What is the best way to describe your resume?

At some point during the interview you will be asked one of the most common interview questions “Walk me through your resume.” This is an easy question to answer on paper, but in person it might be a little more difficult.

The hiring manager will have your resume in hand so it’s best not to go point by point. When you trim your response down to the essentials (your qualifications, accomplishments, strengths, career goals), you’ll impress your interviewer not only with your professional know-how but also with your communication skills.

This job interview question is a variant of “tell me about yourself,” so you’re preparing for both questions at once here. We’ll cover why hiring managers and recruiters ask this question, provide tips for how to answer, and show you a bunch of sample answers.

Why Interviewers Ask “Walk Me Through Your Resume”

Interviewers ask you to walk them through your resume because they understand that a one-page document can’t tell your entire professional story. Your resume should be chock full of stand-out accomplishments and impressive skills, but how you talk about those things in an interview reveals a lot about you.

It’s not easy to sum up your life’s work in a short interview answer, so you have to think carefully about which points you want to emphasize in your response. Think of your answer as an elevator pitch that focuses on your most impressive attributes.

One thing interviewers certainly don’t want is a point-by-point explanation of your entire work history.

How to Answer “Walk Me Through Your Resume”

How you answer this question depends a lot on your resume and your experience, but some tips hold true no matter what. Use this 3-step approach to prepare your answer:

1. Start with your educational background. There’s no need to go into a lot of detail here unless you’re a recent graduate. Briefly cover the relevant coursework from your college days and segue into how that led to your professional career.

2. Explain your professional history. This is the meat and potatoes of your answer. Quickly describe how you entered the field or role. Then talk chronologically about your career, but skip the boring stuff. Mention impressive accomplishments, key qualifications and skills, and relevant projects you’ve worked on.

   Use short stories to sell your passion for the position — if you sound bored talking about your work history, the hiring manager might think you’re not passionate about your work. Research the company ahead of time to learn what types of stories they’d find most impressive.

   For example, an employer with a collaborative work environment may respond better to a story where you resolved conflict or acted as a team player.

3. Finish with career goals. Don’t just stop when you reach the end of your resume — interviewers are equally interested in what your future holds. That’s why questions like “where do you see yourself in five years” exist.

   Hiring managers want to make sure that the job you’re applying for fits into your broader goals because you’re more likely to be invested in the position if it does. Emphasize how you’re excited to learn new things and develop professionally as you wrap up your response.

6 Tips for Answering “Walk Me Through Your Resume”

“Walk me through your resume” can be a tricky interview question if you do not know what they are looking for. But don’t worry — we are telling you now what they are looking for so you can easily ace this question:

1. Know the position. The most important aspect of answering this question is knowing about the position you are applying for in great detail. What are the required skills and experiences? What type of person is the company looking for overall?

   Note these parts of the job description ahead of time and then brainstorm how your resume hits the bullseye for what they want.

2. Know your story. Think about how you are going to craft an enticing story about how you started from point A and got to where you are now. How do your previous experiences make you a good candidate and most importantly, why this job?

3. Emphasize relevant skills. If you’ve had a lot of different jobs that aren’t all in the same industry, for example, then emphasize the skills you gained and practiced that are relevant to the current job you are seeking.

   If you are a fresh graduate who is new to the job hunt, you will need to explain how you used college to learn skills and what experiences you sought, i.e., summer internships and volunteer opportunities. You could even discuss relevant specialized coursework.

4. Emphasize why this job is for you. Highlight why the job you are interviewing for is the next most logical step in your career journey and why the job is your top pick. Obviously, you will be applying to many jobs, but why does this particular job make the most sense, and why are you the best person to fill it?

5. Practice your answer. It is important to know what you want to say. If you go into the interview unprepared and stumbling over your words, it makes it look like you don’t know your resume. A great way to practice is to say it out loud in front of a friend, family member, or even in front of a mirror to yourself.

6. Acknowledge any gaps you have.If there are any gaps in your resume, let them know why. If you don’t let them know, they will think you are trying to hide something. Even if the reason for the gap is because of travel, tell them.

How To Answer “Walk Me Through Your Resume”

Studies show that over half of all interviewers make their decision within the first 15 minutes, and a full third make up their minds in the first 90 seconds! Therefore, (whatever the first question is), I like to start by discovering what’s most important to the interviewer. I’ll say something like, “Sure, before I do, may I ask what are the key pain points you’re looking to solve by hiring for this position? This way I can highlight the things that are most relevant as I walk you through my experience.” Then, in my response, I point out my applicable skills and accomplishments to the noted problem(s). Posing a question to a question and knowing what the interviewer is looking for upfront is a fantastic way to connect with the interviewer right out of the gate.

Common Mistakes to Avoid When Answering “Walk Me Through Your Resume”

Common interview questions also have common mistakes:

1. Don’t ramble on. When walking an interviewer through your resume,keep your answer short and succinct.

   Typically, the answer to this interview question should be two minutes or less. You don’t want to give them some long-winded answer that leaves them checking their watches.

   If you have a short interview, keep it short. If you have a much longer interview, you can ask them how much detail they want in the answer. Do they want a brief overview with key experiences described in detail or do they want information about all of your experiences?

