How To Answer What Are Your Achievements In An Interview?

How to answer “What are your achievements in an interview?” This question is usually to understand what you have accomplished in your previous roles.

And it shows how those accomplishments can apply to the role you’re interviewing for.

18 Ways To Answer What Are Your Achievements In An Interview?

When answering this question, it’s important to focus on quality over quantity. So let’s discuss some factors to consider when preparing your response:

1. What Are My Proudest Accomplishments?

You must consider what you’re most proud of achieving in your career thus far. These accomplishments should be relevant to the role you’re interviewing for.

For instance, you’re applying for a job in sales. You might discuss how you increased sales by X% in your previous role.

Or when you were managing a team, how you successfully motivate and lead your team to achieve its goals.

These proudest accomplishments must demonstrate the value you can bring to the organization.

2. How Do My Accomplishments Help The Company?

When discussing your accomplishments, emphasize how they’ve helped the company.

For example, if you increased sales by X%, how did that benefit the company?

Did it help them reach their targets? Did it help them increase their market share?

Your interviewer will want to know how your accomplishments helped the organization. However, they don’t just want to know that you accomplished something.

For example, saying “I increased sales” is good. But saying, “I increased sales by X%, which helped the company reach its targets,” is even better.

3. What Are The Steps I Took To Achieve My Accomplishments?

When discussing your accomplishments, mention the steps you took to achieve them.

This will show the interviewer that you’re not just a one-hit-wonder. You know how to get things done.

It will also give them a better understanding of your work style and how you approach tasks.

For instance, if you helped increase sales, how did you do it? Did you come up with a new marketing campaign? Did you develop a new product?

Or when you increased efficiency, what processes did you put in place?

4. I Learned How To Do X:

If you accomplished something by learning to do something new, mention it!

This shows that you’re resourceful and willing to put in the extra effort to get things done.

It also shows that you’re constantly looking for ways to improve your skill set. It is always a plus in an interviewer’s eyes.

Remember to mention what you learned and how it helped you achieve a goal.

For instance,

“I learned how to use Salesforce. As a result, I increased our sales by 10%.”

“I learned how to program in Java. As a result, I was able to develop a new app for our company.”

5. I Led A Team:

If you lead a team, it shows that you can take charge and get things done.

It also shows that you can delegate tasks and manage people effectively.

Be sure to mention how many people were on your team and what your team accomplished.

For instance,

“I led a team of 5 people. As a result, we increased sales by 20%.”

“I led a team of 10 people. We could develop a new product and launch it in 6 months.”

6. I Overcame A Challenge:

Overcoming a challenge shows that you’re resilient and can handle difficult situations.

It also shows that you’re resourceful and can find creative solutions to problems.

Be sure to mention what the challenge was and how you overcame it.

For instance,

“I was challenged with increasing sales in a declining market. As a result, I increased sales by 20% by implementing a new marketing strategy.”

“I was challenged with launching a new product in a very short timeframe. I launched the product in 6 months by working closely with my team and suppliers.”

7. I Saved The Company Money:

When you’re able to save your employer money, it’s a big achievement. This shows that you’re mindful of costs and are always looking for ways to improve efficiency.

Be sure to mention how much money you saved and how you did it.

For instance,

“I was able to save the company $100,000 per year by negotiating better rates with our suppliers.”

8. I Helped The Company Make More Money:

When a company can make more money, it’s a good thing. And when you can help make that happen, it’s an even better thing.

This is a great achievement to mention in an interview. It shows that you’re looking out for the company’s bottom line and have ideas on how to improve revenue.

For example,

“I was able to increase revenue by $250,000 per year by developing a new sales strategy.”

9. I Improved The Company’s Processes:

Company processes are always in need of improvement. After all, there’s always room for efficiency gains.

If you can show that you’ve improved a particular process, it’ll go a long way in proving your value to the company.

For example,

“I was able to save the company $100,000 per year by streamlining the purchasing process.”

10. I Won An Award:

This is easy to forget, but if you’ve won any awards related to your work, make sure to mention it!

