Understanding your current situation –
Why would someone employ you?
A common mistake made by candidates when preparing for an interview is to over prepare detailed answers for interview questions but not rehearse describing their current situation. One of the most important interview questions is – “so tell me a little about yourself”. If handled well a good answer can set the tone for the interview, provide a great foundation for further questions and make a very good first impression. However a poorly handled answer can result in rambling and awkwardness or even worse, a short blunt answer followed by silence.
It is not easy to talk about yourself in a confident but not arrogant way, portraying experience but with a desire to still learn. Remember, the interviewer does not want your life story, they simply want to learn about what makes you tick. Everyone is different, so the interviewer will be keen to hear about what led to you applying for the job and what key parts of your background make you special and unique.
To ensure this is handled well, you should spend time, prior to the interview, going back over your current situation to rehearse an explanation of your background. Be interesting but not boring (i.e. be able to efficiently and smoothly cover off the key points but don’t ramble). The best way to do this is to prepare three points that you want to cover which are also easy to remember. For example:
Where did you start your training, how did you get into this chosen field? - e.g. I grew up in [country] and I’m an [engineer, lawyer, etc] by trade. I graduated from the University of [XX] with a [XX] degree. I worked in [city] for [company] doing [XX] work.
What have been the most interesting developments in your career / life? - e.g. The most exciting projects I worked on included [list them], which helped me develop a real passion for working with multi disciplined project teams and leading challenging projects.
Why are you excited about this role? - I saw this role as an opportunity for me to grow my experience in [list new industry or job] and develop my skillsets. I’m particularly excited about … [working with new clients, learning from the team, etc]
To take this one step further, when providing background information there should be a subtle focus on points that are relevant to the desired position or company. This stems back to researching the company and position and then adjusting personal statements to highlight relevant strengths. The interviewer will have key things they are looking for so will pick up if the right points are made.