Tell me about your greatest work related accomplishment.
Professional Answers Preview
"The greatest accomplishment in my career was graduating University as an honors student while still working full time in a related field. I was top of my class, and working full time. This achievement showed me that I could dedicate myself to my career and reach the goals that I set for myself. It felt great to accomplish so much."
The interviewer would like to know which career accomplishment you value the most. Talking about your most significant achievement will give the interviewer a definite idea of where you place your values. It will also show the interviewer more about your personality, how you like to be motivated, and how to coach you in the future. It is okay to brag a little bit when answering this question. Show that you are proud of yourself and your career accomplishments!
Specific Career Examples
Marketing Example
"I have many accomplishments of which I am proud. Overall, I would say that my greatest work accomplishment is the positive reputation that I have in the marketing industry. Marketing is a saturated industry, with many professionals fighting to find their voice. I'm so proud to have carved a distinct career path for myself, despite those challenges."
Sales Example
"My greatest career accomplishment is the fact that, in my current company, I gained a promotion faster than anyone in the organization's entire history. I received accolades from the VP of Sales in front of the entire company, which was an extraordinary moment. Exceed expectations, being promoted, and then financially ahead of where I initially expected, was exhilarating."
Admin Example
"As an administrator, I can stand out by continuing to educate myself in unexpected ways, which will benefit my employer. This year alone I committed to additional coursework in Excel, PowerPoint, and QuickBooks. My boss was impressed with my high level of initiative and gave me a raise, along with additional responsibilities, because of it."
Manager Example
"My greatest accomplishment was reducing departmental costs by 25% by thoroughly reviewing packing slips and comparing them to invoices and contract terms for accuracy. I then trained my team to do the same so that these savings could become the new status-quo for our department."
Teacher Example
"As a teacher, my greatest accomplishment is in helping students who are falling behind. I have been a teacher for eight years and in that time have found I have at least one student who needs extra attention and mentorship, each year. To mold the lives of my students is the most gratifying action I can take as a teacher."
Retail Example
"When I was the manager of XYZ shoe store, my location had 100% inventory accuracy for 16 months straight. I created a special spreadsheet and implemented regular inventory counts, above and beyond expectations from corporate head office. My tracking method was so successful that the company implemented it nationally."
When were you able to resolve a problem within work?
Professional Answers Preview
"In my most recent position we had a consistent problem with employees showing up late for their shifts or calling in sick at the very last moment. Rather than the typical documenting and reprimanding style that management usually takes, I decided to track the results of an accountability reward system. For 180 days, my employees were rewarded for coming to work 10 minutes early. Also, for every month with zero sick days, a bonus was added. In the end, we awarded those with perfect attendance a $600 bonus. The bonuses cost us less money, in the end, than the cost of lowered productivity due to absent employees. The program was a success, and upper management chose to keep it implemented for another six months. We will reassess in December, but it seems to be working very well."
Problem-solving and dispute resolution are fundamental skills to possess. Display to the interviewer that you are capable of problem-solving within the workplace. Show that you can be a team player, even in the face of conflict.
Specific Career Examples
Marketing Example
"I have been able to resolve many issues over my marketing career, primarily surrounding miscommunications with clients. This is one reason why, when landing a Director of Marketing role, I implemented an in-depth client intake questionnaire. With this questionnaire, our new clients, and our projects leads have a solid form to refer to after their initial intake. This method has improved communication significantly."
Sales Example
"After meeting with the operational support staff, it was clear that they felt as though they were taken for granted and completely disregarded by the sales staff as a whole. Not only did it make them feel devalued and lower their morale, but that in turn lowered their productivity. Rather than just let these feelings fester, I decided to listen to the ops staff and then bridge the gap with the sales team. By sitting down and having a conversation, and laying out a more effective way of delegating work, everyone walked out feeling better about the job, situation, and their coworkers."
Admin Example
"I problem solve quite often at work, primarily with customer resolution. Just yesterday I worked with a customer who was unhappy. Through patient communication, I was able to resolve the complaint and create another returning customer."
Manager Example
"I am a frequent problem solver. Last week, I was eating lunch in the break room when I noticed a bottleneck of people from the assembly line all trying to get to the microwave and vending machines. It was a jumbled mess of people, and they only have 30 minutes. I developed a plan to rearrange the break room for better flow, and now the lunchtime process runs smoother for the staff. This small change alone made a huge difference in the morale of my staff."
Teacher Example
"I recently had a student who was very disruptive in class and often accused of bullying. I notified my principal of the situation. She called the parents in for a meeting that she led; however, I was present. We made a behavior action plan for the student with attached consequences should he deviate from the plan. It worked well and nipped the problem in the bud before there was any real emotional damage done to the other students."
Retail Example
"We recently had a concern surrounding employee theft. As the retail store manager, I needed to get to the bottom of the situation before the issue escalated. I called the corporate head office to collaborate on a plan that followed HR guidelines. I implemented the plan, which included additional security cameras, and we caught the employee on camera shortly after."
Describe an ongoing problem at your current or former employer, that you were able to overcome.
