You are at an interview for which you have been preparing for a long time. Thoughts get confused, sweat pours down the back, the right words fly out of my head ... It’s impossible to formulate something more or less suitable for the occasion, no matter how hard you try.
Lifehack has formulated 20 options that you can use when talking about yourself in a few words. Choose the ones that describe you best.
"I am the one who...":
1. can adapt to any situation. I thrive in a changing environment and turn unexpected obstacles into stepping stones for new achievements."
2. Consistently innovate to create value. I find opportunities when other people can't see any: I turn ideas into projects and projects into a series of successes."
3. has a very creative mind. I always have my own view on solving a problem, based on a wide range of interests and hobbies. Creativity is the source of differentiation and therefore the basis of competitive advantage."
4. always follows its purpose. I try to do my job in a timely and quality manner. Hiring me is the real guarantee of results."
5. knows this job inside and out. My many years of experience in this area leaves no doubt about my effectiveness for the cause. I am able to bring best practices to the company."
6. has a high level of motivation to work in this company. I studied its entire history and analyzed business strategies. As I am also a longtime customer of the company, I took the opportunity to write this report with some suggestions for improving your services."
7. pragmatic approach to issues. I don't waste time talking about the theory or about possible successes. Only one question matters to me: "Does it work or not?"
8. takes work ethics very seriously. I do what I'm paid to do and I do it well."
9. Can make quick decisions when needed. Everyone can make the right decisions with enough information and time. Our reality does not always provide such opportunities. We need to move forward even with limited time and high risks, and take responsibility for our decisions. I can do it".
10. has a thoughtful sense of humor. I find that we are more productive when we work with people we enjoy spending time with. When a relationship with a client is heating up, good humor can save the day."
11. works like a real team player. I see the best in the people I work with, and I always do what I think is best for the company."
12. can work autonomously. I don't need micromanagement. I don't need training on current issues. I understand high-level goals and I know how to achieve them."
13. Leads people along. I can bring people together around an idea and motivate a team to achieve results. I don't expect more from others than I expect from myself."
14. understands the complexity of modern project management. It's not just about clicking triangles on a GANTT chart; it is about gathering everyone at the same table and agreeing on further actions. And it's a lot harder than it looks."
15. is an absolute expert in this field. Ask any person who works in this industry. They will say my name because I wrote a book on the subject."
16. communicates with everyone. I believe that open communication with each person is the most important factor in achieving the effectiveness of the organization."
17. works with enthusiasm. I have enough motivation for myself and my department. I love what I do and it's contagious."
18. sees details because details are important. How many companies have failed because of one little thing? Hire me and you will be sure that I will find every little thing."
19. can see the situation globally. Beginners spend time solving small problems. I understand the purpose of our company, I solve real issues, and the management will definitely notice the result."
20. doesn't look like anyone you know. I'm the candidate you didn't expect. You can hire another employee, or you can hire someone who will bring a new wave to your company. It's me".
Once they asked me. I approached this question in a slightly different way ...
My monologue about myself. (However, there is a bit of everyone in it.)
To begin with, I will indicate my position of interaction in society, activities, and personal rules of law. It is difficult to describe yourself from the outside, because. one of the features of my position is that I am not used to describing myself. I believe that only society can indicate what a person is like, but from the same point of view, society is people, and ideal people do not exist, like nothing else in our world. And that means you should not hope for their “truth”. From physics we know that everything consists of atoms and molecules that move randomly, the conclusion can be drawn that the world is ruled by chaos. Perhaps this is so, but this is an indefinite question that cannot be answered exactly, as well as definitions: life, death, and perhaps a description of one's personality, from one's own point of view. I can lie, I can embellish, I can give a false answer for the sake of evaluation. But I think that the meaning of this “holy lie” will be enough only for a household system. At the moment, this is our college, and if you go deeper, then the subject.
A little bit of flattery
I believe that I am an adequate person. I am friendly, sympathetic, ready to help at any moment, to my close relatives and friends. Perhaps I am aggressive, incompetent, and vengeful. But I think more often it may have to do with how society treats me. But at the same time, I'm outgoing. I do not like to harbor a grudge, quarrel and enmity. To people who treat me badly, I try to respond to them rather not with reciprocity, but with a neutral attitude. In fact, I am a phlegmatic, but something egocentric and feminist is present in me. I respect someone else's position, morals. But still, I put my morals first. In society, I think that I am within my limits and I only stand for what makes sense to me.
