How to Answer the Toughest Interview Question

Here at Venn, we’re often asked about the toughest interview question we’ve heard.

No, it has nothing to do with tennis balls in a car or how a tiny person escapes from a blender. In fact, it’s a question you’ve probably heard time and again – tell me about yourself.

It sounds easy enough, but this one question can set the tone for the whole interview, and make the difference between hire and, um, not hire.

Candidates usually regurgitate their CV, or recite their personal details like they’re filling in a form. But that’s really not what potential employers want to hear.

So here are a few tips to get you ahead of the game.

1) Read Between The Lines

Companies don’t want to know your life story – they want to know how well your story fits in with theirs. Graduating from NUS or working for 2 years at OCBC literally tells them nothing about who you are, or what you can do.

Instead, talk about the things you’ve learned from each experience, or one important contribution you made – basically all that fluffy self-reflection stuff you (hopefully) didn’t have space for in your CV. Then link it to the job at hand.

2) Be Sneaky

If there’s a red flag in your CV like a gap in employment or being fired from your job at McDonalds, use this chance to explain yourself (especially if your name is Ronald).

But make sure you have a good reason. Spending five minutes explaining why your ex-boss is a prick who couldn’t recognise talent if it punched him in the face isn’t a good idea, especially if your story ends with “and that’s why I punched him in the face”.

3) Keep Them Curious

What most interviewees don’t realise is that this is their one chance to control the interview. Mention something interesting, and odds are your interviewer will follow up with a question later.

Be sure not to reveal too much though, because that’s just cheap. Stay classy, keep them curious, and make them beg for more.

4) ???

We’re not going to tell you what number four is until next week (see what we did there?).

~ Jeremy