Achievements Interview Preparation Guide

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Select an achievement that is work-related and fairly recent. Identify the skills you used in the achievement and quantify the benefit it had to the company. For example, 'my greatest achievement has been to design and implement a new sales ledger system, bringing it in ahead of time and improving our debtors' position significantly, saving the company £50,000 a month in interest'.

This question is really about your self-esteem, confidence and career aspirations. The answer must be 'yes', followed by a brief explanation as to what it is about your career so far that's made you happy. If you have hit a career plateau, or you feel you are moving too slowly, then you must qualify your answer.

The purpose of this question is to find out what your definition of difficult is and whether you can show a logical approach to problem solving. In order to show yourself in a positive light, select a difficult work situation which was not caused by you and which can be quickly explained in a few sentences. Explain how you defined the problem, what the options were, why you selected the one you did and what the outcome was. Always end on a positive note.

On academic accomplishment, I managed to successfully complete my study. On professional/career achievement, I managed to survive and adapt in one of the undeveloped countries in Africa to support and train local people to do our job function for my company. I also did the same role for my company in one of central Asia countries and these experiences taught me to not be shy and to overcome the fears of talking and communicating with people. In the oil service industry you have to have a very outgoing personality and can't be shy, and this made me a love travel. I love to visit a lot of places and learn about different cultures. I am proud to say that I am a person who really knows what multicultural means.

I worked in a small shop as a part time for about 6 months , and this job really improve my skills to communicate with customers clearly and confidently, and also how to meet the customer requirements .

My biggest accomplishment in the position was my relationship with the customers. They knew that I would do my best for them and they knew I would go out of the way to help them. I would treat them like I would wish to be treated if I was a customer at that store. I pride myself that no matter how bad the company I worked for was, the customer were special.

My biggest accomplishment was turning a small-time company into a fortune 500 corporation. We expanded our sales more than 72% within 2 years of my leadership and employment for the company.

As a student who will graduate school, my biggest accomplishment is the one where I established the students-club with some other friends when I was busy for preparing for my entrance exams to postgraduate school. Firstly, the process was full of details. Secondly. I should balance my time. Thirdly, It's a great thing I've left for my home-school.

My biggest accomplishment was a motivated team. Since a motivated team is more productive this helps the organisation to achieve goals.

It is important that you pick an achievement that you are genuinely proud of, something that is true to you. When we tell stories we naturally relive the emotions we felt during that time and you want to be passionate and engaging when talking to your interviewer.

Try to pick an achievement that is still quite recent. I once asked someone this question and she told me that moving to university was her biggest achievement as she missed her family terribly. I get this, I really do, but she had graduated 15 years earlier and I was hoping for something more recent and relevant than that.

Don't let yourself become a victim during this answer. I have often seen people focus on the negatives of the situation they have overcome, rather than the achievement of overcoming it. Sometimes I don't think they even realise they are doing it! Keep it upbeat and professional.

☛ Tasks during the activity
☛ personal management activities
☛ The changes and difficulties that you handled effectively.

You'll want to make sure you have thought through this question carefully before the interview and have selected both a key professional achievement as well as a key personal achievement; cover both bases.

My greatest achievement so far in my career would probably be winning the Manager of the Year award last year. I made numerous operational changes at my branch, including a massive reduction in stock levels - which significantly boosted our working capital. I also drove up sales levels, especially by increasing the uptake of after-sales insurance packages. The net effect was that we smashed the previous branch sales record by an impressive 37% - and profits rose in line with this. This directly resulted in my promotion to the management of the flagship Edinburgh branch.

☛ What it is that you achieved
☛ What the background and circumstances were
☛ What impact it had on your career/life

Try not to go too far back; try to pick a recent achievement. If you've included an Achievements section in your CV, then this will be a good starting point for you to generate ideas.