The “Tell Me About Yourself” Trap and What You Can Do to Fix It

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by Satomi Ogata
Career Coach

“Tell me about yourself.” It sounds like the easiest interview question. It is also probably one of the most common. Yet it is one of the questions I see many experienced international professionals struggle with most.

Recently, I was preparing a coaching client for an interview. She had years of experience, strong technical expertise, and plenty of achievements to draw from. But when I asked, “Tell me about yourself.” Her answer became a chronological walk-through of her CV. “I started here… then I moved there… after that I was responsible for…” Three minutes later, I knew a lot about what she had done. But I still wasn't completely clear about who she was professionally, what differentiated her, and why she was right for this opportunity. So I politely stopped her. 

I asked a different question: “If the interview panel remembers only three things about you after this conversation, what do you want those three things to be?” That changed the conversation.

Preparing for an interview or your next career move? Explore Satomi's coaching profile

 

The trap: trying to tell your whole career story

For experienced international professionals, “Tell me about yourself” can be understandably difficult.

And often, it’s not that you don't have enough to say. You have too much. You may have worked across several countries. Changed positions. Moved between headquarters and field assignments. Worked across different organisations, sectors or functions.

Perhaps you have taken a career break, pivoted sectors or built a career that simply doesn't fit neatly into one box.

When you have 10, 15 or 20 years of experience, the temptation is to explain everything. So you start at the beginning.

“I started my career at…”

Then you walk the interviewer through each role.

But there is a problem.

Your answer becomes your CV spoken out loud.

The interviewer already has your CV.

What they don't yet have is your interpretation of it.

“Tell me about yourself” is a positioning question

I encourage my coaching clients to think about this question differently.

The interviewer isn't asking:

“Can you summarise every job you've ever had?”

They are trying to understand:

  1. Who are you professionally?

  2. What value do you bring?

  3. And why does your career story make sense for this opportunity?

Think of your answer as a map, not your entire career history.

You are giving the interviewer enough information to understand where you have been, what you bring, and where you are going.

A simple structure can help:

1. Identity: Who are you professionally?

Start with the headline.

For example:

“I am an international development professional with 15 years of experience across humanitarian and development programmes.”

You have immediately given the interviewer a frame through which to understand everything that follows.

2. Value: What do you bring?

Now help them understand what connects your experience. For example: “My particular strength is bringing together programme strategy, partnerships and hands-on implementation work across complex stakeholder management.”

This is where you move beyond describing responsibilities and start communicating your value.

3. Direction: Why this opportunity, and why now?

Finally, connect your experience to where you want to go next. For example: “I am now looking to bring that experience into a broader regional leadership role, which is why this opportunity particularly attracted me.”

Now your career story has direction.

Identity → Summarised Value → Direction.

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Within roughly 60–90 seconds, the interviewer should understand:

This is who I am.
This is what I bring to the role.
This is why I am here.

Don't try to tell them everything

This is often the hardest part for experienced professionals. You have spent years building your career. Of course, you want the interviewer to understand its depth. But more information does not necessarily create more credibility.

Sometimes it creates more cognitive load. Your first answer doesn't need to contain every achievement, country, project or responsibility.

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The goal is not to tell them everything. The goal is to give them a clear enough picture so you are the right person for the role.

You will have the rest of the interview to provide the evidence.

Before your next interview, try this

Don't start by writing a perfect script.

Take a blank piece of paper.

Write this question at the top:

“If this interview panel remembers only three things about me, what do I want those three things to be?”

Then write three answers:

Who am I?

What is the simplest professional description of you?

What do I bring?

What strengths, expertise, or experiences connect the different parts of your career that make you stand out for the role you are interviewing for?

Why now?

Why does this particular opportunity make sense as your next step?

Then build your “Tell me about yourself” answer backwards from those three things.

Practise it until the structure feels natural.

But don't memorise every word.

You want to sound like yourself, not like you are reciting something you wrote the night before.

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Because a strong “Tell me about yourself” answer isn't necessarily the one containing the most impressive information.

It is the one that makes your value easiest to understand and easiest to remember.

About Satomi Ogata

Satomi Ogata is an Impactpool Career Coach who works with international professionals navigating career transitions, pivots and their next career milestone. Drawing on more than 16 years of experience in global HR and talent acquisition across multinational organisations and the United Nations, she combines coaching with practical, real-world career tools to help professionals clarify their direction, position their strengths and take meaningful action towards what comes next. 

Preparing for an interview or your next career move? Explore Satomi's coaching profile and book a session with her.