How to Answer The #1 Most Common Interview Question (For Military) - Career Confidence

This question is likely to be the very first question asked, so let’s dive right into the #1 Most Common Interview Question:

1. Tell Me About Yourself?

Does this question instantly make you tense up? It’s meant to!!! This question is meant to be broad and make you sweat a little, employers want to see how you react under pressure. Luckily, you can be 100% ready for this question by developing your 30-60 second personal commercial, also known as an elevator pitch. This is essentially a snapshot of your career.

Your 30- 60 second commercial should answer the following questions:

What Experience do you have?
What is your Education history?
What are your Skills?
What can you do for Me?
How can I Remember You?

For example, you might start out with something sounding like this:

As a 15 year marine corps veteran, I’ve taken pride in being a liason between senior enlisted and trained enlisted. I was a 2A transitional marine helps transition marine families into the civilian lifestyle. I took advantage of a lot of the programs, a lot of the civilian sector didn’t understand where they were coming from. I also served as an advisor to the company commander. I encouraged young marines to be leaders and I recently finished my bachelors in organizational management.

Honestly, this isn’t a bad answer, the candidate hit 3 out of 5 of the main points:

Experience
Skills
Education

Even with all the acronyms and military jargon, I think this answer could lead to a 2nd interview if you ace every other question. However, with just a few tweaks you can provide a much more dynamic answer that will guarantee the interviewer(s) to give you the highest score possible on this question. You can use pieces from the Summary or Career Highlights section of your resume to pick out quantifiable and results-based information to share about your experience. You also want to civilianize your response.

Check out this revised answer:

Over the last 15 years I’ve worked my way up the ranks to become a leader in the Marine Corps. I worked as an Aircraft Maintenance Supervisor and led an 8 person maintenance team. In my final year of service mentored 5 young marines in leadership qualities.

In my last 5 years with the Marine Corps I served as an advisor and consultant for senior leaders in the United States Military. I also served as a leadership mentor for at least 10 junior personnel.

My top skills are troubleshooting, quality assurance, and effective use of resources valued at $2M+. I also just finished my Bachelors Degree in Organizational Management last year. I know I can apply my leadership and supply chain management experience in this Logistics Coordinator position. I also enjoy training for triathlons and competed in my first half-Ironman last year in Boulder, Colorado.

This answer hits 5 out of 5 of the main points:

Experience
Skills
Education
What you can do for the company
A memorable fact about you

As your craft your answer, use your own verbiage and develop a natural response. An interview is a lot like dating, both you and the employer are figuring out if this will be a good fit. So add your own twist and focus on hitting these main two points.

Years of experience in the role or industry
What skills you have directly related to the job you’re interviewing for

To feel more confident, take time to learn about the company and the person you are interviewing with.

Going to the company website to read the “About Us” page
Reading their blog
Google the company in the news
Determine the company’s competitors
Research the company’s mission & values
Leverage LinkedIn to search for the hiring manager or recruiters profiles

Most importantly, have a highlighted copy of the position description with you at the interview. It will help give you the talking points to address the specific job requirements and skills.

My final advice, be personable. Interviewers are looking for company fit. They want to make sure you will be a good match with the company culture. Some people can feel intimidated by prior military. Don’t be too serious, smiling is the best way to make people feel comfortable.

Written by Cassie Hatcher, CEO of Career Confidence LLC, a Certified Professional Resume Writer (CPRW), and Certified Veteran Career Strategist (CVCS) who translates military leadership experience to ensure your resume is on-target for the civilian workforce.

For 8+ years, Career Confidence Resume Services has specialized in translating military experience into accomplishments-focused resumes. Our goal is to help military service members to find their next mission with a resume that captures employers’ attention and highlights their unique military experience.

If you are a military service member, click here to get in contact with us.

If you are a civilian professional, manager, or executive click here to contact us.

We have a couple of great resources including a free quiz designed specifically for Military & Veterans to answer the question, “What Type of Resume Do I Need?” This quiz takes 5 minutes on average to complete.

Also, grab your Free Military to Civilian Resume Template, where you can insert your experience, education, training, and certifications. Take the guesswork out of securing civilian employment and successfully transition from military-to-civilian employment.

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