Why do job interviewers always...?

Question

ask employment history and education related questions even though its very clearly outlined on your resume. Do job interviewers ever bother to read resumes or is this a trick to find out whether you lied on your resume ?

Answer 1

The resume gets you the job interview. It's best when it's one page in length. Its goal is to make the interviewer interested in you.

Poor resumes, long resumes, misspellings etc. don't get the person an interview.

Companies also use application forms. While there are several resume formats, the forms let the company review all the applicants information in the say way.

Most interviewers have a preferred script they follow. When asking about the a person's job history they are watching how the person behaves and how much information they will provide. While some is how their other jobs went, there's lots of "How will this person work out?" being done.

There's also the ice breaker question. "Tell me something about yourself?" and "Why should we hire you?" are typical.

In short you need a script of your own. When a question about your education comes up, what can you talk about that will increase your chance of being hired? Here's a chance to take control of the interview and talk about what helps you. Same with the icebreakers.

Answer 2

The average employer reads your resume. It is an important document. It's your document that tells someone about you. Hope this helps. Have an excellent resume, and bring an excellent attitude toy your interview..  

Answer 3

The interviewer is using information on your resume as a jumping off point for conversation.  Usually they will skim the resume and count on you to give them details.  Your best bet is to be polite and answer questions with details, preferably more in depth than what's already in front of them.  Make eye contact, smile.  Show them you can communicate effectively, that's why they're asking questions.  

Answer 4

they probably want you to go more in depth. your resume can only, and should only, say so much. It really shouldn't be more than a page! the lesser your resume, the more interviewers would get to ask you questions, and that gives you an opportunity to be personal with the interviewees.  

Answer 5

Because this is a chance for "YOU" to sell yourself...

In essence... you're basically marketing yourself to empolyers as a "product" (someone who will not only work for their company... but help to make them money, build productivity, enhance growth through ideas and certain strengths that you bring to the table)...

You're asked to shine through all aspects of an interview...

Submitting your resume gets you through the door (they want to see if you can communicate effectively within that format... plus it's also a more efficient way of screening through dozens of applicants while getting the hard facts)... Scoring an interview is the next level of meeting the "real person" behind the paper while giving you a chance to let them know more about you... who you are and if your verbal and nonverbal skills are effective enough to get the major points across...

Basically the resume is the coming attraction... the interview is the actual movie... they want to see if you're all you're cracked up to be.

Get a good book on how to ace an interview...

It's all really more about you than any employer... it's about how much you believe in yourself to be able to do the job...