Answering the Job Interview Question: “Tell me about an accomplishment you are most proud of.”

If during your interview you are asked to describe an accomplishment you are proud of you should consider yourself fortunate. Instead of trying to fit accomplishments in answers to other unrelated interview questions, this gives you the spotlight to illustrate just how awesome you are. Let’s show you how you can knock the socks of the recruiter with an answer to this question.

Variations of this question

“What are you most proud of?” · “Give me an example that demonstrates your ability to work hard.” · “Tell me about your proudest achievement.” · “Describe the most rewarding experience of your career thus far.” · “Tell me about a time you went above and beyond the call of duty?”

What the hiring manager is looking for

The hiring manager wants to get a sense of your problem-solving skills, how determined you can be, and what motivates you, all of which are essential to any work task.

What your goal should be

You want to convince the recruiter that you can handle anything that might be thrown your way once you start your new job. Therefore, your answer should be work-related. If you don’t have enough work experience, you should share something that could easily be associated with work, such as school assignments, extra-curricular initiatives or side projects.

You also want to stand out. Picking something that may have been personally rewarding, but didn’t require an uncomfortable amount of problem-solving or work is risky because the recruiter may think you have low expectations or are easily satisfied.

Preparing for this question

Start by brainstorming recent accomplishments. Then answer the following questions for each:

• Does it relate to the job I’m applying for or the job skills/abilities mentioned in the job description?
• Did it challenge me and force me to contribute a significant amount of work, determination, or passion?
• Will it set me apart from the average person or candidate applying for this job?

The more confidently you can say “Yes!” to the above questions, the better your chances are of nailing this answer and your interview.

After you pick your achievement, follow the below structure to craft the perfect answer.

Answer Structure

Your answer should be no longer than 3 minutes and should contain the following elements:

1. Start by describing the accomplishment in one sentence. This should take 10 seconds.
   
   Example: “One of my greatest accomplishments was winning an internal creative work competition.”
2. Then, tell the story using the S-T-A-R interview response method, by explaining the Situation, Task, Action and Result of your story. This step should take no longer than 2 minutes.
   
   Example:
   Situation- “Every year our company holds a hackathon, or an internal creative competition where they allow you to work on any project that you think will bring significant value to our customers.” (~15 seconds)
   Task- “After placing in a couple of previous competition but not winning the grand prize, I became determined to win this past year’s competition.” (~15 seconds)
   Action- “I brainstormed possible ideas well in advance of the start of the event. I researched my favorite projects, getting valuable data on each, and chose the one that I felt would be most likely to work. With my research, I was able to convince some of my most talented colleagues to join my team and work on my project with me. My preparation also allowed us to easily organize our selves and our plan of execution.” (~60–90 seconds)
   Result- “As a result, we were the only team who created a fully functional prototype that we were able to test with real customers. We ended up getting valuable data to prove our solution’s worth and won the competition. My idea has now been part of the company’s flagship product for 6 months and has brought in an estimated $10M.” (~30 seconds)
3. Last, explain why you are proud of this accomplishment in one or two sentences. Be sure to be concise in your explanation since your S-T-A-R story has already provided implicit reasons why it’s a great achievement. Spend no more than 15 seconds on this section.
   
   Example: “I am proud of this accomplishment because I set a big goal for myself, worked strategically to attain it, and was able to lead and motivate a team to success.”

Extra tips

• Don’t exaggerate or fabricate your story to impress the recruiter.
• Share the right details. Good stories include great details, but in this story make sure the information you provide will help the recruiter get a sense of how you work and succeed. Anything outside of that should be left off.
• Check out our related articles: Answering the Job Interview Question: “Tell me about a time you made a mistake.” and Using the S-T-A-R Interview Response Method.

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