"Tell us about your self..."

[statelinedefense]

So I did my first oral board last week and just got an email saying I didn't make the cut. The first thing that was asked of me was to tell them about myself, and I kind of "choked". I believe that is the main reason I didn't pass.

"Tell us about yourself..."
Are they looking to hear about myself as it pertains to the job? Or are they trying to get a sense of me as a person?

I was definitely nervous and that got the best of me. I should have another oral board soon since I passed another departments written and PAT 2 days ago.

In hind sight, I can see other weaknesses I need to improve on.

Any info would help, thanks!

[SmallCityCop]

You as a person, your experiences, your strengths, your weaknesses, stuff like that.

[statelinedefense]

Gotcha, I'm sure they didn't care that I liked fishing and other outdoor activities lol. My mind went blank and I sort of rambled on about a bunch of irrelevant topics about myself.

I did fairly well on the rest of it, but I believe this killed me.

[Starfleet Officer]

Any job interview, for any job, ever, is going to include that question. Make sure you know ahead of time how you're going to answer it, and take advantage of the open-ended question to sell yourself. Don't think of this as a casual "get to know you" question -- think of it as the executive summary for your whole application.

[Kieth M.]

You want to be a cop, right? Tell them why they should be hiring you:

"I am looking for a career in law enforcement because ________________________. I believe I would be good at this job because _____________________. I have no personal vendettas or axes to grind. I'm not on any personal crusade to eliminate a particular type of criminal activity. I'm here to answer the calls from the community and come to the conclusion which serves us all best. I want to learn from the department how they want calls handled and solutions reached.

I am friendly/approachable/fair/open to new ideas/a good listener/love to hold hands and take long walks on the beach. If you were to call my friends and co-workers they will tell you I am slow to anger and sometimes a peacemaker. I prefer to listen and talk rather than put hands on anyone. I want to protect lives and property (that order is important), and help others to enjoy the benefits of living in this (town).

Think you can work this from here?

Let me give you some other FAQ's:

Tell us how you've prepared yourself for this job?

Tell us about a time you've handled a conflict?

Tell us about a cross-cultural encounter?

tell us about how you innovated/changed procedures in a previous job, how did you win others over to you method?