This seems like an awkward venture. Imagine you are at a cocktail party or a meeting surrounded by strangers. Imagine you are one of those introverts timid to introduce yourself. I remember when I was a young lad who stood in the corner. I was too shy to introduce myself. The thoughts inside my mind were overwhelming. What if nobody likes me? What if nobody is interested? Would I get the cold shoulder? My palms start to get sweaty and anxiety kicks in with uncontrollable nerves taking over my body. When I finally muster some energy to walk up to someone and introduce myself, it either goes either north or south. I would ponder to myself why am I not getting the reception I should get. A light bulb sparked my thoughts and said "YOU'RE NOT CONFIDENT!". Sure I am confident conversing with my family and friends. However, I notice I was in my comfort zone. The close people in my inner circle knows who I am. It is time to break out of the comfort zone. Now, I can introduce myself to people at any event. Regardless of reactions from strangers, I will make it a duty to make my presence known. Depending on which event I go to, I will add my own flair to it and adjust my personality with the occasion. At cocktail or rooftop parties, I purposely stand out. I will purposely open my sleeve to start conversations or I will wear a distinguished article of clothing. I will even push out my comfort zone and speak to people. There are an assortment of personalities, you may meet a person who is shy. This allows me to add vigor within my personality to take initiative and personal accountability towards my own personal journey. Now I can break the ice of nervousness at any place I go to.
Now the business world is a little different. Opening a sleeve or wearing a distinguished article of clothing can backfire; it becomes distracting especially on a job interview. Talking too much can either make or break you. There are steps to talk about yourself in the business world. You made all the precautions before the job interview. You ironed your clothes the day before, prepped for what to say on the interview, researched the company and if possible perform a transportation trial run. Now you're fifteen minutes early surveying the future work space and the interviewer shows up. You're nervous but you tried your best not to show it. You spoke about accepting the interviewer with the recruiter or receptionist who scheduled the interview and this is your first time with the recruiter in person. You do not have a clear sense of the interviewer's full demeanor. The interview starts and the interviewer asks so tell me about yourself.
Most people lose their momentum when this interview question occurs. Their focus diverts to talking about their children and their personal activities. Or they will speak about being a hard worker and being punctual. What your future supervisor doesn't want to hear is your favorite food, what activities you like to do with your children or what is your favorite color. Sure, you maybe a hard worker that will contribute to the company. Ask yourself, how many employers hear the response to: "I'm a dedicated hard worker!" How many employer actually hear these soft skills verbs such as: team-player, punctual, dedicated to name a few. Employers hear this all the time!
The business world is a different space. There is a time and place for everything. As an employment workshop facilitator, I am amazed on how many people struggle to answer the question "Tell Me About Yourself". Okay, then how can you answer the tell me about yourself question. In the job world, interviewers want to know your professional work story. This includes job fairs and business meetings when CEO's and small business owners congregate to discuss professional matters. Your professional story consists of your job title and/or work experiences. Your professional story demonstrates who you are and what you are capable of. Let's say you are a foreman at a construction site. Tell me about yourself? I am a foreman for Steel Enterprises with 10 years experience in the construction field. I started off as a general laborer working close with the foreman. I read blueprints and carried various equipment to tear down buildings. Then I was promoted to the Foreman position supervising a team of ten employees, delegate tasks, complete blueprint reading and send general laborers to constructions sites.
Tell me about yourself can be really tricky to master at first. With enough practice, you will be able to ace this question. Simply tell me about your work history! Explain your job title, two or more responsibilities and an accomplishment. If you really want to sell yourself, explain your job titles and the most concrete job responsibilities that will sell yourself towards employment. For business owners, you can answer that question based on your company and how much money you generated annually. Mentioned accomplishments where it involves increase and/or saves money, increased productivity or decrease time relating to fast pace environments; it's the icing on the cake. You're selling yourself within a 90 second pitch or a brief sound byte about your professional story. Who are the best advocate for you? You know who you are better than anyone else. Okay, what are you waiting for? Break out of the timid ice and speak about yourself with confidence!
