How to Answer: Tell me about yourself.
Advice and answer examples written specifically for a Workday job interview.
17. Tell me about yourself.
Why the Interviewer Asks This Question
Workday is looking for top talent, who will stay with them for the long term. Every employee at Workday serves as a representative of their company, reflecting their culture, ethics, and values. The one responsible for building those teams, even more so. Part of their approach to recruiting sustainable employees is by understanding from the onset whether they'll continue to be engaged at work. If they can keep that individual engaged, they'll more likely be satisfied with their job, which will keep them motivated to perform at their best.
Part of sustaining the positive change they aim to continue to build upon at Workday is through finding those candidates who not only have the right skills, but whose character aligns with their values and would complement the teams they've worked so hard to build. Therefore, this introductory interview question is sometimes the most important question of all. To get to know you as not only a candidate, but as a person, and whether this opportunity is the right fit for you.
Written by Kevin Downey on January 2nd, 2024
How to Prep
At Workday, when you go into your interview, they want you to be yourself. "Bring your talent, passion, and authentic self." So prepare in advance, by meditating on exactly how to present the best version of yourself. You want to give them an accurate image of who you are as a person and as a professional. But, to present the best you for this opportunity, you'll need to get a better idea of the audience you're trying to appeal to. This means getting a comprehensive understanding of the type of people who work at Workday.
So, do your homework. Get a clear picture of the type of people you'll be working with. Decide whether this feels like a place where you'll truly fit in. Then, customize a brief bio, somewhere around 200 words long, describing who you are, where you are in your career, where you've come from, and the direction you'd like to take your career in the future. Incorporate some of the keywords and key phrases they commonly use on their website. This will set you up as a clear communicator, with a message customized to their culture, and lay the right foundation for your interview. It will also make your interviewer's job of getting to know you much easier. As they say, when describing their people, "What do they all have in common? They all speak the same language. They speak Workday."
Written by Kevin Downey on January 2nd, 2024
What You Need to Know
Here are some statements surrounding Workday's recruiting philosophy, copied from their website. "Build a people-first culture. Put employees at the center of your transformation. Get proactive about the health of your people and adapt. As a Workmate, feel empowered. The collective uniqueness of our workmates is what makes us shine. Everyone belongs here. Cultivating culture is what we value. We're an industry leader in prioritizing the opinions, diversity, and well-being of our employees."
Written by Kevin Downey on January 2nd, 2024
Entry Level Example
"I've always thrived on the energy of creating great team experiences. I think joining my high school student government, to leading prom and grad night, ignited this passion. Later, the thrill of building my own clubs in college proved just as rewarding as my studies. Now, having earned a bachelor's degree in software engineering, I'm looking for a collaborative environment where innovation sparks camaraderie, where my teams feel like family, and where everyone races toward challenges together. I am a firm believer that when everyone is unified in their passion for their work, work-life balance falls in sync. So, this is the professional life I am looking to build, and Workday felt like the natural start to my pursuit. So here I am."
Written by Kevin Downey on January 3rd, 2024
About the Author
When I started my career in business management, branding, and marketing, I believed in the company I worked for. The company was growing, they operated with integrity, and it was truly a fun place to work. They had a great brand; people loved shopping there. I was popular just because I worked there. To this day, I am grateful for everything the company gave me and how it changed my life for the better. That’s the kind of place you want to work - a place that feels like a good fit for you. This should be the mutual goal of both the interviewer and the interviewee. I knew that going into my interview for that job, and I knocked it out of the park. When I was recruited into management, I had no idea what I was getting into. I assumed the harder I worked, the faster I’d rise through the ranks. But I had no idea how much I had to grow and develop personally and professionally to get there. I accepted the challenge, but it was an uphill battle, nonetheless. Not too many people helped me out, either. There was a lot of competition, and I was just thrown to the wolves. And there were not only wolves but sharks in that tank. Talk about tough. So I learned most of my leadership skills the hard way, and the journey was long.
Conducting interviews is an art form. As a leader, my favorite parts of the job were interviewing, recruiting, building the perfect team, and mentoring and coaching those on my team. Every single individual I mentored advanced far ahead of their peers. But it all starts with that interview and making sure the job was the right fit for them.
I love coaching so much that I later volunteered my services at career fairs and trade schools. I left my management career behind me and am now a full-time writer. Yet, I still love coaching others to succeed, and I love writing for mockquestions.com for this very reason.
Not everybody knows their way around crafting the perfect CV and resume, the secrets to delivering a flawless interview, or how to negotiate a decent raise. It’s hard to navigate that terrain without a map, and I enjoy giving people directions. Here’s what I said to a friend I mentored long ago: “Every single thing you do, at every stage, can alter the perception others have of your professional worth. My goal is to make you look like an asset worth fighting for.”
Learn more about Kevin Downey