The "tell us about yourself" question

[DVMhopeful]

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I have my interview coming up in two weeks (soooo late...wahh) and it's a behavioural (closed file) interview. I am 99% sure the "tell us about yourself" quesion will come up. Does anyone have suggestions on what to touch on? Should I go with personal info (where I am from, family, education, etc.) or vet related stuff (volunteer/work experience)?
Thanks for any help!

 

[sumstorm]

Removed for the comfort of Nyanko and No Imagination whose advice is far superior to anything I could ever even dream of offering. Please, OP, follow whatever advice they give you word for word!

 

[No Imagination]

Well, I think you should also think about the "Why do you want to be a vet question" as well, as I found that by far the hardest.

This is my opinion only:

The "Tell us about yourself", is actually your chance to sell yourself to the committee, and should be handled in a way were you can passively praise yourself without coming off as gods gift to the profession. If you're careful, you can open up some doors for the committee to ask about, directing the interview questions in your direction.

Best of luck to you!

 

[VAgirl]

Yep, definitely the spot to focus on what you want them to focus on within your interview...so put out there the things that you think are most fantastic about yourself (vet med related and non-vet med stuff are both ok).

 

[nyanko]

"I live my life as an adventure where I enjoy exploring the world associated with animals including the best-practice husbandry aspects of livestock and the human-animal bond."

That sounds ridiculously canned and would make me a little bit uncomfortable if someone actually talked like that to me, even in a formal interview situation.

 

[No Imagination]

Yeah Sum, Don't even think Herriot could have said that

 

[sumstorm]

Fine, my suggestion is terrible. I will eliminate it to make everyone more comfortable and to prevent the OP from even considering horrible advice. Too bad it has worked for me through highly competitive fellowships, internships, and a few competitive positions.

 

[sumstorm]

duplicate post

 

[sumstorm]

duplicate post

 

[sumstorm]

wow, SDN is on a roll this morning

 

[No Imagination]

Wow Sum, take a chill pill - No one was questioning your advise per say, just that the sentence sounded contrived. Haven't we been at this long enough on SDN to be able to critique each other without taking it personally?

 

[DVMhopeful]

Sum, I appreciate the advice, and I am glad that it worked for you. But, for me I just wouldn't feel comfortable with that sort of answer, but everyone has to take different approaches to these things. That's why I was looking for opinions, keep em coming sdn'ers, I really appreciate the help!

 

[GeeQued]

Ive always taken it and used it to pull out anything I wanted to tlak about more in depth, Mainly, especially in closed file ones, I used my personal statement I wrote, since that tells them about you already, as a guideline. I brought up how I got involved in vet experience, what unique/interesting opportunities I've had, and how I've prepared myself to step up to the task of a vet med program.

 

[Willowhand]

Oh yeah, this question drives me crazy. Like anyone else there are plenty of things to say, but my biggest problem is just knowing where to begin . Anyway, once I've tumbled through my first clumsy sentences I usually find that the best way to answer this one is to start talking about something unique which I am enthusiastic about and competent to discuss. From there, I can usually find things which might feel relevant to that particular interview or seem to catch the interest of the interviewer. I often like to talk about how I spent much of childhood living on a sailboat, specific interesting experiences it led to like working with sea turtles and other marine wildlife, and how those experiences continue to affect me today. Just think of the things which set you apart, and if you pick something you're enthusiastic about you'll probably have an easy time branching in whatever direction feels good from there.

 

[bunnity]

Oh man I definitely stumbled with this one in my interview. I think what would have worked for me is having the first sentence or two somewhat memorized so I could get past the "oh now what do I say" thing and go from there. I think it's also OK to talk for a little and say "what else would you like to know?"

 

[Airborne Vet]

Picture yourself in the dictionary. How would you define yourself?

In my opinion, a person is defined by three things; their past, their present state, and their future ambitions.

For the past I would go with what you've done since high school with things like research, jobs, clubs, GPA, ect. The interviewer probably doesn't care about how many brothers/sisters you have, where you grew up, and so forth. Keep it related to vet med.

Same thing goes for the present. What are you doing right now at this stage of your life to prepare for vet school?

And finally future goals. 5, 10, 15 years...ect.

Keep it short and sweet, 60 seconds or so. They don't want a biography, just a snapshot.

 

[nyanko]

Wow Sum, take a chill pill - No one was questioning your advise per say, just that the sentence sounded contrived. Haven't we been at this long enough on SDN to be able to critique each other without taking it personally?

Seriously. Someone like me would probably look pretty silly trying to say something like that, not to mention that I probably couldn't keep a straight face while doing it. Isn't the whole point of an interview, particularly a behavioral one, and especially a question that's "tell me about yourself," to get to know who a person actually is? If sumstorm's the type of person who can pull off a statement like that and sound natural doing it, more power to her. I still might giggle at it, and could never actually say anything like it.

