Think of 4-5 key accomplishments in your career, and describe them with this 4-step process:
1. What Situation did you face?
2. What was the Task to be accomplished?
3. What Actions did you take?
4. What Results did you achieve?
Each accomplishment you describe becomes a story which helps you discover what you do best and interview successfully.
Accomplishment Example: Turned around sales in a newly-assigned territory
| SITUATION You Faced |
TASKS to Accomplish |
ACTIONS You Took |
RESULTS Achieved |
| Assigned new territory where sales had declined by 18% the prior year. | Increase sales 10% by end of the year. | Surveyed customers about satisfaction. Identified new competitor with cheaper product. Put on seminar for past, current and prospective customers featuring service. | Regained 63% of past customers, added 27 new customers, and increased sales by 24%. |
If you prepare STAR stories that map to the requirements in a job description, you’ll be prepared to knock it out of the park at the interview!
Kristin A. Sherry 