Tell Me About Yourself - Structure a Strong Answer

The “Tell me about yourself” question is by far the most important question to get right because not only will it set the tone for the rest of the interview, but also you will get a huge confidence boost right at the beginning if start off correctly.

Too often candidates tell their life stories when answering “Tell me about yourself” even when that’s going to bore the interviewer at best, and work against you at worst. This video is about how to easily answer the interview question: Tell Me About Yourself.

Here, I teach you the simple steps to structure a strong answer to this common interview question. I skip over all the other more “common advice” you might find in other videos and jump right into (1) The Present, Past, and Future answer structure, (2) The Highlight Method, and (3) Providing a sample answers and examples that have worked for me and many co-workers here at Google.

So whether you are a fresher / fresh grad looking for a sample answer, or an experienced professional looking for an answer structure, this video is a great resource. You will learn how to apply the concepts here and also avoid common mistakes others make when answering “tell me about yourself.”

This is a must watch before your next interview, good luck!

TIMESTAMPS
00:00 Intro
01:04 Present, Past, Future answer structure
06:15 The Highlight Method
06:58 Sample answer
09:18 Ending

MY FAVORITE GEAR

*MY TOP 3 FAVORITE SOFTWARE*

BE MY FRIEND:

👨🏻‍💻 WHO AM I:
I'm Jeff, a full time Product Marketer. In my spare time I like to tinker with tools and create systems that help me get things done faster - or as one of my friends puts it: "Get better at being lazy" 😏

PS: Some of the links in this description are affiliate links I get a kickback from 😇

Disclaimer: My opinions are my own and may not reflect that of my employer

#tellmeaboutyourself #interviewtips #sampleanswer

[JeffSu]

Were you using some form of “Present, Past, Future” format already? Let me know!

TIMESTAMPS
01:04 Present, Past, Future answer structure
06:15 The Highlight Method
06:58 Sample answer
09:18 Ending

[TheDaviddai]

I used this structure when I first met my in-laws and now I'm married.

[badgal_fifi]

I used your “Present, Past, Future” format today in a phone interview with a recruiter. She gave me a compliment at the end of the call, saying that I delivered very well and invited me to move forward to the next step. THANK YOU!!

[maryemhammedi]

I used this method in my internship interview with a company that I dreamt about my whole life, and I completely nailed it.. And here I am, preparing my suitcase to travel to my dream country, to join my dream company!!
Thanks a lot!!!

[jodieorr]

I watched all of your interviewing/resume videos in preparation for my recent job search. After using your tips & principles in each interview, I had my choice between two GREAT offers, one of which was a higher salary than what I was asking. All this to say THANK YOU for helping me land the best next step in my career.

[terrancerobin]

3 years later and this is honestly still so good. Having started preparations for an upcoming job interview, finding this video and applying your framework has left me feeling a lot less anxious. Tremendously helpful - thank you, Jeff!

[emilycho]

I honestly have never thought about this question in such specific detail. I feel like this almost makes it too structured, but I am glad now I know. Super helpful, thank you!

[pratyushadutta]

Hi Jeff, thank you for the genuine advice and practical examples. Your fresh, well structured and no fluff approach to content creation is truly helpful for people like me who are frustrated with the lame and impractical youtube career advice channels. I have learned a lot from your videos and wanted to help you out with youtube algorithm.
Keep up the good work!

[TheWitsama]

I have tried your "Present, Past and Future" structure. I aced the interview and interviewers even said "The introduction was very impressive". It really helped me set the tone of the whole interview back then. Thanks to you. I landed the offer in Valuations team in one of the big 4 accounting firms.

P.S. You got my first comment on Youtube Lol

[Dudu]

Hey Jeff! I was recently laid off and was looking for tips on job hunting and productivity and that was how I stumbled upon your channel. I just wanted to say BIG THANKS to you for creating this video. It has help me tremendously as I've not job hunt for the last 2 years and it was a real struggle in the interviews initially. But this video gave me the confidence as it shows how I can best structure my answers based on common interview questions. I swear after implementing the tips u have shared, I landed an offer in 1 month. And it's an offer from an industry that I've been dreaming of. So I just wanted to say thanks again for sharing the tips u have and creating this video!

[osgpehv]

Thank you for taking the time to explain everything from both a professional standpoint and as a college student. I think a lot of videos on interview tips rarely mention how an answer might differ for those of us with little to no professional experience. Just subscribed.

[jayfuco]

I like how concise his answers are and simple at the same time cover all aspect of the question. Very good Jeff and thank you for the tips.

[cncmlvt]

Thank you so much Jeff! Your interview preparation videos were tremendously helpful! i watched them all, prepared my responses for all the potential questions with your suggested structures, and i practiced and practiced for two weeks. And today i just got an offer from my dream job. Thank you again💞

[discerningacumen]

Thank you much for this video. In the interviews as a Christian and a mobile software engineer (senior) I am, I used to humble myself that I didn't bring up those big achievements I had made before. I assumed that they should have read my resume. And I became a boring candidate to the hiring manager. After seeing this video I felt that I am bad at interviewing.

[prarieduchess]

I've been watching videos for DAYS on how to nail an interview. You are the first video with suggestions that make SENSE when it comes to this question. You've explained it basic enough that even someone with my rather unimpressive work history and education, has an answer that doesn't sound like total garbage and actually makes me feel ALOT more confident about the answer. So thank you! Fingers crossed it lands me the job!

[ahmedzain]

Really Happy and Proud to be a virtual student of this great channel. Your efforts are greatly appreciated Jeff!

[tostillas]

I know this was from a year ago but I just wanted to thank you for all the content! Just signed my job offer today and I used a lot of your content to help me through the interviews. Thank you!

[rawadkaram]

Your videos are helping me so much, and making me more confident in interviews. Keep up the great work!!

[zhengtongnie]

Followed Jeff's video and landed my internship. Pure Gold. SHOUT OUT TO JEFF!

[sreeharsharaveendra]

The way you make tell me yourself so perfect, it's unattainable without sneakily cutting pauses, in a convenient way for youtube.