Professional Answers Preview
"In my most recent position we had an ongoing concern with our most popular stock depleting before the new shipment would come in. Customers would become annoyed and upset, which then became an issue for me as the customer service manager. I decided to document the cycle and then approach the inventory manager about my concern. We were able to work on a solution for ordering from that particular supplier. In the end, this solved the majority of supply issues."
Every place of employment will have its challenges. Talk to the interviewer about a specific issue that you were able to overcome in your previous role. Be sure to remain positive. Avoid complaining or saying negative things about your last employer or co-workers.
Specific Career Examples
Marketing Example
"An ongoing issue in our marketing department was a lack of funds allocated to the projects that our board had already approved. It seemed as though they wanted us to perform miracles with very little financial support. To overcome this, we created a catchy new hashtag, and it ended up going viral on Instagram. Luckily we did not have to spend funds to make this happen, and we were able to promote our product to an audience much larger than we thought possible."
Sales Example
"Lately the senior sales team has found that our sales assistants had oversold or misrepresented aspects of our product to our clients. It seemed that either they were poorly trained or were so eager to get the "yes" the setting an appointment, that they failed to mention important caveats. Booking appointments are the main KPI the assistants need to reach, which created some glitches when it came to honesty in our product. To overcome this, our sales manager had us collaborate and create a training manual, scripts included, for our sales assistants. By bringing it back to the basics and making sure everyone received proper training, we saw a huge improvement in client satisfaction."
Admin Example
"Clear communication was an ongoing problem in our office when I first started as senior administrator. With the support of management, the use of Microsoft Project, and a weekly status email template, we quickly overcame the communication issues. All five of our departments are now talking to each other instead of pointing fingers."
Manager Example
"In my current position, one ongoing problem is the gossip and separation in the workplace between the warehouse staff and the sales team. I have begun to overcome this by implementing weekly lunch and learns where everyone is welcome. The topics are focused on a variety of situations that we all face in the company. I feel that the better we all understand each other's jobs and functions, the better we can all get along. So far this tactic has been working very well."
Teacher Example
"In my last teaching position, we had a lot of trouble with parent participation and volunteerism. A strong percentage of our parent body were single parents who could not afford to take a day off of work to volunteer. Our faculty came up with the idea of looking for senior citizen volunteers from our community. They were, of course, background checked before being approved. It was adorable to see the young students interacting with the seniors and the seniors cherished the opportunity to support the children in their community."
Retail Example
"Staff turnover is almost always an ongoing problem in my current position. The company does not pay a high commission, and often our top sales reps are recruited by competitors. I made a recommendation to head office that they incorporate a deeper staff discount as well as one flex day per month. It would cost the organization less money than a raise but would still be enough to satisfy employees who were on the fence."
Tell me about a project you completed recently that was ahead of schedule.
Professional Answers Preview
"In my current position I am expected to cold call 100 customers per week. Most of our associates will break this down into 20 per day, five days per week. What has attributed greatly to my success in this role is that I call 50 customers each day for the first two days and then have time to make additional calls throughout the week. This action equals a 25% surplus of cold calls to my portfolio. I am always ahead of target by going over and above that cold calling schedule."
The interviewer would like to know about your project and deadline related accomplishments. Show that it is vital for you to meet and exceed work-related deadlines. Assure the interviewer that you can remain focused on a project and accomplish your goals ahead of schedule.
Specific Career Examples
Marketing Example
"The majority of my projects are completed ahead of schedule. I believe that my clients deserve the best of me and I will work overtime when I can to deliver faster than expected. For instance, I had a client who was releasing their new brand strategy for January 1. The deadline was right around Christmas but, rather than stressing their team out by delivering on time and right around the holidays, I worked overtime every day for the first two weeks of December, to ensure timely delivery."
Sales Example
"I'm required to make 100 calls with 70 minutes talk time, and two appointments set daily. I prefer to set goals at about 125% to target. I never want to get myself into a situation where I cannot hit a simple metric like calls made or talk time, by being complacent. I cannot control if a customer shows up for a meeting that we've set, but I certainly can overachieve the call volume to attempt to mitigate a pipeline problem in the future."
Admin Example
"In my current role, I was given the task of migrating our payroll system to a new provider. I completed the project two weeks ahead of schedule allowing us to start the new service sooner."
Manager Example
"It drives me crazy, not being early. In my first job, at sixteen, I was told the adage, 'If you are not 10 minutes early, you are late', and it has stuck with me. I apply this same logic to how I train my team and their level of reliability. Gaining buy-in from my team is very important to me, and this is where I started with them. Every member of my team is early to client meetings, deliver their work before the deadline, and are eager to show up before ever being asked."
Teacher Example
"I completed my quarterly student reviews five days ahead of schedule this last time around. I worked so hard and put my nose to the grindstone for a week. It was well worth the added effort not to feel the pressure of a looming deadline."
Retail Example
"Every month our store is given until the last Monday of the month to submit our inventory counts. This month I decided that my team would be better off having the count complete before the weekend rush hit. We submitted our inventory count by the Thursday afternoon. I plan to make this a habit every month, moving forward."