How to answer "tell me about yourself" in a Director, VP, or CPO interview, or networking chat

A strong answer to "tell me about yourself" at the Director, VP, and CPO level, which often maps to L7 to L9 at Google and Meta (see levels.fyi), sets the tone for the rest of the conversation, whether you hear it in an interview, a recruiter call, a coffee chat, or a networking event. At this level, people don't get hired on competency alone. They get hired for competency and connection together.

Most of an interview goes to competency, and "tell me about yourself" is one of the few places where you can build connection. When it lands well, the other person gets a feel for you beyond your experience, which is why people say the first few minutes shape the rest of an interview. It works like the 80/20 rule: the opening few minutes are a small part of the conversation that can do most of the work, so they are worth your preparation.

This post covers how to build that answer, and how to answer "tell me what you're working on," which tends to come right after. Use it if you are applying, networking, or taking inbound recruiter calls before a formal interview loop is on your calendar. It's tempting to save your preparation for the full loop, but the conversations before it can weigh more than you might expect, and most of them open with "tell me about yourself."

Why does "tell me about yourself" carry so much weight at the Director, VP, and CPO level?

Competency and connection both matter at the Director, VP, and CPO level, yet most of our preparation tends to go into only competency. Competency is whether you can do the job. Connection is harder to pin down. It works more like a vibe check, and it comes from how the conversation feels. Your excitement about what they are building, a personal reason their mission matters to you, or a conversation that flows easily can all be part of it, and it looks different with each person.

A 30, 45, or 60 minute interview spends most of its time on your projects, your decisions, and how you think, which is all competency. The opening question is one of the few moments that leaves room for connection.

The next section shows how one answer to "tell me about yourself" can cover both.

What should you say when asked "tell me about yourself"?

The answer has 3 parts that work together, and only the first one is about competency:

1. [Competency] One line of competency, aimed at what the team needs. Start with the job description. Whatever it repeats or explains in the most detail is probably top of mind for the team. Describe the part of your experience that matches it in a sentence or two. Meeting them where they are like this is cognitive empathy. They learn right away that you have what they need, and the details are left for them to ask about.

2. [Connection] Why you are excited to talk to them. This could be a product that mattered to you or your family, a reason their mission connects to your life, or what draws you to the problem they are solving. It puts the attention on them and their work, and people tend to feel good about a conversation like that.

3. [Connection] Optional: ask what stood out. "You must look at a lot of profiles. What stood out in mine?" Their answer tells you what they want to hear more about, and it lets them say something kind about you early, which can make the rest of the call warmer for both of you. Ask it when they reached out to you or picked your profile from others, and skip it if they haven't looked at your profile.

Parts 2 and 3 are where connection has room to happen, and what that looks like will be different with each person.

Here is how this worked for one client, who was applying to lead search at a consumer company. This is how they usually introduced themselves:

"I'm a product leader. I've been in product management for over a decade, across several large tech companies. Most recently, I've been driving a three-pillar strategy: growth using AI capabilities, AI enablement, using AI/ML to get the most return on business spend. I lead a team of PMs, these initiatives drive significant revenue, and I work cross-functionally with engineering, design, and product marketing."

All of it was competency, but it is missing something that directly speaks to a key aspect of the role according to the job description: the role would focus on making search results higher quality, more relevant and trustworthy on the platform.

The client had built a new search product at a previous company, and their first try at tailoring part 1 sounded like this:

"At my last company, I led a zero to one initiative, which was an enterprise search and answer product. The key thing there was the answers part, where search is not just a static place where you enter your keywords and get a list of responses in a fixed user experience. Search is more headless. It is available on different surfaces."

Everything in it was accurate. Still, "enterprise" pointed the hiring manager toward software for businesses, which the job description never mentioned, and the answer still left out what the role needed.

Here is the full answer after we rebuilt it together:

"At my last company I led a new search experience from zero to one. People didn't have to guess the right keywords. They could ask in their own words, and the system understood what they meant, even when they typed it wrong. The answers were good enough that people relied on them to make decisions. I'm so excited to talk to you because, over the course of my career, your platform has been a catalyst for me. It's how I've gotten many of my questions answered here better than other platforms. You must look at a lot of profiles. What stood out in mine?"

The first part is the competency line. "Understood what they meant, even when they typed it wrong" and "relied on them to make decisions" cover what the role is about, making search results that are high quality, relevant, and trustworthy.

The middle part is to establish a connection on a more personal level.

The question at the end hands the conversation back to the hiring manager.

How do you answer "tell me what you're working on"?

This question tends to come right after "tell me about yourself," and it can be the first real question about your competency. Any project you have led can be described from several angles: the problem it solved, who used it, the results, how it was built, or how you led the team. The person asking might care about only one of those angles, and the job description is your best clue to which one.

A client was applying for a role that the job description called "a true AI PM role." It asked for someone who understands evals and how the model behaves and where it breaks down.

