How to Answer "Walk Me Through Your Resume" Question for Job Interview - 3 Part Response

How do you answer the interview question? Walk me through your resume. Hello. The resume is in front of them. Is there more to it? Absolutely. It is so easy to mess this answer up. This is self made millennial. I'm Madeline Mann and today I'm going to give you the inside scoop on how to craft the best answer for the question. Walk me through your resume and I'm going to give you several examples. And if you're new to this channel, I'm an HR and recruiting leader who takes all the insider insights and lops them right back at you. I've been featured in all these places as an expert. Yep, let's dive in. The formula I'm going to teach you led one of my clients to come back to me after an interview and say this completely shifted how confident he was and put the entire interview on the right trajectory. That's what I'm talking about. This question is the pitch pipe because it sets the tone. Stick around to the end of this video. For example, answers for new grads, career changers, and those who have more experience. It's like the Doritos variety pack of interview example answers. So why is your interviewer asking you to walk them through the resume when they have your resume right in front of them? Well, sorry to betray them, but the interviewer probably didn't read your resume prior, and even if they did, they're context switching. They just went from a meeting to an interview to a bathroom break to a meme break right back to you. And they don't remember who you are. And they need you to give them a quick overview of yourself that'll give them a baseline understanding about you for their additional interview questions. The biggest mistake people make when answering walk me through your resume in a job interview is giving the long answer. This is because it will probably be asked at the beginning of the interview, and at that point you don't know what's truly relevant to the interviewer. So if your answer is long, you you're more likely spending your limited time in that job interview talking about things that your interviewer doesn't want to hear about your responses. Interview question should only be around 90 seconds to maybe 3 minutes long. I know this is quick, so you'll need to focus on the most important points from your resume. Now, if you're having trouble deciphering what are the most important points in your resume, make sure you check out my free online resume revamp Masterclass where I teach you how to zero in on exactly what the employer wants to hear based on the job description and your background. So I'll leave the link in the description and the comments. So if I was to rephrase this question to make it more clear cut, I would say tell me the key things I should know about your background to frame this conversation. Okay, so we've got to focus your message. You are a camera. One question is should you go through your resume chronologically from earlier in your career to now, or reverse chronologically from present day backwards? The answer is it depends. Like the diaper. If you are early in your career or if you're a career changer, then there's a good chance that your narrative could be fairly brief or fairly confusing. If this is the case, you should communicate chronologically because this will help the interviewer to piece together how your past experiences have led to this potentially different path. Otherwise, tell your story. Reverse Chrono Baby this is because employers care more about your recent roles. So it's good to start with present day, spend more time on recent roles, and then touch more lightly on less relevant past roles. Now I want to know, when an interviewer asks you to walk them through your resume, will your response be in chronological order or reverse chronological order? Let me know in the comments by saying chronological or reverse chronological. I'm very curious to hear which one ends up being more popular. I am asked the question is walk me through your resume similar to the question Tell me about yourself? The answer is yes, they are similar, but there are some subtle differences. So although I am going to walk you through the framework to craft the perfect response to walk me through your resume, I am going to give you the free digital download of the worksheet Tell me about yourself which will walk you through three steps on how to create that answer. So I will link that free guide in the comments and the description that you can use along with this video. Now here's my framework to build out the the best answer to walk me through your resume. First, start with an overall statement. This statement describes what kind of professional you are. Again, to orient this poor soul to who the heck you are if you are transitioning to a new path. It's best to let your interviewer know that in this overall statement and this really sets the stage for the details you're going to provide in the next part of your response. And also, don't worry, I'm going to give you multiple examples. Second, touch on your pertinent previous jobs, projects, or volunteer opportunities by giving one to three accomplishments for each. You shouldn't give all of your previous roles similar airtime. Spend more time on past roles that are similar to the role you're pursuing. And always keep in mind that you should use quantifiable achievements wherever possible. They help your interviewer to quickly grasp the magnitude of your accomplishments. And if you're thinking I don't have many accomplishments, much less ones with magnitude, okay, I have two resources for you. First, check out my video on how to make a resume with no experience. In that video, I show you how to dig deep to find relevant accomplishments you're probably overlooking. And second, as I said, my free resume revamp course. I'll go over that. I'll help you take the dull tasks and whip them into irresistible resume bullets. I'll link them both in the comments and the description. Third, end your response with why this opportunity is the right next step for you. This is where you communicate your passion for the particular role and company. And that's because hiring managers don't want to hire someone who wants any old job. They want someone who wants specifically this job that they are here hiring for. Now that we've gone through the framework, let's get into some example answers to show you how to how to use it. We'll start with a chronological example for a career changer. This person is making a big career leap from being a middle school teacher to an office manager. And if you're a student, you can adjust this response to work for you, such as going from being a student to whatever career path you're going for. Here's the example. I am an operations professional focused on office management. My early career was focused on getting my teaching license teaching middle schoolers chemistry. I was consistently recognized for having the most organized and logically arranged classroom in school. I identified a new vendor and negotiated rates to get better science equipment at a 20% lower rate, ensuring that we had additional budget to send two more students to the county science fair. It was through this experience that I realized my passion for office operations. I am highly efficient at organizing a space, working with vendors, and managing restrictive budgets. That's why your role as office manager caught my eye. As a growing company, you need someone who will stretch a dollar, be proactive with improvements, and knows how to work with people. It really feels like the right fit. Notice how she didn't focus on branding herself as a teacher. She focused on her new path and really showed the transferable skills. Okay, next example is reverse chronological order and this is for a more experienced professional in the field they're going after. I've been in the advertising industry for five years and I'm currently an account supervisor at ABC company. I was promoted to the role within two years of working with them because I was responsible for acquiring and managing four large accounts worth over $400,000 annually. That's what excites me. I love making pitches to win new business and working with clients and a creative team to devise advertising campaigns that meet and exceed clients needs. Prior to that I was working for XYZ company where I got client facing experience and learned how to expertly manage my time dealing with a high volume of client support requests daily and your company and this role really captured my interest because what you are doing in the advertising space is exactly in line with my passion and expertise which is helping others use storytelling and cutting edge advertising strategies to influence customer behavior. I see this role as an excellent opportunity for me to swiftly make an impact and grow quickly due to your diverse team. So again, this person was touching on two of the past experiences, noting the things that were most relevant to the role they were pursuing and wrapping it up with why this is the best next move for them. All right, well make sure you like this video and subscribe to this channel. You've got this wi fi high five.