Tell us about yourself
Tell us about yourself is a small opening, on a form or at the start of an interview. The employer wants a map: what you do, where you have done it, and why you are on this application. They do not want your childhood, and they do not want a slogan.
What the employer is checking
They are checking whether you can summarize your work without being walked through the resume, and whether that summary matches the role. A life story suggests you cannot choose. A list of adjectives suggests you are avoiding the work.
How to answer honestly
Use two or three sentences. The kind of work you do, the setting you know, and the point of this application. Stick to facts from the resume. Skip your age, your family, your health, and a motto. If you are changing fields, say what transfers and what is new, in that order, without claiming the new field as years you already have.
A short example
These are shapes, not answers from a real applicant. Use the stronger one only where every detail is true for you.
Good. I run a daily schedule for a team and I keep the handoffs written down. I am applying because this role is that same kind of day, in a larger setting than the one I work in now.
Bad. I am a passionate, results-driven leader and a people person who was born to do this. Away from work I light up a room, and I have wanted this since childhood.
Pitfalls
- A biography that starts before your working life and never reaches the job.
- Adjectives with no duty attached.
- A summary that names a title you do not hold.
How ApplyASAP answers it
ApplyASAP drafts the summary from your resume, in the order the posting cares about. It never invents a title, a setting, or a personal story to make the paragraph warmer.
ApplyASAP drafts answers from your real resume and never invents experience. It does not change your employers, dates, degrees, or titles, and it does not invent a number, a certification, or a person you managed.
Guides that support this answer
Resume tips and cover letters are where the longer proof for this answer lives. The roles below are close to that proof. Reading a posting, tailoring, and follow-up live in the job search guides.
Questions
- Is this the same as a cover letter?
- No. This stays short and on who you are in work terms. A cover letter is the argument for this employer. If the form has both, do not paste one into the other.
- Should I mention a hobby?
- Only when it is evidence for the job, such as a language you work in or a license you use. A hobby offered as personality crowds out the work.