Don’t Get Personal

The mistake that many candidates make when asked this question is that they start talking about their personal and family life . Well, although this is of course very much a part of you, the reality is that an interviewer really does not want or need at this point to know the personal stuff.

Concentrate on talking about your education, your work history – the professional elements of your life that relate to this job. It is this information that is of interest to the employer and it is this information which will help to distinguish you from the other candidates.

Define Your USP

Anybody who has ever had to sell anything for a living, knows that a product or service’s USP ( Unique Selling Point) is what really makes it stand out from all the others available. Well…the reality is that in an interview situation, you are the product. And, if you are truly going to stand out from all the other candidates at interview, the interviewer needs to know what your USP is. What you need to do is determine what your biggest strength as a candidate is and how exactly an employer will benefit from hiring you. Try and ensure that you can effectively summarise this in one sentence. And that your strength is truly something that will bring value to an employer.

We hope that these basic tips will go some way to help you when next preparing for an interview. Of course we would love to hear what other tips you may have for answering this very question. Feel free to let us know via the comments section below. So go on “tell us about yourself”!

Also, if you liked this, why not take a look at all of our TheEmployable Interview Tips posts.

Still feel that you need more interview advice? Check out Anson Reed, specialists in online interview training and 1-2-1 Interview coaching

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