Tell Me About Yourself

Stumbling through the Web, I came across this advice for how to respond to the dreaded question, , “So, tell me about yourself. “

“The best way to answer this ‘icebreaker’ interview question is a brief overview of education, experience, and skills, and show how that background would be a great fit for that job.”

I completely disagree.

Tell you about myself? My self wakes up grateful for the shot of espresso I’ll pull after cradling my two pups in bed for a couple minutes while it’s still dark outside. My self moves through the day carrying with me the thousands of young people I’ve learned from for the past 27 years together in the classroom. I don’t remember all of their names, but I remember the experience of teaching them. I miss them more than they know.

Every day, my self tries to help people uncover their stories because it’s the perfect remedy for migraine that millions of us have been living with, for years.

Every day, my self tries to do a few things for my mental health: bake a summer stone fruit tart, stretch my body, write, call a friend, read a poem, say hello to my neighbors, hug my kids.

At night my self relaxes into an epsom salt bath or a Netflix binge—or both. Some times my self cries, and that’s a good thing.

If my self might be a great fit for your self, I’d be happy to give you a brief overview of my education, experience, and skills.

That stuff is what I do, not who I am.

That stuff has to come second.