Rate yourself on the technologies listed in your resume

Rate honestly and justify each rating with something you have actually built or done.

Model answer.

What the interviewer wants. This is partly a trap. A high rating invites tough questions, and an inflated rating destroys credibility the moment you cannot answer them. They want an honest, calibrated self-assessment with evidence.

How to answer

1. Give a realistic number for each skill. For most freshers, 5 to 7 is honest for a tool they have used in projects. A 9 or 10 implies expert-level knowledge.
2. Justify it with what you have done.
3. Say what you have not done yet. This shows you understand the tool's depth.

Sample answer (replace with your real experience)
"For MATLAB, I'd say 6 out of 10. I've used it regularly in lab courses and in my project to [e.g. simulate a buck converter in Simulink and plot its response], and I'm comfortable with scripts, plotting and basic Simulink models. I haven't written large toolboxes or used advanced optimisation features.

For Python, about 5 out of 10. I've written scripts for [e.g. reading CSV data from our sensor logger and plotting it with pandas and matplotlib]. I understand lists, dictionaries, functions and basic file handling, but I haven't built large applications or used object-oriented design much.

For AutoCAD, about 4 out of 10. I learned it in a workshop course and can draw simple 2D layouts, but I'd need practice for detailed drawings."

Why this works. It is specific, honest and testable. The interviewer will usually ask one or two questions at the level you claimed. If you answer them well, your credibility goes up.

Before the interview

• Remove any tool from your resume that you cannot discuss for two minutes.
• For each listed skill, prepare one concrete example of how you used it.
• Revise basics, for example in Python: list vs tuple, mutability, a simple loop or function written by hand.

Common mistake. Rating everything 8 or 9 and then failing simple questions.

Likely follow-up. "Write a short program that..." or "How would you do [task] in MATLAB?" Expect a small practical test on the highest-rated skill.