Samantha Calonita ⋅ Savannah, GA Samantha Calonita Coaching ⋅ 4 years experience

Hi Will,

First, thank you for your service.

I sometimes read a career advice blog called "Ask a Manager," which is written by a HR professional. She has tried to address this question in the past and I found her response to be very helpful.

Here is a link to the blog post: http://www.askamanager.org/2010/08/how-do-you-answer-tell-me-about.html

Best of luck!
Samantha

Will Lee ⋅ Elmhurst, NY U.S. Navy, Lieutenant ⋅ 5 years served

All,

Thanks for the insight!! The responses are extremely helpful.

-Will

Randy Schmidt ⋅ West Chester, PA Boeing ⋅ 29 years experience

Will,
You certainly received good advice, one question that will help you gain additional insight into the position either at the beginning or the end of the interview, is to ask the interviewer, “for this position, what does success look like?”

Good Luck!!

Christian Grant ⋅ Raleigh, NC Pace Global, A Siemens Company ⋅ 13 years experience

Will...spin the roles around and put yourself in the other person's chair. What do you think they care about when it comes to values and character. I usually ask this question to get a feel for those things as well as confidence and charisma. So answer based on your research of the company and the person with whom you are speaking. If you are going in blind, then answer the way you would want to hear it in the other person's shoes.

Prepare a few versions of the answer. Sometimes this question will come in, so tell me about your resume since you graduated from high school, returned from wherever, etc. Be able to concisely describe your bio in a compelling way from a number of starting points. Also, ask questions while responding. For example, "I was stationed in Germany for five years and did xyz and was responsible for more than $50 million in equipment. Have you every worked in Germany, I saw on your website that this company has a large operation in Germany." Getting the other person talking usually improves the interview.

The bottom line is that confidence sells.

Best of Luck
RLTW

Janhvi Patel ⋅ New Hyde Park, NY IBM ⋅ 7 years experience

Happy to do a walk through interview if that would help (Management consultant/Duke MBA)

Thank you!
Janhvi

Tom Cal, CFA ⋅ San Francisco, CA Army Veteran, Investment Manager ⋅ 25 years experience

I suggest you craft and practice your personal 8 second "opening statement" and 30-second elevator speech. Share these here and with other mentors and advisors. Focus on the skills and benefits you offer to employers.

Also think about the elevator speech you want to deliver in 6 month sand in 5 years, and use these as career planning and development tools. Type up what you need to do to be able to deliver your 6-month and 5-year in the future speeches.

And again, interact and share these speeches with us so we can help you.

see:
http://www.bing.com/search?q=career+elevator+speech#!
http://www.bing.com/search?q=career+opening+statement#!

Bill Carpentier ⋅ El Dorado Hills, CA GlaxoSmithKline ⋅ 33 years experience

Will
You should talk about life experiences that demonstrate you are well-rounded, reliable, hard-working, and trustworthy. You also want to discuss existing skills that are relevant to the skills required for the job.

Michael Helgeson ⋅ Billings, MT ⋅ 22 years experience

There is some great advice on this specific question in the book, "What color is your parachute?" by Richard N. Bolles. This book is in every book store and this question (and answer to question) I believe is in the table of contents so it should be easy to find.

Po Wong ⋅ Orlando, FL Johnson & Johnson (retired) ⋅ 40 years experience

Hi Will,
Lots of good comments above.
Here are two suggestions;
1. No need to go through the resume in detail. As stated above, the hiring manager already read them. Study the company well. Focus on what major contribution you bring to the specific company.
a. Example: Global Marketing – I was stationed and Germany and Japan, I understand the culture, the needs of the Emerging Market…
b. Procurement job – When I manage Naval Logistic team, I was able to develop a category strategy, LEAN out the procurement process and save $XXX million. I am confident I can do the same for your company
2. Show passion and leadership – the intangible- Top management knows when people have passion; frankly they can learn most jobs (Except brain surgery...) in relatively short period of time. People will perform their maximum capacity if they have the passion to succeed...

Curt Sundell ⋅ Lehi, UT AAPC ⋅ 13 years experience

Speaking from the point of the interviewer, I typically ask this question to get a feel for the personality of the candidate. How the candidate answers can help to show not just what skills they have, but who they are. Cultural fit is very important for success, so when you are telling about yourself, you should be highlighting the ways you'd fit in with that organization.

On the resume walk-through, don't just repeat what's there. The interviewer has already read that, and doesn't need a review. Use that opportunity to provide deeper insight or detail than you can give in a resume format. Tie the resume experience to the job you're applying for to show the interviewer that you've done your homework and have experience that will help to solve the problems they are experiencing.

