Interviews come in all forms, from phone interviews to one-on-one discussions during a second interview. And if you are among the lucky few, you may just go to one interview session and voila, you’re hired! But let’s not kid ourselves, it’s never that easy. You must prove that you are the ideal candidate for the role by answering interview questions exceptionally well to land the job. Typically, recruiters predetermine the type of questions to ask candidates to see if a candidate can deliver results when hired. As such, be prepared to answer questions such as “Tell me what your proudest accomplishment is”, “What is your greatest professional achievement”, “What are you proud of?”, “What was the most significant win in your current/previous position?”, “Tell me about a time when you went above and beyond at work?”.
When a hiring manager asks you what your proudest achievement is, they are not interested in your personal life, or the fact that your child scored an A in calculus. They are trying to determine how well you can do the job and if you’ve ever accomplished anything in your career. The way you tackle this question will show them the value you’ll bring to the team, your skills and qualifications, or how you handle certain situations. Consider this an opportunity to sell yourself and highlight your most remarkable experiences.
Read on for tips on how to answer the question “tell me what your proudest accomplishment is’.
When answering questions about your accomplishments, you need to highlight and elaborate your successes. Follow the tips below to ensure you mention all the relevant facts and answer the question appropriately.
1. Create a connection
Generally, the best full proof technique to use when answering this question is the S.T.A.R method; whereby you provide a situation, task, the approach you took, and the results you achieved. Using this technique provides an opportunity for the interviewer to ask follow-up questions and for you to provide more information.
Alternatively, you could create a connection between something you have achieved in your career and the requirements of the position. Consider reviewing the job description and listing down all the qualifications and skills that match those you’ve included in your resume. Then, think of relevant examples of your accomplishments, specifically those that prove you have these skills and qualifications.
2. Provide examples
Whenever you are answering situational or behavioral questions, questions that require you to demonstrate how you handle certain situations, always provide relevant examples. Questions about your accomplishments are among behavioral interview questions that generally aim to determine how candidates react in different situations. Therefore, as you answer this question, provide specific examples of how you handled a similar situation in your previous role. Make sure you include information about what the task was and the particular accomplishment you achieved.
3. Focus on how you’ll add value
When choosing the examples to give, ensure they highlight the value you’ll add to the company. Consider the fact that employers aren’t interested in what they can do for you but rather what you can do for them. Making your answer more company-centric demonstrates that you are capable of seeing the big picture and helping the company achieve its goals. For instance, you could include examples of how you helped your former employer to reduce the cost of something, how you managed to save money on a major account or how you implemented software that made the business operations run more smoothly.
Below are pointers you could use to come up with answers to this question:
Ensure the examples you provide highlight the relevant skills, experiences, and qualifications that demonstrate you are the ideal candidate for the job.
4. Be concise and selective
Although this question prompts you to brag about your accomplishments, don’t overdo it, otherwise, you’ll appear arrogant. Additionally, provide relevant details. This is not an invitation to share your entire autobiography, no matter how fascinating it may be, with the hiring manager. Choose specific examples that align with the role. Stick to accomplishments that you achieved while on the job, and preferably relevant to the job you are interviewing for or the industry itself.
5. Prepare in advance
Remember practice makes perfect. This way you’ll have ample time to go through interview questions and prepare everything you’ll need for the interview beforehand. Additionally, preparing for your interview will prevent you from rambling and make you feel confident.
6. What to avoid
As you prepare to tackle this interview question, you should also consider the aspects that you shouldn’t mention. These include:
Result-based responses
Sample 1
My proudest accomplishment is organizing a donation drive aimed at helping the less fortunate people in our community with necessities. I received help from the local humanitarian society. However, I managed and planned for the donation drive from start to finish. I was able to create social media campaigns single-handedly and crowdfunding plans to achieve our goal. In the end, the drive generated over $1,000 which was used to provide food, shelter, and water, among other necessities.
Sample 2
My proudest accomplishment was developing a new social media marketing strategy that I created for the sales and marketing department. This was my first experience in a leadership position which I enjoyed in its entirety. In the period since the strategy was incorporated, the company grew its website visitors by 70% ,which increased the lead conversation rates by 50%.
Skills-based responses
Sample 3
One of my most significant accomplishments was when I worked as a sales and marketing representative in an insurance firm. At the start of my tenure I was given a list of target markets to dominate within the first three months, and within the first month I had managed to convert more than 50 leads into clients. I used my strong interpersonal skills to create relationships with people in the HR and security departments within these organizations, which assured access and safe passage throughout the organization. Although it was difficult to get some of the clients to purchase insurance from our company, with due diligence and persuasion skills, I was able to convince them that we were the best in the market. It was my delight to be handling such major accounts. I have since learned that persuasion and my interpersonal skills are my strong characters.
Sample 4
My proudest accomplishment would have to be when I introduced a new application in my previous position that improved the general performance of the company. Initially, we had been using the same techniques which required a lot of human resources and resulted in time wastage. One day when I was watching a technology show, I realized that there is a better and more efficient way to get the job done. With the help of my direct manager and team members, we managed to integrate the application within our department. It was a thrilling experience to come to work every day and see people get trained to do something that I assisted in developing.
Values-based responses
Sample 5
My greatest accomplishment was in my former position as a social media marketer. I was eager to prove my value to the company from the onset, and hence developed social media campaigns that aimed to increase brand awareness and boost the conversion rates. I was delighted when the social media campaigns performed even better than expected, which proved my abilities to thrive in my position. Later, I was delighted to receive a promotion as the marketing director of various social media platforms. I hope I can bring my valuable skills and qualifications to your team.
Sample 6
My department is responsible for handling the onboarding process of new hires from training to orientation. However, when I joined the team the training and orientation material was long. While it contained all the relevant information the new hires were required to have, it was difficult to assess how much the candidates had grasped effectively. Hence my team and I decided to improve on the program to make it more engaging. We presented the idea to our supervisor and s/he gave us the go-ahead. As such, we restructured the program and focused on making it more interactive as well as added fun activities in between sessions. The changes proved efficient as more people completed the program and assessment of candidates became easier than before.
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