During a job interview, the recruiter may ask you to talk about an achievement that you’re particularly proud of.
If you were a hockey player with the puck in your possession, this could be considered to be the equivalent of an open net. In other words, it’s easy to score because you’ve been offered a chance to demonstrate your value and experience and frame your answer any way you choose.
That said, the downside to this question is that you have many options of how to respond available to you, but you have to choose the best one for the context and do so quickly.
I’ve had the opportunity to ask this question of job seekers on many occasions. In this article, I’m going to offer my opinion on the best way to answer this question in order for you to derive as much value as possible from the answer.
First, make sure to anticipate what will come next
Asking about your achievements isn’t a benign question. For a recruiter, it provides a doorway into your professional universe.
In response, a candidate could say:
“My biggest achievement to date was creating an employee training guide from scratch.”
The recruiter, however, doesn’t really care about the training guide; they want to know what your achievement says about you. Accordingly, the recruiter may ask several more questions after such a response, and they may be the most important ones of the interview.
Here’s what they may ask to get a little deeper into your answer:
– Why are you proud of this achievement?
– Who asked you to handle the project?
– What challenges did you face during the process of creation?
– What was the reaction of your colleagues and superiors to the guide?
– What does this achievement say about you?
– Which of your skills proved to be the most useful during the process?
– What lessons did you take away from the process?
This is why it’s important to prepare an achievement to talk about before the interview, but also to be prepared to elaborate on various aspects of that achievement.
Be strategic
Avoid talking about your kids or your relationship with your partner, as many candidates do. Recruiters likely understand that these are your most important achievements, but remember that the goal of the interview is to determine if you are a good fit for the position you applied for.
If you answer this way, you’ll be stuck giving pretty banal answers when the recruiter tries to dig a little deeper:
“This achievement shows that I love my kids and that I’m a good parent.”
Hmm.
Try to keep in mind that your objective is to describe what makes you exceptional and how those qualities can be transferred to the job you applied for.
Of course, you can talk about your personal experiences. It can even be a great idea – but only if you can frame them in a way that adds value to your candidacy.
For example, if you have little work experience, you can explain how you took a leadership role in a personal project such as organizing a trip, or renovating your apartment by yourself.
Anecdotes like these can demonstrate skills that are useful in a professional setting: in the above examples, the answers show you are organized and a self-starter.
Always have the job description in mind
Think about what you want to show during the interview, as it relates to the requirements of the position applied for.
For example, let’s say a recruiter is seeking a director of operations who will be responsible for a large team.
In this context, the candidate decides to talk about a complex machine that they designed. This extraordinary project will be enough to convince the recruiter that the candidate is an innovative and analytical person, the candidate believes.
But the recruiter isn’t convinced, because the central element of the position involves management of a large team and the candidate’s achievement doesn’t speak to this crucial element.
If a recruiter asks you to describe several achievements, each one you choose should highlight one or more skills you possess, each one of which should relate directly to the position.
Take a structured approach
In a previous article about how to respond to a recruiter’s behavioral questions, I described the best way to respond in detail.
For example, a behavioral question could take the following form: “Describe to me a time when you took initiative at work.”
In the article, I talk about how the candidate could describe the situation, the task, the actions taken and the final result.
The behavioral question is very similar to the accomplishments question. So, the same advice is pertinent.
I suggest you read the article cited above to gain an understanding of how to structure your answer.
In a nutshell: with the behavioral question, we start from a particular skill and lead into an achievement whereas with the accomplishment question, we start with the achievement and lead back to the skills that enabled it.
In conclusion
When a candidate has the opportunity to talk about whatever they want, it puts a certain pressure on them to succeed. A hockey player who misses a chance to score on an empty net will be perceived badly by their teammates.
The accomplishment cited by the candidate must be impressive, considering that there are few constraints to the question. A candidate who comes off as too hesitant could quickly lose credibility in the eyes of the recruiter.
In short: don’t get caught unaware, and prepare yourself!
As of right now, would you be able to quickly name three achievements and describe them in a way that highlights your skills?
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