One of the worst interview questions ever!

I really don’t know why so many employers think that this question is THE ONE that they must ask.  I’m sure some of you have been asked it and it is – Tell us about yourself. People stumble over this question and so can take a long time in an interview to attempt to answer it and give the interviewer what they think they want to hear. So here are the top 5 reasons they have given me when I ask why they want to ask this one particular question –

1. Well, we asking about something they should know a lot about.
2. It’s a good warm up question to make candidates feel comfortable.
3. It shows if candidates have prepared for the interview by really thinking about themselves and what they can offer.
4. We want to see how they cope with something unexpected or tough.
5. It gives people scope to bring in non-work related examples to show what type of person they are.

I have had countless candidates (including myself) struggle to answer this one question over the years and I was only too glad when behavioural interviewing became the interview style of choice.

So with that in mind here are my responses to the 5 reasons why some employer still insist on using them –

• Yes, every candidate should be self aware and know what they can bring to the company and the role; and how their past experience and studies makes them a great fit, but when someone asks me this question, I honestly feel like saying – Didn’t you read my CV? so to me it is a really lazy question.
• Making the candidate feel comfortable? It is a huge question that most people struggle to answer. It is such an open ended question I equate it with someone asking you to paint ‘something’ or to paint a ‘tree’. How long do you think it would take you to think up the first versus the second specific instruction?

Also where do you start and finish? Many candidates have asked me –

Do I start with my personal interests and dovetail into my work experience? or vice versa or

Do they want to know more about me as a person and if they can see me fitting in with their team? or

Do I go through my CV from the beginning of my work history to now?

• True, candidates should be prepared for this type of question just in case and should have thought about and practiced their answer beforehand, because it is still an often asked question.
• Why use this particular question to find out if a candidate can cope with change or being put on the spot? They are many more effective behavioural questions that would get these responses and be more relevant to the job.
• Non-work related examples demonstrating a candidate’s transferable skills or personality can be useful but again, is this the most appropriate question to ask to get those examples ????

I’d be interested in hear whether this makes No. 1 on other people’s interview hit list too.