A recruiter has shared his insight on why so many interviewers will ask candidates one very common question during a job interview, and what they want to learn about you from your answer
A recruitment expert has shed light on why interviewers often ask candidates to summarise their CV, even if they’ve already read it. The reason for this is because they’re looking for one key piece of information.
Between December 2024 and February 2025, the UK’s unemployment rate climbed to 4.4%, equating to approximately 1.57million individuals, as per data from the Office of National Statistics. This represents an increase of 114,000 compared to the previous year. Securing a job can seem like an impossible task, proven by how recent graduates are struggling to find employment. However, landing a job interview can be seriously nerve-wracking.
To assist, Rob Cancilla, a recruiter and career mentor, has offered his advice on how to make an impact during an interview. In a social media post, Rob explained why many interviewers ask about your CV and what they’re really hoping to learn from your response.
“A very common mistake that so many people walk into during such an important part of a job interview – when someone says ‘walk me through your resume’,” he began in his TikTok video.
He went on to clarify: “What they’re really saying is connect the dots for me on how your past experiences and successes are relevant and going to add value for this role.”
Rob warned that many candidates fail to use their time effectively when answering this crucial question, simply rehashing their entire CV without making the necessary connections.
“A really strong approach that I recommend using is what I call connector statements,” he said.
Connectors, or connector statements, are words or short phrases that link ideas or statements together across different sentences or paragraphs.
“By utilising connector statements, you’re going to be laser focused in your answer, and you’re also going to highlight to the interviewer the experiences, skills and attributes that you are bringing to the table,” he said.
He went on to share some examples of what connector statements could work the best during a job interview.
He explained: “Example connector statements could be, ‘Where I added the most value and impact to my previous role was’, ‘when I think about that role, what I’m the most proud of’, ‘as I think about what you’re looking for in this role, my most relevant experience is probably in my role at’.”
“These connector statements are super easy to use and they will make you absolutely more efficient in answering the question ‘walk me through your resume’,” he said at the end of the video.
People took to the comments to share their appreciation for Rob’s useful tips, however some just found it frustrating.
One person commented: “Why don’t interviewers just ask the question they want to know the answer to??? if they want us to connect our experience to the role we applied for, they should ask for THAT instead.”
To this, Rob replied: “I hear you.”
