There are many times in a professional situation where you will need to introduce yourself. There’s the elevator pitch you share at an industry conference. In a job interview, there’s the common first question: “Tell me about yourself”. Even if you’ve worked in the same place for years, you may have to introduce yourself at a team meeting for a new project or simply running into people who have recently joined.
The ideal way to talk about yourself is a blended approach – some professional information to establish your credibility, but also some personal information to engender rapport. An all-business approach could come across as overly formal, arrogant or just boring. Furthermore, if you only talk about what you’re doing professionally, you may overemphasize your current role, thus promoting your employer rather than your own brand.
That said, you don’t want to overshare too much personal information. Instead, aim for fun facts about yourself that also provide a window into experience, skills or character attributes desirable on-the-job. Here are four sources of information to pull from when drafting your elevator pitch, job interview opening or other introduction:
1- Professional motivation: what’s your origin story?
One of the final candidates for a COO search I worked on endeared himself to the hiring team when he talked about why he entered the biotech space many years ago. It was a personal story (health issue in the family) but the motivation it gave him had clear, positive professional value. This motivation to go the extra mile was a very desirable trait for this hiring company (as it is for many potential employers).
Why do you do the work you do? Why did you choose your current industry or role in the first place? The motivation behind your work and/or your origin story about how you chose your career path is often fun for others to learn, as well as professionally relevant.
2 – Personal mission: what drives you besides work?
A marketing candidate I interviewed didn’t have the similar driving motivation as the above COO candidate – she just loved working on consumer decisions. However, in her personal life, she was an avid runner and a longtime volunteer of an organization that supports blind runners during races. When she talked about this aspect of her life – though completely unrelated to her profession – her sense of mission and service really shone through and made the hiring team more trusting of her.
Do you have a personal commitment that has become a mission or vocation for you? Sharing a driving force inside of you, even if it’s unrelated professionally, reflects commitment, integrity and service. Introducing a different aspect of who you are, beyond the professional, makes you appear more well-rounded and gives you a chance to talk about something that gets you excited.
3 – Passionate hobby: what lights you up?
Another finalist for the COO search gave the hiring team a virtual tour of his music studio. This candidate was a longtime biotech professional but also a serious amateur musician and composer. As it turned out, several of the hiring team were musicians, so the interviews took a welcome, lighter turn, and it was an opportunity for the hiring team to connect with this candidate in a different way.
Having passion for a subject or activity very different from your professional career is a fun way to develop rapport with colleagues. As with your professional motivation or personal mission, an extracurricular passion demonstrates commitment and discipline. When you’re interviewing for a job, and other candidates are also talented and experienced, an outside passion gives you another opportunity to connect with your interviewers and impress them with your multifaceted skills. (Of course, you still need to ace your interviews!).
4 – Energy source: do you have the stamina to succeed?
For an institutional investment firm, the top two candidates were practically tied going into the final rounds, but after a full day of interviews, a clear winner emerged. It wasn’t just her seemingly limitless energy that differentiated the ultimate head of sales for the western US. She also had an excellent sales record and deep investment product knowledge. However, after taking the red-eye flight and enduring eight hours of almost non-stop interviews, she was no less enthusiastic at the end of the day than at the beginning, and every interviewer noticed.
Employers are impressed by people with enthusiasm, stamina and energy. Candidates who are accomplished athletes (or even weekend warriors) attract potential employers who want to tap their potential energy source. If you participate in physically and mentally challenging activities (e.g., long-distance cardio, adventure sports), it’s both a fun fact and a competitive advantage.
Find your own competitive advantage with fun facts
List activities you love, recent accomplishments outside of work and all your volunteer commitments. What do these reveal about your enthusiasm and energy, passion and personal and professional drive?
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