A strong response to the question “tell me about yourself” is a must for job seekers, college applicants, and anyone else trying to make a good impression on others. Using the right adjectives to describe yourself will help you stand out and sound confident without coming off as arrogant or unprepared. The key is to pick words that truly describe your skills, strengths, and personality while keeping in mind the context in which you’re using them. Overused and generic words like hard-working or team player are best avoided, as they can easily make you sound stale.
You can use the word you to describe yourself in both first and third person, depending on how it’s being used. In general, the first person version — you are — is used to emphasize your unique qualities and abilities. It’s also more likely to be used in formal situations, such as when writing a letter or resume.
The second person version — you have — is often used in less formal situations, such as when talking to friends or family members. You have can be used to describe your personality traits or skills that set you apart from other people, as well as your interests and hobbies. The third person version — you are — is usually reserved for more personal relationships or conversations, such as when someone asks how you’re doing.
What is the Difference Between Your and You’re?
There is a big difference between your and you’re, even though they look and sound the same. Your is a possessive pronoun, meaning it indicates something that belongs to you or has to do with whoever you are speaking with. You’re is a contraction of the phrase you are, meaning you are currently exhibiting the trait in question.
Another important distinction is that your can be used to refer to a single person, while you’re is used to reference multiple people. This distinction is particularly important because you’re can be mistaken for plural forms of you such as y’all or you guys, which are not acceptable to use when describing yourself.
In some cases, you may want to avoid using the word you altogether when describing yourself. This is especially true if you’re attempting to convey that you are a more inclusive person. For example, if you’re interviewing for a role with a diverse workforce, it might be inappropriate to use you in an article about yourself because it could be perceived as gendered or problematically noninclusive of trans and nonbinary people.
Fortunately, there are many other ways to express inclusivity when describing yourself. You can use other pronouns such as they, everyone, a person, any person, or anybody to refer to the people you’re describing. You can also use a variety of verbs to describe people, such as being someone who cares, being a team player, or being a problem-solver.