TELL ME ABOUT YOURSELF

The past - what is your background and relevant work experience?

How did you get to where you are now?
The present - what is your current role? What do you do and what
are your top accomplishments?
The future - what are you looking to do next? Why are you
interested in the position?

1.)
Sure, so, my name is Joe and I am 27 years old.
For the past 5 years, I’ve been working as a business analyst at Company X and
Y.
I have some background in data analysis, with a degree from University XY.
What really got me into the field, though, is the internship I did at Company Z.
Throughout my career, I’ve noticed that I’ve always been good with numbers
and handling data.
For example, when I was working at Company X, I led a project for migrating all
operations data to a new data warehousing system to cut down on costs. The
new solution was a much better fit for our business, which eventually led to
savings of up to $200,000 annually.
Moving forward, I hope to expand my experience across different industries.
Particularly fintech, which is why I’m interested in your company.

2.)
Sample answer for an experienced professional:
Sure, I’d be glad to. I’m an tech-focused project manager for up to 8 years now.
I graduated from University X, where I made the Dean’s List, with a major in
business administration and a minor in computer science. After that, I first got
into the industry working as an administrative assistant at Company X. There I
provided clerical support with interdepartmental communication, helped in
managing schedules, and maintained the digital filing system.
After that, I was working as a project manager for Company Y that provided
cloud computing solutions for about 6 years. There, I personally managed 5+
teams of software projects, and made sure everything went smoothly in terms
of business goals, deadlines, budget, and more.

In my downtime, I enjoy reading about AI, tech, and robotics. Since you guys do
all 3, I thought I’d apply.

3.)
Sample answer for fresh graduates:
My name is Jane Doe, I’m 22 years old and I recently graduated from University
X with a B.A. in international business. While there, I learned a lot of theory in
subjects like corporate communication, international economics, corporate
governance, and more. I was also part of the student government and
maintained a GPA of 3.6.
I’ve worked hard in my education and now I’m ready to apply my knowledge
into practice.
While I don’t have any real-life work experience, I’ve had a lot of exposure to
the business environment. A lot of my courses involved working with real
companies to solve real problems.
Now, I’m looking to leverage everything I’ve learned in uni and get some hands-
on work experience.

4.)
Sample answer for university admissions:
So, my name is John, and I’m a senior at School XYZ.
This year, I managed to maintain a 3.7 GPA, while working on a few different
school projects. I started an ‘Ernest Hemingway Book Club’ which has up to 15
active members as of now. And I also launched a recycling program for the
campus, through which we raised awareness and invited an outside guest
lecturer to speak about the subject.
I tend to be teamwork-oriented and reliable, as I’ve never missed a deadline.
I’m also proud of my ability to preserve and overcome any challenges as they
come up. For example, last year, I was having some trouble with trigonometry. I
realized I needed to dedicate more time to the subject, so, I met with a teacher
outside the class and set aside two extra hours per day for the subject.
Eventually, I ended up with an A in the subject.
At University X, I’m planning to either major in English or Journalism. I love
reading and writing, so I think both programs are going to be interesting and
relevant to my interests.
 STRENGTH & WEAKNESS
STRENGTH:
# Can work under a lot of pressure
My biggest strength is that I can think on my feet and can work under a lot of
pressure. As an event manager at Company X, we were organizing an IT
conference that needed a number of last-minute changes - due to a speaker
canceling because of an emergency and 2 of our volunteers not being able to
show up.
So, we allocated more time to each speaker and added a QA section at the end
of each speech. We also encouraged the present speakers to talk about their
business and personal experience more in-depth after they were done with
their speech.
As for being understaffed, one day before the conference, I reached out to my
network and found 2 students who were willing to help out. I personally met
them 2 hours before the conference and got them up to speed with everything
we were doing for the day, and gave them their tasks.
In the end, everything went well without any other problems popping up.

WEAKNESS:
# Self-criticism
“One of my weaknesses is that I tend to be overly critical of myself. After
completing a project, even if it's received positive feedback, I often feel like I
could have done more. This can lead to overworking and burnout. To address
this, I've learned to take time to objectively evaluate my achievements and
celebrate my wins. This has not only improved my work and confidence but has
also helped me appreciate the support of my team and other systems behind
me. I still strive for excellence but have learned to balance it with self-care and
a healthy perspective on my accomplishments.”
 END STRONG
The way you end the video interview will set the stage for the next steps, so
make sure you end on a high note. If you don’t have the interviewer’s email
address, ask for it now so you can send a thank you note.

Then follow up after the interview, not immediately but a few hours later, to
thank them again for their time, recap any high points of the discussion and
restate your enthusiasm about taking the interview process to the next step.

Video interviews can be overwhelming at first, but with these tips, you'll be
armed with the tools you need to ace the interview and get one step closer to
securing the position of your dreams.

https://novoresume.com/career-blog/find-a-job

https://novoresume.com/career-blog/phone-interview-questions-and-tips

https://novoresume.com/career-blog/job-hunt

https://novoresume.com/career-blog/interview-questions-and-best-answers-
guide

https://novoresume.com/career-blog/situational-interview-questions

https://novoresume.com/career-blog/what-is-your-greatest-accomplishment

https://novoresume.com/career-blog/behavioral-interview-questions

https://novoresume.com/career-blog/where-do-you-see-yourself-in-5-years

https://novoresume.com/career-blog/interview-star-method

https://novoresume.com/career-blog/star-interview-questions

https://novoresume.com/career-blog/reasons-for-leaving-a-job
 Phone Interview
 Notes about the company, have those ready in front of you.
 Copy of your resume and the job description for the position
 Sit up straight or even stand, as this will be reflected in your tone
 Wait a few seconds to collect your thoughts before you answer
 Always take notes as the interviewer is talking so you can refer back
before you respond if you need to.

The way you end the phone interview:

 End on a high note.

 Thank the interviewer for their time and ask them for the next steps or a
timeline.

 Say again that you are confident that you are the right choice for this
position and how excited you are at the possibility of working for the
company.

 If you don’t have the interviewer’s email address, ask for it now so you
can send a thank you note.

 Then follow up after the interview, not immediately but a few hours
later, to thank them again for their time, recap any high points of the
discussion and restate your enthusiasm about taking the interview
process to the next step.