Guideline
This question seems simple, so many people fail to prepare for it, but it's crucial. Here's the deal: Don't give your complete employment (or personal) history. Instead give a pitch—one that’s concise and compelling and that shows exactly why you’re the right fit for the job. Start off with the 23 specific accomplishments or experiences that you most want the interviewer to know about, then wrap up talking about how that prior experience has positioned you for this specific role.
Formular
A formula I really like to use is called the Present-Past-Future formula. So, first you start with the present—where you are right now. Then, segue into the past—a little bit about the experiences you’ve had and the skills you gained at the previous position. Finally, finish with the future—why you are really excited for this particular opportunity.
“Well, I’m currently an account executive at Smith, where I handle our top performing client. Before that, I worked at an agency where I was on three different major national healthcare brands. And while I really enjoyed the work that I did, I’d love the chance to dig in much deeper with one specific healthcare company, which is why I’m so excited about this opportunity with Metro Health Center.”
Mine
Graduated from Northwestern University
Internship
My passion is on developing applications that have real impacts, that can improve the quality of life. Specifically, I'm interested in the Front End Development and I'm good at creating, designing and developing user-centered applications with fine details.
building customer facing product
I would like to see a product in different perspective and always keep user's requirements and goals in mind to make sure everything proceeds in the right path. I'm able to work effectively in a cross-functional team, where I did during my internship, and I'm good at getting along with my teammates and communicating even if we might have some different opinions on something. Also, I have great time management abilities. I have clear ideas what's are more important and I always have a notebook with my daily, weekly and monthly plans.
Draft
I am a recent graduate with a master's degree in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from Northwestern University.
My passion is on building user-centered applications with pleasing and intuitive user experiences.
I've done lots of interesting projects at school to help me practice my software development skills.
Last summer, I did my internship in a start up as Front End Engineer. I was lucky to work in a cross-functional team with talented people, it helped me to see the product from different perspectives. I also enjoyed working closely with users, to hear their feedbacks and to know more about their requirements.
I'm currently looking for an opportunity where I take on interesting projects and work with people I can really learn from, which is why I'm so excited about this opportunity with XXX.