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“So, erm… Perhaps you could tell me a bit about your background?” He hasn’t read your resume. No man can. Not necessarily. It gives the applicant a chance to

“So, erm… Perhaps you could tell me a bit about your background?” He hasn’t read your resume. No man can. Not necessarily. It gives the applicant a chance to highlight the cool details he did but perhaps can't put on a resume. It gives opportunity for poking more questions. And it is a question the applicant prepared for and can talk about a lot, a good way to "break ice"

rebuilder 5y ago
If no man can read the resume, it’s a safe assumption Tim the interviewer hasn’t.
- neilv 5y ago
  http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0136%3Abook%3D9%3Acard%3D360 http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%...
zerocount 5y ago
I've never been asked to tell about my background, it's always about my self. It's just something every interviewer starts off with and frankly, is a waste of time. I just quickly blurt out my job history and we get on with the interview. But, if I was asked about my background, I would think the interviewer didn't read my resume.
- overlordalex 5y ago
  It's just something every interviewer starts off with and frankly, is a waste of time. It may be a waste of time for you, but as an interviewer it seriously helps nervous candidates find their footing by starting something that they're super comfortable and confident with. It can be intimidating to jump right into questions without a bit of social lubrication. I normally start my interviews pointing out that we indeed have your CV, so it would be helpful to know how all the pieces came together in your last project. I find the conversational-style of interviewing more productive than the inquisitional-style, and past projects is a nice entrance to deeper questions EDIT: And in some cases we dont even have your CV. I'm testing a new hiring pipeline where instead of asking for a resume we instead ask a few open-ended questions. This is to see if we can reduce any unconscious bias in the first selection of applicants. In this case, starting with a short summary _is_ new information

rebuilder 5y ago

If no man can read the resume, it’s a safe assumption Tim the interviewer hasn’t.

neilv 5y ago
http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0136%3Abook%3D9%3Acard%3D360 http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%...

zerocount 5y ago

I've never been asked to tell about my background, it's always about my self. It's just something every interviewer starts off with and frankly, is a waste of time. I just quickly blurt out my job history and we get on with the interview. But, if I was asked about my background, I would think the interviewer didn't read my resume.

overlordalex 5y ago
It's just something every interviewer starts off with and frankly, is a waste of time. It may be a waste of time for you, but as an interviewer it seriously helps nervous candidates find their footing by starting something that they're super comfortable and confident with. It can be intimidating to jump right into questions without a bit of social lubrication. I normally start my interviews pointing out that we indeed have your CV, so it would be helpful to know how all the pieces came together in your last project. I find the conversational-style of interviewing more productive than the inquisitional-style, and past projects is a nice entrance to deeper questions EDIT: And in some cases we dont even have your CV. I'm testing a new hiring pipeline where instead of asking for a resume we instead ask a few open-ended questions. This is to see if we can reduce any unconscious bias in the first selection of applicants. In this case, starting with a short summary _is_ new information