candidate thinking how to describe himself

As soon as the initial greetings are exchanged and you have taken your seat the interview probe is likely to begin. A few informal questions may be asked to make you comfortable. The interviewers want to discount the initial nervousness and will see to it that you are your normal self before they start the grilling. From the time you enter the interview room they also keep a sharp eye on your body language to gauge your confidence level. It all shows in your “firm” handshake, “warm” greetings and “direct” eye to eye contact. Depending on the time that you take to settle you can expect the question describe yourself now within the first five minutes of the interview.

Since the question, describe yourself professionally is the first formal question of the interview the answer must be well prepared, to the point and crisp. If you start brooding or get into a thinking mode in front on them on being asked this question you will lose the early advantage that gives you a platform to perform. Following are the four things that you have to cover when asked to describe yourself for interview.

1. Family background: A brief two-liner would sound like this- Sir, to begin with my introduction, I will like to tell you that I come from a family where my father is working as Senior Manager in Accounts section of XYZ Corporation which is a government organisation and my mother is a homemaker. I have a younger sister who is studying in class X. That is all and you are not supposed to elaborate and expand until asked for.
2. Educational background: Here the answer would sound like- I did my schooling from ABC school, DEF city which is affiliated to CBSE. After that, I took commerce in college and finally became a Chartered Accountant.
   

   Let the interviewer get the information regarding me

3. Work experience: You have to answer in such a way that you cover all your industrial or corporate experience in a concise but effective manner. If you have worked in four organisations prior to this one you should cover all but highlight the ones that have given the maximum thrust to your career? Following a sequence is important but you can vary the stop times at each of the four stations. You must also remember that the interviewers are interested in knowing the maximum about your work in the last organisation or say the one where you are working at present. Let me elaborate through an example of describe yourself in an understandable methodology.

Organisation                      Time

                A                             0.5 min

                B                             1.5 min

                C                             0.5 min

                D                             1.5 min

You have followed the sequence of your jobs. A & C companies are of less importance and have been just touched upon. You want to highlight your work in B industry so you spent more than a minute there. You are working in industry D and that is what the interviewers are looking at with utmost interest. Hence it deserves more than a minute.  It is very difficult to hold the interest of the people for more than two minutes at a stretch. Therefore, the describe yourself model answer has to be very interesting.  You have to make use of some gestures by hand and improve involvement through positive body language and direct eye contact.

4. Projects handled/ Awards/Foreign travel: It is quite likely that the interviewers will pull you into the technical questions related to your work area when you are following describe yourself list on your work experience. If they do not do it or if you a see a gap in the interview, later on, pitch in with the details of the projects handled or awards earned or foreign travel depending on which one has been significant in your career. This sets the tone for your achievements to be highlighted in the interview.
   

   Describing yourself wrongly can deceive the interviewer.

With your approach based on these four aspects to describe yourself during interview, you can set the ball rolling in your favor at an early juncture in an interview. The answer to the question should be practiced and rehearsed properly before you come for the interview. If you establish a strong base at this point it will only take a little more effort to bag the job.