I’m that guy (@christopherming on LinkedIn) that you probably saw writing about using AI to land your next job.

Today, we’re covering how to answer the most important question in the interview.

(Get this right and and the rest is. so. much. easier.)

Who am I? I’m Chris Ming. I live in Philly with my wife and 3 kids.

I’ve work(ed) for companies like Clay, The Rundown, Noom, Reforge, Ramit Sethi, and also in Hollywood.

I help people land remote jobs.

Alright, let’s do this.

“Tell me about yourself.”

There’s something magical about these five words, no?

They can transform even the most competent professional… into a rambler.

Next thing you know, 7 minutes have gone by, and everything is on the table: college major, childhood dreams, life trauma, and my favorite:

This is why I grew up with a passion for customer success…

(No, you didn’t.)

I’ve been on both sides of this question hundreds of times. Most people treat this like a “biography” question.

But it’s not. It’s your opportunity to pitch.

Here’s what you’ll learn today:

• Why most people bomb this question (and how to avoid their mistakes)

• The HAIR framework that turns your answer into a compelling pitch

• AI-powered prep strategies that make you sound like the perfect fit

…and more!

🤦 “Tell Me About Yourself” Is A Pitch Question

Get this right, and you set the tone for the rest of the interview.

Get it wrong—and instead, share every life detail like a The Facebook account circa 2005—and you’ll spend the rest of the interview trying to recover.

❌ Here’s what the biography approach looks like:

“Well, I went to State University where I studied business. I didn’t want to study business—I actually wanted to study Journalism but my parents said that was a bad idea.

After college, I started in sales at a small company, then moved to marketing at another company. I’ve always been really interested in customer success, and I’m a people person who loves solving problems. I

saw your job posting and thought it looked interesting because I want to grow my career in a remote-first company…”

Please don’t do this.

• You’re burning precious interview time

• You’re not conveying why you’re right for this role

• You’re only covering yourself and nothing about the company

🧑‍🏭 Remember: You Are Not The Main Character

The company is the main character.

You are a supporting actor.

You are coming in to help this company achieve its lofty goal of making the world a better place…

(Or make more money for the shareholders, whichever of these two values is less.)

Every company you interview at has problems to solve, goals to hit, and challenges to overcome.

Every word that comes out of your mouth has a job:

To position yourself as the person who’s going to help them win.

🤔 Here’s How To Rethink The Question:

When they ask:

“Tell me about yourself”

What they’re really asking is:

“Why should we believe you’re the right person for this role, at this company, right now?”

That reframe changes everything about how you answer.

Instead of a chronological career history, you’re giving them a strategic overview of why this conversation makes sense for both of you.

And instead of generic personal traits (”hardworking, communication, breathes and chews gum at the same time!”), you’re highlighting specific experiences that align with their needs.

Here’s the structure we talked about last week. I call it the the HAIR framework:

H = Hook

Start with a sentence that connects your experience to what excites you about this specific company. Show them you’ve done your homework.

👉 Example:

“I’m excited to chat with you because I’ve been following your work in sustainable supply chains, and I think what you’re building with carbon tracking is really smart.”

A = Alignment

Frame your experience in a way that aligns with the company’s needs. Mention key roles or projects that show you’ve solved similar problems before.

👉 Example:

“I’ve spent the last five years in product marketing at B2B SaaS companies, and I did my best work at TechCorp, where we tackled similar challenges in helping enterprise customers understand complex data.”

I = Impact

Briefly call out the outcomes or value you drove. Don’t go into detailed stories—just show that you’ve made things happen.

👉 Example:

“At TechCorp, I led the messaging for our analytics platform launch, which helped increase trial-to-paid conversion by 35%. I’ve seen firsthand how the right positioning can turn complex products into must-have solutions.”

R = Reason

Make it personal. Why does this matter to you? What’s the deeper motivation that connects you to this work? This makes your answer memorable.

👉 Example:

“And honestly, sustainability isn’t just professional for me—my kids ask me about climate change, and I want to work on solutions that actually matter. That’s why this role really resonates.”

When you put it all together, here’s what your pitch looks like:

“I’m excited to chat with you because I’ve been following your work in sustainable supply chains, and I think what you’re building with carbon tracking is really smart.

I’ve spent the last five years in product marketing at B2B SaaS companies, and I did my best work at TechCorp, where we tackled similar challenges in helping enterprise customers understand complex data. At TechCorp, I led the messaging for our analytics platform launch, which helped increase trial-to-paid conversion by 35%.

I’ve seen firsthand how the right positioning can turn complex products into must-have solutions.

And honestly, sustainability isn’t just professional for me—my kids ask me about climate change, and I want to work on solutions that actually matter. That’s why this role really resonates.”

Total time: 1-2 minutes (90 seconds is a good sweet spot).

This leaves room for them to ask follow-up questions and keeps the conversation flowing.

⌨️ Try This Yourself

Here’s a full prompt you can use that applies the HAIR framework. Just swap out the placeholders in the prompt with your information (pull from your LinkedIn profile and accomplishments).

I am preparing for an interview. Use the H.A.I.R. framework (Hook, Alignment, Impact, Reason) to create a 90-second interview pitch that connects my background to the company and role I’m applying for.

The pitch should:
	•	Hook: Start with a personalized insight or compliment about the company, referencing its mission, values, or recent initiative.
	•	Alignment: Show how my professional experience directly matches the company’s needs and the responsibilities of the role.
	•	Impact: Highlight measurable outcomes and unique approaches from my past work (with numbers or clear results).
	•	Reason: End with a concise, memorable personal reason for why I’m excited about this company and role.

The response should sound natural, conversational, and easy to say aloud in under 90 seconds.

Inputs 

[Paste full LinkedIn profile here]

Company & Role:

I am interviewing for the role of [Role Title] at [Company Name]. The company operates in [Industry/Focus], with the mission of [Mission/Values]. A recent initiative is [Recent Initiative].

Here’s an example pitch it generated for me, if I was applying to the open Zapier PM role (listed in this week’s open roles):

“Hi, I’m Chris. I’ve spent the last 8 years building and scaling product experiences in SaaS, with a focus on growth and go-to-market. At Noom, I worked on monetization experiments that drove a 15% lift in paid conversion. At Reforge, I shaped new program launches that grew annual revenue into the tens of millions. More recently at Persefoni, I led cross-functional teams to launch new product lines in climate tech, including a GTM motion that closed multiple six-figure enterprise deals.”

“What I love about product is the intersection of strategy and execution. I get excited about taking messy, ambiguous spaces—like AI workflows right now—and structuring them into simple products that people adopt quickly. That’s why I’m excited about Zapier’s mission. Automation is becoming the backbone of how teams work, and Zapier has both the brand and the distribution to lead this space.”

“In this role, I’d bring my experience in launching 0-to-1 products, running GTM experiments, and scaling adoption across mid-market and enterprise. Ultimately, I want to help Zapier not just expand integrations, but create the kind of product experiences that make automation feel effortless to millions of users.”

Not bad. And this was with ChatGPT5.

I’d also try running it in Claude, then spend 3-5 minutes tweaking it and this would be ready to go.

💫 The Bottom Line

“Tell me about yourself” is the most predictable question in every interview. There’s no excuse for not having a great answer ready…

Yet… we consistently don’t. 🙃

No longer.

You got the framework.

You got the prompt.

Get the first question right.

And it’ll make the rest of the interview so much easier.