Interview Question: Greatest Achievement pretty, career, related, question, personal

FVPV

How would you respond? Do you respond with a career/work related achievement or go with a lifetime personal achievement?

I shot a 69 one time that I am pretty damn proud of, but I don't think that would go over very well...very open ended question.

Kapie

I have several stories of personal achievements where I also draw upon other themes such as conflict resolution, overcoming great adversity, etc. I advise my clients do to the same. I also recommend to respond stories that can connect with interviewers on an emotional level.

I think either knowingly or unknowingly, the purpose of that question is to demonstrate three things about the interviewee:

(1) Respondent has a coherent sense of what "achievement" means to them, and is willing to overcome adverse conditions and demonstrate great work ethic to attain that achievement;
(2) The achievement is aligned with what the respondent is personally or professionally passionate about;
(3) The effectiveness of the story also is a reflection of how persuasive and influential the respondent can be -- these are also traits of leadership that people look for, beyond the more "tactical" skill sets like spreadsheets or financial analysis

A professional-related example is not necessary, and oftentimes this question occurs at a point in the interview where the interviewer already has a good sense of what your work background is like.

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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at Monday, June 20, 2011 at 04:41PM by numi.

hassan

Good question, I am always asking myself what's my greatest achievement.

Do you have specific examples Numi we can use as guidance ?

pimpineasy

Yeah I probably would avoid the number 69 in an interview....awkward. I would say you broke 70.

joehogue

Yeah, this seems like a really hard question to answer. If your achievement is not sufficiently impressive, you look will like a loser. If your achievement is too impressive, the interviewer will feel jealous and resentful towards you.

A safe answer would be something along the lines of "2 chicks at one time".

MiniMe7

ohai Wrote:
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> A safe answer would be something along the lines
> of "2 chicks at one time".


And you think this won't cause jealousy and resentment?

Palantir

JonnyKay Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> ohai Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
>
> > A safe answer would be something along the
> lines
> > of "2 chicks at one time".
>
>
> And you think this won't cause jealousy and
> resentment?

or warrant a slap-in-the-face if it's a woman interviewer

anish

This is a question I feel conflicted about, in my personal life I have overcome very very significant adversity. It is something that many people would find inspiring, including my current employer who suggested I become a motivational speaker. However, at the same time there is a significant social stigma against people with my history so bringing it up in a job interview can be hit or miss. Therefore, I try to avoid references to my unique life history and instead say something like passing level 2 which was a f'n walk in the park compared to what I had/continue to deal with.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at Tuesday, June 21, 2011 at 02:21AM by bodhisattva.

Carson

Mo was being sarcastic...methinks at least.

RoastBeef

You're probably right, but anybody who isn't aware of his posting history might not know that