Telephone Interview Questions
Master 30 telephone interview questions covering communication skills, etiquette, and customer interaction scenarios.
Question 14 of 30
Briefly walk me through your work history. Please include why you left each position listed on your resume.
Manager
Sales
Retail
Marketing
Admin
Teacher
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Example Answer
Community Answers
Rachelle Enns is an interview coach and job search expert. She works with candidates to perform their best in employment, medical, and post-secondary admission interviews.
"I have held progressive roles in management following my education at Brown University, ranging from Coordinator to Generalist to Sr. Manager. Each career move I made was in the interest of developing professionally and becoming more advanced in my field of expertise. My current company has been acquired by a competitor which is why I am proactively seeking a new opportunity."
Rachelle Enns is an interview coach and job search expert. She works with candidates to perform their best in employment, medical, and post-secondary admission interviews.
"I've earned quick promotions across organizations, starting with my first job out of college. Upon graduation, I began with CBA Company as a carrier sales rep. Later, I was promoted to account manager within only a few months. I grew my book of business by over 252% from the baseline that I inherited. I left that position to start as a sales rep at a startup and gained promotion faster than anyone to date in the organization. As an account executive, I closed a deal within 48 hours of promotion, which was also record-setting. I was then headhunted for a strategic sales role at my current business to help get the markets launched across the country. Now, I seek a greater opportunity with less travel. I currently travel overnight 65% of the time."
Rachelle Enns is an interview coach and job search expert. She works with candidates to perform their best in employment, medical, and post-secondary admission interviews.
"I began at ABC company in high school as a part-time sales associate, then moved to full time after graduating. I worked as an assistant department manager while finishing my associates in fashion merchandising. When I went away to get my B.A., I found a seasonal position at a boutique women's store. I continued to work seasonally there during school breaks, and upon graduation, I returned full time as an assistant department manager at ABC company. My tenure has been strong, despite my moving away for school. I am now looking for an employer who can offer me work that relates closer to my education in fashion merchandising."
Rachelle Enns is an interview coach and job search expert. She works with candidates to perform their best in employment, medical, and post-secondary admission interviews.
"After graduating with a degree in economics, I went into sales. I worked my way up through that company and earned President's Club the last two years in my role. During my last year, I started working doing freelance marketing work during my spare time and ultimately was hired on by my current company, who was one of my first clients. I started as an inbound marketing coordinator, and after a year in that position, I moved into my current role as a content manager. The marketing bug bit me, and I am so happy that it did!"
Rachelle Enns is an interview coach and job search expert. She works with candidates to perform their best in employment, medical, and post-secondary admission interviews.
"I am a recent graduate of the Business Administration program with ABC University. I completed my practicum in an administration role within an Accounts Payable department. This experience was a wonderful one for me and a big reason why I was prompted to apply for your A/P clerk position. I come with some solid references and the eagerness to start a great career."
Rachelle Enns is an interview coach and job search expert. She works with candidates to perform their best in employment, medical, and post-secondary admission interviews.
"I have been a teacher for fifteen strong years, earning many awards and accolades along the way including Teacher of the Year, and Coach of the Year three years in a row. I have a desire for my students to learn in a variety of ways while incorporating the latest technology. I am now seeking a new role in a school closer to my home."
Christine Pasqueretta is a human resource and recruitment professional with experience creating, developing, implementing, leading, and measuring HR impact initiatives.
Briefly describe your work history, starting at the least recent position. Be brief and decisive, outlining one or two main achievements in each role. Be sure to include why you left each job while maintaining a positive tone. Avoid complaining about any past jobs or previous employers.
Christine Pasqueretta is a human resource and recruitment professional with experience creating, developing, implementing, leading, and measuring HR impact initiatives.
"I began my career, right out of university, with ABC Company. Spending four years there, I was able to triple my portfolio and quickly promoted to sales manager. I left that company in 2009 after being headhunted into a more lucrative role with XYZ Company. I have been with XYZ ever since!"
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Anonymous Answer
During my undergrad, I had completed three internships. One was at the Ohio State House of Representatives because I wanted to be in politics. Even though I loved my time there, I knew politics was a career I did not want to pursue. My other two internships were in the field of public relations. Through both, I was able to improve my communication skills, writing skills, editing skills, and independence. I left each position because the internship had ended.
Alexandra's Feedback
Good answer! I would consider adding some responsibilities you held in each position and/or the impact you made in each position.
Anonymous Answer
I have 17 years of experiences in the financial and management accounting area. Ranging from assistant accountant to accountant and analyst. Each move was in the interest of career development. Now I nearly complete my CPA. I am looking for a new opportunity for career development.
Marcie's Feedback
Great! So it sounds like you're progressing up the career ladder and that each of your moves was to advance and grow. This is great, but make sure that you don't overlook any job departures that might look confusing to an interviewer, especially if you were at that company for a short period of time. You want to make sure to eliminate any potential red flags in the interviewer's mind. Good job!
Anonymous Answer
I have 5 years of experience in Business Intelligence. I have worked with company X for 3 years where I was responsible for performing ETL operations and creating reports for business users. I left the company because I had to move to the USA with my spouse. In the US, I worked for company Y as a BI analyst where I was responsible to understand the BI-related issues and resolve them, creating ETL operations, and generating reports. I left the company because I wanted to focus on my newborn child which I enjoyed a lot. Before going back to work, I wanted to get a Master's degree and went back to school. I recently graduated from ABC University with MS in Information systems focusing on learning tools and techniques related to data analytics and BI. This was a wonderful experience for me and a big reason why applied for this position. With my work and academic experience, I feel I would become a value-adding member quickly.
Marcie's Feedback
You have provided a brief yet thorough explanation of your work history. Good job!
Anonymous Answer
I began my career in 2013 as a freelance PHP developer for some clients in the USA, and Egypt, then I joined ______ as a junior PHP developer, and I learned a lot in this company, but it was a startup, and they decided to close the company after one year, so I left it, and I joined _______ technologies and climbed the ladder in this company starting from mid-senior PHP developer up to the technical leader and scrum master all of that happen from 2015 up to March 2019, and I felt that I reached my highest limit in ______ and I felt that I need to leave my comfort zone and move to another company, and this company was _____ and I joined it as a senior PHP developer, and I left after 9 months because I wanted to re-locate from Egypt to another country and I got an offer from ______ in Denmark, and I joined it in January 2020.
Cindy's Feedback
Good! The way you're portraying your experience shows a focus on reaching the next level of career development. Good work!
Anonymous Answer
In my most recent role, I spent 12 years growing as a senior technical writer consistently pushing the boundaries of my assigned tasks with process improvement proposals and implementations, earning long-term credibility with my peers and management teams. My previous positions each received the same effort.
Cindy's Feedback
Very good! Is there a specific reason you're leaving that role? The interviewer is seeking that information specifically, so you may want to answer that part of the question directly.
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