"Tell me about yourself?" A commonly asked interview questions, but yet, one of the most difficult. Let's take a look at what they are looking for.

First, remember the principle of the interview: To Be THE Candidate for the job. Therefore, it stands to reason that you should emphasize qualifications and skills relevant to the position.

Since an interviewer typically has more applicants than openings, the goal is to RULE OUT as many candidates as possible. You make their job that much easier when you don't sell yourself for the position, or you stray to irrelevant information.

Do not get too comfortable with the interviewer and share personal information. Even discussing the fact that you have children is going too far. Think of this as product marketing where you emphasize the positive aspects of your product, which is YOU.

Focus on what you have to offer for the position and the company. If you have done research on the company, then you can target your qualifications even closer to the needs of the company.

Consider emphasizing skills, number of years of experience, important personality traits such as "team player", and accomplishments. A brief example for a Medical Secretary might sound like this:

"I am a Certified Professional Secretary with four years experience working in private physician offices as well as hospitals. I am skilled in all relevant medical office functions such as coding, medical transcription, medical billing, customer relations and staff interaction. I'm also a dedicated, hard worker and have been consistently recognized in my previous office positions for meeting and exceeding patient needs. In fact, I was voted administrative employee of the year at CignaÖI have a copy of the award as well as numerous customer letters, would you like to see them?"

Notice the emphasis on credentials, skills and results? See that extra tidbit of samples and examples at the end? The more visual you can be, the better. Finally, in order to best prepare for questions like this, do not leave it to chance, rather, prepare and practice now, so you will be ready to SELL YOURSELF!