 

[StillDreaming]

I would say, yes focus on the vet med aspect of your life, but don't let that be the only thing you talk about. In my interview I talked about my ambitions and possible career paths i am considering, my current job a vet clinic, but also that i like to knit, and watch TV sitcoms (i believe in my tufts interview i said something about quoting certain sitcoms in my daily life a little too often, and then did so later in my interview lol, something worked, but this is probably not strongly advised).

I feel that they want to see you are dewdicated to vet med, but that you are also a person outside of the field... they want to see that you're going to have something to 'get away' from the field and not internally combust within it when you are consistently studying... i don't know, just my opinion...

 

[DVMhopeful]

thanks everyone, great tips!

 

[yousif]

Of course vet related stuff, but if they asked you personal questions then you would answer.

 

[DVMhopeful]

I can't really tell if you're being condescending because it's in writing, but anyways I wasn't planning on not answering personal questions...just looking for some opinions

 

[Pistol Pete]

This was the first question in 2 of my interviews and it sets the tone for the entire session. You don't want to be stumbling around and rambling on. As opposed to an earlier poster, I do think it is important to let them know if you have brothers, sisters, and supporting parents since those are the folks that have had a great deal of influence on who you are.....especially if they've led you to this career path. It makes for an easy transition to vet med discussion.

I would memorize it until it go so easy you could do it in your sleep...a 60 second wikipedia on you.

PP

 

[DVMhopeful]

PP, thanks for the help. I was thinking that myself. I was thinking that maybe I would lead with a small amount of info on my family, then switch over to ved med, ambitions, etc. I was thinking just mentioning that I get my passion for animals from my mother, I thought that would be a good transition spot. I have a little something put together now, it touches on what brought me to my undergrad school, the summer work that led me to an interest in LA, what i am doing now, futire plans, and a few things i do in my spare time seperate from vet med.

 

[nyanko]

People who rehearse and memorize these things, I have a genuine question.

How do you avoid sounding "too rehearsed" when you memorize answers like that? In all the times I've given talks or speeches or taught classes or gone to interviews, I've pretty much gone by ear. I mean, obviously I'll research the topic beforehand so that I'm well informed, but I've never been able to go from prose on paper to speech without sounding kind of awkward. Maybe it's that my writing style and my speaking style are so different, but I've never been able to understand how to actually write and practice any kind of speaking.

 

[StillDreaming]

i don't write exactly what i'm going to say, but before my tufts intewview (on the flight to boston) just wrote bullet pointd of what i wanted to stress. Then i would just practice a response and remember to use all the bullet points. This way it's not super rehearsed, but i don't forget anything i want the ad comm to know.

It also differed for my other interviews and tufts... for tufts they had open file, and had read my application, so i stressed things that weren't big on my app or i had done since i submitted the appp, while with Florida, i stressed what they could have just ready on my app, but i really wanted it to be highlighted for my interview as well.

 

[DVMhopeful]

Exactly, I like just picking out a few key points that I want to talk about, and writign them down. I often practice things, because I think it sounds better hten stumbling. That said, when it comes to interview, presentation, speach, etc. I rarely say things exactly how I had practiced, but am more confident that I didn't leave anything important out because I had practiced my key points.

 

[Doggone DVM]

Maybe this sounds silly, but the interviewers do want to "get to know you." I agree with suggestions above in directing your response to areas where you are strong and would like to talk more about, but do also tell them about yourself, what you're proud of, accomplishments, etc.

If you are very nervous, practice with a friend or family member...or even a faculty member.

Introduce the interviewers to the real you! Best of luck!!!

 

[Pistol Pete]

People who rehearse and memorize these things, I have a genuine question.

How do you avoid sounding "too rehearsed" when you memorize answers like that?

My basis for memorization is it allows for a smooth start with what you about to convey, you can vary your tone, speed, emotion without having to remember what you planned to say. At this point in the interview, the nerve factor is at its highest and it is easy to forget important material. Once the session gets to the interchange between interviewee and adcomm, you tend to relax a bit and bullet points are the best tool. Well timed and appropriate humor is important. Just as adcomms use questions to lead to other questions, the interviewee can lead the panel to strong areas of their applications. There are some areas you just need to have ironed out...euthanasia, slaughter, etc and be prepared to back up your position.

You only get one chance at first impressions. If I was an adcomm and the interviewee couldn't handle the "tell us about yourself" question, I would be left to wonder whether they were too nervous to communicate or had not prepared for the interview.

 

[OncoBanana]

this is a great thread!! i had a hard time thinking about the question in question before my interview too. i'm not someone who normally prepares a rehearsed answer - but it definitely helps to know what you're going to say. i got over this one by practicing the questions out loud. it was my uc davis interview and they had given us a list of interview questions from previous years. my wife and i are stuck in the car a lot - about 4 or 5 hours a week at that point - so she would pull out the folder from the backseat and start asking me questions. i sounded like a total idiot the first few times, but sometimes if you just talk it out.. OUT LOUD... with a receptive audience, you'll find your stride and hit on what you really want to say. this helped me a TON when they gave me the "tell us why we should let you in" question. and if you're worried about the start, i would recommend taking a deep breath to calm yourself, smile like you can't wait to get started answering the question, and jump in. the preparation was really painful because it made me feel super self-conscious and DUMB, but it really paid off in the long run when i could talk easily and comfortably about everything they asked me.

