Expert shares what employers are ‘really asking’ when they say ‘tell me about yourself’ in job interviews

A recruiter has shared what employees are allegedly looking for when they ask you to tell them about yourself.

Emily Durham, a Toronto-based career coach, content creator and recruiter has recently taken to TikTok to relay the insider knowledge.

Last month, she posted a 32-second video on social media, aimed at potential candidates who are interviewing for new jobs.

In the clip, Emily gave advice on what to say if the ‘tell me about yourself’ question crops up.

She began: “When a recruiter asks, ‘So tell me about yourself,’ this is specifically what you’re gonna say. Coming from a recruiter who knows her s***.

“They’re really asking for is an elevator pitch which is about a 30-second to a 60-second summary of who you are.”

The TikToker continued to say that she likes to structure her introductions using a couple of sentences divided up into three parts.

She explained these are: “Who you are, what you do, and what you want”.

Emily then went on to give her viewers an example of what recruiters are seemingly looking to hear.

“Nice to meet you, I’m Emily Durham,” she said while holding up a single finger to show she was hitting point one. “I’m a senior recruiter who’s passionate about the careers and technology space.

Holding up a second, she continued: “I’m an expert at building robust talent pipelines in multiple markets, globally.”

“And I’m really excited to learn more about this position because I'm looking to advance my career at a company like yours,” she finished, holding up a third finger.

Since posting the advice via social media on Wednesday 6 September, the video has collected over 162,000 saves and has drawn 950+ comments.

Discussing Emily’s points, one TikTok user wrote: “I’m Sarah I like to eat, scroll TikTok, and get screamed at by a toddler 16 hours a day. Save me, please!”

A second commented: “So many people miss on this one. Practice this people!”

“Thank you. We aren’t asking for your age, about your spouse or kids,” said a third.

However, not everyone agreed with Emily’s way of speaking, with many calling her answers ‘resume fluff’.

“When I’m recruiting I want to know about them as a person in this question (not just career). The other questions will give me the answer you provided,” wrote one viewer.

“Scripted and not genuine = red flag,” said a second.

A third commented: “They don’t care about your career advancement they care about whether you can do the job.”

“Every interview is unique and not all recruiters want to hear mechanical answers. Keep it professional yet personable is a great guideline, wrote another.

A fifth said: “Lol so robotic. Most recruiters will see right through this.”