*Questions from actual employers, found through glassdoor.com
“Tell me about yourself.”
Tell you about myself? Well that’s a loaded question. I’d like to start by saying my name and the educational institution that I just graduated from. I’ll take a kind congratulations graciously as a I can, and then make it clear that I’m not about to sit back and rest on my laurels.
I’ll do my best to explain who I am, but forgive me as this is the part I’m the worst at. You see, who I am has two meanings for me.
- Either A) Who I am: what are the things you need to know about me that are solely and immediately relevant to this position
- or B) Who I am: the man who sits before you fully of dreams, ambitions, ideas, and complications.
I think, as I’ve found myself in more and more interviews, I’ve become more in touch with that second answer, and seeing the increased frequency in follow-ups like this has proven a good ROI on the strategy. Definitely worth the time (and money if it were a factor).
So what do I say, now that I’ve chosen B?
Well, I’m not going to say I’m a “hard worker” and a “fast-learner” and ensure you that I’m just the guy to be an “asset to the company.” I’m going to tell you about how I’ve been a musician and performer my whole life, and a director and composer at every chance I get. So, you already know the things I didn’t say. They are givens.
I’m not going to say that I’m great at “customer focused work” and am a “people-person,” so you know I’m good on the phones. I’m going to tell you how Boston College’s call to become “men and women for others” actually means everything in the world to me, and you’ll already know the things I didn’t say. I might mention them briefly, but I’ll focus on the latter.
I’m not going to tell you that I’m a “team player” and tout “enthusiasm” and “integrity” in my speech. No, I won’t. I’ll tell you about co-leading for the Pedro Arrupe Program though, where I joined 13 amazing individuals and co-led a program to Belize City to help put people’s lives together while staring injustice in the face. I won’t say the first things. I’ll just say the rest.
“What are your ambitions?”
“How do you deal with conflict within the team?”
“How have you gone above and beyond for a customer?”
“Do you think you can handle a sales environment?”
Oh… we never got to those last questions. I’m sorry about that! I didn’t mean to answer them inadvertently…
I guess who I am pretty much defines those answers though.
I want you to know that I don’t plan on being great for this position though. I plan to work my ass off and give it my every last breath, and infuse levels of value in the position that may not have yet been seen. I plan to fill my work-space with an atmosphere of productivity, activity, and vitality.
But I plan to scream at the top of my lungs, and to build trust and connections and ideas. I plan to burst through the door every day as a new employee, bolstered with the confidence of tomorrow’s potential in my heart. I plan to climb this hill until I can see all the way to Belize and beyond. Don’t worry, I plan to take you with me, but when I get there, I’m not doing this anymore. When I get there, I plan to see all I can see, since after all we’ll be on top of the world. When I get there, I’ll reach with arms as long as God lets light stretch from the sun. And I’ll snap my fingers, and see what happens when someone new makes a change.
This world is too big to see from down low. I plan to climb. Now give me that first leg up, so I can show you just how I plan to do it.
