Interview Question- “What Is Your Greatest Accomplishment?”

Are you looking for the best ways to answer the interview question about your greatest accomplishments?

Behavioral questions like “what are your greatest accomplishments” are some of the questions which are frequently asked in the interviews as an opportunity offered to the candidate to present himself in front of the interviewer and impress him with his unique experiences.

This answer to this question doesn’t mean that you have to brag about your greatest achievements but to tell him that what you are capable of and that you are the perfect fit for the job they are looking for.

Sometimes people find it quite challenging to answer this question as they are not exactly aware of what kind of accomplishments your interviewer referring to or he or she has not prepared himself for such kind of question.

But don’t worry, in this article, we will tell you some of the best ways on how to answer this question:

Why do interviewers ask such questions?

As already said above that these kinds of behavioural questions are asked by the interviewers to know the most impressive and relevant accomplishments that prove you as the perfect candidate or a perfect employee for the particular job position you are interviewing for.

With the help of this question, the interviewer studies the potential of the candidate and what are the accomplishments that he views as his important, valuable, and most competent ones. 

The following question can be asked in many ways that are:

• What is it that you are most proud of?
• What would you consider as your most impressive accomplishment?
• Can you describe an important goal you accomplished?
• Describe a situation where you solved a difficult problem?

When the interviewer asks you such questions he is interested in three things which are:

1. Your work ethic- interviewers study that candidate’s definition of accomplishment. They are interested in his way of seeing an “accomplishment” that what an accomplishment means to him.
2. Your core values- interviewers are interested in knowing that which of your accomplishments is of the greatest importance or value to you and why.
3. Examples of your work- before hiring you, they need to know that how your work. With the help of listening about your accomplishments at the previous jobs can help then in deciding your potential at this job if hired.

How to answer “what is your greatest accomplishment?

Answering the question is not so difficult if you prepare yourself beforehand and use the right strategy to answer it.

Following are some of the best ways to prepare yourself to answer this question impressively:

By making a list of your accomplishments

So the first step towards preparing yourself to answer this question is to write down and make a list of all your accomplishments at your previous jobs.

Your greatest accomplishments serve as your greatest selling point when you offer yourself to the company. It tells about your potential as an employee and how much of a valuable asset you can be to the company.

After making a list, select one of the best stories that represent you in the best way and demonstrate your abilities and potential in front of the interviewer.

And, if in case you can’t think of any of your accomplishments then consider those situations where you have been praised or recognized for your work in your previous job positions.

Review the job description

Before thinking of a story, do check the job description or the requirements of the job, also do some research about the company and see what they are looking for in their employees, and then select the most relevant accomplishment

Be honest

Always be honest when you’re telling your interviewer about your greatest accomplishments. You don’t have to exaggerate to impress your interviewer if you don’t think your accomplishment is not fit enough.

Also, your answer should be clear and detailed. Don’t just ramble.

Follow the STAR method

The STAR interview method is a technique or a strategy that is designed to help you with preparing for the interview questions that allow you to present yourself in front of your interviewer as the ideal candidate for the particular job. It will prove to the interviewer that whether you can handle the specific situations affiliated with your job.

STAR method stands for situation, task, action, and result. This method assists you with a strategy on how to prepare yourself to give the most impressive answers to behavioral questions like “what are your greatest accomplishments?”

This method helps you with the important details of your accomplishments and creating a story that is impressive and concise.

How to use the STAR method:

1. Situation- whenever you are asked such kind of behavior question, first to set up the whole context of your accomplishment, always begin with explaining to him what was the actual situation or challenge he or she faced.

Example: “In my previous job as an account executive, one of my co-workers quit immediately after signing the biggest client our firm had ever taken…..”

• Task – Now, after explaining the situation, your next step is to tell him what was your role in it. What kind of position you were in or what kind of skills that you offered at that time there were of some value.

Example: “Although I was already managing a full load of accounts, I was assigned this new client as well. I knew the stakes were high and if we lost this deal then we wouldn’t hit our quarterly goal”

• Action- now, the very next step is to explain to him what action you took to solve the problem. What exactly did you do to overcome it? Or what was your contribution towards it?

Example: “I made myself completely available to the client and took calls on evenings and weekends until the project was delivered.”

• Result- now is the time to end your answer with a positive result. So complete your story by telling him the outcomes of your actions and if possible quantify your accomplishments in the end.

Example: “The client was so impressed with my dedication that they immediately signed an annual contract with our company worth INR 50 lakhs.”

Example answers for“what are your greatest accomplishments?”

Example 1: “I was working as a retail manager at a department store during Diwali. A customer purchased an outfit online and had it delivered to the store. One of my associates accidentally put the outfit on display where another customer immediately purchased it. Before calling the customer to let her know about the mistake, I located the same outfit at another store location nearby. I ordered it to be pressed and delivered to her home on the morning of Diwali along with a gift card to thank her for her understanding. The customer was so thankful that she wrote us a five-star review on several review sites.”

Example2: “In my most recent job I was responsible for managing the orientation and training programs for our new hires. Unfortunately, the content was not engaging. While it was necessary information for our new hires to have, we found that only 35% of new hires did not complete the training. We were also receiving poor feedback on the course evaluation forms. I decided to rework the training program to make it more relevant and interesting based on industry best practices and feedback on the evaluation forms. Today, 93% of participants complete the training and provide positive feedback about their experience. My manager was so pleased with the improvements that she asked me to lead a training seminar in our New York office.”