Tell me about yourself

Tell me about yourself. Almost the first question asked in every interview and the question that nervous people always fumble. "What do they need to know about me?" the fumbler thinks, "Isn't it in my resume?"

Well, yes it is, but starting out your interview with If you had only read my cover letter is not a great opening strategy. Here is what the interviewer wants from this question:

• Can you describe your career history quickly and succinctly?
• Does your past career or education history have anything to do with the position that they are interviewing you for? If you can't make the connection, even a brief one, you failed to score a point for the home team.
  
• Can you speak briefly and relevantly on a topic that you should know thoroughly: yourself?

I like Ron Fry's strategy in 101 Great Answers to the Toughest Interview Questions: come up with a 250 word, approximately 2 minute long, blurb about yourself and how it relates to the job you are interviewing for. You don't have to vary it too much--some librarian jobs will require similar skills, and you can make a good tie-in--but it does help you to reflect about the job and the type of work offered by this gig. If you can make a match in your mind, you should be able to connect the dots for your interviewers.