What is your greatest professional accomplishment?
The hiring managers at Progressive want to know about one of your standout professional achievements. The goal of your response is to provide evidence that you have had success at work, thus making you a competitive candidate. You can accomplish this goal by telling the story of an accomplishment that highlights your work ethic and makes you feel proud.
Talk about a memorable achievement and be as specific as possible when discussing how you accomplished this milestone. If possible, describe an accomplishment related to this position with Progressive and one you achieved recently.
This question presents the opportunity for you to be a storyteller. Telling a story about a significant achievement will give the decision-makers a clear idea of the type of accomplishments you value. You can use the STAR method (Situation, Task, Action, Result) to form an engaging story-based response.
Show the hiring managers at Progressive more about your personality, work ethic, diligence, and what motivates you. It's okay to brag a bit when answering this question but remain confident rather than arrogant. Your reply should also spotlight why your past accomplishments indicate future success. You should be proud of yourself for what you've accomplished so far!
The average HireVue interview takes approximately 30 minutes to complete. This one-way video interview typically includes 3-5 questions. Depending on the HireVue parameters set by Progressive, the asynchronous interview platform will generally give you 30 seconds to prepare a response and up to 2 minutes to answer each question. It's important to note that HireVue stops recording as soon as your time limit is up, so it's better to run under time than overtime.
"(Situation & Task) While working as a Data Analyst with Company XYZ, I was responsible for supporting my team through risk management and product design analysis. During the pandemic, we began to find that regulations were becoming more stringent, and we were required to have greater safeguards against insurance compliance breaches. This situation presented an excellent opportunity for our small firm to explore a more robust, more efficient tech stack. (Action) I began researching new tools, processes, and systems to boost our teams' efficiencies and safeguard us through a better-consolidated system. After a couple of weeks, I made solid recommendations to the management team. (Result) By spotlighting the upside of greater efficiencies and added security, I initiated smart and responsible change within the firm. My manager was very pleased with my initiative, and today, the firm has stronger processes for managing risk, supported by tech."
Community answers are written by other candidates practicing this set. Reading how others frame the same question is one of the fastest ways to sharpen your own.
Anonymous Answer
Going back to school and finishing my degree.
Marcie's Feedback
Why did you leave school? What obstacles did you overcome to go back and get your degree? Give more details to make your answer more impactful. Good job!
Anonymous Answer
About 2 weeks after I became an Independent Adjuster I was hired for a Catastrophic Flood event in New York and New Jersey. I was ecstatic to be hired so quickly and felt my inspecting and construction estimating skills would be perfectly aligned with this job. However, once I began my inspections and estimates I realized I was lacking the expert skills needed. I immediately began watching videos and contacted a mentor for guidance. I began taking a course between my fieldwork and within a short time came over the hurdle and was able to provide the carrier and property owner with the expert estimate and scope they were expecting.
Marcie's Feedback
Nice! You've done a great job here using the STAR method to structure your answer. While your example is a strong one, it's a little risky given that you talk about lacking the skills necessary to complete a job you'd been hired for (the interviewer won't want that to happen again in their case!) If you can think of another professional accomplishment, you might want to talk about that instead. If not, this one works - just be careful with your language. Try to downplay the fact that you were lacking the necessary skills (maybe say '...I realized that I needed additional information and know-how to complete the project at the high level I expect of myself' instead, for example.) Good job!
Anonymous Answer
While working at _____ mortgage I was required to become state and federally licensed to write loans. During this time I had to work as part of the process /training for the company, sometimes 10-12 hours a day as well as studying to prepare for the exam. I developed new study skills, mastered innovative ways to multitask, and effectively made every second count with incredible time management skills. I'm extremely proud to say that I passed in a few months. Later I was known as one of the top Mortgage bankers to achieve my goal in the whole company within 4 days and surpass the goal that month leading to an incredible promotion the following month.
Jaymie's Feedback
You selected a relevant example that demonstrates you set and achieve a goal and that you are able to add value to the next organization. You shared what your goal was, the steps you took to accomplish it, and your success with the company, and that's just what an interviewer would be looking for. Great job!
Anonymous Answer
I feel that my greatest professional accomplishment was when I started my own cleaning business. I started with nothing and built this company for 12 years. I had to research the ins and outs of a small business. I was an owner/operator. I am motivated by the outcome of my work. My goal was to satisfy all customers in a timely manner.
Jaymie's Feedback
This is a great example that shows you are a self-starter, you're able to create a plan and execute and build and maintain relationships to build success!
Anonymous Answer
My greatest professional accomplishment is photographing a beautiful wedding on my own. The wedding photography business is a bit difficult to get into, considering the amount of pressure and responsibility that one photographer has. I had never photographed a wedding before, but it was something I wanted to do. I had a couple reach out to me about working with them for their wedding, and even with me explaining to them that it was something new to me, they still wanted to proceed with hiring me as they had great trust in me to capture their day well, based on my portfolio. The amount of trust they put in me meant so much to me, and I captured their day with no issues and it turned out wonderful! Those images have provided me with a great portfolio to use for future weddings I may want to work on as well.
Jaymie's Feedback
This is an excellent example to share as it demonstrates your desire to provide an exceptional customer service experience. It's clear that you take great pride in your work- well done!
Anonymous Answer
Throughout my professional career, I’ve gained extensive experience in different sectors.
I decided to open up my own business. I knew that it was going to be a lot of work. However, I implemented everything I had learned throughout my professional career at other agencies. Within the first month, our small business already had returning customers.
Jaymie's Feedback
This is a great start! Can you go into more detail on your experiences and the industries you've worked? Perhaps you've gained specific skills and experiences in customer service, budgeting, process improvement, communication, etc. Also, if you have specific data to share regarding the volume of sales you've done or how many customers you have, that will be more impactful as well.
Anonymous Answer
While working as a personal injury attorney, I took on a case with a lovely woman that had been having a difficult time handling her claim on her own. Her case had some major complications. The biggest issue her case had was that she had a substantial gap in treatment from the time she was referred to physical therapy by her primary care doctor and starting her physical therapy plan. The gap in treatment was approximately 10 months. I had to find a way to get her case settled. Prior to sending a demand package to the insurance carrier, I had a conversation with my client about her treatment, her injuries, and her circumstances. I set expectations by explaining the likely difficulty in getting an insurance carrier to accept treatment after such a large gap in treatment. I also talked with her about the circumstances that led her to have such a gap. She was a traveling researcher. She frequently traveled around due to her job and was away from home during that gap in a location where she was unable to get treatment. I listened while she explained to me what steps she tried to take herself. She had used YouTube videos to follow and complete a home exercise program. As I suspected, the adjuster initially made an offer that did not give any consideration to my client's physical therapy treatment. I talked with my client about what her expectations were and what kind of settlement she was looking for. While negotiating with the adjuster, I brought up the unique circumstances that my client had experienced. Eventually, I was able to get the adjuster to give some consideration to her physical therapy treatment. As a result, I was able to get a settlement that my client was happy with and she became a return client.
Jaymie's Feedback
This is a great achievement to share! It demonstrates your ability to show compassion and empathy toward your client, think critically, problem-solve, and effectively communicate and negotiate. Great job!
Anonymous Answer
My greatest achievement was being promoted through self-motivation and learning.
Jaymie's Feedback
You're off to a great start! This is your opportunity to brag about yourself and show the interviewer your capabilities. Can you give more details on your promotion? What role were you in and what were you promoted to? What span of time was this in? How did your hard work result in this success? Adding those details to your response will help the interviewer understand this accomplishment.
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