Charitable work or volunteering. Scholarships or grants. This helped retain new remote workers and decreased the the time it took to get them up to speed, saving the company an average of $2,650 per remote employee. My greatest achievement was getting to work with wonderful people at Atlas Copco Power Technique. Your greatest accomplishment reflects your values, goals, and aspirations. Like the examples above, this story focuses on what the candidate did to create real results. If youre having trouble choosing just one example for your greatest accomplishment, keep the following things in mind: Stick to work examples. Best answers to "what is your greatest accomplishment". ACTION: I decided to talk with the team, especially the ones with multiple fines, and understand where the problem was. "My greatest accomplishment was completing my bachelor's degree in 3 years or Graduate Degree in 2 years while pursuing an example (Business Degree), being a single parent, and working full-time. I wrote up a five-question survey and sent it to a selection of people on our list of potential donors. It's a reflection of my hard work and discipline, as well as my ability to work well with others on group projects while also shining on independent work. So, I didnt really have a lot of instructions. Well get you started with a brief template to give you an idea of how to organize your answer: My team achieved our goal of [goal your team was working toward]. How to Choose Your Greatest Achievement for Interviews: 1. I was assigned the task of reworking how we onboarded remote hires, since it was taking a long time to bring them up to speed. 4. RESULTS: I rebuilt within a year after the ordeal and learned much about what I can accomplish and how resilient I can be. SITUATION: My biggest achievement was earning money after starting a blog from scratch. What did you do? Prepare your answer in advance, so you don't have to think up an accomplishment on the spot. When interviewers ask this question, theyre usually looking for three things: To come up with a great answer, think of your greatest professional accomplishments and choose one that demonstrates these key components. My greatest accomplishment happened last quarter, when my team was behind on our sales quota. Be specific in details, but make it short and to the point. My greatest accomplishment was my promotion last year to manager. Check out our full guide on the topic here: Student & Graduate Resume Guide & Sample [Plus 10 Skills for Savvy Job-hunters]. My scholarship only covered half of the tuition, and my family was unable to support me financially. How did you ensure that you would meet your objective? However, in the end, we completed the project a day in advance and the client was thrilled with the end result. I was a topper in subjects like engineering mathematics and applied mechanics in my bath. The company had instilled fines for that, but certain employees still came in late regardless of multiple fines. If we had just rolled with the punches and focused on putting out fires, the whole thing wouldve turned into a mess real fast. When I got to my previous company as a human resources manager, employees spent so much time on lunch breaks, which would interfere with the working hours and the teams output. Your qualifications: Some accomplishments help employers establish . I would get to the office at 5 am by hitching a ride on one of my neighbors cars and managed to work extra four hours each day for a month. Beating sales targets. The fact that you ran a marathon after eating an entire box of Krispy Kreme doughnuts is impressive, but maybe not pertinent to how good of an engineer you are. I earned the top GPA in my class of more than 1,500 students while maintaining a part-time job on campus. As the founder of MatchBuilt, a premier career coaching and recruiting firm, I am passionate about helping individuals transform their professional lives. Avoid saying you do not have any accomplishments, even if you are recently out of school. Mentoring a coworker or fellow student. This way, a recruiter will see how your soft skills can work successfully in their organization. They needed volunteers, so I took the initiative. ACTION: We decided to upgrade our ingredients and showcase them in all of our marketing. When I took on the position, turnover was high and our cost-to-fill was skyrocketing. In addition to showcasing their strengths, a job seeker should be effective in mirroring a companys core values and fitting in with the company culture in their answer to this behavioral interview question. Failure; The Unsuccessful Accomplishment. And if not, what made it an outlier? Volunteer jobs like these are ideal sources for greatest accomplishment answers for entry-level candidates. Use our modern templates if you'd like to give your application a newer, more contemporary aesthetic. Over the following year, I got promoted to the Customer Support Team Lead, and helped with scaling up the overall customer service efforts (consulted with hiring, training new reps, communicating issues and questions with the product, and so on). And oftentimes, the question can distinguish the perfect candidate from an OK one. It's something you're proud of and shows what you're capable of. Use a creative template and give your resume a little flair to highlight your creative side. Topic Ideas for Writing the Greatest Accomplishment Essay. Your commitment to work: The greatest achievement question helps employers determine your work ethic and commitment to growing in your profession. Describe your accomplishments by promoting your abilities and focusing on results. What is your greatest accomplishment? is one of the most challenging and common questions you can expect during a job interview. "What is your greatest professional