One who takes offense to the phrase "Tell me about yourself" does not have the ability to function as a member of society. Based on some of these comments you would think that asking the typical Hacker News commenter about the weather would result in a ten minute lecture on the increased efficiency of looking out the window as opposed to bothering one's peers with futile conversation.
If you don't want to give an answer it's very easy to demur in a polite and conversationally enjoyable way. All of the conventional advice on getting people to like you emphasizes getting people to talk about themselves.
Does anyone ever ask you “tell me about yourself” verbatim in casual conversation between peers? I honestly find it hard to believe that this is normal. It sounds way too much like an interview question.
It's actually a good question to get to know people sometimes. You don't phrase it that way, but people do like talking about themselves unless they're robots
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One who takes offense to the phrase "Tell me about yourself" does not have the ability to function as a member of society. Based on some of these comments you would think that asking the typical Hacker News commenter about the weather would result in a ten minute lecture on the increased efficiency of looking out the window as opposed to bothering one's peers with futile conversation.
If you don't want to give an answer it's very easy to demur in a polite and conversationally enjoyable way. All of the conventional advice on getting people to like you emphasizes getting people to talk about themselves.
Does anyone ever ask you “tell me about yourself” verbatim in casual conversation between peers? I honestly find it hard to believe that this is normal. It sounds way too much like an interview question.
Phrased exactly like that? Probably not, but I do ask "so what's your story?" as an ice breaker quite often when meeting people, but I have heard it.
I'm a little astounded that so many find such an inquiry so abnormal.
It's actually a good question to get to know people sometimes. You don't phrase it that way, but people do like talking about themselves unless they're robots
My go-to is "so what do you do?" and it works pretty great for me.