During an interview, hiring managers or recruiters ask you to describe yourself in terms of your skills and attributes. How you answer is an opportunity to leave a positive impression on your interviewer and help them decide whether or not you’ll be a good fit for the company and the position.
When selecting adjectives to describe yourself, you want to use ones that reflect your best qualities in an honest and sincere way. Avoid haphazardly listing off your positive traits or using words that can be misinterpreted, which can give the wrong impression. For example, “creative” might be misconstrued as arrogant when used to describe your skills, but it can also demonstrate an innovative and imaginative approach to a problem.
The words you choose to use can also impact how your interviewer perceives you, so be careful not to overstate or exaggerate any qualities. This can come across as insincere and make you appear untrustworthy, which could negatively impact your interviewer’s view of you as a potential employee.
Consider your own personal and professional values when deciding what qualities to emphasize. For example, if you’re applying for a role that requires leadership skills, you may want to include words like inspirational or visionary that reflect your ability to motivate and encourage others. Alternatively, you might choose to highlight your creativity if you’re applying for a creative role such as graphic design.
Employers and interviewers ask this question because they want to know whether or not you’ll be a team player who can work well with others. In addition, they’re interested in learning if you’re a self-motivator who takes the initiative to achieve goals or solve problems. You can show this by describing how you’ve taken charge of projects in the past and how you’ve helped to improve productivity in the workplace.
Having a growth-oriented mindset is something that’s valued by employers in all fields. They’re looking to hire people who will continually develop their skill set and learn more about the business over time. You can demonstrate your commitment to this by highlighting the ways you’ve grown and improved in previous roles, including new skills and knowledge gained through continuing education.
Many organizations today are more focused on the future than they are in their own immediate needs, and they’re looking for candidates who will be able to adapt to changing conditions over time. You can demonstrate this by describing how you’re resilient and resourceful when faced with challenges in the past and the ways you’ve been able to adapt to different situations. You might also mention the ways that a particular job or organization appeals to your long-term interests and passions.