Main image of article Job Interview Prep: Read Your Own Resume

There’s lots of advice out there about preparing for job interviews: Don’t argue with the interviewer, for example, and don’t bring up personal stuff. What isn’t mentioned quite so much is the need to have a solid grasp on the arc of your own career—which is too bad, because there’s no easier way to trip up job candidates than to ask them for details about their professional past. What does “have a grasp on the arc of your career” actually mean? For starters, re-reading your resume and making sure you remember all the jobs, projects, and timelines contained therein. You wouldn’t believe how many candidates, having not scanned their own resume in weeks (if not months), trip up over simple things like how long they worked at a particular job, and what skills they learned in the process. If you’ve followed most advice on prepping for job interviews, you’ll know to bring hard copies of your resume to hand out to whomever asks; on interview day, make sure you give it a scan, as well. But your refresher on yourself should begin long before that, and you should approach it with as much rigor as you would research into your prospective employer.

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