A bit of truth
If you choose between pessimists and optimists, I would classify myself as something in between. I believe that there are a lot of conventions in our life, both this article and our whole life can be an example. Yes, I respect different people's opinions. But our bodies tend to break down, whether at birth or at ninety. The characterization of oneself does not matter, and thoughts can be voiced out loud in your "world". The only thing that matters is compassion. To those people whom we love, and to those whom we look after. I don't consider myself righteous. But such concepts as faith, truth and conscience are becoming alien to people in our time. I'm not trying to stand out and at the same time be like everyone else. But I will always choose the right path.
"All people lie", at any age and status. I described myself as I see fit, it's hard to say who I am and what I represent. But it's just as hard to get an honest answer.
40-year-old relationship expert Madeleine Mason from London met a children's writer named Christopher at the very end of 2016, and in April 2017 they got married and even planned a romantic trip to Italy.
Marriage is not for everyone, but personally I dreamed of finding the right (ideal) man, says Madeleine. - I knew that if I succeeded, then everything would be as fast and natural as possible. The nature of our relationship with Christopher is distinguished by the depth that arose at the very early stage of our acquaintance. Perhaps it happened because my father died, and Christopher was there in time to support me. We soon realized that we have a lot in common...
Christopher found Madeleine on a dating site - he was attracted not only by the photographs of the woman, but also by the accompanying text, which she composed very competently. Madeleine used her own method of self-presentation, which she taught in relationship courses. Its essence boils down to the fact that the search for a life partner should be treated as a search for a candidate for a certain position. And present yourself accordingly:
The more precisely you describe what you are looking for, the more likely you will find someone who can offer it.
4 questions to answer when describing yourself for a dating site profile:
What should be your ideal lover?
Formulate 3 or 4 main criteria for finding a man. For example, that he should be kind, strong, wealthy, healthy, smart, attentive, open, creative, etc.
What should your life together be like?
You need to understand what you want: to live with a man in the city or the suburbs? In an apartment or in a house? In an official or civil marriage? With or without children?
What do you want your first dates to be like?
Come up with a more or less clear scenario. For example, I want to have a cheerful and friendly atmosphere. To have a cultural program. To have dinner in a cozy restaurant, and not a burger with cola in fast food. That the first date shouldn't be serious, but it would be nice to hug at the end of the evening and kiss at the end.
When are you ready to go on a date?
The exact date and time will weed out half of the candidates and help speed up the process of virtualization.
Mason herself wrote about herself like this:
173 cm. Brunette. Brown eyes. Skinny, but with smooth curves. Own teeth and hair (no cheating). Photos are fresh. I love compassion and mercy. Also - coffee, laughter and his son. And mad pilot Murdoch. You can talk to me about Ted Talks, ikigai, startups, psychology, the Internet. I don't mind hugging and kissing on the first date. I am looking for a serious relationship with a non-smoker who will seem to me cooler than everyone else. I'm not interested in just killing time by telling jokes in a bar or having a one-night stand. Do you fit the description?
After their first date in one of the London coffee houses - Madeleine and Christopher realized that this was fate.
It doesn't matter at what point you may need to describe yourself - when writing a resume, preparing for an interview, or just meeting new people. Whatever the reason, this skill is very useful. How you describe yourself is how you present yourself to others. To do this right, it is important to understand yourself well.
Steps
How to describe yourself as a person
- Adjectives to describe a person can also be found on the Internet using search engines.
-
Know what words to avoid. Some words sound okay, but only when someone describes you with them, not you. If you use them yourself, you will appear conceited and repulsive. Avoid the following words:
- Charismatic. This will make you appear pompous.
- Generous. Let other people decide whether you are generous or not based on your behavior.
- Modest. A modest person is unlikely to call himself modest.
- Humorous. People who consider themselves to have a great sense of humor most often do not have it. Even the most humorous people have many doubts about this.
- Sensitive. Empathy also manifests itself in actions. Calling yourself empathetic is almost the same as calling yourself humble.
- Fearless. Each of us has fears. If you call yourself fearless, you will seem overconfident. It also makes it harder for people to get along with you.
- Smart. An intelligent person can be seen immediately, there is no need to talk about it.
- Cute. Who do you find cute? Everyone? If you call yourself this word, perhaps people will begin to subconsciously look for something repulsive in you.
