Bringing CV to interview

I have an interview with a community type agency this afternoon. I will be bringing a copy of my CV with me. When the interview panel asks me to "talk them through" my CV is it ok to look at the CV?

Thanks in advance.

Personally I wouldn't recommend it - if it is your work / education history, you should be able to talk around it easily.

reading it comes over that you need to remember what you had made up..

Why do you feel you would need to read through?

Paddy

I disagree with the above - I always bring a copy of my CV to any interviews, and when conducting interviews I think it shows that the interviewee is prepared and organised. It can be hard when you're already nervous to recall relevant information on your CV. No need to read from it, but it will prompt you to mention anything important. If nothing else, it gives you something to do with your hands, keeps the nerves away.

Mel said:

I disagree with the above -

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It does'nt matter eitherway. What matters is your appearance, a confident dispositon and relevant experience to the position. If looking at your CV helps you disposition, that is fine. Best of Luck - you will do very well I'm sure.

indebtedgal said:

I have an interview with a community type agency this afternoon. I will be bringing a copy of my CV with me. When the interview panel asks me to "talk them through" my CV is it ok to look at the CV?

Thanks in advance.

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I would say bring it. Have it in a folder or under the job spec but have it to hand if the discussions about your CV get very detailed. If you look puzzled when a previous employer is mentioned that's one thing but if you are asked detailed questions about previous projects etc to have a quick glimpse is fair enough. Just make sure you don't let it distract you from keeping eye contact with the interviewer(s). Best of luck with it.

When they ask you to talk them through your cv, just start telling them about your present position ie job title, responsibilities, progression since you started in this position, any qualifications you took out since taking up this employment. They will then guide you through the rest by asking questions.

Good luck in the interview. If you feel comfortable with it no harm in having a copy of your CV to hand just to use as a visual aid.

I have interviewed many people over the years and to be totally honest, reliance on having to read from or refer to a CV during an interview makes me suspicious.
If a candidate cannot adequately recall high level detail on their own career progression it makes me wonder if the CV content is credible....
Just my opinion......

Lauren - exactly where I was coming from

Question was specifically asking whether it was okay to look at the CV when talking it through - By all means bring it with you shows you are prepared - as often a cv you print could be presented much better than after it has been sent electronically and printed.

My point is - if you are reading to go through your career then I would have doubts as to whether you hadn't added some creative extra's.

I much prefer when a candidate has a notepad with a list of prepared question - if it helps you could do that and have bullet points you want to remember from the C.V.

BTW poor form I didn't say it earlier but GOOD LUCK

Just an update.. when i got to the interview they had a copy of my CV on my side of the table.. "for your own reference". so i presume its not frowned upon!! thanks for all replies..

I think it all comes down to how it's used. I know if I was interviewing someone who just looked down at their CV and read it out with a few embellishments on the way, I'd have serious doubts.

If one the otherhand they were able to present themselves intelligently, with good eye contact and clear communication, I wouldn't be bothered in the slightest if they referred to the CV occasionally to enable them to confirm a particular date or sequence of events: all that would tell me is that they liked to get things correct rather than relying exclusively on their memory in what is a pressured situation.

Hope it went well, by the way!