For a "tell me about yourself" question, is it best I say things that are relevant but not on my resume?

Hi,

Generally speaking yes, that would be a good move, though the question to ask first is why those relevant elements are not on your resume; if that is the situation, definitely use the time to include them.

If all the key elements are already in your resume, do not force unnecessary, redundant or irrelevant points into your presentation just because they sit outside the document.

Either way, be high level and concise, and touch only the key points of your profile. There are many frameworks you can use, chronological order, backwards, or highlighting the 2 or 3 major elements, and they all work. Just stay concise and let the interviewer decide if they want to deep dive on any specific point.

Let me know if anything is not clear.

Best,

Franco

Hi there,

Not necessarily!

The goal isn't to find things that aren't on your resume. It's to give a clear, compelling explanation of your background and why you're here.

You can absolutely add relevant context that isn't on the page. But don't avoid your strongest experiences just because they're already on your resume!

For your resume walkthrough, I recommend the following:

• Needs to be chronological
• Only keep important details that make you look good (i.e. I worked across 7 industries and rose up the ranks twice in the course of that role)
• Keep a theme of "why consulting"
• I.e. at each step you need to show that you both got exposure to aspects of consulting AND thrived + enjoyed them
• Finish with: And that's why I'm here today looking for consulting with your company

My Behavioral Interview Course goes into structuring your resume walkthrough, motivations, and personal stories in much more depth.

What describes YOU in ONE WORD and why?

For ME, it's ADVENTURER. I'm a geologist by training whose first job it was to explore for gold in the FARC infested jungle of Colombia. Since then, I've lived in 10 different countries around the globe to turn natural resources into shareholder value, and myself into a senior strategy professional in the extractive industries. Going forward, my goal is to do more of the same while leveraging my experience and bringing more junior people along on the ride.

I hope this shows you that it's all about storytelling, not facts. And most people don't know how to tell stories about themselves. If helpful, you'll find a lot of great material on storytelling in this guide I wrote for people going into the McKinsey PEI Interview: McKinsey PEI Preparation: Guides for Your Interview (24)

Best of luck!

I would say it depends, but the key is to think about what you want the interviewer to remember about you.

The goal of the "Tell me about yourself" question isn't simply to repeat your CV or introduce completely new information. It's to help the interviewer picture you working at their firm and understand why you would be a good fit.

If you have experiences on your CV that demonstrate relevant skills, absolutely use them! The difference is in how you present them. Rather than just describing what you did, highlight the qualities consulting firms look for, such as problem-solving, leadership, communication and the ability to work with different stakeholders.

Equally, if you have an interesting experience that isn't on your CV but helps demonstrate those qualities or makes you more memorable, it can be worth including.

My advice would be to prepare 3–5 strong stories from your professional, academic or extracurricular experiences. These could be projects you worked on, challenges you overcame, situations where you demonstrated leadership or examples of delivering impact.

You can then adapt these stories depending on the question and what you want to emphasise. For "Tell me about yourself", you wouldn't necessarily go into all the details, but you can use them to build a compelling narrative around your background, strengths and motivation for consulting.

Ultimately, it's less about whether something is on your CV and more about whether it helps the interviewer see you as someone they would want on their team.

Hope this helps!

They have your CV and they do not want to just hear it from you again. It is a chance to explain the hidden moments behind the different stations:
- Why you chose that (over something else)
- Why you did that specific move
- A special achievement in between
- What you are most proud of

Prepare yourself to have a conversation about you as a person, your goals, where you see yourself in the future, why you want to work there.

Listen carefully what they want from you and react to that, instead of thinking about a specific answer-framework. It is not helpful to squeeze your "perfect answer" into a setting where no one really asked for it. 

Hi there, 

You might want to go for a combination of that. 

Some interviews these days, especially for the first round, are CV blind. So you do need to share some of your background for the interviewer to get a sense of you. 

You might want to start with your name and something personal (like where you're from), then transition to what is it that you're doing at the moment (e.g., where you're currently working or what is it that you're studying), then a brief summary of your professional and/or academic experience, and then close again with something brief and personal (to get a sense of who you are outside of work). 

If you need any help, drop me a line. 

Best,
Cristian

Hey there :) I’d use your CV as the backbone, but bring it to life with details that aren’t obvious from reading it. A hobby or personal interest can be a great addition if it reveals something about your personality. Just keep it relevant and natural, and don’t feel you need to make every detail sound impressive. They want to understand who you are, what motivates you and why consulting makes sense for you.

Best, Alessa :)