Can you speak to your resume?
In addition to the plethora of common interview questions you need to prepare for, you should also be prepared to address questions about your resume. About ANYTHING on your resume–even the smallest of details.
If you stumble or seem confused when an interviewer asks about something on the resume, that could be the end of your candidacy.
Here are the three ways you should be ready to speak about your resume content:
- Discuss and expand: Be ready for questions about any of the experience or summary bullets and even any of the skills if you have a list of core competencies. You should be ready to expand on any of those things. If a bullet point is referencing a specific success story, be prepared to expand on that with a full CAR story (Challenge you faced, Action you took, Result that was achieved).
- Clarify any misunderstandings: No matter how well-written and thoroughly proofread your resume is, there will still be instances when a reader doesn’t understand something, or a mistake somehow slipped in there. Be ready to clarify without getting flustered. Apologize for the mistake or lack of clarity, explain the correct information, and move on.
- Explain the actual resume: This doesn’t happen often, but you might be asked questions pertaining to the writing and designing of the resume. Decide beforehand if you’ll confess to having help (if you hired a professional), and how to explain that choice. If you’ll pass it off as your own, be ready to answer questions about how you created it or used a template.
Make sure you’re familiar with every word on your resume and DON’T be caught off-guard by questions about it.
Interviewers will often interpret any confusion on your part in the worst possible way–assuming that you must have lied or fabricated information (remember lies is harder than remembering the truth, after all).
This article first appeared on www.KellyDonovan.com