achievement" Answer example "My greatest achievement at my last company was when I designed and implemented a loyalty card scheme for customers. How you answer an interview question is almost as important as what you say. Ideally, the greatest accomplishment you answer with should be from the last two to three years. So if you feel like you dont have any good answers to this question because you havent been working long enough, youre going to have to get a little creative. Put emphasis on your writing rather than your cover letter's design. What you choose as your greatest assignment depends on your background. You should review the job description, any social media sites, the company website, and any employee reviews you can find online. In month seven, I rejoined my team in time for the high school season. Building Relationships. That means picking your accomplishment based on how good of a story its going to make. The task that was required to be . As with all behavioral interview questions, choosing a relevant example and using the STAR . Heres a sample answer from a professional interviewing for a Chief Human Resources Officer position: "What is your greatest professional achievement?". Write about the moments in your life when you felt the proudest, such as when you finished a marathon or were congratulated by your boss. A year later, we had increased our close rate by 26% and our renewal rate by 17%. There was no more lag-time between sharing documents with HR, Payroll, and supervisors. There, I also learned a lot about marketing, how to communicate with our followers, and managed to organize the biggest university event where up to 300 students showed up., Wondering what a job-winning resume might look like as a recent graduate? When I left that role, 97% of new hires gave positive reviews for the training program. Contemporary templates perfect for new job seekers or anyone looking for a fresh start. While finding an accomplishment thats relevant to what the company is looking for is an important first step, how you structure your story is also something you should consider. is a common behavioral interview question, so be sure to practice your answer ahead of time. Make sure you prepare for this question ahead of time. It blew my expectations out of the water, and my company went on to assign me more marketing tasks in the future. CVs are often longer than resumes. We were losing customers and getting brutal reviews online. While asking about your greatest achievement may seem like an intense question, its not as intimidating once you understand the interviewers motivation. Check out our full guide on achievements here: 100+ Achievements to Write in Your Resume [2023 Examples]. 2. Dont make anyone else look bad in your story; just talk about a time you were really proud of something impressive you did. They will be looking at your response to see if you have the skills and experience necessary to do the job. Learn more: 7 Situational Interview Questions to Prepare For. We raised $20,000 from that cohort by the end of the year. Sample Answer 2 - Continuous Learning Professional Achievement. This way, you are sure to construct the best answer and help the recruiter take notice of your specific skills and abilities. When answering What is your greatest accomplishment?, your interviewer will listen closely to what you say and how you say it. At MatchBuilt, weve explored other common interview questions, such as Why do you want to work here?, Why do you want this job?, Tell me about yourself, What are you passionate about?, What areas need improvement? and Why should we hire you? and we invite you to review them as well. Here are some techniques to answer questions about your greatest accomplishments: Start off by telling the interviewer a story. Dont lie or embellish too much, but think about which of your examples makes the best story. There is no standard answer to the question, What is Your Biggest Achievement? similar to discussing your greatest strengths because people come from different backgrounds and have different levels and ideas of success. Trying to be funny - For example: " My greatest achievement was when I managed to get to work on time for once. Based on your response, they can also determine what you consider important as an employee. ACTION: I was still new to the job and had no car, so I could not stay late in the office for safety purposes. Ensure your greatest accomplishment is work-related or demonstrates skills which can be directly applied in the workplace. However, you should always discuss what sets you apart from the other candidates with specific accomplishments in life or in previous roles. This can often be tied together with the situation in one or two sentences. For some job candidates, its difficult to determine what accomplishment to use and how to communicate it effectively, so well try to get the juices flowing with some sample answers here. Win over hiring managers with our expert tips. By taking initiative, I earned myself a senior developer position and a company car to help me navigate from home to work. This response is focused, specific, and goal-oriented. The first step when handling such what is your proudest accomplishment question is to give a good thought about it. A: Action The actions you took alone or your specific contribution as part of a team to obtain the objective. When a recruiter or hiring manager asks you about your greatest accomplishment, they really want to know three main things: Your work ethic. This student succinctly explains a challenge they overcame and the skills they used to do it. The achievements that matter most combine to form a version of success that has meaning and substance for the individual. Our guides cover formatting, writing, and more. TASK: The only way to keep