You can expect to hear “tell me about yourself” in nearly every interview you’re in. While it strikes fear into the hearts of many job candidates, here’s a trick you can use to dazzle recruiters with your amazing response. It’s called the P.E.N. framework, and it’s the best way I’ve found to tell recruiters about yourself.
P.E.N. stands for Passion, Experience, and Next. Start by telling the interviewer what you’re passionate about, and make sure you choose something that’s closely related to the job you want. Recruiters want to hire people who enjoy their work, so let them know what you enjoy.
Then, summarize your experiences that are related to the job you’re applying for. You should do this briefly without going into too much detail. This will give the recruiter context for the rest of the interview.
Finally, tell the recruiter the type of experience you’d like to get next. Your answer should be straight off the job description for the role you’re interviewing for.
Here’s what it looks like when it all comes together. This is an example of how a candidate for a marketing job might respond to “tell me about yourself.”
PASSION: “I’ve always loved finding creative solutions to challenging problems.”
EXPERIENCE: “When I was in college, I worked on our yearbook staff, where I led a project to create the first-ever online version of our school yearbook. I also had a summer internship where I created the social media sites for three non-profit organizations.
“When I graduated with a bachelor’s degree in marketing, I went to an advertising agency where I developed marketing campaigns for clients, wrote project briefs for our agency teams, and managed cross-functional groups that included people from insights, graphic design, project planning, and client relations. I’ve been working for that agency for five years. During that time, I’ve been promoted from Assistant Account Manager to Senior Account Manager. I also won the agency’s award for the most creative marketing campaign.”
NEXT: “Now, I’m looking for a role where I’ll have more responsibility for finding creative solutions to increasingly challenging problems. I really want a role that involves identifying marketing campaign ideas and managing cross-functional project teams.”
As you can see, the P.E.N. framework gives you a clear beginning, middle, and end to your response. It makes it easy for a recruiter to understand what you enjoy, what experience you have, and what you want to do next in your career.
Now, think about your passion that will make you great at your next job. Then, add a summary of the experiences you have that are the best fit for the position you want. Finally, end with what you want to do next, which is to get a job exactly like the one you’re interviewing for.
For more tips on answering interview questions, check out my book called Amazing Interview Answers. It includes 44 of the most common interview questions along with advice for answering each question. If you’re a college student, check out my other book, Interview Prep Playbook. It includes set-by-step instructions for building your job hunting strategy, polishing your resume, and preparing for interviews.
Good luck with your interviews and getting your next dream job.
About the Author:
Richard Blazevich is the author of Amazing Interview Answers, Interview Prep Playbook, and That’s a Bullseye. For years, he’s led campus recruiting efforts for the marketing department of a multinational consumer products company. In that role, he’s interviewed hundreds of candidates for a wide variety of jobs. He’s also led interview workshops for career development offices and student organizations at some of the top universities in the United States.
Richard is a senior director of marketing with over fifteen years of experience. He received an MBA with an emphasis in Marketing and Business Strategy from the University of Michigan and a Bachelor’s degree in Business from Montana State University.