Tell me something about yourself..??

The first and the foremost thing one should do if he is appearing for an interview is to find an answer to the above question. The reason this question is important because it gives you the chance to lead the interview and monitor the direction of the interview to a large extent. Most of the time the question follows according to the answer given in the first question and discussion continues. We sometimes do get edgy to answer this very basic question. Though we are aware of our self but still can’t really express in the professional manner or sometimes get bewildered as to where should I start from since we know so much about ourselves. So what should we do..??

Just relax and feel confident, after all you have cleared a few tough rounds of Aptitude test and GD and may be extempore as well. Just continue the good work by updating and preparing yourself for the final hurdle i.e., the Personal Interview.

So how to handle the open ended questions such as this..??
Here one should prepare himself and speak something which is not there in the resume and create an impression by talking about your hobbies and extra curricular activities.

Let us understand a few tips and tricks for removing the final stone to enter that MBA gate.

Be yourself and prepare accordingly, find out what are your strengths, is it in the field of academics, sports or any other field. Build a proper answer for your strengths to convince the interviewer that you really possess that skill.
The focus of B-school interviews is to judge you as a person and your professional aptitude. So take an interview as a conversation and not a question answer session. Questions could be from your hobbies, may be from your experiences both professional and personal. Have a basic and bit of advance domain knowledge about your background.

Getting rejected is the last thing you would want as this stage so do your Homework.
Have a well thought out answers for all general questions and yes that includes “Tell me something about your self.”

Don’t get carried away..!!

Take every question very intelligently and if possible make sure to point out your skills. Always have something to say for yourself and don’t speak all your achievements at one go. After you have said what you have to say - don't venture any further. Don't drone. You just might say something foolish. Sometimes interviewers don't interrupt in order to give the candidate the impression that he has not spoken enough. This is just a stress/error inducing tactic. Don't fall for it. If the pause gets too awkward for your liking, just add something like, "Is there something specific that you would like to know about me".

So go out there ‘DIFFERENTIATE’ and ‘SELL YOURSELF’.