It’s another beautiful
gorgeous Friday in the beautiful city of Abuja and I and my interns are hard at
work already. Now one of the goals we had this week was publishing and
marketing posts by guest bloggers and we have our 1st one!! Hurrah! It comes
from Obasa Olorunfemi aka
Femi who is the co-founder of The Fleuri Academy; an on-line start-up designed
to provide learning on the go using chat applications and live interactions and
co-founder of restless Versatility - A social media and blogs management
outfit. Femi has a background in water resources management with professional
certifications spanning Music, Safety, Environment and Project Management and
has earned his battle scars and working experience in Environment assessment,
Design and Recruitment. He will be writing an ongoing series on best practice
recruitment tips which will include real life case studies and best practice
responses to various situations job seekers face in Nigeria. Now on to the
first article:
The Future of work
#1: ‘How “NOT” to mess up an interview in the
first 10 minutes’
Please tell
me about yourself?
This is
the first question usually asked at interviews. I believe it helps the recruiter
analyze your fluency in English, your level of intelligence and most
importantly to get you relaxed for the subsequent conversation.
In my
short time with candidates, I have heard over a dozen infuriating, comical and
often wrong answers to these questions. Let me share some of them:
Case #1
Q:
Please tell me about yourself
A: My name is Tolu. I am the First son of my parents. I am humble, caring and kind. My favorite food is rice and beans. My favorite color is pink. I am born-again.
A: My name is Tolu. I am the First son of my parents. I am humble, caring and kind. My favorite food is rice and beans. My favorite color is pink. I am born-again.
Case #2
Q: Please tell me about yourself
A: I am Jane. I am a Jobless girl from a family of five. I studied econs at gwagz.
Q: Please tell me about yourself
A: I am Jane. I am a Jobless girl from a family of five. I studied econs at gwagz.
Please note that while I have left out parts of the responses, I
have not edited either. I have also only illustrated with two so you do not
think I am making an attempt at comedy. In the ever-growing distance in-between
what the labor market wants and what our universities need, we will continue to
have this challenge.
In my
experience the correct answer to the above question includes a summary of your
education and work history delivered in a precise and professional manner. The
smart candidates find a way to include relevant character information not
present in their CVs but key to their engagement. I’ll
also advice less experienced job applicants to rather opt for a brief summary
of educational, work history as well as skills sets when asked the question
during an interview.
and there you have it folks. In interviews at some point you will be asked tell me about yourself. I've had people blush, start to cry, stammer, and begin to narrate their CV back to me, all in the name of telling me about themselves. This is wrong, wrong, wrong! Practice what you will say in accordance to the tips mentioned above and we look forward to you joining us for the next series article next week Monday: “Deadliest responses to interview questions heard in 2014.”
That's all folks! if you have any questions or comments, please feel free to share them. Have a wonderful weekend