If you have to watch one video this week, watch this

How to answer “Tell Me About Yourself” in your next job interview

Author

John Lim
June 16, 2024

Happy mid-June Sunday!

Hey you, welcome to another issue of On My Own Terms newsletter.

It’s indeed been a long while. Thanks for sticking with me. I owe you an update (it’s been a little rough for the past year) - I promise I’ll do it soon.

I sincerely hope you are doing well.

Big hello and welcome to our new subscribers Eric, Grace, chillifruit, harry, weimin!

Best,

John Lim

If you have to watch one video this week, watch this

I’m a tennis fan and I’m a huge fan of Roger Federer. He makes playing tennis look so graceful and effortless. But this is not a post about his tennis prowess.

On 9th June 2024, Roger Federer delivered the Commencement address at Dartmouth College. I watched the address on video - and his speech hit me.

The part that hit me the most:

❝

When you’re playing a point, it is the most important thing in the world.

But when it’s behind you, it’s behind you... This mindset is really crucial, because it frees you to fully commit to the next point… and the next one after that… with intensity, clarity and focus.

The truth is, whatever game you play in life... sometimes you’re going to lose. A point, a match, a season, a job... it’s a roller coaster, with many ups and downs.

And it’s natural, when you’re down, to doubt yourself. To feel sorry for yourself.

And by the way, your opponents have self-doubt, too. Don’t ever forget that.

But negative energy is wasted energy.

You want to become a master at overcoming hard moments. That to me is the sign of a champion.

The best in the world are not the best because they win every point... It’s because they know they’ll lose... again and again… and have learned how to deal with it.

You accept it. Cry it out if you need to... then force a smile.

You move on. Be relentless. Adapt and grow.

Work harder. Work smarter. Remember: work smarter.

Roger Federer

My takeaway: when you’re in a role/job/career, you give it all you got. But when that’s over, it’s over. You’re not always gonna get what you want (you never). If it doesn’t work out, you move on, you be relentless, you adapt and grow. Be a master at overcoming hard things.

Snippets of his address below:

I highly recommend watching the 20-min full Commencement address below. (Roger Federer was funny too - he wasn’t reading off any script!)

Below’s a 4 min version:

If you prefer reading it, here’s his full written speech: https://home.dartmouth.edu/news/2024/06/2024-commencement-address-roger-federer 

Let me know what’s your biggest takeaway from his address.

How to answer “Tell Me About Yourself” in your next job interview

Preparation is key for interviews. I found the framework by Jeff Su useful (I have used it myself). I also follow other tips and structures in his other videos. Let me know your thoughts.

In his video, Jeff shared the Present, Past, and Future answer structure, the Highlight Method, and also provided a sample answers and examples that have worked for him and his co-workers at Google.

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About John Lim:

John has had an unconventional career by Singapore / Asian standards - with several career switches. He started his career in banking before co-founding a laser tag events company. After building the business from ground-up, growing the team to 20+ and running Singapore's largest indoor laser tag center, he joined an early-stage tech startup to lead business development across Southeast Asia. In 2019, he took a leap of faith to join the e-commerce industry, seemingly unknown sector, until a few months later when Covid-19 pandemic brought the world to its knees.

While John finds himself lucky to have 'survived' the career switches relatively unscathed, he has never forgotten how it feels like to be at the crossroads of your career and life. Now, he has started On My Own Terms Podcast - to provide the resources and perspectives he wished he had - and to help you make the most of your career to live your best life. Join him as he speaks with unconventional career changers and risk-takers, taps into their experiences and perspectives and discusses all things career. Together, they will provide you nuggets of wisdom, inspiration and actionable insights to start living life on your own terms.

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DISCLAIMER: Opinions expressed in newsletter and podcast are solely my own and do not represent the opinions of past, current or future organizations that I was, am and will be part of.