What Is Your Greatest Accomplishment?

What Is Your Greatest Accomplishment?

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Why Interviewers Ask “What Is Your Greatest Accomplishment?”

When asking this question, the interviewer wants to learn 3 things: 1. If you’re down to earth. If you brag endlessly about your accomplishment (especially if the achievements aren’t that impressive), the interviewer will think that you’re not the most pleasant person to work with. 2. What YOU think is success, and how you associate it with 

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Why Interviewers Ask “What Is Your Greatest Accomplishment?”

your job and career. If you’re applying for a job as an accountant and your greatest achievement is baking the best cake ever at your office party, you’re not making the cut. 3. If you’re success-oriented and if you’ve gone above and beyond in your work. E.g. If your greatest accomplishment is that you were always on time and left work on the dot at 5 

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Why Interviewers Ask “What Is Your Greatest Accomplishment?”

pm, you’re not it. That’s not an achievement - that’s a minimum job requirement.

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How to Pick the Perfect Answer with the STAR Method

“What’s your greatest accomplishment?” is a behavioral job interview question. What that means is, the interviewer wants to understand your past performance, and how you handle specific situations (for example, under pressure). To answer just about any behavioral job interview 

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How to Pick the Perfect Answer with the STAR Method

question right, we recommend using the STAR method. The main idea here behind the STAR method is that every answer should cover the following topics: – (S) Situation - Describe the situation and the context in which the event took place. – (T) Task - Talk about the tasks you had to complete (i.e. your challenge or responsibility).

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How to Pick the Perfect Answer with the STAR Method

– (A) Action - Explain the actions you took to address the above-mentioned challenges or responsibilities. – (R) Results - Explain the kind of results you achieved. When describing the outcome, if possible, mention numbers and quantifiable facts. E.g. “Improved cold lead response time by 20%” VS “Improved sales.”

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How to Pick the Perfect Answer with the STAR Method

Practical Example Behavioral Interview Question: “What is a professional achievement you’re most proud of?” Sample Answer: Situation - “Well, my last role was as a manager at a seasonal restaurant in Nantucket. Out of the 4 months I spent there, 3 of them were a total nightmare. The restaurant was completely packed 90%+ of the time, and 

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How to Pick the Perfect Answer with the STAR Method

we barely had any breathing room.” Task – “We had to be very efficient at work to make sure that we wouldn’t get overwhelmed.” Action - “The most important part of making this work was being proactive. If we had just rolled with the punches and focused on putting out fires, the whole thing would’ve turned

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How to Pick the Perfect Answer with the STAR Method

into a mess real fast. At the beginning of the summer, I created a very strict shift schedule, which we adhered to 100%. I also started a reward system - if someone called in sick, you’d get rewarded if you filled in for them. In case no one was available, I personally filled in for them.” Results - “Overall, the summer went pretty well with minimal 

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How to Pick the Perfect Answer with the STAR Method

incidents. 99%+ of the customers were happy, and we didn’t receive a single bad review.“ See what’s done right? The whole story follows the STAR method down to the T. It uses numbers and data to describe the context and shows relevance. Now, your answer is obviously going to vary depending on your

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How to Pick the Perfect Answer with the STAR Method

background and where you are in your career right now. Pro Tip: Other common behavioral interview questions include: – Give me an example of a time you faced a conflict while working in a team. What happened and how did you handle it? – Have you ever failed to meet a client’s expectations? What 

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How to Pick the Perfect Answer with the STAR Method

happened, and how did you attempt to rectify the situation? – Tell me about a time where you set a specific goal for yourself. How did you ensure that you would meet your objective?

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