It sounds almost too simple to be true, but not knowing the content of your resume, and getting caught up by it during an interview are fairly common occurrences. Whether you have written your resume yourself or had it written by a professional resume writer, you must be well aware of what is on your resume. If you’ve made it past the initial gatekeepers and have received an invitation for an interview, take some time to review your resume and know it well.

Most often the responsibility of interviewing and offering positions to candidates falls on the manager of the department, area, or office, depending on the size of the organization. Just because they are the decision makers it doesn’t make them proficient or even comfortable during the interview process. It is your job as the candidate to help the hiring manager feel comfortable with you so the skills on your resume and your natural fit with the interviewer will illustrate your potential value to the company.

You must be able to identify areas of your resume if a sentence or two is read to you for you to elaborate on.

When conducting these interviews, your resume will often be the outline at which questions are asked about your skills and achievements. If you stumble or look blinded by the question, it may send a red flag about your ability to do those skills.

Make sure to read every word – several times, so you are completely familiar with the words used. This is particularly important if you wrote or had your resume written a few months ago. Also refresh yourself on your LinkedIn profile and the content of your VisualCV web page. The more you know about yourself and how you describe your value, expertise and achievements the more you’ll be see as the right fit for the job.