King Lear--1 (Every inch a king)

I've had three interviews in the past two weeks. Only one was directly for a job and it didn't turn out well. But at each interview I've been asked some variant of the question/command: "Tell me a little about yourself." This is an impossibly difficult question. What do they want to hear? Probably it's best to take the opportunity to explain my shoddy resume. But I don't have and never have had a job that explains much about "myself." Odd jobs, this and that.

What should I say to give an honest answer? That I have a wife, that I love her? Or something about my character? That would be most honest, I think. That my character was formed by the surprises I've had. That I learned anger, love, and humor helping my brother? That I learned compassion and shame and strength in Tennessee? That I relearned joy and light-heartedness and hope in Milwaukee? Or that my peanut butter and jelly sandwiches are the best because I use absurd amounts of jelly. . .

I don't think that they want to know these things. They want to know the level of my skill with Microsoft Excel. But it becomes hard to talk about yourself when you don't have a vocation. After a while, parts of your personal story start to slip. King Lear is a tragedy of unemployment. Lear quits his job as king, divides the kingdom betwixt his three daughters according to how prettily they can say that they love him, and then loses his mind. He ends up wandering the wilderness, cursing at a storm.

But, when asked to describe himself, he knows what to say: "Every inch a king." I suppose that I am every inch a reader.