Open-Ended Questions Reveal Important Aspects About Your Character

When an interview asks , “Tell me about your experience growing up,” or simply "Tell me about yourself" you get to choose anything you want to talk about.  You get to decide the direction you want to go in the interview. If you dig deep and talk about something that is deeply meaningful to you it helps the employer see what your character is, what you're made of, how you were formed as a human being.  The employer by asking this type of open-ended question is trying to get to whether you will be a good fit. Will you be a good team member? Will you care about the people you work with? Do you have high standards? A strong work ethic?

It's important to consider when developing your response to reveal things that are important to you.  A response intended to please the employer is transparent to skilled interviewers. The message you could be giving is you are too willing to compromise your standards to please people.