15 Accomplishment Interview Questions (with Answers)

1.

If you were hired today, what would you accomplish first?

The interviewer would like to know that you would be ready to make an impact on their organization, immediately after being hired. It's important to come to an interview with a 30-90 day strategic plan on how you would impact the business, should you be the successful candidate. Tell the interviewer what your impact goal is, should you be the successful candidate.

Rachelle's Answer

"I know you mentioned that the average tenure in this position, before promotion, is anywhere from 6 months to a year or more. I intend to prove over the first three months that I am a rockstar in the organization and would be of greater benefit to you in an account executive role than I am in a sales development role."

Rachelle's Answer

"If hired today, I would start with analyzing all quantifiable data from the last month, quarter, and year to identify any bottlenecks or shortfalls in productivity. I would make corrections from there. Perhaps this will be in the form of creating better processes, implementing new applications for productivity, or simplifying the vendor process. This work will, of course, coincide with your biggest pain-points at the moment."

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Anonymous Answer

"While preparing for this interview, I observed that some of the policies posted on the company's website had been overdue for revision, some as far back as December 2018. I would discuss with my Audit Manager on the need to reach out to the leadership of the Departments involved informing them of our observation and the need to review and approve the policies, to incorporate any changes that might have occurred after the last review date."

Rachelle's Answer

You are very detailed and have done an incredible amount of research. This is an excellent answer!

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2.

When have you significantly contributed to obtain a corporate goal?

The interviewer would like to know that you take an interest in the overall goals of the company. Engaged employees are always the most productive. Assure the interviewer that you are capable of being an involved team member by assisting, in some way, to the end goal of the corporation.

Rachelle's Answer

"My most recent employer had a solid interest in giving back to the community. So much so that we, as a group, logged our volunteer hours which were treated as another KPI. We would review our community contributions on a quarterly basis. Our goal was always to hit a minimum of 500 volunteer hours per quarter which meant that everyone would volunteer one day per month. It was a great initiative and one that I happily participated in."

Rachelle's Answer

"Every quarter, I commit to working overtime to complete our quarterly inventory counts. Our goal is to be the store with the most accurate inventory count, and we have been able to achieve that for the past two years."

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Anonymous Answer

"I previously have undertaken a technology internship at _______ which provides digital products for event management. Ensuring there were no bugs in the software was paramount and also time-consuming. After frequently testing the software, I found that there was no organized method of tracking it. I coordinated with management to develop and implement a new, more efficient software testing template. This was imported into the in-house system and each element of the testing process was given a red, amber, or green mark. This resulted in easier testing that could be tracked which saved time for analyzing the results."

Cindy's Answer

Amazing! This is a great example and an extremely effective way to show how you'd take similar initiative in the job. Nice work!

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Anonymous Answer

"I previously have undertaken a technology internship at _______ which provides digital products for event management. Ensuring there were no bugs in the software was paramount and also time-consuming. After frequently testing the software, I found that there was no organized method of tracking it. I coordinated with management to develop and implement a new, more efficient software testing template. This was imported into the in-house system and each element of the testing process was given a red, amber, or green mark. This resulted in easier testing that could be tracked which saved time for analyzing the results."

Cindy's Answer

Amazing! This is a great example and an extremely effective way to show how you'd take similar initiative in the job. Nice work!

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3.

Tell me about your greatest work related accomplishment.

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!

Rachelle's Answer

"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."

Rachelle's Answer

"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."

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Anonymous Answer

"My greatest accomplishment in my last job was our team increasing our overall standings from number 3 to number 1 in less than 14 months in an established market. We also met our year-end goal."

Rachelle's Answer

Your answer includes very specific numbers, goals, percentages, and achievements. Very well done!

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Anonymous Answer

"The greatest accomplishment in my career was when I started my own catering business and become successful in the past 6 years. 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."

Stephanie's Answer

Starting your own business is a significant accomplishment! I'm glad you were able to capture the importance of this.

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4.

Tell me about a contribution you made to the last team you worked on.

It is essential to show the interviewer that you are a team player. Talk about a time that you were recently expected to achieve a goal in a team setting. Discuss how you went above and beyond to ensure that your contribution made a difference.

Rachelle's Answer

"Last month our company asked upper management to complete a full inventory audit. There were 4 of us in total and so we broke the audit requirements into shifts. These shifts had to take place when the warehouse was not in its daily operations. In the end, there was one additional shift that nobody wanted to take. I volunteered myself to do that shift to show my dedication to my job and my co-workers. The gesture was appreciated, and the audit completed on time."

Rachelle's Answer

"Before my arrival in my current role, our office faced a great deal of disorganization. The biggest contribution that I made was creating a new filing system, introducing Trello - a web-based project management application, and then training the team on how to properly utilize the application."

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Anonymous Answer

"• S: I have previously undertaken a technology internship at Wetrack which provides digital products for event management. • T: After frequently testing the software, I would find bugs and have to communicate these to developers in the Bulgaria office. English was not their first language, so I had to communicate very clearly. • A: I decided to use fewer words in my messages to them and use screenshots to show exactly what page and where the bug was. • R: This resulted in them easily understanding the bugs and being able to fix them quickly for a more fluid web experience for our customers."

Cindy's Answer

Good example. You're demonstrating a number of qualities that employers value, including conscientiousness about meeting goals, problem-solving skills, and good communication.

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Anonymous Answer

"I think it was a situation that I managed to turn a negative into a positive. My boss complained that I was not communicating with team members when I had finished my part in a particular project to pass it on to the next team member. I had to admit that I was at fault for doing this, but I also felt that we should come up with a useful project management tool to help the whole team. I researched the topic and came up with a tool called Jo, which helped all team members plan, track, and organize our work. It was a big success!"

Rachelle's Answer

Jo is an awesome tool. Fabulous suggestion! It's also very good that you took ownership of your part in the situation.

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5.