How to Answer “Walk Me Through Your Resume” in a Job Interview

It is standard practice for interviewers to start a job interview with an introductory question, which is why “Tell me about yourself” is such a common question.

The alternative that you will most likely stumble upon is “Walk me through your resume”.

That’s a great chance to present your professional qualifications and strengthen the impression you have created with your application documents.

But make no mistake, you should not start going point by point through your whole resume, that’s not what the interviewer wants to hear.

In this article, we are going to show you how to answer this question right.

We are going to explore the two most important questions:

• Why do employers ask you to walk them through your resume?
• How to answer “Walk me through your resume”?

And then we’ll finish things off with some of the best sample examples which can help you create your own.

If you still experience some difficulty with getting an interview with your current resume, you should check out our resume builder and create a unique and impressive design in no time.

But if you are ready to learn how to walk an interviewer through your resume, stick around.

Why do employers ask you to walk them through your resume?

This question seems pretty straightforward, but often it is not about what candidates think.

You should absolutely stay away from a 30-minute-long explanation of your whole resume, section by section.

What the interviewer wants to hear is your best qualities, work experience, and skills, presented in a concise manner.

Essentially, what is expected of you is to bring your resume to life by highlighting the most important parts of your resume and presenting your character at the same time.

What the interviewer wants to find out with this question is how qualified you are for the position you are applying for, in your own words.

Furthermore, with this question, they can find out whether you know your own strengths and how effectively you can present them in a limited time.

How to answer “walk me through your resume”?

Now that you know why an interviewer would ask you this question, it is time to learn how to get the best out of it.

You can do so by simply following 5 steps.

Describe your most relevant work experience

The first and more important part of your answer is your previous work experience.

Your work experience should take up most of your answer, as it is what is most critical for the interviewer, and it is what makes you suitable for the position you are applying for.

Try explaining how you began your career, and how you have progressed through the years.

What an interviewer wants to hear is that you have gained some really valuable skills while progressing in your career and that your past employers were truly satisfied by your work.

What you should not mention here is every job you have ever held, keep it relevant to the position you are applying for.

Highlight specific accomplishments

In order to strengthen your work experience presentation, even more, you should highlight your most essential work-related accomplishments.

Showing off your work accomplishments can improve your chances of getting the job, as you show your potential employer that you are a goal-oriented employee.

And, just like we mentioned in the previous section, you should try to keep it all relevant to the position you are applying for.

Show your skill set

Even though your work experience is the most important part of your resume, don’t spend your whole answer on this section alone.

The other section that you should spend some significant time on is your skills section.

What you would want to do is read through the job posting in advance, so that you would know what skills your potential employer would be looking for.

This way, you can include the most crucial skills in your answer and grab the interviewer’s attention.

In order to format your answer nicely, try connecting your skills to your work history, and describe how you have developed each skill in your past job entries.

Explain what value you can add to the company

Another part of your answer that you can directly link to your work experience is showing that you have added some significant value to the companies you have worked for.

Proving that your past employers valued you as a part of their company, can only show a potential employer that you are hard-working and that you would be ready to be just as motivated in your new role.

Prove that you are a good fit

Last but not least, discuss how you would be a good fit for the company, and how the position fits into your long-term career goals.

When discussing your career goals, make sure you also focus on how the company would benefit from you working there.

Employers want to know that they would make a good investment for their growth by hiring you. Showing them that you are looking at the same direction career-wise is a great way to convince them that you would be a strong and long-term employee.

Best answers for “walk me through your resume”

And now, as promised, we are going to show you some of the best examples you can use to make your own answer.

Example answer for a marketing specialist

“I started off my marketing career as an intern. During the six-month period, I took care of writing website copy, building email campaigns, and creating posts for social media. My progress was well-received by the management, and I got hired for a full-time marketing specialist position. With that promotion, my responsibilities increased – I was in charge of the company’s social media accounts, and was doing everything from creating posts to building ad campaigns. The accomplishment I am most proud of is winning Marketer of the Year, as that was definite proof that all my hard work was recognized. Another essential thing I included on my resume is my skill set, including my ability to use all major social media platforms.”

Explore our examples for marketing specialist resumes.

Example answer for retail manager

“I kicked off my career in retail by working at my local mall as a sales associate. That job gave me the opportunity to develop my customer service skills. My responsibilities included restocking inventory, ringing up customers’ purchases, and helping customers with any questions they had. Through the years, I climbed up the career ladder up to the position of senior sales associate. That role helped me stumble upon the administrative side of retail, which helped me prepare for this management position. Throughout my retail career, my employer recognized me as an employee of the month on four different occasions. I believe that is due to the fact that I am willing to help and put in extra effort during busy seasons. Another thing you can find in my resume is what I believe to be the most essential skills for the role that I possess – I am highly organized, a natural problem-solver, and personable, as well as a motivating leader that is always ready to help my team.”

Explore our resume examples for retail managers.

Takeaways

We are all done, now you know how to get the best answer when asked “Walk me through your resume”

Let’s do a quick recap, to get things just right you need to:

• Focus mainly on your work experience section, while trying to mention only relevant experience, rather than your whole work history
• Highlight your relevant work-related accomplishments while talking about your job entries
• Take the time to talk about your skills section as well, and try to connect it to your work experience by explaining how you acquired those skills
• Explain what value you can add to the company by describing the value you have added in previous companies you have worked for
• Prove that you are a good fit by showing that your career goals match what your potential employer offers, and that you would stay there for a long time

Check out our examples one last time, and prepare your own answer for your next job interview.