What is your most significant achievement? Why was it significant and what was the result?

"For the last two years, I've looked forward to earning my master's degree in Chemical Engineering, while also working full time. I really felt like this was the next step in furthering my career more expeditiously. Overperforming in school and at work proved challenging and difficult at times, but I told myself I could do it so I kept up the work. It was difficult and rewarding all at the same time. My graduation date is this May, so that is the most significant achievement on the horizon."

What you consider a professional achievement will inform the interviewer what thought you put into your goals for career advancement and what your ambition has to offer your employer. The scale of your achievement will potentially reveal how engaged or unmotivated you are. The achievement you share simply needs to be relevant to the role, showcasing your experience level, your scope of the big picture, and your work standard/ethic.

Baker Hughes' "People Framework Commitments" are stuffed with keywords that describe their work culture. "Collaborate with organizations and on projects aligned with interests and needs of the communities where we live and work around the globe. Increase diversity in leadership, our employee base, and our supply chain to reflect the communities where we operate. Attract, equip, and empower the workforce of the future by investing in early leadership development, supporting employee health and wellbeing, and creating opportunities for the next generation of talent." From this statement, you can spot the keywords that inform of the types of employees they aim to recruit into the work culture. "Reflect, attract, equip, empower, invest, develop, support, collaborate, and align."

HireVue's "models focus on skills, behaviors, and competencies specific to the job." For example, they state, "Common types of questions you'll see in a video-based assessment are situational judgment questions. You'll be asked what actions to take when confronted with a hypothetical situation." They commonly follow a structure where they ask about a hypothetical situation or a situation you've been in, your course of action, and the results or consequences of your actions. Your answers will be scored for your emotional intelligence, empathy, communication, adaptability, team orientation, and initiative.

So when delivering your answers, avoid rambling, and be as concise as possible. Communicate clearly and use the recommended STAR method when structuring your answers. Address each answer by first offering the SITUATION involved with your example. Then move into the TASK this situation required. Then share the ACTION you took and the RESULT of your actions. To ensure clarity and consistency throughout your interview, practice taking this approach with each situational question posed.