Request for help for revising Tell me about yourself

Interview
New answer on Sep 26, 2020
5 Answers
936 Views
Anonymous A asked on Sep 24, 2020

I would sincerely appreciate your opinion on my self-introduction.

I am a master's student in XX at XX University. I started to challenge myself and solve real-life problems since college. From helping the power grid company improve operational efficiency to building a prediction model for patients in Europe, these things are very important to me because my passion for life does not only come from a high GPA but also the opportunity to explore different challenges and arrive at practical solutions. So off campus, I help McDonald with its digital transformation project, increase revenue streams for a disabled workforce company in New York State, and won a championship in a recent Deloitte competition. The beauty of these various experience is not just teaching me problem-solving methodologies, but also cultivate my interests in a broader area like branding, which enables me to become a fashion blogger with over 12 k followers. Therefore, I would describe myself as a digitally powered and creatively inspired problem solver.

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Ken
Expert
updated an answer on Oct 30, 2020
Ex-McKinsey final round interviewer | Executive Coach

The experiences you highlight are relevant, interesting and very impressive but it's quite a lot in a short intro and it doesn't leave me feeling like I've really learnt much 'about you'.

+ Assuming this is for a case interview, telling your interviewer about your prior experience, philosphy and personal style with problem solving can feel slightly excessive. Instead of telling them, you can show them, and let them judge for themself!

+ Stories stick. You mention a number of interesting experiences but none in enough detail to be memorable, especially if shared verbally. Pick one or two and mesmerise your interviewer. My personal pick would be your successful fashion blog :)

+ It doesn't really allow me to learn much about who you are. Perhaps you've annomyised it as this is a public forum but e.g., where are you from and where did you grow up? why did you choose the school/course you are currently on? what are your interests and what do you do in your free time? what is something interesting/unique about you which isn't on your CV? etc.

(edited)

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Anonymous A on Sep 24, 2020

What if the question is walk me through your resume?

Ken on Sep 25, 2020

I would highlight the key headlines from your CV in order (e.g., Education, Work Experience, Extra-curricular/Interests) in 45-60 secs. The purpose is to introduce yourself and initiate interest from your interviewer to want to learn more about you.

Ian
Expert
Content Creator
replied on Sep 24, 2020
#1 BCG coach | MBB | Tier 2 | Digital, Tech, Platinion | 100% personal success rate (8/8) | 95% candidate success rate

Hi there,

Good start but could use some work! You do need to add some additional elements that tell a bit more of a story/journey.

Additionally, you need to be clear to highlight different skills learned/exhibited during this time that relate to the skills desired by consulting firms.You also need to indicate that you enjoyed x, y, and z skills in these roles. Finally, you need to articulate how these roles/skills led you to realize consulting is what you want (i.e. you know you like a, b, and c, but d + e were always missing).

In short: "Tell me about yourself" is really a chonological "why consulting"

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Clara
Expert
Content Creator
replied on Sep 25, 2020
McKinsey | Awarded professor at Master in Management @ IE | MBA at MIT |+180 students coached | Integrated FIT Guide aut

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Anonymous A on Sep 25, 2020

I am asking for advice. Not Salesperson.

Robert
Expert
Content Creator
replied on Sep 26, 2020
McKinsey offers w/o final round interviews - 100% risk-free - 10+ years MBB coaching experience - Multiple book author

Hi Anonymous,

Your background is strong, but your format of presenting it is not really fitting consulting-style.

Not only for case-interviews: ABS! (always be structured).

While the content points are good (results should be more quantitative in a real-life interview setting, but ok for this public forum of course), you need to structure that top-down.

Hope that helps - if so, please be so kind to give it a thumbs-up with the green upvote button below!

Robert

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Anonymous updated the answer on Sep 25, 2020

Dear A!

Not bad, it needs a bit of editing though. Below some general recommendations on how you can improve your short introduction.

In "Tell me about yourself" you should be talking about your career path till now. You can finish this story with an argument about why consulting is the next logical career step.

I would recommend the following structure:

  1. Start with a 1 sentence summary of your background, why you are relevant for a consulting company, and what's your unique selling point

  2. Talk about 3-4 of your roles (maybe professional, education, extracurricular), 3 sentences each. The more experienced you are the more you should speak about professional roles. It can be also a distinct role within the same organization. Typical structure: 1) What was the company 2) What you were responsible for 3) Greatest achievement in that role, that will stay in the memory of the interviewer (E.g. While working at Adidas supply chain I was personally responsible for the delivery of soccer balls to the Worldcup in Africa)

The main reason why consulting is the next logical career step for you

Please reach out if you need help with crafting your story. I provide a dedicated session on that with lots of tips and tricks

Hope it helps!

Best,

André

(edited)

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Ken gave the best answer

Ken

Ex-McKinsey final round interviewer | Executive Coach
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