2. Don’t talk about irrelevant experiences. Whether it’s coursework that has nothing to do with the job or professional experiences that don’t relate to the position, keep all extraneous details out of your answer. The interviewer or hiring manager won’t care and it will make them seem less interested.

3. Don’t be negative. Never talk negatively about your former work experiences, colleagues, or supervisors. If you’re explaining a career change, you can talk about how you weren’t passionate about your old field or position, but always follow that up with a positive professional experience or goal.

4. Don’t get caught off guard. The ultimate tip is to be prepared. If you have to peek at your resume to explain it, that’s not a good look. When you’re prepared, you’ll have an easier time projecting confidence and delivering a coherent narrative. This goes back to being prepared. Practice makes perfect.

How To Answer “Walk Me Through Your Resume” Tips

If you can imagine telling your professional career story, as if everything you’ve done has led you to this moment, you can answer this question confidently.

Another structure to use is “past-present-future”: start with whatever experience has led you to be interested in your career field, and what career-related experiences have led you to your current situation. Then end with a brief statement about how this job fits into your future career plans.

Example Answers to “Walk Me Through Your Resume”

We’ll start with some bite-sized responses that you can use to help structure your answer. Then we’ll finish up with a long-form answer.

1. Example Answer 1: LabCorp Position

   I’ll begin by saying that I grew up in North Carolina and went to the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, where I majored in biology and chemistry. I graduated with honors and took graduate level coursework to supplement my internship and laboratory research experiences.

   I began working intensely in a lab at the university where I learned crucial laboratory skills for analyzing different proteins and managed my own cell lines. From there, I interned at the local hospital’s summer scholars program, where I spent over 1000 hours mastering those techniques.

   I changed jobs at the end of college because the internship and jobs at the hospital were limited to students. I wanted to gain professional experience interacting with patients, so I was an EMT for a year. I learned valuable skills in conflict resolution, customer service, stress and time management, as well as teamwork.

   Having a degree and extensive experience in laboratory-based sciences, I want to pursue a career in laboratory pathology. This position at LabCorp would the perfect step and I would utilize all my skills and experiences to become an effective member of your lab team.

2. Example Answer 2: Marketing Position

   I’ll start by saying that I grew up in Mississippi in a family that owns a family BBQ restaurant. The recipe has been in the family for generations and my dad started the business because everyone always loved our BBQ. As I got older, I also worked for the restaurant, but I always liked doing community outreach and advertising projects.

   So when I went to college, the decision was easy: I would study marketing and finance at Rice University, where I was in the honors college all four years. I also was able to utilize the skills I learned in class through summer internships with companies like Tyson and even had the opportunity to volunteer with local startups for their marketing teams.

   It was clear to me afterward that I wanted to continue honing these skills, so I completed my MBA at Wake Forest University’s business school. I used this opportunity to strengthen the business skills I learned at my internships and was able to complete projects for partner companies that increased their social media and marketing outreach by 70%.

   The position I am interviewing for would be a perfect match for me because it is a position that requires an employee with a blend of marketing, finance, and business skills to complete the work effectively. Although I have just recently graduated, I have over 500 volunteer hours working with nonprofits similar to yours, as well as over 1000 internship hours with companies whose job skill sets mirror yours. Because of these experiences, I believe that this resume would reflect an excellent candidate for this position.

3. Example Answer 3: Teacher

   I graduated from URI with a bachelor’s degree in Education, which is something I’ve wanted to do since my days spent tutoring in high school. After completing my teaching certification program for Rhode Island, I worked as a teacher’s assistant at Johnston Middle School for one year. I learned first-hand working under the eight teachers who made up the English department and seeing so many unique approaches to education really filled in the gaps from what I learned in college.

   I was promoted to a full-fledged teacher at Johnston after that year and began teaching English courses from remedial to advanced. I especially enjoyed starting the after-school reading advancement course for my remedial classes. After one semester working with some of our students who struggled to read at a grade-appropriate level, I saw 30% of my students see their reading level go up by two full grades or more.

   While I love the personal and professional connections I’ve made at Johnston Middle School, I’m interested in working at a private institution like yours. The student-focused teaching methodology that ABC School fosters and encourages is revolutionary for students and teachers, and the results speak for themselves. I would be thrilled to work in an environment that plays to my strengths and advance my skills as a teacher.

Final Thoughts

Walking an interviewer through your resume sounds like a daunting task — but it doesn’t have to be. It doesn’t have to be a ten-minute long speech or a detailed look at every single item on your resume.

Highlight the most relevant parts of your resume and describe skills that you learned from previous job experiences that are applicable to the current position you are interviewing for.

And no matter what — stay calm.

Use this interview question as a chance to show off your skills and talk in more detail about all the experiences you’ve had that would make you perfect for the position.

And, want to know the best part?

You know all the secret amazingness about yourself, and you can’t fit it all on one resume. So use this question as your time to show them why you are the best candidate for the job.

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  • Why Are You Looking For A New Job?
  • Why Should We Hire You?
  • What Motivates You?
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  • Walk Me Through Your Resume
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