How to Respond to "TELL ME ABOUT YOURSELF" in Chevening Interview

Hello everybody, welcome back to the

channel. In this video, we are going to

talk about one of the most important

shuning questions and that is tell me

about yourself. I would like to

congratulate all the people who are

shortlisted and for those of you who are

rejected I tell you this is not the end

of the world. You have many options.

first you can apply again next year like

I was not shortlisted on the first year

or you can apply to other scholarships

not just this uh this evening in the UK

that's why in this channel I'm going to

upload a lot of new videos and introduce

you beautiful scholarships around the

world especially in the UK in the United

States Australia and in Europe as you

can understand it from my voice. I was

not able to send my weekly newsletter

last week and also upload a new video in

this moment of time that the interview

is going on and I know you really need

this these videos for your preparation.

So, wish me health and I hope I can

handle the rest of the video and uh have

the power to record the full video for

you today. So today we are tackling one

of the most common and honestly one of

the most misunderstood questions in the

entire interview and that is as I say

tell me about yourself. Sounds simple

right? Four words and yet this is one of

the questions that trips up so many

brilliant qualified candidates every

single year. Today we are going to fix

that. By the end of this video you will

know exactly why this question is

trickier than it looks. How to structure

your response using Shivvening's own

values, how long your answer should

actually be, and how to find the sweet

spot between preparation and sounding

natural in your response. All right,

let's get into it. Why tell me about

yourself is actually a trap. Let's start

with the truth that nobody really tells

you. When this evening panel opens your

interview with tell me about yourself,

most candidates hear it as a warm-up, a

friendly invitation to just talk about

who you are. And that is exactly the

trap. Because here's what is actually

happening in that moment. The panel is

not just being polite. They are

immediately from your very first

sentence assessing your ability to

communicate with clarity and structure.

They are watching to see if you can take

a big open-handed question and give a

focused, relevant, wellthoughtout

answer. In other words, they are

checking if you are leadership material

right from the first question from the

start. And the most common mistake

candidates treat it as a biography. They

start from childhood, talk about where

they grew up, list every job they have

ever had, every course they have taken,

and before they know it, five minutes

have passed. and the panel still doesn't

know why this person is sitting in front

of them. That's the trap. You rumble,

you lose the room, and you have used up

your precious time that could have been

spent making a powerful first

impression. So, what should you do

instead? You need to treat this question

as your personal pitch, not your life

story. Think of it as your 90 secondond

highlight reel that tells the panel who

I am, what I have done that's relevant,

why I deserve this scholarship, and why

I'm sitting in this chair before you

today. Every single word in your answer

should be earning its place. If it

doesn't connect to your achievening

journey, your leadership, or your future

goals, leave it out. The moment you

start treating this question like the

professional opportunity it is rather

than a casual chat, your answer

transforms and that transformation is

what the panel is actually looking for.

One important issue I see that 69% of

you who are watching my content did not

subscribe to my channel and only 31% of

you are subscribed which is a shame.

Please hit that subscribe button now and

like this video. If you need help to do

mock interviews, I'm here to help. You

can book one-on-one mock interviews with

me online. The links are in the

descriptions and pinned comments below.

Part two, how to tie your personal story

to Shivvening's core values. Make them

see exactly why you belong here. Okay,

so now you know what not to do. Let's

talk about what you should do and

specifically how to make your answer

feel tailor made for shavening. Here's

something really important that a lot of

people overlook. Shavening has three

core things you they are looking for in

every single scholar. Leadership,

networking ability and clear credible UK

study plan. What they want to study when

they want what they want to become.

These aren't hidden. They are literally

on the Shven website. And yet most

candidates answer the tell me about

yourself question without referencing

any of them even indirectly. Here's what

I want you to do. Think of yourself

introduction as a story that quietly but

clearly checks all three boxes. Let me

show you what I mean. Instead of saying

something generic like I am a public

health professional with 5 years of

experience, imagine saying something

like this. My name is Leila and for the

past 5 years I've been working in public

health policy in East Africa where I

have had the opportunity to lead a

regional vaccination campaign that

reached over 200,000 people across three

countries. That experience taught me the

power of crossborder collaboration and

the importance of evidence-based policy

and it is what led me to apply for the

evening scholarship to study global

health policy at the London School of

Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. My goal

is to come back and help shape national

health strategy at a level that

genuinely moves the needle. Did you hear

how that worked? In just a few

sentences, Laya demonstrated leadership.

She had a major campaign. She showed

networking potential. She worked across

three countries and she made her UK

study plan crystal clear. Specific

university, specific course, and a

specific visa. That's the difference

between an introduction that gets

forgotten and one that makes the panel

think this person gets it. So as you

prepare your own answer, I want you to

go through it and ask yourself three

questions. Where am I showing

leadership? Where am I showing that I

can connect and collaborate with others?

Of course, networking. And here is my UK

plan. Clear and specific enough that

there's no doubt I why I choose that

course. If your introduction can answer

all three quietly, naturally without

feeling like a checklist, you are in a

really strong position. If you have any

question, feel free to write your qu

questions in the comment section after

liking this video, of course, and I will

respond with details to any of your

questions that you write below. This

evening interview is not about perfect

answers. It's about credible ones. If

you want structured preparation, real

interview questions and realistic

responses based on over 5 years of

shavening coaching and mentoring

experiences and based on how these

interviews are actually assist. I have

created a complete shavening interview

guide. You will find it along with my

other resources through the links in the

descriptions below. How long should your

answer actually be? So now let's talk

about something that seems simple but is

actually one of the biggest stumbling

blocks for candidates timing. How long

should your answer to tell me about

yourself actually be? And the answer

might surprise you. Not 30 seconds, not

5 minutes. The sweet spot is between 90

seconds and 2 minutes. That's it. That's

your window. I hope you spend the same

amount of time on most of the questions,

but sometimes there are some questions

that need shorter and some even more.

Here is why. under 90 seconds and your