What’s the best way to answer one of the most diabolical interview question:  “Tell me a little bit about yourself”?

Answer in two minutes and tell a story.  Here’s mine:

I was born in Ohio but I can’t tell you where I grew up.

I ran track and cross country in high-school while I worked delivering pizzas or bussing tables. I was bored of green grass so I moved to the high desert of Colorado after I graduated. I studied business in college and married the girl I went to my high school prom with.

I fell in love with cycling and raced a bit.  My longest was 100 miles and my shortest was about 200 feet when I was caught up in a big wreck.

After school I really took to sales and I moved from entry level positions to business development for an airport engineering consulting firm.  I was away from home too much and I had a few white knuckle moments in their small plane while meeting with clients.  I was gone quite a bit and I missed some things my kids did for the first time so I wanted to be there more for my two kids; a son and daughter. So I looked for a position that I could earn what I put in and enjoy spending time with them.

I moved to recruiting about 10 years ago and did well enough to win several awards, see exotic places from trips I’ve won and had the chance to move back to Ohio.

I’ve coached baseball since my son could throw and have completed a few sprint and Olympic distance triathlons.  I’d love to coach my daughter but she is into children’s theater and I can’t help out much with that.

There ya go.  I’ve spent less than two minutes but I’ve made myself three dimensional to the interviewer.  Hopefully the interviewer is a cyclist, runner or really wants to be home more.  The more opportunities we get to “click” with the interviewer the higher our chances are to move on to the next step.