During your interview, you should share your accomplishments and achievements and relate these to the role you are interviewing for.
It is important to remember that people tend to remember stories rather than random facts here and there. Stories inspire people, so you should tell a work-related story that demonstrates a specific capability you have.
You can use the STAR method to ace your interview!
Let’s say you are interviewing for a role as a Team Lead in a Recruitment Company:
A challenge or a situation that you have experienced:
“Last year I was brought in to manage a team of 4 sales consultants, responsible for the promotion and sales of an IT software to other businesses in NSW, QLD and VIC.”
Describe what was expected of you in terms of your responsibilities, or the challenges /obstacles you had to overcome:
“Their results over the past 6 months had significantly dropped:
Revenue was down by 16% and on-boarding new clients was down by 27%
I had to ensure the team was motivated and performing: get the team back to achieving KPIs and bringing in new clients/revenue.”
Detail the specific action steps that you took to handle the tasks or address the obstacle:
“I began with conducting one to ones with the team to really understand their feelings and thoughts on the role and the company. They expressed lack of knowledge, un-engaged with the company and little motivation on a daily basis.
I then delivered 3 training sessions on the product (software) and the different sales techniques they could use.
I organised team bonding events such as lunch, bowling and a golf day.
I also set them each KPIs, and when they were achieved they were rewarded with incentives or a reflective financial bonus, which was not in place before this.”
What impact did you have on the situation? If you can provide measurable and quantifiable results it will always help:
“3 months down the line, sales were up 26% from when I first began to work with team. They had increased new clients by 32%.
I continued to conduct monthly one to ones to gain feedback from each of the team, which was much more positive than the initial one to ones. They showed they were motivated by rewards and recognition for their achievements, and were much more driven and focused.
The team’s performance had greatly improved, so much in fact that we were able to recruit a new consultant into the team.”
By following the STAR technique will allow the interviewer to visualise how you work by contextualising your skills and past experiences. They can gain an understanding as to how you solve issues and challenges and what attributes you can bring to their team that others may not.
