Go from 4/10 to 10/10 on 'Tell Me About Yourself'

3 Live Coaching Interviews - for Aspiring, Mid-career, and Late-career PMs - on How to Better Answer This Crucial Question

It’s probably the most important question in interview preparation: “Tell me about yourself.” You’re asked it in every interview. And, surprisingly, most people squander the opportunity.

Let me know if this rings a bell: You recite a chronological story of your life off the cuff. In fact, that’s what 9 out of 10 candidates I did when I was interviewing GPMs and Directors as a VP of Product at Apollo.io.

But that’s just not enough in today’s market.

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The Market is Squeezed

Today’s job market has finally picked up hiring. With the S&P 500 at all-time highs, companies are ready to pull the trigger on new employee salaries. And layoffs have finally ticked down in June, after a brutal spike in April and May:

However, things are certainly not all rosy. Many of the PMs that were laid off in the past 6-7 months are still looking for jobs. I talk to them every single day.

Here are 2 PMs I heard from in just the last week:

• “It’s been brutal, I’ve been on the market since my layoff in January and still haven’t cracked an offer” - Former SAP PM

• “It’s been the toughest job market to date. I’ve only gotten into 12 processes.” - Former Dell PM laid off in March

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You Need Proven Tactics

To succeed in this market, you don’t need the techniques that worked when you job searched 5 years ago. You need techniques that are working in today’s market.

That’s where my advice for ‘Tell Me About Yourself’ comes in. I’ve used it and other tips to get 10s of PMs and product leaders job in the past few months.

A few testimonials:

• “After 6 months of subscribing to your newsletter, I’ve finally cracked a job!” - Now Principal PM

• “Thank you SO MUCH for your contents Aakash sir. I finally cracked my APM dream role.” - Recent IIT Grad

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Today’s Post

Words: 3,626 | Est. Reading Time: 16 mins

We’ll break down everything you need to not just have an “okay” response to “Tell Me About Yourself,” but a 10/10:

1. The Key Principles

2. Case Study 1: Aspiring PM

3. Case Study 2: Mid-Career PM

4. Case Study 3: Experienced PM & Coach

5. Framework to Improve Yourself

6. Most Common Mistakes

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1. The First Principles

Let’s begin by building your first principles understanding of how to execute in response to this question:

Principle 1: Flip Weaknesses Into Strengths

The trick is to ask: what are the main weaknesses that someone would have looking at my resume and LinkedIn?

You want to identify the 1-3 most important weaknesses. Then, you need to devise how you are going to flip them into strengths.

You’re not going to answer untruthfully, but you are going to answer in a sales pitch.

Principle 2: Show a Through-line to this Job Now

Speaking of sales, you are not trying to answer a cross-examination of your past. You don’t need to highlight everything. You want to sell the most relevant experiences, and spend the majority of your time, where you want them to focus.

They’re going to ask you questions about what you say, so keep it focused on the things that show you’re qualified for that job - and there’s a natural through-line in your background to getting there.

In a way, you’re subtly answering “why this role and company” by the details you choose.

Principle 3: 2 Minutes is the sweet spot

The most common mistake that people make it so to get caught up in telling their own chronological story.

And they drone on and on endlessly while the interviewer checks out. I can’t emphasize it enough. This happened to me regularly as an interviewer at Apollo and Affirm.

Go for right around 2 minutes.

You Must Practice, Practice, Practice

Above all, a key for success for this question is to actually record yourself giving the response the night or two before the interview.

You want to hit the first question of your interviews like a choreographed dance, not off the cuff.

And analyzing and improving yourself is the key.

Let’s get into exactly that - improving the responses of 3 real-world candidates: