When recruiters say “walk me through your resume”, tell them this.

If you’ve ever done a number of interviews whether it’s over the phone or face to face then you’ve probably stumbled upon this request before.

It’s probably one of the most common interview questions out there and yet it’s one of the questions that most people tend to answer poorly.

Here’s the issue, most people who get asked this question tend to literally walk the employer word for word through their resume which is a big no.

The reality is, that’s not actually what the employer or the recruiter who asked you that question is looking for. A bit counter-intuitive I know – I mean, you asked me to walk you through my resume and now you’re telling me that you don’t want me to walk you through my resume? Well yes, but give me a second here I’ll explain!

Now, as someone who’s done boatloads of phone screens to the point where I tend to lose my voice by the end of the day, let me tell you, I’ve seen the good, I’ve seen the bad and I’ve seen the ugly.  And I don’t mean just the ugly, I mean imagine Shrek had a baby with Frankenstein and the baby jumped into a pile of mud, I mean that kinda ugly.

The great news is, one of the common questions I have to ask candidates when I screen them through the telephone interview is something along the lines of “walk me through your resume”, probably not the best question to ask, but that’s another article in itself.

First, let me paint a picture for you real quick.

After asking the candidates this question it usually results in two scenarios…

• My head nods in thrill and excitement knowing that my precious vocal tracts are being put in good use
• My head nods side to side as I put myself on mute and think of the best excuses that I can to jump off the call and have an extra 30 minutes for lunch

So, given my experience witnessing the many answers to this question and seeing all the good, bad and the uglies, I have put together a step by step framework for you that you can use for your next interview so you don’t end up looking like Shrek’s baby.

By the end of this article, you’ll be able to confidently walk someone through your resume the right way and end up wow-ing them along the way.

Imagine sitting across a hiring manager in a conference room and they ask you “walk me through your resume” and all you can think is…

“Wow, thank you hiring manager for letting me take complete control of this interview and giving you a fire showreel of my career path that’ll blow you away. You ain’t ready for this.”

I’ll help you get there by the end of this article, now let’s get to it.

So, what exactly are people looking for when they ask you “walk me through your resume”? Well, they’re looking for transferable skills you have that can be used in this new role they’re hiring for and they’re trying to see whether or not you would be a good “fit” for the job.

They’re most likely thinking “can I see this person working in this job?”.

Hence, when they ask you to walk them through your resume, they’re probably trying to put the puzzle together in their head.

And it’s your job as the interviewee to make the puzzle seem like a perfect fit.

Now, usually when you walk someone through your resume you ideally want to start with your relevant work experiences then go into volunteer work along with any extracurricular activities and afterwards into your education.

Here’s the framework that I want you to keep in mind when you’re walking something through your work experience, volunteer experiences or education, I call it E.L.T.A.S.

E – Explain the job and the organization

L – List some job duties, I recommend 3-4 - don’t go overboard

T – Transferable skills

A – Accomplishments you achieved

S – Skills you’ve developed

For example, let’s say you’ve worked as a University Tour Guide and you’re trying to explain your experience there to the other person, here’s a word for word example of how to go about it using the E.L.T.A.S formula.

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*let's say you're applying for a Tour Guide position with a company called Tarveltheworld Inc

"At the top of my resume, you’ll notice I worked at Amazing University from June 2016 – April 2017. My main focus in this role was to deliver tours of the university campus to prospective students. Some of the main responsibilities I had in this role were…

• Researching information related to the campus
• Public speaking in front of a large audience
• Do head counts during tours
• Engage in small conversations with tour participants

Some of the most transferable skills I bring from this experience is my ability to build relationships with the tour participants.

Often during the tours, I would take the time to get to know the tour participants on a personal level by asking their names and what brings them here.

Because of my ability to build relationships with the tour participants, they would often put in a good word about me to my managers and I eventually ended up getting the “tour guide of the month” award 3 months in a row.

This experience has really helped me to develop my interpersonal skills which will be a great asset for the role as a Tour Guide with Tarveltheworld Inc."

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Now let’s look at how we’ve used E.L.T.A.S in this example:

Explain – I worked at Amazing University from June 2016 – April 2017 and I delivered tours to prospective students

List some job duties – researching information, public speaking, doing head count, engage in small conversation

Transferable skills – relationship building abilities

Accomplishment – “tour guide of the month” award 3 months in a row

Skills you’ve developed – Interpersonal skills

Notice how using the E.L.T.A.S frame work makes your work experience sound so much better compared to if you said something like....

...“Yeah so I worked as a University Tour Guide, I had to do head counts, talk about the school and do some research”.

Now when it comes to using the E.L.T.A.S formula for volunteer work it’s pretty much the same thing.

Here’s what it could sound like…

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"Beyond my work, I also have a passion for animals. I often volunteer during the weekends at my local animal shelter where I would help the staff to show around pet owners who are looking to give their pet to the shelter.

Because of my passion for animals and my ability to lead, the animal shelter would often put me on supervisory shifts where I would have to coordinate other volunteers to ensure all potential pet givers were being attended to.

My time at the animal shelter has helped me to develop my leadership skills and being able to work with a variety of personality types in a stressful environment. "

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Now let’s talk a little bit about the education section.

So far, you’ve walked them through your work history and you’ve also highlighted your volunteer experience. Now, you’re coming close to the education section of your resume, how do we use the E.L.T.A.S for that?

Here’s how:

Explain – explain where you went for schooling and when

List duties – list a couple of courses you’ve taken that are transferable to the role you’re trying to get into

Transferable skills – what did you learn in your courses that are transferable to the job?

Accomplishments – mention any noticeable accomplishments you achieved during your time at school

Skills – what skills were you able to develop during your time at school?

Here’s another word for word example of it in action.

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"If you go down my resume, you’ll notice I studied tourism and travel at TravelBug University from September 2013 – April 2017.

During my time there some of the relevant courses I took were:

• International tourism
• Managing travel and the tourism industry
• Marketing for travel

After taking these courses I’ve learned a lot in terms of how the travel and tourism industry runs which I find super interesting.

A noticeable accomplishment I achieved during my time at TravelBug University was that I was able to successfully achieve a GPA of 3.6/4 during my 5 years there.

As a student of tourism and travel at TravelBug University I was often required to give mock tours of the university campus to our class as a way to develop our knack for tourism, this really helped me to develop my thinking on the spot capabilities.

I would often do a great job at these tours, so much so that the professor once pulled me to the side and said…

 'Hey Alif, I think you’re absolutely amazing at these tours if you ever need a reference please let me know, I think you’ve got a great career path ahead of you.'"

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Again, the E.L.T.A.S formula is pretty much the same when it comes to your education just a little modified.

So now that you understand the E.L.T.A.S framework and how to properly walk someone through your resume, this is what I want you to do before your next interview.

Pull out your resume and a piece of paper and apply the E.L.T.A.S formula to each of your previous work experiences, volunteer roles and education you’ve taken.

Then write it all down in the piece of paper for safe keeping.

Now, at your next interview when the interviewer asks you “walk me through your resume” you can confidently be in full control and say the right things that’ll blow them away.  

I'd love to hear from you now! Comment down below what is the biggest struggle you face when you know you have an interview coming up?