Presenting Your Career Story in a First Interview.

This lesson helps you build a clear, engaging career story so that interviewers quickly understand who you are and what you bring. You watch or read short sample answers to the classic first question, often asked as 'Tell me about yourself'. Together we break these models into simple steps and signposting phrases. You then work with your own CV to choose the most relevant jobs, responsibilities and training to include in a 60–90 second self-introduction. You practise talking about your current role, previous positions, key responsibilities, promotions and career moves using time expressions such as for the last three years and before that. Guided frameworks help you connect your background to the role you want now. By the end, you can give a confident, well-structured introduction that feels natural, professional and personal to your real experience.

1. Hearing a real "Tell me about yourself" answer.

Imagine you are sitting in your first interview for a job you really want. You have said hello, everyone is smiling politely, and then the interviewer says, "So, could you tell me a bit about yourself?" This is the moment we are going to work on in this lesson. In this block, you will listen to a short example answer from a candidate. Your job is not to copy this answer, because your story is different. Instead, I want you to notice the structure and the type of information the candidate chooses. While you listen, pay special attention to three things. First, how does the candidate start their answer? Second, what do they say about their current job and previous roles? And third, how do they connect their background to the role they are applying for now? After listening, you will write a few short sentences to show what you understood about the candidate’s career story. Do not worry about perfect grammar yet. Focus on understanding the key points and expressing them clearly in simple English. Later in the lesson, we will build your own introduction step by step.

Step into the interview room.

In this lesson, you are the candidate in a first interview. The interviewer smiles and asks a classic question:

> "Tell me about yourself."

> or

> "Could you walk me through your background?"

For many people, this question feels huge and stressful. Where should you start? How much detail is enough? How do you sound professional without memorising a speech?

To answer these questions, we will first listen to another candidate. Your task is to watch what they do, not who they are. Their experience will be different from yours, but the structure is useful for everyone.

The situation.

You will hear a short conversation between an interviewer and a candidate called Sam. Sam is applying for a Marketing Coordinator position in an international company.

The interviewer says something like:

> "Thanks for joining us today, Sam. To start, could you tell us a bit about yourself?"

Sam then gives a short introduction. In their answer, they:

• start with a brief introduction (name and current role),
• describe their current job and main responsibilities,
• mention previous experience that is relevant,
• add one or two education or training details, and
• finish by connecting their background to this new role.

You do not need to remember every word. Instead, try to catch:

1. What does Sam do now?
2. What did Sam do before?
3. Why is Sam interested in this new job?

You will hear the audio once. Then you will write a few simple sentences to show what you understood.

When you are ready, move to the activity at the bottom and listen carefully.

Practice & Feedback

You will now listen to Sam’s introduction in a real-style interview. As you listen, focus on understanding the main ideas, not every single word. After listening, I would like you to write 3–4 short sentences in your own words.

Please include:

1. One sentence about Sam’s current job (job title and main focus).
2. One sentence about Sam’s previous experience.
3. One sentence about why Sam is interested in this new role or company.
4. (Optional) One extra detail you found interesting.

Use simple English. It is perfectly fine if your sentences are not perfect. The goal is to show that you understood the candidate’s career story. Do not try to copy the audio exactly. Instead, imagine you are explaining Sam’s background to a friend.

Write your sentences in the box below.

2. Seeing the structure of a good career story.

You have just listened to Sam’s answer, and hopefully you noticed that it was not random. There was a clear order. In this block, we are going to open that answer like a map and see the main steps. This is important, because structure helps you sound confident, even if your language is not perfect. When you know the steps, you can relax and focus on choosing good examples from your own CV. We will work with a six-step structure that works very well for a 60 to 90 second introduction. First, a short opening line. Second, your current role. Third, your previous relevant experience. Fourth, important education or training. Fifth, a link to the role or company now. And finally, a simple closing line. On the screen you will see Sam’s answer divided into these parts, with some useful signposting phrases. After studying this, you will not write full sentences yet. Instead, you will create a simple outline for your own career story using the same steps. Think of it as building the skeleton before adding the muscles and skin.

A simple six-step structure.

To make "Tell me about yourself" easier, we will use a clear, flexible structure. You can adapt it to your own background, but the basic order is useful for most people.

Six steps for a 60–90 second career story:

1. Opening line
2. Current role
3. Previous experience
4. Education / qualifications
5. Connection to this role / company
6. Closing line

Now look at a model answer based on Sam’s introduction, divided into these parts.

