What accomplishment do you believe was the most difficult for you to achieve?
"The most challenging accomplishment for me to achieve, as a marketer, has been staying on top of shifts in trends related to social media marketing and paid advertising. For instance, the Facebook algorithms are constantly changing, so it's challenging to become a subject matter expert in that arena. For this reason, I took three workshops this year to ensure my knowledge was current and helpful to my clients."
"So far, I would say the most challenging accomplishment has been to lead the scoreboard continually. I made it my goal to be on top of the scoreboard at least four of the five days in the work week so that I would have the highest KPI scorecard to read each Monday morning sales huddle. By doing so, I received a promotion to the next position in record time. I may have received the promotion the fastest, but it was probably not the easiest on the road there!"
"The most challenging accomplishment I achieved was the fluid communication created in my current office. I did this through creating an online memo board and incorporating new methods of communication such as iCalendar and setting everyone up on Hangout. When I first started, communication was so poor that it greatly affected the company's profits. By creating this smooth communication, we were able to increase sales by 155% in the first year."
"My most challenging accomplishment was to boost employee morale, lower turnover and increase productivity in the first 90 days of starting my current role. The previous management had been quite tumultuous and, after the year they had, it was not easy to take over, gain their trust, and put a smile back on their faces. Now, we run a well-oiled machine, and I feel it couldn't have gone better."
"I believe the most challenging career achievement has been moving from the substitute list to a full time, permanent teaching opportunity. Our school district is oversaturated and competitive. I believe my success in landing a full-time role was because of the diversity I offer having expertise in science and language arts."
"In my previous role, as a sales associate for a local chocolatier, I was tasked to memorize the ingredients in every one of our products. There were over 100 varieties! I took my workbook home, hunkered down for the entire weekend, and came to my first day on the job with everything memorized to a tee! My new manager was very impressed."
Being able to face a challenging or stressful situation, and still gain some accomplishment, in the end, is very satisfying. Talk to the interviewer about a time when you were able to come out on top despite being faced with an obstacle. Your answer can be big or small. You don't need a grandiose example to make an impact.
"In my career, so far, I feel that the most difficult accomplishment for me to achieve were the three back-to-back promotions in my current company. Because promotions are granted based on results, I had to put in a lot of overtime hours, and hustle, to get there."
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Anonymous Answer
Changing my career has been a very difficult journey for me. I sacrificed a great deal by going back to study, sacrificing financially, working long hours, and investing three years of my life in getting where I am today. I knew it was what I wanted to do, so I just persisted. At times I wanted to quit, but I just kept on telling myself that it will be worth it. And it is!
Rachelle's Feedback
A sacrifice that will definitely pay off. Good job.
Anonymous Answer
In my opinion, nothing is impossible as long as you're motivated and committed you will be able to accomplish and achieve your goal. Every day, life is full of challenges. Like when I decided to build my own business here in the U.S. If you think of it, it is difficult to achieve because I hear a lot of people saying that I'm so brave to start a business here in the U.S., but because I'm committed and dedicated and I don't get affected on other people saying I was able to succeed in my goals. This experience taught me that no matter how hard it is we just need to keep going in order to achieve our goals in life and career. I will bring this positive attitude to my next career opportunity.
Stephanie's Feedback
You do a good job of sharing a personal example here, but the wording is a bit too lengthy. I suggest really focusing on the question that was asked (what accomplishment do you believe was the most difficult for you to achieve?) I've provided an example of how this might be restated below.
The most difficult accomplishment I've achieved was building my own business here in the U.S. As an immigrant to the U.S., I heard a lot of people saying that I'm so brave to try to start a business here, but I remained dedicated and committed and didn't get discouraged by other people. This experience taught me that no matter how hard it is we just need to keep going in order to achieve our goals in life and career. I will bring this positive attitude to my next career opportunity.
Anonymous Answer
When I was a mentor at University, giving an experience that inspired my mentees was challenging. It required a lot of emotional intelligence, dedication through extra hours of research so I could have the most accurate knowledge to provide them. I impacted them positively, and that means a lot.
Cindy's Feedback
Good example! Being a mentor can be a challenge.
Anonymous Answer
My most challenging accomplishment is to even the contract with project documentation in the system. For example, the contract is signed and agreed upon for projects to be completed on June 1st but in the system, the project was executed and utilized on August 1. All my projects were aligned with the signed contract and I was able to align other projects once it was time to review the contract, next year.
Marcie's Feedback
Great! So it sounds like you worked hard to make sure the project documentation in the system was accurate. Consider explaining more why this was important to achieve, how it benefited the clients to fix this issue, and what steps you had to take to accomplish this. The more details you can provide to the interviewer, the better!
Anonymous Answer
Response: In my previous role as a project manager with the Municipality, I managed the review of a Transportation Impact Assessment (TIA) report, which was completed by a consultant on behalf of his client developer.
(Situation): I reviewed and approved the report after multiple revisions. The traffic issues were already identified upfront in the pre-consultation meeting regarding the spacing and configuration of proposed driveways. The development was proposed at the corner of two busy arterials. I also hinted at some road improvements as part of the development, subject to the findings of the report. The third version of the report provided a detailed analysis that clearly documented the warrant analysis for road improvements. Soon after the approval of the report, my planner came to my desk and said, the developer met with the ward councilor and both agree NOT to implement road improvements as they were not economically feasible for the project. The developer and their consultant wanted to meet me.
(Action): I chaired the meeting and after listening to their perspectives on the issue at hand from various angles, I offered them three options: a) modify the land use to avoid implementing improvements (generate a lot less amount of traffic); b) a meeting with ward Councillor to discuss the professional recommendations in the report; c) consultant provide a brief summary stating that "despite recommended improvements for public safety reasons, I consider improvements were not necessary." The consultant immediately denied going for the third option. The developer didn't want to modify the site plan. So, the meeting was already set up with the deputy mayor and two other councilors including my manager also attended the meeting. I provided/delivered a briefing to attendees and walked them through various scenarios including the negative safety impacts on the general public. The councilor asked a few questions and was fully convinced of my position based on facts. However, he still left it to me to decide. The meeting was dismissed and we went back to the office.
(Result): About an hour later, the developer and their consultant called me and said, they were on-site and wanted to move forward as per the recommendations of the TIA and that there was no ill-feeling. Thus, I maintained my trust and rapport with our customers/developers. My manager sent me a note, which was also added to my performance appraisal. The note read, "You showed your leadership skills and solved the problem by involving all stakeholders in such a way that everyone was happy in the end."
Learned: Communication is off-course the key to solving any problem. By involving all stakeholders and collaborating on the solution of problems, I can maintain trust and rapport.
Chad's Feedback
Great! This is a tremendous achievement, as recognized and validated by the note from your manager. It sounds like you are highly organized in your work, are a strong presenter, and have the ability to develop and maintain relationships with numerous stakeholders, all of which contributed to your ability to overcome the resistance of the stakeholders to accomplish your goal.
Anonymous Answer
I believe graduating from college was the most difficult to achieve. I was not the best student in high school and I needed to create a whole new mindset in college. I became more goal-oriented and organized. I set higher standards for myself and graduated all while working full time and playing women's basketball. While playing basketball I also was team captain.
Stephanie's Feedback
This sounds like a great accomplishment and one that you worked hard for! To deepen the impact of your response, I suggest adding a closing sentence to tie your answer together. Example: "This was a significant accomplishment and one that I worked hard for. I have proved to myself that I can accomplish whatever I set my mind to."
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