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What should I say when I'm asked to summarize my job experience?

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Karen James Chopra: Hi, I am Karen Chopra. I am a career counselor in Washington DC. Now we are going to talk about some common interview questions. Host: What should I say when I am asked to summarize my job experience?

Karen James Chopra: This is a very common question in interviews. Interviewers will often start out with what they think is an easy question, a question about, 'Tell me a bit about yourself' or 'Walk me through your background.

' For many of my clients this is an actually a very challenging question. So prepare for this one ahead of time. What you want to tell them is all the most important things about you in relation to this job. So you don't want to start out, "When I graduated from college my first job is --" and walk through your resume up until the present moment. They are going to be sound asleep before they ever get to the punchline. So when they ask you to tell them about you, start with, "Well, I have had x years of experience.

" Doing exactly what the company is looking for you to do and then highlight specific examples of that experience, your favorite accomplishments and maybe even some of the key traits that you bring to that job. For example, I am very detail oriented or I am an excellent leader or I am really good with people and I am good at motivating team and walk them through all of your key skills and then say, "Thats a brief summary of my experience and I would be happy to answer any questions that you have for me.

" Then turn it back over to them.

Expert: Karen Chopra

Licensed Professional Counselor

www.ChopraCareers.com

Email: Karen@ChopraCareers.com

Karen James Chopra, LPC, MCC, NCC, has been counseling career clients since 1999 and has helped hundreds of clients change careers, find new jobs and deal more effectively with workplace challenges.In addition to her private practice, she has worked for two national corporate outplacement firms: Lee Hecht Harrison and Resource Careers. These are the organizations that help people who have experienced a layoff or More »