---

1. Opening line

> Let me briefly introduce myself. My name is Sam Lewis, and I currently work as a marketing assistant.

2. Current role

> In my current role, I help to plan and deliver online campaigns, manage our social media channels and support the sales team with marketing materials.

3. Previous experience

> Previously, I worked for two years in a small digital agency, where I looked after several clients in the retail sector and learned to coordinate projects and analyse campaign data.

4. Education / qualifications

> I studied Business and Marketing at university, and during my degree I completed an internship in a tech start-up.

5. Connection to this role / company

> Over the last three years, I have focused on building strong skills in digital marketing, and now I am looking for a position where I can take more responsibility and work closely with product teams. This is why your Marketing Coordinator role is very attractive to me.

6. Closing line

> That is a short summary of my background.

---

Useful signposting phrases.

From the chunk bank for this lesson, here are some phrases that help you move from one step to the next:

• Let me briefly introduce myself.
• I currently work as a...
• In my current role, I...
• Previously, I worked at...
• Over the last three years, I have...
• Before that, I...
• I studied ... at ...
• This role would allow me to...
• That is a short summary of my background.

In the activity below, you will not write full sentences yet. You will create a simple outline of your own story using these six steps.

Practice & Feedback

Now it is your turn to plan the structure of your own introduction. Do not worry about perfect grammar or long sentences. At this stage, we only want a clear outline.

Using the six steps on the screen, write one or two short notes for each step, like this:

1. Opening line – how you will start (e.g. your name and current role).
2. Current role – job title, organisation, 2–3 main responsibilities.
3. Previous experience – one or two key jobs before this one.
4. Education / qualifications – only what is relevant to your target job.
5. Connection to this role / company – why this job makes sense for you now.
6. Closing line – a simple way to finish.

You can write in bullet points or short phrases, not full sentences. Imagine you are making notes for a small talk you will give later. Try to include real details from your own CV and the kind of job you are applying for.

3. Describing your current job clearly.

The heart of your career story is your current role. Interviewers want to understand what you actually do every day. If you describe your job clearly, they can quickly see whether your experience matches their needs. In this block we will focus on that part of the introduction: your job title, your organisation and your main responsibilities. We will use some simple but powerful sentence starters, such as "I currently work as", "In my current role, I" and "My key responsibilities include". These phrases help you sound organised and professional, even if your vocabulary is not very advanced. On the screen you will see short examples from different professions: an engineer, a nurse and a finance officer. Notice that each person gives a **short, clear picture** of their daily work, without too much technical detail. After reading the examples, you will write three to five sentences about your own current role. Remember, you are speaking to someone who does not work in your department. Use general professional words like "manage", "support", "coordinate" or "lead". This will make your introduction easier to understand and much more effective in an interview.

Make your current role easy to understand.

When you answer "Tell me about yourself", interviewers expect a quick, clear picture of your current job. They are not looking for your full job description. They want to know:

• What is your job title?
• Where do you work?
• What are your main responsibilities?

Here are some useful sentence starters from the chunk bank:

• I currently work as a...
• In my current role, I...
• My key responsibilities include...

Example 1 – Engineer.

> I currently work as a mechanical engineer for a manufacturing company. In my current role, I design and test components for industrial machines. My key responsibilities include creating technical drawings, coordinating with the production team and solving quality problems when they appear on the production line.

Example 2 – Nurse.

> I currently work as a staff nurse in a busy city hospital. In my current role, I care for patients on a surgical ward. My key responsibilities include monitoring patients after surgery, giving medication, updating medical records and supporting families with clear information.

Example 3 – Finance officer.

> I currently work as a finance officer for a non-profit organisation. In my current role, I manage day-to-day accounting tasks. My key responsibilities include preparing monthly reports, checking invoices, supporting project managers with their budgets and working with external auditors once a year.

All three examples are:

• short (2–4 sentences),
• clear for a non-specialist, and
• focused on typical daily tasks.

Now it is your turn to describe your own role in a similar way.

Practice & Feedback

Use the examples above to help you write a short paragraph about your current job. Imagine you are answering an interviewer who does not work in your field.

Write 3–5 sentences. Try to include:

• your job title and organisation in one sentence using "I currently work as a...",
• one sentence starting with "In my current role, I...",
• one or two sentences using "My key responsibilities include..." plus 3–4 typical tasks.

