Self-presentation in interviews - Practical Tips

Tell us something about yourself. 

This is maybe one of the more underestimated interview parts of all. Everyone thinks it’s such an easy task to talk about ourselves and most candidates don't prepare at all for this. Talking about ourselves it sounds easy because we know very well what we have done and what our responsibilities were. However, in an interview we might discover that things are not so simple. If we don't prepare in advance, we will end up saying things that are not so relevant for the employer, that don't make too much sense or we will talk too much about the less important things.


It happens to me quite often, when I talk to candidates prior to the interviews, to hear "Self presentation, yes...I know what to say...I have been to many interviews before". My question 'Were those interviews successful?' makes them wonder and be quiet for a while.

Having a good self-presentation will help us to draw the attention of the interviewer(s) to the best of our strengths and away from your weaknesses. Ideally we should prepare a tailor -made presentation for each and every interview. If this seems too much, one option would be to write our highlights into bullet points and adapt it to the type of job we are applying for.

Usually approximately 2 minutes should be enough for the self-presentation. Here are the main points that should be included in the speech:

• personal background,
• educational background,
• achievements in our past or current employment;
• one or two examples of projects/responsibilities/achievements relevant for job we are applying
• our future career goals and how the job we are interviewing for would fit into our plans;
• summarization on why we are at the interview (explain how the job and our expertise would contribute both to the company and our career goals in the most satisfying manner).

Self-presentations should be prepared in advanced and before going to the interview we should ask ourselves:
Is the presentation interesting, overall?
Am I able to present the highlights of my achievements and strengths accurately?
Am I matching my skills to the needs of the vacancy the interview is for?
Am I confident when I am speaking?
Is my style of speaking clear and loud enough, fast/slow enough?

After having our presentation ready, it comes one of the essential parts: practice.  We should be careful to maintain a continuous flow, have a confident tone but not being too loud or arrogant and exclude the breaks of ‘aaaaa’/ ‘hmmmmm’ from our speech.  

What also always helps is to be critical to ourselves and after every interview to think about the way we presented ourselves. Recognizing the moments where we could have said things in a better way will help us to improve from one interview to another.

And remember that having many interviews doesn't necessarily mean that we are also good at it.  

Discrimination in the recruitment process

You don’t really realize how bad discrimination is until you experience it. At least I didn't...  The feeling you have when you are told up front that you might not get a job because of your nationality is far worse than I imagined.

When talking about the recruitment process there are always two parties involved: the candidates and the hiring company. Who is actually the company? Is it the general manager, the entity described at the section -”About us”, the managers? “The company” is every person that works for an employer and acts as representative of its interests. So we are talking about people who try to apply some rules and principles, to make the right decision according to their experience and knowledge. Therefore, in the recruitment process, maybe more than in other areas, there is always a great deal of subjectivism involved. Along with the job descriptions, the personality match plays a very important role in the hiring decisions.  Depending on the job, there are situations where the personality match is even more important than the technical skills which, unlike the personality, can be taught and learned in time.

How do the managers decide if a candidate has a matching personality or not? The process starts way before the first interview. It starts with the discussion between the hiring manager and the recruiter. 

The official issues discussed are the personality features desired from the future employee that are not specified in the job description. Some of the frequently requested personality traits are: honesty, responsibility, adaptability, patience, decisiveness but not only. So far so good. 

But what happens when the hiring manager says”…and I would like, if possible, someone not older than 35, single and male.”? These requirements are always said more or less with lower voice, in confidence and they are of course unofficial. Why? Because this behavior is not just unethical, it is also a breach of discrimination legislation. 

What are the options of the recruiter at this point? 

1. To tell the manager up front that this is called discrimination and this is both immoral and illegal. 

2. To write down the extra requirements and to start searching for the right candidate. 

3. To convince the manager to consider also people that don’t match exactly his last requirements but who meet all the other requirements regarding knowledge, experience, skills and competences- these criteria being essential for the job. 

What recruiters choose to do in this situation can have a great impact on the final decision. While it is almost impossible to change someone’s prejudices, way of seeing things and preferences, presenting candidates whose selection was based on knowledge, experience and skills, can sometimes avoid discrimination. 

However, discrimination in the recruitment process is not always generated by the managers. Recruiters earn their living through placing an applicant in the advertised position as efficiently as possible. How every recruiter understands to do that depends very much on their ethics, background, education, social environment and experience. Recruiters can as well have prejudices, positive or negative experiences with some category of people and this can and will most of the times influence the selection process.  

Despite all anti-discrimination legislation, this phenomenon is everywhere and will continue to be a problem especially because it is very hard to be proved. 

s and principles, to make the right decision according to their experience and knowledge. Therefore, in the recruitment process, maybe more than in other areas, there is always a great deal of subjectivism involved. Along with the job descriptions, the personality match plays a very important role in the hiring decisions.  Depending on the job, there are situations where the personality match is even more important than the technical skills which, unlike the personality, can be taught and learned in time.

How do the managers decide if a candidate has a matching personality or not? The process starts way before the first interview. It starts with the discussion between the hiring manager and the recruiter. 

The official issues discussed are the personality features desired from the future employee that are not specified in the job description. Some of the frequently requested personality traits are: honesty, responsibility, adaptability, patience, decisiveness but not only. So far so good. 

But what happens when the hiring manager says”…and I would like, if possible, someone not older than 35, single and male.”? These requirements are always said more or less with lower voice, in confidence and they are of course unofficial. Why? Because this behaviour is not just unethical, it is also a breach of discrimination legislation. 

What are the options of the recruiter at this point? 

1. To tell the manager up front that this is called discrimination and this is both immoral and illegal. 

2. To write down the extra requirements and to start searching for the right candidate. 

3. To convince the manager to consider also people that don’t match exactly his last requirements but who meet all the other requirements regarding knowledge, experience, skills and competences- these criteria being essential for the job. 

What recruiters choose to do in this situation can have a great impact on the final decision. While it is almost impossible to change someone’s prejudices, way of seeing things and preferences, presenting candidates whose selection was based on knowledge, experience and skills, can sometimes avoid discrimination. 

However, discrimination in the recruitment process is not always generated by the managers. Recruiters earn their living through placing an applicant in the advertised position as efficiently as possible. How every recruiter understands to do that depends very much on their ethics, background, education, social environment and experience. Recruiters can as well have prejudices, positive or negative experiences with some category of people and this can and will most of the times influence the selection process. 

 Despite all anti-discrimination legislation, this phenomenon is everywhere and will continue to be a problem especially because it is very hard to be proved.