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

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Karen Chopra
Licensed Professional Counselor
www.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 downsizing to find new jobs, and their programs are usually considered the gold-standard of job search technique.

Ms Chopra is a regular presenter on career issues, having taught career theory at the graduate level, designed and delivered numerous workshops, and served as a regular guest commentator on WMAL’s career radio show “Your Career Life.”

She is a career-changer herself. Before entering the counseling field, she worked for nearly a decade as a trade negotiator for the United States Government, first at the Department of Commerce and then at the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative.

Ms. Chopra holds a number of relevant licenses and certifications: licensed professional counselor (LPC) in the District of Columbia; Master Career Counselor (MCC), a designation of the National Career Development Association (NCDA); and National Certified Counselor (NCC), a designation of the National Board of Certified Counselors (NBCC).  She belongs to all of the relevant national and local associations involved in career counseling, including the American Counseling Association (ACA),  the National Employment Counselors Association (NECA), the National Career Development Association (NCDA) and the Washington Metropolitan Area Career-Life Planning Network (MAC-LPN).

Her B.A. is from the University of Virginia, and she received a masters of science in foreign service from Georgetown University, and a masters in community counseling from George Washington University.

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.

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