-
Describe situations. The best way to describe yourself is to tell stories from your life. Many writers try not to write something in plain text, but to describe it. This also applies to describing your personality, especially in job interviews.
- For example, instead of saying that you are kind and patient, you can talk about how you helped smooth out a conflict with a client at a previous job.
- Instead of calling yourself an adventurous person, tell your friends what trips you have been on and what you remember most: for example, a difficult seven-day hike or a month that you spent in Asia as a "savage".
-
Pay attention to the facts. If you're trying to find words for your resume, it's best to focus on facts rather than describing yourself with adjectives. Adjectives will let the employer know how you see yourself, while the facts from your previous job and your accomplishments will speak for themselves.
- For example, if you are applying for a customer service position, give examples that show that you are patient and willing to help people who have a problem.
-
Adjust the set of words depending on the situation. Describing yourself to friends or relatives and describing yourself to a potential employer are two different things. In both cases, it will be important to tell the truth, but at the interview you will have to describe yourself from the best side.
- You can also choose words depending on the specific situation. It's important to be honest about your strengths and weaknesses, but what you say or don't say will depend on the situation.
- For example, you want to get a position related to working with people. Even if you are good at interacting with people, if you say that you are an introvert who prefers to spend time by yourself, your potential employer may decide that you are not suitable.
-
Tell us about your hobbies and past experiences. It's better not to describe yourself with adjectives, but to talk about what you like and what you have done in the past. Imagine a situation in which you would have to describe yourself with only adjectives. This would be pretty funny (and embarrassing):
- “Hello, my name is Alexei. I am neat, active, attentive to detail, sensitive, and I am glad to meet you. Perhaps such text would be suitable for a dating site, but even there it would look strange.
- It’s better to say this: “My name is Alex. I am a barista and I really enjoy my job because I love coffee, jazz, coffee foam art and aprons. I also love movies (especially science fiction and documentaries) and hiking.”
-
Don't just talk about yourself. If you want to describe yourself to a friend or to a guy or girl you want to like, remember to ask questions as well. In order for people to enjoy being in your company, you must be able to listen.
Never lie about yourself. As you get to know yourself better, you will realize that there are things you can and can't do, and that's okay. Be honest about your strengths and weaknesses and acknowledge them in yourself.
- If you lie to yourself or others about your strengths and weaknesses, you may find yourself in a job that doesn't suit you or hang out with people you can't get close to.
How to understand your character
-
Keep a diary. If you can't figure out who you are, start journaling. Regularly writing about your thoughts and feelings will help you understand yourself better. You can use a diary specifically to analyze what makes you who you are.
Get an album about yourself. If you want to understand who you are, a book or album will help you with all the things that you use in trying to understand yourself. There you can store diary entries, personality test results, prose passages, drawings - whatever you want.
Make lists. Lists of things that are important to you will help you understand yourself better. Here are some examples of such lists:
- What do I like and dislike? Fold a piece of paper in half, write what you like on the top half and what you don't like on the bottom half. This can take up a lot of time and space, so try to limit yourself to one category per list: Movies, Books, Food, Games, People.
- “What would I do if I had unlimited money?” You can sketch a series of ideas or draw something. Make a list of things you could buy or things you could do if you weren't on a budget.
- "What am I most afraid of?" What are your biggest fears? Are you afraid of spiders, death, loneliness? Write everything down.
- "What makes me happy?" Make a list of things that make you happy. You can even describe specific situations in which you felt or could feel happy.
-
Ask yourself why. Making a list is just the first step. The next step is to think about why you like or dislike something, or why something scares you and something else makes you happy. If you can answer the “why” question, you will understand yourself better.
Study personality characteristics online or from books. Job choice and psychology books often contain lists of personality characteristics, as well as self-tests to help you determine your personality type.
Take personality tests. They can be found in specialized literature and on the Internet. There are many sites where you can find free tests, but it is important to use a reliable source.
- Do not take tests on popular entertainment sites, as often the people who take them do not have a special education in the field of psychology. There are sites that are known for their tests. They are interesting to pass, but they are not based on scientific information.
- If a site asks you to enter any personal information other than your email address, age, and gender, make sure the site is not a scam. Free sites have no reason to ask you to enter your card details, exact date of birth, full name or address.
-
Match your hobbies with your personal characteristics. Once you know what personality characteristics are, go through your lists and diary entries to see if there are certain traits you read about.
