Introduce Yourself

Sample Answer:
I was born and brought up in Jalandhar. During my childhood, I developed a strong
inclination towards business because I used to help my maternal uncle with his general
store. In order to understand how businesses work better, I decided to pursue
commerce after class 10th & while I was in school, I participated in a lot of national and
international competitions. After class 12th, I decided to pursue B Com (H) because that
inclination grew and I wanted to get a holistic perspective around business, which is
also why I interned at multiple startups, understanding marketing, finance, HR. I was
also a member of the Placement Cell while maintaining a decent GPA in college and in
the second year, I developed a soft corner towards marketing & advertising. This
inclination towards marketing is the biggest reason I want to pursue MBA. I also write
about marketing & advertising on Quora in my free time.

Guidelines:

1. Plant Follow-Ups: The most important job of an introduction is to share points

that interviewers could ask you questions about. Why do interviewers ask this
question as the first question in an interview? Because they want to ask you
follow-up questions out of your introduction. So, plant follow-ups. E.g. all the
points you see in yellow had been purposefully added in my introduction so that
interviewers could ask me questions. Topics like - my city (Jalandhar), my
achievements (national competitions), my internships (at startups) were the
areas I was comfortable around, so I made sure to mention them and prepare the
follow-up questions in advance. Your introduction sets the flow for your interview,
so to drive it in your direction, plant follow-ups while framing the answer.

2. Distraction/Curiosity: If you want your interview to move in favour, you must

add a distracting enough point in the beginning of the interview that invokes
curiosity. E.g. the point in orange was inserted so that the moment I start the
interview, everyone stops reading the form and starts listening to my introduction
attentively. I said I helped my uncle with his business as a child. That invokes
curiosity and raises so many questions in the interviewer’s mind - Business?
Which business? How old was she? How did she help? - When you start with
such a point, they can’t help but listen attentively so that they can ask you
questions later. This saves you from them looking at your file - if they were to ask
you questions from your resume, they could ask anything. This way, you’ll know
what they’re likely to ask you.
3. Lasting End: Make sure to end your introduction at a point that is your biggest
comfort zone. It should be the topic you want maximum questions on. This
happens because of the recency effect. If that’s the last line I’ve heard, I am more
likely to remember it and ask you questions around it. E.g. the point in green was
the point I was the most comfortable with, so I put it in the end.

4. Chronological Flow: If you notice, the introduction begins with my childhood

aspirations, then moves on to 12th, college, internships and finally why MBA.
There should be a chronological flow to your introduction. If you are a working
professional, add more points towards the later half of the introduction when you
talk about your work. But, it should be in a chronological order.

5. Long Introduction: Every other answer in the interview should be under 2

minutes but this is the only question you’ll prepare as a long answer. This is
because you never know how long the interviewers may take to scan your
form/resume. You would not want to stop speaking within a minute and then sit
awkwardly for them to finish reading your form. Make it at least 2-3 minutes long
because most often they ask follow-ups while you’re introducing yourself. There
should be ample fodder for the interviewers to be distracted.

6. No Name: Don’t start your introduction with your name. The interviewers already
have your name, so when you say, “My name is Shweta” that’s a waste of
everyone’s time. Directly start with where you come from.

7. Filler Gaps: Notice that there are many gaps in the introduction left intentionally,
e.g. I scored ‘decent GPA’ in college, I participated in ‘many national
competitions’ - I didn’t share the number or details. This is because your
introduction is followed up by questions anyway. If you reveal every detail that’s
mentioned in your CV, they won’t ask you anything out of your introduction.

8. Rationality: Every point mentioned in your introduction should be linked to its

previous point in a rational manner. E.g. the reason I pursued commerce was
because I wanted a holistic idea about businesses which is also why I chose
commerce in 12th and which is because of my interest in business as a child.
The introduction show flow logically.

9. No quotes: Don’t use quotes in your introduction, looks overprepped.

10. Avoid Over Rehearsal: It is good to practice your introduction but don’t
memorize each word, let it flow like a story, it is in fact the story of your life.