Keep your language simple and general. Avoid long technical names that HR people will not understand. Instead of saying the exact system name, you can say things like "a customer database", "project management software" or "a financial reporting tool".

Do your best, but do not worry if it is not perfect. This is a first version, and we will refine it later in the lesson.

4. Explaining your career path with time expressions.

So far, you have planned the structure of your introduction and described your current role. Now we need to add one more important element: your career path. Interviewers want to see how you arrived where you are now. Did you grow step by step? Did you change direction? Have you progressed in responsibility? In this block we will focus on **previous roles and career moves**, and we will use simple time expressions to keep the story clear. Phrases like "Over the last three years", "Before that" and "Previously, I worked at" help the interviewer follow your timeline without confusion. On the screen, you will see a short example from a candidate called Ana, who has changed roles a few times. Notice how she uses time expressions to show the order of her experience, and how she gives just enough detail. After reading, you will write four to six sentences about your own career path. Try to connect your jobs logically and choose details that are relevant to the kind of role you want now.

Show the journey, not every step.

Your career story is not a detailed history. It is a short journey from the past to now. You choose the most important stops.

Time expressions help the interviewer understand the order of events without a long explanation.

Useful phrases include:

• Over the last three years, I have...
• Before that, I...
• Previously, I worked at...
• At the beginning of my career, I...
• I decided to move into...
• I was promoted to...

Example timeline – Ana.

Look at Ana’s short career story. She is applying for a Project Coordinator role.

> Over the last three years, I have worked as an operations assistant for a logistics company. In this role, I support the project managers with scheduling deliveries and updating our tracking system.

>

> Before that, I spent two years as a customer service representative in the same company, where I learned how to communicate with clients and solve delivery problems by phone and email.

>

> Previously, I worked for one year in a small travel agency after finishing my degree in Business Administration, which gave me my first experience in a service environment.

>

> I decided to move into operations because I enjoy planning and coordination, and last year I was promoted to senior operations assistant after leading a project to improve our delivery tracking process.

Ana does not mention every temporary job. She selects the roles that show skills useful for project coordination: planning, communication, solving problems and taking more responsibility.

Now you will write a short paragraph about your own career path.

Practice & Feedback

In this activity, you will explain your career path in a short paragraph. Imagine you are speaking to an interviewer who wants to understand the main steps in your professional life.

Write 4–6 sentences. Try to:

• start with a phrase like "Over the last X years, I have..." to describe your recent experience,
• use "Before that" or "Previously, I worked at" to talk about earlier roles,
• mention 1–3 key jobs that are relevant for the kind of role you want now,
• include one short sentence about a promotion or a change of direction, if this is true for you.

Do not worry if your career path is not “perfect”. Many people change jobs or fields. The important thing is to show a clear timeline and why your experience makes sense for the role you are applying for.

Use simple, clear sentences. You do not need to include exact dates. Focus on years and periods, for example "for two years", "since 2021", "at the beginning of my career".

5. Linking your story to the target job (chat practice).

You now have three strong pieces of your introduction: the structure, a clear description of your current role, and a short explanation of your career path. The final ingredient is to connect your story to the **specific job** you are interviewing for. Interviewers really want to hear why this role makes sense for you now. In a real interview, this often feels like a short, friendly conversation. The interviewer might say something like, "So, why are you interested in this position?" or "How does this role fit with your background?" In this block, we will practise that connection in a chat-style interaction. On the screen you will see some useful linking phrases, and a short example where Ana connects her background to the Project Coordinator role. Then, in the activity, you will imagine you are in an online interview chat. I will write a simple interviewer message, and you will answer in one clear message that combines your background and your motivation. This is a safe place to experiment with the language before you use it in a real interview.

Make the connection clear.

A strong introduction does more than describe your past. It also shows why this job now. This is where you link your background to the target role.

Useful linking phrases include:

• I have always been interested in...
• Over the last three years, I have focused on...
• I decided to move into...
• This role would allow me to...
• My background matches this position because...

Example – Ana connects to the new role.

Ana is applying for a Project Coordinator role in a logistics company.

> Over the last three years, I have focused on supporting project managers and improving our delivery processes. This role would allow me to take more responsibility for planning and communication across different teams, which is exactly the direction I want for my career.