Guadalupe Flores ⋅ Renton, WA Boeing ⋅ 23 years experience

Will,
I think you'll do great with the advices given.

Suzanne Campbell ⋅ Huntington Beach, CA Boeing ⋅ 30 years experience

Always take a look at the job description/requirements and try to tailor your answer towards what might be important to them. Practicing with someone else beforehand will help you get feedback. I was told once that I was too humble with my experiences, so please make sure you include everything you believe is relevant and don't assume because they read your resume, they understand what you've done!

Best wishes and thank you for your service.

June R Massoud ⋅ Burlington, VT School Boards/Teaching, Tutoring Business and Technical Business ⋅ 25 years experience

Please send me an email at my address: junermassoud@hotmail.com and I will help you out.
-June Rosemarie Massoud, Computer/Electrical Engineer, Teacher and Technical Writer

Mary Rosenbaum ⋅ New York, NY Your Career by Design ⋅ 30 years experience

Will
Your answer should be a story that answers the question - why am I doing what I do, how did I make the decisions I made throughout my career, and how can I add value to your organization based on my background. This is not an opportunity to go through each and every position you had in the past but rather to have them understand how each position was a building block for the one that followed.

If the interviewer has your resume in front of him then one way to approach this is to acknowledge it by saying something like "As you can see from my resume, I have x number of years of experience in ..., the last 3 have been as manager for a team of 5 people. After starting out in .... at Company Y I was promoted or moved into positions with increasing responsibilities where my work was more focused on ....." Then you can get into your current role and the value you add. "In my current role as part of the .... team, I spend the majority of my time ....."

And as Matt said, practice it - and I'd add - practice it out loud. And keep it concise. A good rule of thumb is that your answer shouldn't last more than 2-3 minutes.
Good luck.
Mary

Jeremy Koenig ⋅ Chesterfield, MO Boeing ⋅ 10 years experience

Will,
Along with all of the great suggestions from above, be able to relate your experiences listed on your resume to tangible characteristics that a potential employer would be looking for. To get you started, think about how you can relate your experiences by describing situations where you

Demonstrated Leadership : Solved a Problem : Increased Efficiency : Made a Good/Poor Decision (and what you learned from it) : Handled Change : Gave/Received Feedback .

I hope this helps!
-Jeremy

Matthew Pitz ⋅ Downingtown, PA AT&T ⋅ 18 years experience

Will,
I would echo Terrill Tomecek's response when it comes to telling them about yourself. In regards to going through your resume... Go in chronological order highlighting any promotions, awards, valuable lessons learned etc. Also address why you may have moved from one job to another. Your potential employer is going to ask you that so you should be proactive and state the why on your terms in your way. You’re telling a story so it should flow and have some energy. Practice it.

Good luck,
Matt

Mary Christian ⋅ Princeton, NJ Bristol-Myers Squibb ⋅ 20 years experience

Hi Will, My first thought is that this response largely depends upon the job/position you are seeking and how seasoned you are in the field. For a newer/entry level position, you may start with your relevant education and internships/ experience, if any. If limited experience in the role you desire, look to highlight and talk about related experience. (e.g. A sales job - I have a BA in Education from XYZ, but find my passion is in sales. I spent 5 yrs in the military as a procurement team member and found that when i can match the Army's needs with the precisely right service provider or vendor, i am jazzed (or whatever word you would use). I enjoy the hunt for the right match and then ensuring the needs of both sides of the transaction are met. (or something like that - focused on what you do well and enjoy- your competency- vs your lack of direct experience). Where you have related experience, I would suggest you can lead a high level view of your education and then get right to your accomplishments in a similar role. Again, the focus should be on your competencies to do this job well. (A good follow up question is- I've read the job description but can you (interviewer) tell me more about what are your expectations for someone in this role and what do you need acccomplished in the first 90 days -6 mos - 1 yr in role?

Hope this helps. All the best,
Mary Christian, Bristol-Myers Squibb and ACP Mentor

Terrill Tomecek ⋅ Thorndale, TX Alcoa ⋅ 25 years experience

Be yourself is the typical answer, but remember what you are really doing is selling yourself and your skills and abilities and they are trying to see what kind of person you are. Always be positive and avoid weaknesses or anything controversial. Mention family, hobbies, etc. Then go to skills. For example, you are interviewing for a job as a repair scheduler at a major auto dealer, you would mention that while enlisted, you were responsible for a fleet of military vehicles. You would say what you enjoyed about the position, and how your background can be a contribution to the potential employer.