By 9:00 a.m. this morning, I had three articles on this subject cross my electronic path. All of them offering advice to the job interviewee on how to answer this important interview question. The general theme of the articles being that you have to answer this question by grabbing the interviewer’s attention so he/she will remember you.

That’s horrible advice. You’re not on an audition. Stay away from answers that are cute/rehearsed/contrived. What most interviewers want to hear is a brief “this-is-how-I-got-here-today” summary. Don’t reiterate everything on your resume. Explain in your own words, the thread to your experience, how you ended up working in a certain field, or any other notable tidbit that can’t be gleaned from your resume. Plan on about two minutes. Tie together your past experience without giving too many details.

And for goodness’ sakes please don’t include personal information such as your age, how many children you have or that you were recently divorced. TMI.