interview with an open mind.

It is ok to ditch the question entirely and instead ask the things that you actually want to know about in a specific way.

You can ask better questions. Get specific as to what you want to know and ask that.