Shadowing Practice: How To Introduce Yourself as a Software Engineer: Tell Me About Yourself! - Learn English Speaking with Video
Creating lesson...
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So tell me about yourself.
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This is one of the most common questions you will get asked multiple times throughout the interview process
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and in this video I will explain why we interviewers ask this question
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and I will explain how you can prepare for this question in the best way.
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So let's start with talking about why we interviewers ask this question.
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We ask this question because we want to understand your professional background, your qualifications and your relevant experiences, not your full life story.
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It's better to keep this shorter to start a conversation about your experience instead of starting a long monologue.
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Interviewers also usually ask this question to transition from the small talk
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which we began the interview with to the actual main part of the interview.
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If you give us your experience
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and then room to ask questions we can also drive the
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conversations in a direction where we think you have the most relevant experience for this position.
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Let me give you a few reasons why it is so important to prepare your introduction properly.
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It is often your first impression and it really matters.
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You will get asked this question multiple times throughout the interview process.
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So having a good answer is absolutely essential.
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Third, it is your chance to drive the conversation in a direction you decide.
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Fourth, it is also your chance to talk about projects you are proud of
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or projects you are passionate about and want to share with the interviewer.
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It is really setting the tone for the rest of the interviewer.
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If you are well prepared here and deliver a great answer, you can set up the whole interview for success.
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So let's now come to the structure.
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How do you create your own answer to this question?
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One way to structure your answer is the past, present, future structure.
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You have probably heard that in other videos here on YouTube.
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Start by discussing your past experience, such as your education, your previous jobs.
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Then talk about your current role and your responsibilities there.
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And then talk about your future goals and why you want to work at the specific company you're applying at.
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Keep in mind that the recruiters or hiring managers who are talking to you
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usually have your CV open at the laptop or on another tab.
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and just going through your CV and repeating everything
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which is stated here is just a waste of time and you waste valuable time throughout your interview.
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So try to summarize your experience or add interesting additional information to it.
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Especially if you just read out your CV
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and don't give us anything we can hook into it is very hard for the interviewers to start a conversation
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and ask some follow-up questions.
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So you can immediately use this opportunity to loosen up the situation a bit and tell something interesting about you.
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It could be a private project or something you're working on, the open source library you're maintaining, or some just some fun facts about you.
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But be careful here.
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Even though I said it should be something unique or fun about you, it should still be somehow relevant to the job so that the interviewer can ask questions and learn more about you.
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So let me give you an example.
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You're probably asking yourself, how does that sound if you answer the question in the past, present, future format?
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So if the interviewer asked, tell me about yourself, you can answer, sure, after studying computer science, I had various jobs as a software engineer.
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I was always drawn to computers and already started programming back in school as a hobby.
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After starting my professional career with backend development and trying many different programming languages, I fell in love with frontend development and since stuck to it.
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In my current role as a senior software engineer, I lead the front-end development of a large B2B energy management platform.
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In this role, I mainly work on visualizations for energy data for international B2B customers.
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Being part of an interdisciplinary scrum team, my work includes gathering requirements from customers and other stakeholders, planning our work and working on architectural solutions for our large-scale system.
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Since I took a more leading role, I also interview candidates, help them to get onboarded and mentor more junior colleagues.
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Next to my role as an engineer, I also enjoy contributing to development communities, such as attending conferences or organizing our own meetup.
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Last week, I actually gave a talk on how we use TypeScript in our project.
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I now applied at your company because I'm interested in more end-customer-focused projects, app development and to grow in my role as a lead.
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I'm very interested in this opportunity because you develop an app used by millions of people, work on the scale I'm interested in, and I've heard about your great engineering culture.
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I believe with my experience, I can immediately bring value by developing new features for your app.
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And I'm also interested in growing into a leadership role in the near future.
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That was an example answer.
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And as an hiring manager, we listen attentively to all the details you give.
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And if we find something interesting, we can dig deeper into it.
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I could, for example, ask, which programming languages did you work with?
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And why did you stick to frontend development in the end?
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Or can you tell me a bit more about the B2B platform you're working on.
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Or can you tell me a bit more about the talk you gave last week?
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Or a question could be, could you describe the team you are working in and how you collaborate with your colleagues?
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What was the biggest challenge in this specific project?
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You get the idea.
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Everything you say can raise interest and will influence the next question the interviewer asks.
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This is great because it immediately gets the conversation going, we learn a lot about you, and it helps us to transition into the questions we already prepared.
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So remember to highlight your experiences and the skills you have
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and demonstrate that you can add value to the company you are applying at.
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I will probably say it in every video, but you really need to practice it.
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When you come up with your structured answer on a piece of paper
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and then try to say it out loud the first time to a friend, it will be very hard to get your points across.
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So definitely try and practice it beforehand because this will give you the necessary confidence and reduce your stress during the interview.
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Do it maybe two or three times
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and don't forget to reflect also on something like your body language or how fluent you can deliver this message.
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A quick summary.
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Focus on your relevant experiences and accomplishments.
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Use the past, present, future format and tailor your answer to the specific job and company.
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And practice them beforehand.
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The structure and a few examples to get you started you can find in the worksheet I will link under this video.
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I'm sure that if you follow these steps you will answer this question easily
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and already win the first step of the interview confidently.
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As always, if you got the job you're prepared for, write it down in the comments so that we can celebrate together.
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Thanks for watching and see you in the next one.
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Thank you.
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What Speaking Skills Will You Build Here?
This video helps you master a critical fluency milestone: delivering clear, professional self-introductions that balance confidence and conciseness. Whether you’re preparing for job interviews or IELTS speaking practice, learning to structure your thoughts—past, present, future—teaches you to organize ideas logically, a key skill for advanced communication. You’ll also practice adapting content to your listener, avoiding long monologues and leaving room for conversation, which is essential for natural, engaging speech.
Phrase Bank: Reusable Expressions for Professional Introductions
- "I was always drawn to [field/skill] and started [activity] as a hobby."
- "In my current role as [job title], I lead [project/responsibility]."
- "My work includes [task 1], [task 2], and [task 3]."
- "Next to my role, I enjoy contributing to [community/activity]."
- "I fell in love with [skill/field] and since stuck to it."
These phrases work for job interviews, networking, or even IELTS speaking practice, where structuring answers coherently boosts your score. They’re flexible—swap out details to fit your background!
Fix Your Weak Spots: Pronunciation and Rhythm Tips
The video highlights a common pitfall: speaking too fast or in a flat tone, which makes you hard to follow. To improve English pronunciation, focus on stressing key words like "lead," "contributing," or "interdisciplinary"—these carry meaning. For rhythm, practice pausing after each section (past, present, future) to let your listener process information. Try shadow speech: repeat the example introduction aloud, mimicking the speaker’s pace and intonation. A good shadowing site can help you compare your delivery to the original, ensuring you nail the natural flow. Remember, interviewers (and IELTS examiners) notice clarity as much as content—so slow down, stress important terms, and let your personality shine through relevant "fun facts" that keep the conversation moving.
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now | have probably heard · I've heard |
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | is stated · was always drawn |
What is the Shadowing Technique?
Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.