Resume Questions in Interviews

Resume Questions in Interviews

Recruiters love to ask all candidates, from undergraduates to mid-career, about their resume. These questions give an interviewer a chance to dig a little deeper into your background and at the same time test your critical thinking abilities. The questions also give you a chance to show the interviewer your confidence, competence, and enthusiasm about a project or job you really understand. Because resume questions take the discussion to your home turf, there isn't really a secret recipe for pulling apart the question. The way to be successful here is to follow a few basic interview rules. Tip No. 1: Know Your Story Nothing will make you look worse than not knowing what you put on your own resume. Review everything on your resume before your interview. Take notes about what you did at each job, and the main message you want to convey through each bullet point on your resume. Then think up a short story for each bullet point that will provide compelling evidence to support those messages. Tip No. 2: The Parent Test Interviewers will assume that you know everything there is to know about your area of expertise, whether that's molecular biology or a bike shop you worked at one summer. When they ask about your resume, the real question is: Can you tell somebody else about what you did without sending them into a coma? It may sound easy, but many people seem incapable of communicating what they know. Tip No. 3: Let Your Excitement Shine! This is your home field, so use it to your advantage. Talk about your past work with energy and enthusiasm. If you're sitting there griping about a previous work experience, guess what's running through your interviewer's mind: "Whoa, Nelly. This cat could be trouble!"