the region open was for sales to improve. In fact, they had talked of stopping supply to that market due to the limited sales volume. Using this method, you talk about the situation or problem you were facing, the task or role you played within the situation, the action you took to solve the problem, and the result you achieved. "What is your greatest accomplishment?" is one of the most common job interview questions, but particularly for someone fresh out of college or high school it can be daunting to answer.. We'll cover why interviewers ask about your greatest accomplishment, provide tips for giving the best answer, and tie it all together with a few sample answers. E.g. What you consider an achievement may differ from what others think, but there are often common traits that achievements share, such as: A problem you addressed. No matter how you frame up your answer to this sometimes tricky question, you should have a prepared answer to maximize an opportunity to showcase why youre a good fit. The main idea here behind the STAR method is that every answer should cover the following topics: Now, lets take a well-written behavioral job interview answer using the STAR method, What is a professional achievement youre most proud of?, Situation - Well, my last role was as a manager at a seasonal restaurant in Nantucket. It could be something personal, such as completing a difficult project or achieving a personal goal, or something professional, such as receiving a promotion or winning an award. Choose your greatest achievement that is relevant to the position. ". What that means is, the interviewer wants to understand your past performance, and how you handle specific situations (for example, under pressure). For background, I studied literature in school, which did not involve any tech information. 'My greatest achievement' examples could include: Giving a great presentation at work. In my first job out of college, I was tasked with managing a companys social media channels. This example is from a student who graduated at the top of their class: My greatest achievement was becoming valedictorian of my senior class at [University]. TASK: I had to stay positive, take control of the situation, and find a way to start over and rebuild. The importance of salary expectations Whether you are currently filling out a job application or preparing for an in-person interview, you may be asked A Guide to Delivering an Irresistible Elevator Pitch Picture this: You step into an elevator, and right after you steps in a well-dressed woman. Glassdoors Blog provides valuable content to the conscious job seeker and employees who are passionate about furthering and deepening their careers. (S) Situation - Describe the situation and the context in which the event took place. A few more tips from HEC Montreal for students seeking jobs. ACTION: I started by talking to my neighbor who could speak a bit of English, and then my interest grew to me signing up for a French class and dedicating hours a day to learning the new language. Be sure to take credit for your accomplishments. You can start by describing the problem that your team or company faced. Thats all for this one! First of all, I was incredibly lucky in my life. However, the tech world is dynamic, and even with our weekly knowledge update sessions, I would come across questions I did not understand during calls. There can be a time and a place for humour in a job interview, but it is not when . For example, a doctor who finds a cure for a rare disease shows their commitment to the job and the hard work of developing a cure. Just kidding, my real greatest achievement is. This is a compelling way to share a big accomplishment with potential employers. By the end of the year, his reading scores had gone up by over 15%, but the real accomplishment for me was getting him interested in learning something that had previously frustrated him. I see my greatest accomplishment as implementing a new customer relationship management system at my previous job. Answer (1 of 6): While working for the chemistry necessary in the Human Genome project I have synthesized the most difficult fluorescent base in the project, in a contest with a group of PhD chemists. For more help preparing for your interview, check out some of our other articles below: Describe how your interest in medicine drove you to become a doctor. Practice your example answers before your interview. Recently graduated college with not much work experience to speak of? Acquiring Skills. It tells about your potential as an employee and how much of a valuable asset you can be to the company. Then you can determine to what extent you made this change happen or contributed to it. Not only that, but it had a knock-on effect of increasing user engagement with our social media platforms by 70% in just a month. That is to say, dont make a story where there isnt one. Some examples could be: Awards or competitions. 