What Can You Tell Me about Yourself?
Introduction
The responsibility of a college admission counselor entails establishing the suitable environment for an applicant to be enrolled in a given faculty. It is worth appreciating that the exercise is imperative because it enables the educational establishments to admit the best candidates in the different areas of study. However, deriving the information regarding a student has never been easy. Most importantly, the admission counselor reviews the student’s application letter and the resume to identify the relevant facts about the student. Nevertheless, the information in the resume and the introductory letter is presented in summarized form. Therefore, for the counselor to establish more personalized information, the recruiter should further probe the students to introduce themselves by answering an essay question.
The Question about “Yourself”
Accordingly, the question posed for the essay should make the difference; hence, the need to be strategic while developing the question. Subjectively, if I was an admission counselor at a college, I could pose a relatively open-ended question to the student. Considering that much of the personal information can be found in the CV and introductory letter, my intention would be to get other relevant information that could not be found in the CV. Thus, I should present the following question, “What can you tell me about yourself which is not found in your application?”
What does the Question Reveals about Me?
When such a question is addressed to an applicant, it communicates more about the admittance officer. First, the question shows the official’s curiosity about understanding the applicant. In fact, the representative appreciates that the information presented in the application and the resume is often in the condensed form. Moreover, the admission counselor can be dissatisfied with the traits enumerated in the application and hence intent to reveal more about the applicant. On the other hand, the context of the question explains the commitment of the admitting person to deliver to the expectations of the institution, which is to enroll the most suited applicants. As such, besides being interested in the response, I can communicate much about myself when I pose the question to an applicant. For instance, the question shows that I have read and understood well the content of the application and the resume presented. Secondly, the probe indicates that I am patient with the applicant to reveal more information. On the other hand, the essay inquiry can communicate my attitude towards the student in creating a favorable environment for the student to open up and disclose more personal information. Without such a query, the student might feel that I am unapproachable, hence develop fear towards me. Therefore, I would like to establish a free environment for students to interact with me. In essence, I also consider asking a specific question to obtain the student’s finest details that would assist me to advise the admission office accordingly.
Conclusion
Evidently, by being keen to details, it means that I am responsible and accountable to the college and the admission panel. In fact, I should also be sensitive to maintain my relation and reputation among the students enrolled by considering that I could easily hurt the respondent’s emotions through the questioning process. In essence, by asking the open and general inquiry as indicated, I would be registering my willingness to assist the student and the college professionally and ethically. Finally, I must also be well versed with the application’s content and the presented curriculum vitae.