What’s the most often asked question at the beginning of a job interview?
Yes!
It’s ‘Tell me about yourself’
And, without a doubt, this question sets the tone for the rest of the interview, apart from giving it a context and an environment to have the conversation. It not only allows the interviewer a peek into your career journey so far, but also a golden opportunity for YOU, to utilize this as your professional value proposition (PVP).
In other words, an introduction is an excellent way to let the interviewer know about the value addition that you can bring to the role, on account of similar expertise, key skills and/or experience in the area. Additionally, its also a wonderful way for you to display your interest in the role, and any impactful projects/work that is relevant for the role in question.
Here are a few pointers for making your PVP statement more effective:
- Keep it professional: Ensure that you don’t mention anything personal about yourself unless asked specifically about the same. Rather, focus on your professional journey so far, preferably the impact you have created at work in the last 3-5 years.
- Be mindful of the time: An ideal time duration for your introduction can be somewhere between 3-3.5mins. The reason to keep it within this timeline is to ensure you are mentioning all your relevant career highlights within the attention span of the listener/interviewer (which on an average ranges around 2 mins or so). This enables the interviewer to retain the details that you want to highlight, at the top of their mind and not go unnoticed in the course of the conversation.
So, what should your ideal PVP look like?
-Start with a courtesy statement (optional though!) and then move to your latest/current role alongwith your total work experience.
-Mention your certification/s and/or educational qualification (optional)
-Briefly elaborate on 3-5 key skills and responsibilities, ensuring they are relevant to the role.
-Any one significant accomplishment/an impact that you have created at work.
-WHY are you interested in this role? Have a one liner pitch ready in order to show your interest in joining them.
In conclusion, the above format and pointers on making an effective and impactful introduction in interviews is a standard one, which you may customize per your preference and requirement. However, ensure that you practice your PVP very well before each interview as it definitely does add a lot to your confidence, besides impacting the flow of the conversation meaningfully.
