Our favorite question of all time
“Tell me about yourself.”
Ahh, when we hear it we get the chills.
This is an age-old interview question that is not supposed to be answered by regurgitating your resume or explaining all your accomplishments.
Itâs difficult to stand out these days when the competition is all around us and social media defeats our self-worth. This coping mechanism is needed the most for the younger generation(GenZ) as social media and side gigs are the new norms.
Since March when NYC went into lockdown, I decided to start an experiment. I was never a science nerd but I did like self-improvement hacks.
I deleted social media from my phone. Classic test but necessary since it was getting out of control, occupying my time and mind, and defeating my purpose.
This included the usual suspects: Instagram and Facebook. As difficult as this was, believe it or not, this was one of the best decisions Iâve made in my life. Phones are made to make us addicted. If not, they wouldnât be designed this way.
As a result, Iâm proud to say I havenât fallen into this trap anymore. It takes discipline and courage that should be rewarded for but since it happened to me personally, I guess it shouldn’t have been shared?
I now have a healthy relationship with my phone and proud of accomplishing this self made task, but I have nowhere to publicize it.
Instagram, Facebook? I just broke up with you now where do I go to turn into selfish mode?
That is the problem.
We focus too much on how our end result will be displayed and advertised, we forget about the process.
With anything in life, itâs not a race but rather a marathon.
That is the point of our existence.
Why skip everything and wait until it is over to show off.
On your resume, don’t write it the path you took until you’ve got proof of what you did.
Whether itâs in an interview or on a first date, you need to acknowledge and prove to yourself that you are special before you tell anyone else.
By Doing This You Must:
Like The Uncommon
Whether itâs doing laundry or computing diagrams and models in Excel, find these tedious tasks and look into them. Analyze how you can become more efficient and better at them because no one else will.
Do Something Nice Without Expecting
We all love compliments but they are too overrated. If you give or do something small for someone, they will appreciate it. But donât do it because you want something, do it during the most unexpected moments.
Some Examples Include:
When you are on a zoom call, send over a gift card via email to thank them for taking time out of their busy day to connect.
Or even something cheaper:
Tell that person a positive trait they exhibit, preferably something related to the activity you are doing.
Doing or saying something nice to someone will leave a lasting impression. People donât remember what you said or did to them, but how you made them feel so make sure it is simple but effective through these techniques.
Donât Exaggerate and Rather Undermine Your Accomplishments
You have to be your biggest advocate but not show it. Talk about the projects you do and the work that adds value to the world, but donât say it was easy or simple. Say it was difficult and took a lot out of you in a low key manner. That will help the other person sympathize with you and be impressed that it meant a lot to you but you didnât take it as a setback.
Smile, Smile, Smile!
Donât act like Elmo but at least put a smile on your face. You will instantly become more likable and things will run more smoothly for the person you are ocnversing with since they will put one on as well.
Failures Are Better Than Successes
Very contradictory and we all believe this is not the way to go in an interview or meeting someone but if you do talk about them first they will make you more relatable since you talk about your struggles and they will know you aren’t lying.
No one wants to hear how great you are. They want to know you are a human, you challenge yourself, and are left unscared and proud of surviving. This will make you more credible and stand out as opposed to exaggerating about yourself like a diva.
Be Natural and Simple
Over the top is not popular anymore. The more you can relate and act casual, people will want to be around you. Cheesy and fake is not the way to go.
Standing out is not about impressing people. It is about relatability and compassion with the other person when judging you.
First impressions matter and are decisions made in the first 5 seconds of meeting someone.
Being yourself means you aren’t working too hard to be fake. Act the same way in every situation; in front of your grandparents to a recruiter, you donât change your personality or fake it till you make it.
Do Extra(Ness)
Think outside the box. I know. We donât want to hear that. So how can you do that?
If someone is offering to schedule a meeting, make sure to book the room, ask for their Starbucks order, compile the agenda! Do everything you can to make it easier or the simplest for them! The less work on their part, the more they will truly like you.