It’s a great way to show you’re good at your job. And you are also recognized by your peers as being excellent at it.

For example,

“I got awarded ‘salesperson of the year for my outstanding performance.”

“The company recognized me as the ’employee of the month’ 3 times in a row.”

11. I Increased/Decreased Something Important:

Achievement can also be increasing or decreasing something important. For example,

“I was able to increase sales by 20% in my territory.” In addition, “I was able to decrease the number of customer complaints by 10%.”

Regardless of your answer, make sure to sound confident and proud of the accomplishment.

And be ready to back it up with numbers or examples if needed.

12. I Negotiated Something Important:

If you’re in a role where negotiation is important, highlighting a time when you did this is a great way to show off your skills.

For example,

“I negotiated a lower price for our raw materials, which saved the company $100,000.”

“I negotiated a new contract with one of our key suppliers, which resulted in better terms for us.”

This is a great answer because it shows you’re good at negotiation. And also, you understand how important it is to the company’s bottom line.

13. I Increased Efficiency:

Efficiency is important in any job. It can mean different things in different roles. But generally, it means doing more with less.

For example,

“I streamlined our process for onboarding new clients. It saved the company 10 hours per week.”

“I created a system for tracking our inventory, which reduced stockouts by 25%.”

It shows that you’re good at streamlining processes and making things more efficient.

14. I Improved Customer Service:

What’s a company’s most valuable asset? Its people. And its customers.

You want to be known as someone who makes the company’s customers happy.

For example,

“I implemented a new training program for our customer service reps. It resulted in a 20% decrease in customer complaints.”

“I created a new process for handling customer returns. It reduced the time each return took by 30 minutes.”

15. I Took On More Responsibilities:

If you took on more responsibility at your job, mention it! For example,

“I got promoted to team lead after six months.” “Well, I took on additional responsibilities outside my normal job description. For example, I started training new employees and ran the weekly team meeting.”

Why is this an achievement? Because you were able to accomplish more than what they expected of you. And that’s always impressive.

16. Are My Achievements Recent?

When thinking about your accomplishments, it’s important to consider when they occurred.

Employers are usually more interested in what you’ve accomplished recently. This is because it’s indicative of your current skill set.

It’s great to have a long list of accomplishments. But if they’re all from 10 years ago, it might not be the best use of your time to talk about them during an interview.

Instead, focus on more recent successes. And with each one, explain how it’s relevant to the job you’re interviewing for.

17. Did Your Boss Or Peers Notice?

When you’re listing your accomplishments, include ones that other people noticed.

For example, you could increase sales by 10% in your territory.

But if your boss never said anything about it, it’s not going to be as impactful.

Or if you increased sales, but everyone in your company did by 10%, it’s not as big of a deal.

You want to focus on accomplishments that made you stand out to your boss or peers.

18. Use The STAR Interview Response Technique

Are you unsure how to answer the question, “What are your greatest accomplishments?”

You can use the STAR interview response technique. With this technique, you’ll share a Situation or Task you had.

Then you mention the Actions you took to address it and the Results of your actions.

Here’s an example:

“In my previous role, I was responsible for increasing sales in my territory by 10%.

I achieved this by analyzing our customer base. And then, I developed a targeted marketing campaign. It appealed to our key demographics.

As a result, we saw a significant increase in sales within the first quarter.”

Remarks Of Caution:

Discussing your accomplishments can help you impress potential employers. But there are a few things to remember.

– First and foremost, don’t be cocky or arrogant. It’s important to be proud of your successes. But there’s a difference between being confident and coming across as arrogant.

– Second, avoid sounding like you’re bragging. Instead of listing off a string of accomplishments, focus on one or two. And explain what you did and why it matters.

– Finally, tailor your answer to the job you’re interviewing for. Your potential employer wants to know how your accomplishments can benefit the company.

You will make the best impression by being confident, humble, and relevant.

Final Word:

So when talking about accomplishments in an interview, to confident, humble, and relevant.

Doing so will show the hiring manager that you’re the right candidate for the job.

Last Updated on 3 months by Shahzaib Arshad