Sounds a little weird right…

The fact that I am posting an article about talking about yourself does sound a little odd. Have you ever found yourself in a situation, whether it be an interview or just a conversation with a friend, where you find it difficult to talk about yourself. You find it difficult to think of the right thing to say that will express yourself, brag about yourself, or just simply giving more of yourself to someone else.

This is sometimes one of those popular reasons why people don’t get that second interview, or the job you’ve wanted. Mainly because the interview ended without enough information to base a decision on that particular person.

But if you think about it, for many of you actually talking about yourself might be difficult. There are tons of job interviewers that will just sit back and actually ask you to “talk a little about yourself.” “Tell me a little about yourself.” “What are your strengths, weaknesses,” “give me an example of a time you had a problem. How did you handle it?” Its questions like these that plague most interviews, and most of you are not prepared for this.

Its pretty typical and many of these interviewers can read you and gauge you quite efficiently and make decisions merely based on how and what you respond to those types of open-ended questions. Many of these interviewers see several hundred people at any given time, especially now with many people looking for jobs. They are very well versed with regard to non-verbal body language and being a great “read” of people. Some of these interviewers even ask various “off the wall” questions that help them to judge you as a person, your personality, your attitude and approach.

TWO THINGS…

I’m going to address two things here. First, it’s important that not only do you understand your attitude, and how you behave and react to things. But it is important to understand the deeper and more personal personalities traits that you attain. Many of you might be an introvert and not even know it. Many of you get in trouble for talking a lot, but that could land you a job in sales or a great career in communications.

Like to draw or write? Well, it doesn’t mean you’re going to be an artist or writer. Maybe you would be, but consider the fact that you do those things like writing stories or poems and drawing because your creative. Consider thinking outside the box here and consider going in to advertising, marketing or promotions.

I did a lot of research on making choices for careers base don your interests and skills. There is one area of career choice that can make things so easy for you to make the right choice to be and feel successful. Personalities. You said it. 🙂 Your personality and attitude are important factors in choosing your career. If you don’t like to be around people, then you need to know that and do work that allows you to work on your own, or with very few people. Or the same person all the time.

Personality traits help you to build your own sense of self. You sense and understand yourself a lot better. Thus you feel more confident about yourself and are able to brag about these kind of things and talk about yourself. As you look at each of these traits, understand them. Check them out in the Dictionary if you are not sure of the definition of it. If you want me to help, please hit me up anytime.

Ber sure to review every personality trait under each color. Write them down and count be sure to understand what they mean, and how you are affected by this and behave.

YELLOW color means that you’re a rules follower, conservative, a perfectionist who likes to investigate and observe

BLUE color means that your compassionate, caring, like to develop relationships and always find yourself offering advise or a shoulder to lean on for people

GREEN color means that you’re an introvert–you prefer to work on your own– and you enjoy doing the same kind of work, even taking things apart and putting them back together. You like to work with your hands and are more intellectual.

RED color means that you’re a personable, outgoing, fun-loving individual that likes to work with people and create ideas

#2…

A majority of first time job interviews consist of open-ended type of questions that assist the interviewer with making a choice as to the type of person they want working for them. Check out this list I got from Tim’s Strategy. If you can write these answers down for each questions you should have no problem talking about yourself!

1. Where were you born?  What is that town know for?
2. Were you born in unique circumstances (i.e. non-traditional)
3. How much did you weigh at birth?
4. What is the origin of your name?
5. Do you have a twin?
6. What is your best memory from childhood?
7. Where did you live while you were growing up?
8. Did you grow up with any people who are now famous?
9. Who was your childhood hero?
10. Have you attended any memorable events (i.e. presidential inauguration)?
11. What are you passionate about?
12. Did you meet your spouse in a unique way?
13. What is the coolest place you ever visited?
14. What awards or medals did you win as a kid (sports, spelling, art, science)?
15. What have you always been known for?
16. What do friends give you grief about (math whiz, athletic, good at trivia games)
17. Did you have “big hair” in you past? Or other funny appearance story
18. What have accomplished anything big on your bucket list.  What’s next?
19. What is the origin or your name?  Where did your family originate?
20. Are you related to anyone famous?
21. Have you ever met your childhood idol or hero?
22. Have you ever done anything really hard (run a marathon, complete a triathlon, read all the classics)
23. What can you do unusually well (artist, chef, writer, chess, crossword puzzle)
24. Do you have an engaging hobby (re-building cars, growing flowers, interior design)?
25. What is your best quality?
26. Have you ever written a novel, a book of poetry or a song?
27. What do you collect now or as a kid (bottle caps, baseball cards, dolls, wine)
28. Have your kids done anything remarkable or especially cute?
29. Have you had to overcome a challenge in your life?
30. What famous person, dead or alive, would you like to meet?
31. What one work accomplishment will you be remembered for?

I enjoyed answering these as it gave me several things to really consider and things I never thought about before. Kind of made me feel pretty darn good!

I always struggled with talking about myself. Sometimes its easy, but many times I just don’t want to. I find this list as an easy way to at least come up with something interesting to say in a gap in the conversation.

More importantly, allow this list and your answers to see for yourself what your interests are, and combined with the colors and personality traits above, this can be your pathway to making the right career choices. If I knew half of this when I was younger and out of high school, I would have made better decisions. I would have been more tuned in on what I could have chosen as a career, and been more successful. Knowing myself and knowing my own personality traits, and how they affect my future job is crucial.

Your success is My Success,

Keith Lipke

I’m a careers and college recruiter, coach, mentor and blogger at The Hope Chest. His passion is to educate, inspire, and give hope to young people who need it upon their search for the right career and college.