1 people already answered this question. Within two months, I had introduced a new onboarding process, introduced and incentivized managerial training, and adopted a new recruitment software. Use the opportunity to relate what you've accomplished to the position you're applying for. I began my career in fast food washing dishes and worked my way up into a management role in just four years. They close with a measurable positive impact on the company, placing the focus back on the benefit for the employer. Revenue Directly or indirectly achieving revenue. If you want to become successful in life, you must help yourself first. In case no one was available, I personally filled in for them., Results - Overall, the summer went pretty well with minimal incidents. Sample Answer 5 - Persevering Through Injury Achievement. However, if you cant quantify your accomplishment, avoid the temptation to stretch the truth or claim that you did something you didnt. R [RESULTS] What were the results of what you did? Task: "As a senior member of the team, I was tasked with being both the content strategist and the overall project manager. RESULTS: Between saving in those summers, working during college, and applying for scholarships, I graduated from Michigan State University debt free. Organizing a successful charity event. What happened, and how did you attempt to rectify the situation? There's not much risk in screwing this one up, other than the fact that you might be missing out on a lot of free points if you don't take full advantage of this interview question. Your answer to this question really can give away all of the above. In an interview setting, the achievements you discuss can be professional or personal. Try to determine if your involvement made a difference, such as creating a new website, a fundraiser, or a department restructuring. The materials we had for training werent very relevant or helpful for their duties, and we had received only 19% positive reviews from new hires who completed the training. RESULTS: Today, my blog is one of the biggest in its niche, and I no longer write articles because we produce long-form content every three days a week. To answer this question effectively, choose the accomplishment that best demonstrates the relevant skills and qualifications needed in the role youre applying for. In my last position, I negotiated with a new supplier to lower the cost of the raw materials we purchased to make our products. Try to consider more than one major achievement, at most three. My greatest accomplishment was when I helped save a patient's life. Training for and completing a marathon. In this article we break down what interviewers want to hear when they ask you about your greatest achievement, and how to answer this question the right way. Common Phone Interview Questions And Answers, How to Answer What Is Your Greatest Accomplishment?, Example Answers to Whats Your Greatest Accomplishment?, Tips for Answering What Is Your Greatest Accomplishment?, How to Choose Just One Example for Your Greatest Accomplishment, Why Interviewers Ask What Is Your Greatest Accomplishment?. In my last job I helped my employer to increase the yearly sales volume by 20%, in two consecutive years. Look for actions you took that made it possible for you to be in the position to interview for this job. How To Respond To A Recruiter Email (With Examples), How To Answer Why Are You Interested In This Position? (With Examples): Job Interview Question, Topics: Get The Job, Guides, Interview Questions. Running your first marathon. The most effective way to answer any tough interview question is to follow the STAR approach. TASK: To get back on the field in time for the high school season, I had to physically and mentally prepare to endure a rigorous therapy process. The employees have spoken. No votes so far! The second answer is going to be more memorable and more impressive, so that's why you should review your own story/example you plan on giving to refresh yourself on as many details as possible. When answered properly, youll be able to share what you value most, your level of ambition and drive, your views on success, and whether you have the soft skills they are looking for. His parents called to tell me that they had never seen him excited to do homework before, especially when it involved reading. 2. I noticed that we hadnt secured any new donors for a while. You dont want to be scrambling to remember a story at the last second. https://passmyinterview.com/50-interview-questions-and-answers/#interviewquestion. Additional interview resources. Use a recent and relevant accomplishment. ACTION: I endured painful physical therapy and light walking for the first three months. I learned a lot through teaching 2.Satisfaction through satisfying students and their parents 3.Respect through dedication in quality of work I believe that my greatest achievement as a teacher is being a wholesome person. This way, I never missed a deadline, assignment or any other responsibility., Results - In the end, I graduated with a GPA of 3.8, almost no student loans, and also interned as the university social media assistant during my last 2 semesters. ResumeGenius.com is owned and operated by Sonaga Tech Limited, Hamilton, Zweigniederlassung Luzern with offices in Luzern Switzerland. Practice your example answers before your interview. And now a few full sample answers to tie all our advice together: My greatest accomplishment happened at my last role as an HR manager. It may seem to be a simple question, but asking "what is your greatest achievement?" is a clever way for interviewers to examine your personality, work ethic, and suitability for the job. I assigned a few new team members to the project and worked through a weekend to bring myself up to speed. Dont hold back here include even small achievements. What three things should I say for accomplishments? You should answer such questions by following the S.T.A.R method in a reverse manner, meaning you'd start with the result and end with the . Your interviewers will assess how well your work style and values fit with the company culture. By using feedback from the evaluation forms and best industry practices, I was able to develop a new onboarding system from the ground up. Avoid winging it as not preparing ahead for a good answer can derail your interview. I needed to know my list of tasks, when each was due, and how long they would take. Wondering how to answer the question modestly (while at the same time, showing off how awesome you are)? Weve also continued to use the same strategy for new products, which has cut down the time it takes them to reach customers significantly.