10_Your Winning Elevator Pitch-Tell me about yourself Question

One of the questions I often get asked is about the interview question “tell me about yourself”?

The fact is that if there is any question you are sure to get in any interview, it is this very question – “Tell me about yourself”. This question may come in different flavours or phrasing, but it sure tops the list of the questions you get to answer. 

So, you could be asked, why do you think you are best suited for this role? What do you have to offer my team? Or walk me through your CV.

The interesting thing is that it gives you the opportunity to play to your strength and sell yourself; when well-articulated it spotlight your brand and makes you standout in an admirable manner. It also helps the interviewer to kind of gain insight into who you are, and the unique strength that you are bringing to their organisation. 

Essentially, the interviewer is asking you to talk about one subject you should know more about than any human being... and that subject is you. Though it sounds simple and should be straight forward, but experience shows that most people sell themselves shot in this. They tend to blab their way through the question and not being able to get across the essence of who they are in a very succinct manner.

Most people also assumed that it would not be difficult to talk about themselves not realising that they have got a very limited time to give a total stranger a window into their many years of career and life condensed into about 60 seconds.

This is where taking the time to develop an elevator pitch that you can tailor to serve you in different occasions and setting as may be required.

When you master this act, it helps put a spotlight on your best attributes.