Hi everyone,
How far do I actually go back in telling my story? I would like to speak briefly about my childhood and the poor socio-economic background I come from because it certainly helps explain some of my career decisions and I think it generally shows some of my resilience. My worry is that starting the story with negativity might harm me. What do you think ? Thank you!
Hi,
I would not recommend devoting more than a couple of sentences to it. Your recent story is what matters most. I can assure you, there are quite a lot of consultants who have passed through various hardships on the way. For example, most of the US consultants are immigrants and it was not a straightforward path.
“Tell me about yourself” or “walk me through your resume”- this is how Consultants usually begin the interview. It's an opportunity for them to learn about you and to pick some interesting facts. "Tell me about yourself question" is similar to "Walk me through your resume"
Best
Hello!
This is one of the classics of the 1st family of questions you will find in the FIT part of the interview: "Intro and CV questions". Since they are less dense than the behavioural questions that will follow, you should answer in 1-3 mins.
I don´t agree with the "negativity" point, as long as you can tailor the pitch as "this is all I have been able to achieve despite the difficulties"
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Hi,
Some tips you might find useful:
1. Take between 1.5 and 3 min max.
2. Use chronological order.
3. Craft your story to start giving proof of your passion for consulting, for that specific company. Let the interviewer know what makes you unique and perfect for the company.
4. Practice a lot alone and with partners. Recording yourself for verbal and non-verbal communication improvements work well.
Remember it is a key question in the interview, so prepare it well.
Good luck.
Best,
Antonello
Hi there,
I had one candidate a year back that is from the untouchable caste in India. I strongly advised he go that far back in his story because it was absolutely incredible what he had overcome to get to where he was.
If your poor socio-economic background was demonstrably an impediment to your success and you can succinctly describe it, then absolutley it should go into your story. Now, you can't let it become a sob story. You need to have a 1-2 sentence summary of your situation that adequately describes the seriousness of your situation without becoming too personal. Then, you need to segway and say "despite this, I was able to xxx"
Feel free to shoot a message and I can help edit it a bit for the right balance!
Hi there,
The general advice to that question is as long as it makes sense, you can talk about it and use it in your story, but maybe don't go too far and don't hang on one topic.
Make sure not to only explain why you chose consulting, but also how you and your hard&soft skills are gonna be useful in there.
Hope it was helpful,
GB
Hi,
As long as your background clearly impacted your life choices than I think it would be important to mentioned. However, make sure that it will not dominate your entire message and ensure to also touch the other more recent aspects.
The key is to highlight key areas that will attract the interviewer to ask further questions that will in turn allow you to tell a more detail and interesting description.
Best,
Iman
Hi,
I think you generally have the right idea and mindset. Bringing up your background can be done but you need to be quite careful with how you phrase the answer and also that you are communicating the right thing. At the end of the day a lot of people have overcome obstacles to get where they are, you want to ensure that it does not come across as if you are in some way more deserving of the role.
My advice would be to reference it in your answer as it is a critical part of who you are but not to build everything around it.
Best,
Udayan
The best way to answer this question is to think about your life as a story and you as the lead actor/actress. How would you approach it? Try and cover personal, education & professional aspects of who you are. Dont speak forever but a 2 min answer is good. Any detail which shows your overcame struggle & challenges to come out stronger is worth gold dust. So dont omit.
I always strongly advise people to learn storytelling. Most candidates end up sounding the same. You must give your answers in an engaging way. There are good storytelling courses on Udemy or Youtube.
All the best!
