How to Answer Walk Me Through Your Resume During Your Interview (Samples)

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Your resume is often a summary of your skills and qualifications. If hiring managers like what they read, they invite you for an interview. Now, during the interview, it’s their chance to assess whether your skills and qualifications are a PERFECT match for the job role. But many candidates make the mistake of detailing everything on their resume, losing the hiring manager’s attention and failing to keep things as relevant as possible. So, when answering this question, how do you prove to the hiring manager that you have the right skills and experience for the job? And how do you do this while keeping the hiring manager’s undivided attention?

Today, you will learn a strategy that will allow you to give a detailed summary of your resume in 2-3 minutes while highlighting all the KEY relevant points on your resume. This way, you can not only stand out compared to other candidates interviewing for this job, but you CAN also keep the interviewer engaged during the interview.

In This Article

Why do Hiring Managers Ask You This Interview Question?
How To Answer This Interview Question?
3 High Converting Sample Answers

Why do Hiring Managers Ask You This Interview Question?

First, hiring managers ask the following interview question: “Walk Me Through Your Resume” Because it is a way for them to quickly connect all the dots together. By connecting the dots, the interviewer can decide whether or NOT your past will add VALUE to the job role you are interviewing for. By walking the hiring manager through your resume and talking about the relevant experience you gained from each job role, you provide the interviewer with insight into how each job has prepared you for the job you are pursuing. Finally, by asking a candidate to walk through their resume, hiring managers can think about some other relevant questions they would like to ask about your skills and experience. For example, the interviewer may want to dig deeper into one of your past job roles to determine how well it will align with this job you are interviewing for. Or, they may want to hear how you applied a specific skill to reach a desired outcome. Ok so,

When answering the interview question,” Can you walk me through your resume? How do you structure your answer to reflect your MOST relevant experience and be as concise as possible?

How To Answer This Interview Question?

When answering the following interview question – Walk Me Through Your Resume?…follow these steps…

STEP 1

Think about the structure you would like to use when answering this question. For example, should you start by describing your furthest past work experience and then transition into your most recent? Or do you think it’s better the other way (present than past)? After researching this and speaking to several recruiters, it’s highly recommended that you start with your MOST recent job role and then move to your PAST work history.

So, why does this structure convert so well in interviewers?

Hiring managers pay the MOST attention at the start of an answer. You see, the longer you talk, the higher the chances of losing the interviewer’s focus and attention. In other words, give the hiring managers the MOST value as soon as possible (wow them immediately). Studies have shown if you start your answer by focusing on the job roles you performed years ago, they may or may NOT highlight your BEST skillset. Think about it, the MOST recent job experience on your resume is often closely related to the job you are interviewing for.

NOTE:  If you are someone making a career transition, start from your oldest job experience moving to your MOST recent job. This structure will allow you to explain to the hiring manager what motivated you to make a career change.

Now that you have decided on the structure for your answer…let’s move on to the next step, formulating your answer!

STEP 2

It’s time to review your resume and highlight what’s relevant to the job you’re interviewing for. Skimming through the job description is equally important to connect your work experience to the job requirements. Reviewing your resume and the job description is KEY to preparing a successful answer because it will give you a clear understanding of what areas you should focus on more during your interview. For example, while skimming through your resume and the job description, it’s important to ask yourself: Which skills and experience will add the MOST value to this job role and the company? Or, what strengths should I talk about that make me stand out as a candidate? Remember, your goal is to emphasize those job roles from your past that will align perfectly with this job. Here’s something else that’s equally important to mention –

By avoiding the irrelevant skills and job experiences that don’t align with this job, you have allocated additional time for yourself to go into specifics about your relevant job experience. Oh, you also have some extra time to mention your achievements too!

STEP 3

Third, when you look at your resume, you’ll notice it’s a summary of your education, key skills, and work experience. Not to mention, everything on your resume is written in bullet points with dates, etc. So, when answering the following interview question: “Walk Me Through Your Resume?” it’s important to elaborate on the relevant experience and not just read through your resume point by point. While answering this interview question, you must CONNECT each job listed on your resume to a skill or experience that is a direct requirement for this job. Here’s how you can do this step-by-step –

Start by reading through the job description and highlighting the KEY skills required. Now, in your answer, describe to the hiring manager how each job on your resume has helped you develop a KEY skill which would be an asset to this job you are interviewing for. For example, you can say: “At this job, I became more efficient at” or “during my previous job role at (company name), I was promoted to team leader because of my ability to delegate tasks effectively.

STEP 4

So, here’s the thing…

Hiring managers will ask you the following interview question: “Walk me through your resume?” As an opener to your interview or right after the question: “Tell Me About Yourself?” Since this question lays out the groundwork for other questions, don’t spend more than 3 minutes answering this question. If you do, you risk losing the interviewer’s attention, or you may say something that reflects poorly on your character or skill set. Avoid this from happening by keeping your answers SHORT and concise to give yourself and the hiring manager enough time to get through the interview and ask the questions they need to ask.

STEP 5

Think about the gaps in your resume and be ready to address them in your answer. As you answer this question, the hiring manager will follow through too. Trust me when I say the hiring manager will notice any significant gaps in your work history. Not addressing them in your answer can be problematic for the hiring manager because they will think you are hiding something. The best way to stop this is to explain the GAP on your resume. For example, let the interviewer know if you took time off to travel or return to school to complete a certification, etc. But, when explaining the gaps on your resume, it’s a good idea to describe the value you gained from your time off. For example, maybe it made you more self-aware of what’s important to you or enhanced your time management skills, etc. You can also say how your time off allowed you to think about your career goals and where you want to be in the future.