- If you enjoy doing things that are dangerous or you often talk about adventure, you might describe yourself as a daredevil, risk-taker.
- If you notice that you often try to help people, you may be generous and faithful (or everyone wipes their feet about you, and you try to please everyone).
- If you often make people laugh, you can say that you are funny. But it can also be a sign that you are trying to hide your anxiety and nervousness under humor (provided that you often joke when you are nervous).
-
Ask friends and relatives. If you want to know how others perceive you, ask friends and family how they would describe you. But remember that no one knows you better than yourself.
- It is important to consider what other people say, but they evaluate everything through the prism of their own experience, and everyone's experience is different. Your mother may say that you are unkempt and fussy, and your friends that you are collected and calm.
- Sum up everything your friends and family have to say, and then draw your own conclusions. If everyone says you're being mean, you should think about it (and work on fixing it).
-
Remember that your personality can change. People change with time and experience. The person you are now will be different from the person you will be 10 years from now. When analyzing your personality, do not forget that something can change.
-
Try to live in harmony with yourself. You have strengths and weaknesses, positive and negative traits. Accept all parts of yourself. Enjoy the ones you like and work on the ones you don't, but never berate yourself for who you are.
- Of course, you have weaknesses, but you also have strengths, and weaknesses can be overcome. In fact, weaknesses may even be strengths that you may not immediately consider.
Pick up the words. Personality analysis tests and descriptions of personality types will help you collect the necessary words. If you are unable to find the right words yourself, you can also look through special books and dictionaries.
When you go to an interview for a desired position, you prepare well so that you can describe your skills, your work experience, and be able to demonstrate your abilities. But at the same time, many people forget about the most basic things, for example, how to write a description of themselves in a couple of words, and as a result they say something inappropriately and spoil the impression about themselves. What should you say during an interview if you are asked to tell a little about yourself.
Adaptation
"I am a person who can adapt to any situation. I feel comfortable in an ever-changing environment and can turn obstacles in my path into stepping stones to success"
Innovation
"I'm constantly looking to innovate to make something of value. I'm looking for opportunities where others see nothing worthwhile."
Creativity
"I have a creative mind. I always have my own creative question for any task."
Purposefulness
"I always look in the direction of my goal. I always try to get the job done right and on time."
Knowledge
"I know this job through and through. Given my many years of experience in this field, there is no question as to whether I can effectively carry out the tasks assigned to me."
Motivation
"I'm extremely motivated to work here. I've studied the entire history and activities of the company, and I'm a regular customer, so I have ideas to improve customer service."
Pragmatism
"I have a pragmatic view of things. I am not interested in various rumors and gossip. The only question I want to know the answer to is: does it work or not?"
work ethic
"I take my work ethic very seriously. I do what I'm paid to do and I do it well."
Making decisions
"I can make decisions in emergency situations. Everyone can make good decisions when they have the time and resources. But you also need to be able to do this in conditions of lack of both time and resources, and I am capable of this."
Fun
"I can be cheerful. After all, work is much more productive in a team where a benevolent atmosphere reigns."
Teamwork
"I'm a great team player. I always do what's best for the company and can also bring out the best in my colleagues."
autonomy
"I am completely self-sufficient. I do not need control and micromanagement. I know what the goal is, and I go to it without being distracted by anything."
Leader
"I can lead people. I can bring people together to achieve a common goal and motivate them."
Complexity
"I understand the complexity of advanced project management. In this case, you need to get the whole team together and work productively towards a single goal, which is actually not as easy to do as it seems."
Expert
"I am an expert in my field. People in my previous jobs and in my field know this."
Communication
"I love and know how to communicate. Whatever the communication, good or bad, it is she who is the key to success."
Enthusiasm
"I work with enthusiasm. I have enough motivation to do my job, and I love what I do."
Details
"I always notice details because they are very important. How many companies fail because of one small detail. Hire me and I will find that very detail."
Whole picture
"I can see the whole picture. Newbies spend time trying to solve small and not the most important issues. I can assess the situation as a whole and highlight those problems in it that are the most important and require urgent resolution."
Not like that
"I'm not like anyone you've ever worked with. I'm the candidate for the position you weren't expecting. You can hire the next office plankton, the corporate clone, or you can hire someone who will bring a lot of new things to your company. And that person is me."
