<p>To be completely honest, I don’t like it.</p>
<p>Let’s break it down and then build it back up.</p>
<p>“I am extremely hard working and results-oriented.” - That should never need to be said and should not appear on a resume or cover letter; if you are not a hard worker, why would a company ever want you? and what would make you worth paying if you don’t care about the results you get?</p>
<p>“My most recent positions … results.” - Again, what job exists for which results are unimportant? If you are flipping burgers, your results are well-cooked burgers; if you are babysitting, your results are children who enter and leave your care in good condition; if you setting prices for an airline, your result is fair and competitive prices. </p>
<p>Your specific responsibilities should be part of your resume, so no need to rehash unless asked specifically about them.</p>
<p>The rest just seems like a canned answer that you could plug in for anyone at any time in any interview.</p>
<p>Now to build this answer…</p>
<p>The prompt to tell an interviewer about yourself is a challenging one, and while you can have basic ideas about what you want to touch on, you should never come in with a pre-written or memorized answer. Asking about yourself isn’t asking you to summarize your resume; it’s asking about yourself. You don’t want to go off into the details of your personal life, but feel free to be relaxed. Don’t worry about impressing whomever it is talking to you. This question is a common first question and it leads into other questions, so you can be general. Try something short and sweet… perhaps, “Well, I am a senior in college and will be graduating this May. I’ve spent a good amount of time working as an ambassador for [company], and that has been a lot of fun for me (taught me some great lessons, too!). When I’m not working or in class, I’m pretty involved in [activity]… it’s certainly kept me busy for four years. I’ve been looking around for jobs to start after school, and [company] really stood out to me as a place I might like, so I thought I’d give it a shot and applied for the job!”</p>
<p>Now, that is just how I’d personally answer it; for you, let your personality shine through. Nobody wants to talk to a robot or a walking cover letter… reading them is painful enough. The thing to note, however, is that there is a crucial difference between our proposed answers. Your answer contains seven sentences; six of them are full thoughts, meaning they are statements that do not beg for follow up, and only one (the flying around the world four times) screams out, “Ask me more!” Mine has four sentences, and three out of the four (depending on the interviewer, it could be two or all four) beg for a follow up.</p>
<p>A sign of a great interview is having a conversation. If you are just answering questions, you are not giving your interviewer a full sense of who you are, and you certainly are not getting a full sense of who your interviewer is.</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>