The client was building an AI product for their company's business teams, and here is how they first described it:

"In my current work, I have bootstrapped an AI-native product from scratch, where I'm creating agentic experiences for our business team to help them achieve their revenue targets."

That answer is about who the product helps and the result it drives, whereas the job description focuses on how AI products get built.

To fix that gap between the answer and the job description, here is the version we rebuilt:

"In my current work, I've been leading an AI-native product end to end. Building it, I've had to get a deep understanding of the techniques behind how we build agentic experiences, and I've navigated a lot of trade-offs, like LLM latency versus the user experience."

The rebuilt version leaves out the mention of the business team, which this hiring manager had little reason to care about, and talks about how AI products are built and the trade-offs along the way, such as how fast the AI responds versus how good the experience feels. Those are the parts of the work this job description focuses on.

But what happens if there is no job description to read? A recruiter might reach out about a role that has not been posted, with only 1 or 2 lines about it. If they ask what you are working on before telling you about the role, you can ask first:

"I'm happy to share all the details. It would help me tell you the most relevant parts if you can share more about the role."

Early in the process you have some leverage. They reached out to you, and you are still deciding whether the role is a fit, so it is reasonable to ask before you answer. Once they describe what they need, you can pick the project, and the part of it, that would be the most relevant to them, using the same cognitive empathy skills that you already use on the job when you do user research.

How do you tailor your introduction when the job description is vague?

Job descriptions can be broad, vague, or outdated. A client applied for a role where the job description listed AI, so the client chose AI and led with it. The feedback afterward was that the hiring manager thought the client lacked consumer experience, even though the client had years of it.

Here, you can use a short menu that lets the interviewer correct you before you go too far in the wrong direction:

"I have experience in consumer products, AI, and growth. Reading the job description, it seems this role leans most on AI, and I'm happy to start there unless I'm misreading it. Which parts of my background would be most useful to you?"

In 3 sentences, you show the range of your experience, show that you read the job description, and say which part you think matters most. "Unless I'm misreading it" makes it easy for them to point you somewhere else, and the question lets them choose where to start.

What should you say in each of the early conversations?

Use this table as a quick reference before a call.

Moment	What the other person may be deciding	What to say
"Tell me about yourself"	Whether you are qualified, and whether they connect with you	One or two sentences on the experience that matches what they need, why you are excited to talk to them, and optionally "What stood out in my profile?"
"Tell me what you're working on"	Which of your projects matches what the role needs	The project, and the part of it, that fits the role. If you do not know the role, ask first.
A vague job description	Which part of your experience matters most for the role	A short menu, the part you think the role needs most, and "Which would be most useful to you?"

Frequently asked questions

Does this kind of introduction work for hiring managers as well as recruiters?

Yes, in my experience it works for both. If the person has not looked at your resume, skip the optional question about what stood out. The rest still applies: lead with the experience that matches what they need, and say why you are excited to talk to them.

Does your answer change if someone referred you?

It can. When someone refers you, the hiring manager might have heard one line about you before the call, something like "I work with this person, they're really good, you should talk to them." My read is that they listen for whether you sound like that description. When you do, they hear the same story from two people, and you do right by the person who put their name next to yours.

Do you have to lead with your most recent role?

No. Recent work is easier for the other person to picture, and an older project that matches what the company needs can still be the better lead. Ask what the role needs most, then choose the project that shows it.

Is it too early to prepare when no interview is scheduled?

No. The conversations before the loop, such as a recruiter call, a hiring manager chat, or a networking coffee, can weigh more than you might expect, and most of them open with "tell me about yourself." Two of my clients told me, separately, that they were waiting to ask for introductions until their own introduction felt ready. That caution comes from caring about the relationship. A first conversation can still arrive before you feel ready, so it helps to have your answer in place that has a high chance of resonating with them.

Where to start

Read the job description once for the requirements it repeats or describes in detail. Then write your opening in 3 sentences: one sentence on the experience that matches what they need, one on why you are excited to talk to them, and one question where you ask them about what stood out to them in your profile.

To see how companies like Google and Meta evaluate leaders once the full loop begins, read The L7, L8, and L9 product leadership interview.

If you would like to work on fine tuning your narratives, the application for Director, VP, and CPO level roles is open, and client results are at nancychu.co/wins.

About the author

Nancy Chu is a leadership coach for Director, VP, and CPO level roles, which often map to L7 to L9 at companies like Google and Meta. She was a director at Roku and a manager of product managers at Meta. Since 2024, her clients have landed more than 70 offers, 24 of them at L7 and above, at companies like Anthropic, OpenAI, Meta, Google, Microsoft, Stripe, Uber, and more, with packages reaching $3.6M in annual total compensation.

More clear thinking, each week

Every week, Nancy Chu shares insights for Director, VP, and CPO-level product leaders, both for landing the role and for leading well once they are in it, like how to open a first conversation and how to answer the follow-ups. You can get them at nancychu.co.