 

[DollyyLlama]

I confess- I pretty much bombed this question at my first interview. Wasn't expecting it. I don't even remember what I said, but I think it began with "Uhhh..." and was less than elegant. The second interview was behavioral so it didn't come up with that phrasing.

 

[DVMhopeful]

I am wondering about a time limit. The iterviews ay UPEI run about 60 minutes. I see some people saying keep the answer it to one minute, but I made a short bullet list of things I want to touch on, and when I practice it, it takes like 2.5 minutes. That's with a lot of fumbling and ...uhhhh's... so hopefully I can shorten it some there.

 

[Truth74]

I would take as much time as you need with that question, and not try to cut what you want to say, now. They may ask questions before the "Tell me about yourself," and it may drop off info that you were planning to say then. If it's the first question, I would rather they hear what I want them to know about me, even if it takes 5 minutes.

 

[GellaBella]

Think anyone has ever rapped a response to this question (or some other artistic interpretation, doesnt have to be rap - could be interpretive dance or something)? I dunno why I just thought about it but it made me laugh to imagine it and would probably make you stand out to your interviewers...

 

[VAgirl]

this is a great thread!! i had a hard time thinking about the question in question before my interview too. i'm not someone who normally prepares a rehearsed answer - but it definitely helps to know what you're going to say. i got over this one by practicing the questions out loud. it was my uc davis interview and they had given us a list of interview questions from previous years. my wife and i are stuck in the car a lot - about 4 or 5 hours a week at that point - so she would pull out the folder from the backseat and start asking me questions. i sounded like a total idiot the first few times, but sometimes if you just talk it out.. OUT LOUD... with a receptive audience, you'll find your stride and hit on what you really want to say. this helped me a TON when they gave me the "tell us why we should let you in" question. and if you're worried about the start, i would recommend taking a deep breath to calm yourself, smile like you can't wait to get started answering the question, and jump in. the preparation was really painful because it made me feel super self-conscious and DUMB, but it really paid off in the long run when i could talk easily and comfortably about everything they asked me.

Fantastic advice. This is what I did before my interviews, too, and I think it made a world of difference. By practicing the same questions many times over the course of days to weeks out loud and to an audience (my mom) I was able to hone what I wanted to say and to get comfortable with it in a non-rehearsed way.

Think anyone has ever rapped a response to this question (or some other artistic interpretation, doesnt have to be rap - could be interpretive dance or something)? I dunno why I just thought about it but it made me laugh to imagine it and would probably make you stand out to your interviewers...

It's possible that there's some way to pull this off and have it seem not totally weird, I'm willing to consider that. But the way I'm imagining it, it comes out as doing something just to stand out, not standing out because of qualities that actually define you in a meaningful way.

Even if you were an interpretive dancer or a rapper on the side, I think it would come across strangely since it's much more along the lines of a professional interview, you're sitting at a table in a small room, etc. But hey, who knows. I've been wrong before.

 

[DVMorBust]

I can see it now:

Interviewer: So, DVMhopeful, tell me about yourself.
DVMhopeful: Iiiiiiiin West Philidelphia born and raised...on the playground is where I spent most of my days...

 

[GellaBella]

I can see it now:

Interviewer: So, DVMhopeful, tell me about yourself.
DVMhopeful: Iiiiiiiin West Philidelphia born and raised...on the playground is where I spent most of my days...

Haha! Thats exactly how I imagined it too.

I'm in no way suggesting anyone do this. It just popped into my head for some reason and made me laugh and kind of wonder.

 

[DVMhopeful]

bahaha i wish i could do something like that! thats hilarious!

 

[DVMhopeful]

except it would be more like, iiiiin mabou, cape breton I was born and raised, in the farm house is where i spent most of my dayss

 

[guppy73]

Hey--how about a limerick? (No, not THAT kind, extract your mind from the gutter & continue):

There once was a girl from Mass.
Kinda nice--not a pain in the a**
She has lots of pets
Wants to be a great vet
If Tufts will just give her a pass.

OK--pretty lame, I'll admit. But I've spent all day studying & my brain's just about shot right now.

 

[Airborne Vet]

That's pretty funny.

My logic of keeping your answer related to vet med and under a minute was based on the fact the interviewers have probably sat through dozens of people prior to you. I'd probably start to glaze over after a minute unless your story was captivating.

I'm not saying that family and such hasn't been important to your development. My concern is that the more things you start to talk about, the easier it will be to go off on a tangent and loose your audience.

In the end, there's no wrong way to eat a Reese's. If you're a conversation artist, go nuts. If you know that you're going to be nervous as hell, keep it short and to the point.

As for not sounding rehearsed...slow it down and use good body language, especially with your eyes. If you're constantly looking around, it'll probably painfully obvious that its rehearsed.