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Tell me something about yourself?
An1:
This is the most common and very first question usually asked in any interview. When you answer this question you usually have to tell about the following:
# Educational Qualifications: When you talk about educational qualifications, don't talk about percentages unless they are very good. If you have made any achievements like topping college academics or secured a gold medal make sure you tell about it.
# Family Background: Donot spend too much of time here. Let the interviewer know your father's and mother's profession and how many siblings you have.
# Hobbies/Interests: This is very important section and be prepared for follow up questions. If you say my hobby is reading books. Interviewer might ask a followup question like, what type of books you usually read. If you say I read fiction books. The interviewer might ask you, Who is your favourite author.
So be very careful when you are making up hobbies. It is better if your hobbies add value for the type of job you are doing. For example if you are going for a software engineer interview, you can say browsing internet as one of the hobby. If a software engineer has good browsing skills he might find solutions online quickly and solve the problem at hand in less time. When you say browing as one of your hobby, be prepared for the follow up interview questions like, What do you usually browse on the internet? What is your favourite website? Who is your favourite technical article writer?
# Strengths: Tell interviewer about your strengths with example. Examples of strengths are listed below. Make sure you back up each strength with an example from your past experience.
* Hard Working in nature.
* Dedication.
* Commitment.
* Good Team player.
* Communication Skills
* Problem solving skills
* Taking Initiatives
* Beging Pro-active
* Design Skills
# Weakness: When ever you say you have a weakness, make sure you also have a plan and working on it to over come your weakness.
* Too invloved : Some times when there is a technical issue or a problem I tend to work continuously until I fix it without having a break. But what I have noticed and am trying to practice is that taking a break away from the problem and thinking outside the square or taking suggestions will assist you in identifying the root cause of the problem sooner.
* Over confident : Very rarely I become over confident, especially when a simple task is given, I get to solving the issue without spending much time planning. So I am working on applying the 80/20 principle of planning and implementation. Spend 80% of my effort and time in planning and 20% on implementation.
An2:
TRAPS:
Beware, about 80% of all interviews begin with this “innocent” question. Many candidates, unprepared for the question, skewer themselves by rambling, recapping their life story, delving into ancient work history or personal matters.
BEST ANSWER:
Start with the present and tell why you are well qualified for the position. Remember that the key to all successful interviewing is to match your qualifications to what the interviewer is looking for. In other words you must sell what the buyer is buying. This is the single most important strategy in job hunting.
So, before you answer this or any question it’s imperative that you try to uncover your interviewer’s greatest need, want, problem or goal.
To do so, make you take these two steps:
* Do all the homework you can before the interview to uncover this person’s wants and needs (not the generalized needs of the industry or company)
* As early as you can in the interview, ask for a more complete description of what the position entails. You might say: “I have a number of accomplishments I’d like to tell you about, but I want to make the best use of our time together and talk directly to your needs. To help me do, that, could you tell me more about the most important priorities of this position? All I know is what I (heard from the recruiter, read in the classified ad, etc.)”
Then, ALWAYS follow-up with a second and possibly, third question, to draw out his needs even more. Surprisingly, it’s usually this second or third question that unearths what the interviewer is most looking for.
You might ask simply, “And in addition to that?…” or, “Is there anything else you see as essential to success in this position?:
This process will not feel easy or natural at first, because it is easier simply to answer questions, but only if you uncover the employer’s wants and needs will your answers make the most sense. Practice asking these key questions before giving your answers, the process will feel more natural and you will be light years ahead of the other job candidates you’re competing with.
After uncovering what the employer is looking for, describe why the needs of this job bear striking parallels to tasks you’ve succeeded at before. Be sure to illustrate with specific examples of your responsibilities and especially your achievements, all of which are geared to present yourself as a perfect match for the needs he has just
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