>

> My background matches this position because I understand both the customer side and the operations side of logistics. I enjoy coordinating different people and making sure deadlines are realistic and clear. That is why I am very interested in this opportunity with your company.

Ana does not repeat her whole CV. She selects a few key skills and shows how they fit the new job.

Your turn in a chat-style conversation.

In the activity below, you will imagine that the interviewer sends you a chat message during an online interview:

> "Could you briefly tell me about your background and why you are interested in this role?"

You will respond with one message that:

• uses 1–2 sentences to summarise your background,
• uses 1–2 sentences to explain why this role or company is attractive for you now,
• uses at least one linking phrase from the list above or from the chunk bank.

Practice & Feedback

Imagine you are in a video interview and the interviewer is using the chat box. They write:

> "Hi, thanks for joining today. Could you briefly tell me about your background and why you are interested in this role?"

Now it is your turn to reply as the candidate in one chat-style message.

Write 4–6 sentences. Try to:

• start with a simple opening, for example "Let me briefly introduce myself" or "Sure, I’d be happy to",
• use 1–2 sentences to summarise your current role and career path,
• use 1–2 sentences to explain why you are interested in this specific role or company,
• include at least one linking phrase, such as "This role would allow me to..." or "My background matches this position because...".

Write your answer as one continuous message, like in a chat, but keep a professional tone. Do not worry about making it perfect; this is practice. Focus on being clear, polite and positive.

6. Putting it all together in your full introduction.

You now have all the key pieces of your career story: a simple structure, a clear description of your current role, a logical career path, and a connection to the target job. In this final block, you will bring everything together and create your full 60 to 90 second self-introduction. Think of this as a mini performance. You want to sound natural, not like you are reading a long essay. At the same time, you want to show the interviewer that you understand what is relevant for the role. On the screen, you will see a short checklist and a complete model answer from another candidate. Use these as a guide, not a script. Your task will be to write your own introduction of around 120 to 160 words, using the six-step structure we studied: opening line, current role, previous experience, education, connection to the role and closing line. After you write it, you can later practise saying it aloud and timing yourself. For now, focus on organising your ideas clearly and using some of the useful phrases you have learned in this lesson. This text will be the foundation for your real interview introductions.

Final task – your 60–90 second career story.

It is time to create your full self-introduction for a real interview.

Remember the six steps:

1. Opening line
2. Current role
3. Previous experience
4. Education / qualifications
5. Connection to this role / company
6. Closing line

Quick checklist.

Before and after you write, use this checklist:

• Length: around 120–160 words (about 60–90 seconds when spoken).
• Structure: follows the six steps in a clear order.
• Relevance: focuses on experience and training that connect to your target job.
• Clarity: uses simple, professional language that a non-specialist can understand.
• Tone: polite, positive and confident, without sounding arrogant.

Complete model answer – Daniel (IT Support to Systems Analyst).

> Let me briefly introduce myself. My name is Daniel Costa, and I currently work as an IT support specialist for a global manufacturing company.

>

> In my current role, I help colleagues with technical issues, maintain user accounts and support the roll-out of new software tools across the organisation.

>

> Over the last five years, I have built my experience in different IT support roles. Previously, I worked for a smaller company where I was responsible for both hardware and software support, and before that I started my career as a helpdesk technician after completing my degree in Computer Science.

>

> I have always been interested in improving systems, not just fixing problems, so I recently completed additional training in business analysis and data reporting.

>

> This Systems Analyst role would allow me to use my technical background and my knowledge of our users to help design better internal tools. That is a short summary of my background.

Use this as inspiration, but write a story that is true for you and the role you want.

Practice & Feedback

Now write your full self-introduction as if you are answering the question "Tell me about yourself" in a real interview.

Write a paragraph of around 120–160 words. Try to:

• follow the six-step structure (opening, current role, previous experience, education, connection to the role, closing),
• mention only the most relevant jobs and qualifications for your target position,
• use some of the useful phrases from the chunk bank, such as "I currently work as a...", "Previously, I worked at...", "Over the last three years, I have...", "I studied ... at ...", "This role would allow me to...", "That is a short summary of my background.",
• keep your language simple, clear and professional.

Imagine you will later say this out loud. Write sentences that you can pronounce comfortably. Do not worry if it is a little longer or shorter than 160 words. The main goal is a clear, well-structured introduction you could really use in an interview.