Using storytelling to answer to “tell me about yourself” or “walk me through your CV/resume”.

Your story should last between 1 and 2 minutes, it should be structued with a good flow and distinct paragraphs, and should go deeper than the generic to really show what motivates you at the core.

Your story should answer 3 topics :

  • Who are you?
  • What have you done?
  • Where to you hope to go?

For each of these questions, here’s a list of ideas of underlying questions to answer (no need to answer them all, just a few of each category) :

Go deeper and be honest

When writing answers to those questions, ask yourself “Why?” again and again to get and show a deeper understanding of yourself.

Also, try to stay honest and avoid “Too good to be true” speeches.

Use positive language

As said previously, use positive language to describe yourself. Reshape your sentences to avoid using negation.

Who are you?

  • Where do you come from?
  • How did your environment shaped your aspirations?
  • What defines you as a professional? What is important to you as a proffessional (values, principles, etc)
  • What motivates you and give you a sense of purpose
  • What passion can help us understand your career path and your future plans?
  • Three words/adjectives about you and explaining them by a story
  • What would be a “big bang” moment of your life?

What have you done?

  • 2 or 3 phases or themes of your professional life
  • What made you decide do do something? What have you learned?

Where do you hope to go?

  • Where do you want to go?
  • What do you want to learn or accomplish?
  • How to you see yourself 5 years from now?
  • What does the ideal job look like for you?
  • What kind of job would you like to get in the short term?
  • Why?