Answering the "tell me about yourself " question
Context: I'm based in London
One thing that always frustrates me about interviews is the "Tell me about yourself" question, because interviewers seem to use it in two very different ways.
Some treat it as a simple icebreaker, expecting a brief introduction about my background. Others use it as a substitute for "Why investment banking?", where they expect me to explain my motivation for pursuing IB.
The problem is that my "Why IB?" answer is about a minute long. If I give that answer to an interviewer who just wanted a quick introduction, it can come across as overly rehearsed or off-topic. They might even cut me off, only to ask "Why IB?" later, forcing me to repeat myself.
On the other hand, if I give a short personal introduction when the interviewer actually expected my motivation for IB, my answer may seem weak. I've even had interviewers move on without ever asking "Why IB?" explicitly, as if they expected me to cover it in my initial response.
So what do you do in this situation? I don't really want to ask, "Are you asking about my motivation for investment banking?" because that makes it obvious I've rehearsed different versions of my answer.