“Walk me through your resume” is a fairly common interview question.

We believe the ROI on this question is low for these X reasons.

1. Been there, done that - By the time the candidate gets to an interview you have probably reviewed and even validated their CVs via phone screen and/or LinkedIn—why do the same again with the candidate?

2. Candidate experience -When you ask a candidate to walk you through your resume, it might appear that you haven’t taken the time to prepare for the interview. It might also paint you as unfocused and unsure of what you really want to know.

3. Focus, Please - It completely makes sense that you would like to drill down into a candidate’s specific and relevant experience, but we recommend doing so in a focused and skills-based manner. Instead of just reviewing the candidate’s experience in a chronological order, ask yourself:
1. What are the skills that are most important for the job that I have to assess in this interview?
2. What previous experience in the candidate’s CV implies that he might have that skill?

Then, you will be able to ask more focused questions with a higher diagnostic value.

For example, if developing and growing a team is a skill required for the job your are interviewing for and you find relevant, specific experience on a candidates resume, you can ask them: “You mentioned in your CV that in your last role you lead a team and grew it from 5 to 10 people. What is the biggest challenge you faced while doubling the number of team members? how did you deal with it? What is the recent activity you took in order to develop your team members”?