STEP 6

Craft the perfect ending when closing your answer! Spend no more than 20-30 seconds explaining how your PRESENT to your PAST work history brought you to where you are today. For example, how has the experience you’ve gained throughout your career given you the confidence to pursue this job you are interviewing for? Or, how did your experience help you decide to make a career change?

STEP 7

You will have a few days to prepare when you are invited for an interview. Use this time to CRAFT a relevant answer using what you LEARNED here today. MOCK Role play at home and time yourself to ensure you meet the recommended 2-3 minutes to answer this interview question. Don’t forget to research the job role and highlight the KEY SKILLS so you can continue to narrow down your answer and PERFECT it before your interview.

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3 High Converting Sample Answers

Here are 3 sample answers for you to use as a template when preparing your answer to the interview question: “Walk Me Through Your Resume.”

In the first sample, let’s use a job description for a digital marketing job and assume the KEY skills required are: managing and developing campaigns, understanding analytics and reports, optimizing campaigns to achieve a higher ROI, reaching our target KPIS, and working with the design team to generate media ads (banners, videos).

Let’s look at the sample answer –

“I currently work for (company name) and oversee the paid search strategy. My primary duties include developing, executing and managing paid search campaigns on various marketing channels like Google, Bing and social media. By analyzing the data on our various campaigns, I have met our target KPIs and made adjustments where necessary to reduce costs and increase profits. As a result, I am happy to share that under my watch, the paid search team achieved an ROI of 15% in 2022, up from 5% in the previous year. In addition, in this same position, I have been working with the creative design team to produce media which I feel will outperform our competitors based on the data I have collected from my reports. 

Before this position at (company name), I was a copywriter. I was responsible for the landing page copy and the related ad copy. I am proud of this position because my job was to ensure that we followed the advertising policies of different marketing platforms to ensure first-time ad approval. This is important because the longer the ad is not running, the longer we are not generating income through our advertising efforts. I am happy to share that we achieved a first-time approval rate of 70%.

Now quickly, I’ve also worked as a digital marketing consultant for local businesses helping them grow their brand within their geographic location. I have extensive knowledge in content marketing as my first job was writing content for (company name), ensuring they rank organically in search engines to grow their traffic. 

I am now pursuing this job as a Director of Paid Search because this is where I feel I will excel the most. I am analytical, so I get a thrill from analyzing data and optimizing campaigns to hit our monthly KPIs. No matter the type of business, I feel that an online presence is vital. Utilizing paid marketing campaigns to reach your target audience and achieve your business goals will be critical as each industry gets even more competitive.” 

In this second sample answer, let’s assume the KEY skills required are: Someone who can perform in a team setting, has excellent communication skills, is flexible and versatile, and finally, is a problem-solver.

Let’s look at the sample answer –

“I currently work as a customer service specialist at (company name). My day-to-day responsibilities include managing inventory, communicating with customers to help them find the right product, and working with my team to find creative ways to make our job more efficient. To highlight one of my GREATEST achievements…

While working here, I have developed a unique feedback system that allows us to quickly gather information from customers before they leave on how to perform better to fulfill their needs. My role as a customer service specialist has allowed me to grow as an individual because it enhanced my understanding of what’s vital for any business to be successful. For example, now I communicate more clearly with customers to ensure they have a solution to their problems more efficiently. The more satisfied a customer is, the higher chances they will continue to be repeat customers. Not to mention, I pride myself on teamwork because we are far more effective when working as a unit instead of independently.  

Before this job, I worked as a customer associate at (company name). My primary responsibility was processing refunds or exchanges. This role was exciting because I was helping people solve issues with their merchandise. I became highly effective at calming down angry customers when things got out of hand. This job also allowed me to hone my computer skills and become far more efficient at typing and filing invoices.   

Finally, I also have experience working in customer service on the phone. I worked for two (2) years with a telemarketing company cold calling customers about special promotions we have on credit cards, etc. Sometimes I would have customers hang up on me during my call. Still, this job made me extremely patient when communicating with customers.”

I am now pursuing this job as a Senior Customer Service Specialist because I believe my (mention years) of experience working with customers will be an asset to this role. I bring a set of skills that perfectly match your requirements as you seek someone who is a problem-solver, a team player, and flexible. Besides my skills, you will also be getting a person on your team who knows the importance of putting the customer first and is commercially aware of how a business and your specific industry operate and make money.”

Finally, here is a sample answer for someone making a transition into another career:

“As you can see from my resume, I have worked in different industries throughout my professional career. In (state year), my first job was as a marketing associate. I worked closely with the entire marketing team to plan and implement campaigns to Drive Brand Awareness and Sales Enablement. During my time here, I gained extensive knowledge of paid marketing strategies. After two years, I started working as a paid marketing specialist for (company name). In this position, I developed and executed paid marketing campaigns to meet target KPIs by analyzing the analytical reports. However, while working here, I wanted something more in the frontline instead of working long hours at my desk analyzing data from each campaign. 

After one year, an opportunity presented itself within the same company as an associate sales meeting with our client base to introduce some of the new products the company was launching. I was brought on as an intern and excelled in the job role. I won the Sales award two months in a row exceeding my sales target. My ability to communicate and relate to the customer was essential to my success. I have worked as a sales specialist for the same company for the last two years. However, I am now looking to transition into an industry which I feel has enormous potential in the future. Your company offers a business-to-business solution to help small to medium size businesses grow in a competitive market. Everyone, even businesses, should have the tools and resources to grow in an already competitive market. I believe my skills match perfectly with your requirements, and I am confident that I will be an asset to your organization.”

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