While younger, we were taught not to show off in social situations as it is considered rather rude; Humility was inculcated to us from childhood. Consequently, as adults, we rather consider it odd when asked to talk about our achievements.

On the flip side, a job interviewer would ask you this question to know if you are the right fit for the job. So, you need to start embracing all that makes you great. When asked this question, they do not want you to sound arrogant, rather, they want to know what stands you out from the crowd, since the HR receive tonnes of application documents for a particular role.

When asked this question, they want to know:

• what you value most in life, how it can be of importance to the firm and whether, of course, you are a good fit for the job.
• How you view success and whether it relates to the company’s goal/vision/mission
• whether you are an ambitious fellow and have the impetus to succeed.

How to answer this question

The best way to prepare for the question is to follow the STAR technique

Situation: In what context did your greatest accomplishment occur

Task: What hurdle did you surmount or intend the overcome

Action: What did you do during the challenge you faced

Result: What was the result of the actions you took? What outcome were recorded after the challenge?

You could wish to answer in the following

• Giving a great presentation at work
• Beating sales targets.
• Training for and completing a marathon.
• Organizing a successful charity event.
• Mentoring a coworker or fellow student.

Rules to answering the question

1. Think about your values and best qualities
2. Research the job and company
3. Be honest
4. Be specific
5. Ensure your accomplishment is relevant and recent

Below are samples

“My greatest accomplishment occurred in my previous position as an HR Administrator. I noticed team members often had difficulty locating specific files – which reduced productivity, particularly during busy periods. So I took the initiative to implement a team filing system. I scanned every vital document, which I then saved to shared folders on our computer system. At the end of the month, our timesheets indicated that the time spent looking for files had reduced by several hours.”

“My greatest accomplishment is when I took over a children’s reading group in my current position as a Library Assistant. Children between the ages of 7 and 12 can come to the library on a Saturday morning, we read a chapter of a book together and then we discuss it. At the time, my official responsibility was to provide customer service at the front desk. However, one of our Library Supervisors retired and no replacement was hired. Due to the lack of staff, the library made the difficult decision to cut the weekly children’s reading group. I was saddened to hear about the disappointment felt by the children and their parents. I volunteered to change my shifts so I worked on a Saturday morning and could run the reading group. I am now the leader of the group. I help choose the books we read, prepare questions for an educational discussion and organize games and other activities. We get around five to ten children per session. Their parents are so grateful we were able to continue the group and I enjoy interacting with children who love to read.”