Presentation about yourself - perfectly prepared for the interview
An invitation to the application interview always brings a certain amount of excitement as well as joy for many applicants. After all, you don't know who you'll be talking to, what questions you'll be asked and what else might come up.
1 min read
An invitation to the application interview always brings a certain amount of excitement as well as joy for many applicants. After all, you don't know who you'll be talking to, what questions you'll be asked and what else might come up. Who can say they are not at least a little nervous? But don't worry, the better you prepare for the interview, the more confident you will be. In particular, you should have rehearsed your self-presentation beforehand, as this is something you will have to do in almost every job interview. How can you best present yourself and what tools can you use in your presentation? You can read more in this article.
Why is there a presentation about yourself?
Thanks to your convincing application documents, you were able to get an invitation to an interview. Your professional skills and previous experience have shown that you could be a good fit for the job profile. In the interview, the recruiters are interested in seeing you in-person to see if your personality lives up to the promise of your CV. Do the details in your self-presentation match those in your CV? How passionate are you about this job and how well do you fit into the company? These points, among others, are decisive for whether you get the job in the end or not.
What is part of a self-presentation?
Within your self-presentation, you have no more than three to five minutes to win over the recruiter. You must therefore bring all the relevant information to the point and, above all, weigh up which parts of your CV would be particularly relevant for the advertised position. When giving a presentation about yourself, it is also important to choose a sensible structure so as not to lose the thread in the interview. This can happen, for example, if the interviewer asks you unexpected questions that throw you off your game.
The diagram shows the order in which you should build up important information in your self-presentation.
- 1st Step: Personal details
- 2nd Step: Education
- 3rd Step: Professional experience
- 4th Step: Interests and hobbies
- 5th Step: Reason for applying
You can read more about this in our article Invitation to the Assessment Centre. This is the best way to structure your self-presentation.
7 dos and don'ts for your self-presentation
There is no second chance for a first impression! You should also take this attitude when preparing your self-presentation because sometimes even small things can decide whether you get the job in the end or not. In order to show your best side in the interview, there are a few things to keep in mind when presenting yourself and at least as many things you should definitely not do. Here are our seven dos and don'ts that you should consider when presenting yourself.
| Dos | Don'ts | |
| 1. | talk about previous successes and relate them to the current job profile. | rattle off your CV |
| 2. | believe in yourself and your abilities | come across as arrogant in any way |
| 3. | pay attention to your body language:
| Express nervousness through your body language:
|
| 4. | take your time, speak clearly and choose your words | talk too quickly |
| 5. | actively address and explain longer gaps in the CV | cover up CV gaps or look for excuses for them |
| 6. | list qualifications that match the job advertisement | make no reference to the job advertisement |
| 7. | show that you are very interested in the job | appear too aloof, show too little enthusiasm for the job |
Aids you can use in your self-presentation
Are they helpful or not? This is a question that will certainly occupy your mind as you prepare your presentation. You should think about which aid suits you best, one that you might have already had experience with when you were studying. This way you can make sure that you don't make any unnecessary mistakes during your self-presentation that could throw you off track.
These aids are often used in a self-presentation:
- PowerPoint
- Flipchart
- Poster
- Samples of your work
- Handout
Of course, you should also assess for yourself how much effort it will take to use these resources during your self-presentation in the interview. The poster, samples of your work and handout do not present you with any major challenges. The flipchart and the PowerPoint presentation, on the other hand, can be a stumbling block. Do the interview rooms have a flipchart or the technical equipment you need for your PowerPoint presentation?
Especially in the assessment centre, many applicants already use aids in their self-presentation. It has been less common in interviews so far, but that shouldn't be a reason not to at least consider it.
Tip: Contact the recruiter in advance to let them know you’d like to use an aid in your self-presentation. That way, the company can get everything you’ll need ready ahead of time.
How do I make a PowerPoint presentation about myself?
Have you decided to present yourself with PowerPoint? Very good. This shows that you have no problems with technology, are creative and have also made the best preparations for your job interview. That's a plus for you! But how can you come up with a good PowerPoint presentation about yourself? We have a few interview tips for you:
- create the content of your self-presentation
- what information do you want to visualise using PowerPoint?
- start creating your self-presentation in PowerPoint
- optionally use a design template: you can find a large selection of templates at Canva
- reduce the content on the slides to a minimum
- insert pictures, icons or graphics in selected places
- adapt your presentation to the corporate design of the company
- do not speak for more than 5 minutes
- distribute a handout at the end of your self-presentation
Beware of tech malfunctions! During your self-presentation, the important thing is that you shine, so skip the fancy PowerPoint presentation if you’re unsure of the format. If you think switching to the next slide might throw you off your game, you’d be better off flying solo without any visual aids. At the end of the day, you want to be remembered for what you have to say, not your technological slip-up!
6 typical mistakes when designing a PowerPoint self-presentation
When presenting yourself via PowerPoint, details can ultimately decide whether your presentation flops or not. Of course, you can never be sure that everything will go smoothly, but you can at least eliminate a few typical mistakes from the outset:
1st Mistake: overloaded slides
PowerPoint should only be an accompanying tool and does not replace your oral presentation. Therefore, only work with reduced text, bullet points, images and graphics on the slides.
2nd Mistake: font size is too small
During a presentation about yourself, you alone should have the full attention of your audience. To avoid your audience having to struggle to decipher the text on your slides, always choose a font size of 30-point or larger.
3rd Mistake: too many fonts and effects
PowerPoint offers you a multitude of gimmicks, effects and fonts. We advise you to keep your hands off it. It distracts from the content and also doesn't really fit into the framework of an interview.
4th Mistake: too little contrast between background and font colour
Black text on a white background is always easy to read. However, if you want to work with other colours, make sure that the text remains legible for everyone.
5th Mistake: too many colours
For example, you may want to use the company's corporate design in your self-presentation. If you do this, make sure that you use colours sparingly: Choose coloured accents in the headlines or a border around the slides instead of a full background. Too much colour will only distract your audience from the essentials.
6th Mistake: poor picture quality
Images have a stronger impact than text - but only if they are meaningful and have a certain image quality. When presenting yourself, make sure that the images you want to use have a resolution of at least 200 dpi. Typical file formats are JPG, PNG or TIFF. An image that is to fill the entire slide requires a resolution of 1000 to 1500 pixels wide.
Do you want to try out your self-presentation and see how it goes in practice? Then apply now on JobTeaser - an invitation to the interview is sure to follow!
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