Use a Success Database to create your “Career Story”

Use a Success Database to create your “Career Story”
Interviewer: “Tell me about a time when you…?”  How do you respond to this question?  With a success story. Success stories are examples that describe your career accomplishments. When you use a success story to answer an interview question you arm yourself with convincing facts and evidence showing you’re qualified for the most challenging interview questions.  The more evidence you collect, the more confident you will feel about yourself! One story can demonstrate several good qualities. By gathering your success stories in one place you create a “Success Database” that prepares you to tell your career stories quickly and confidently.  Success Stories can also be used to build your resume and cover letter and to identify future career goals.
Organizing Success Stories:
Choose 3 of the most important responsibilities for the job you are applying for.  If available, use a job description to help identify the crucial responsibilities. Identify specific success examples related to those key skills.  Example of a Success Story related to the key skill of analyzing data.
What I did:
Acme Company wanted a report of how successful our company was at supporting their products.
How I did it:
Talked with service manager to gather and analyze data. Incorporated information into an effective PowerPoint presentation. Showed it to my boss for approval. Delivered it.
Proof it was Successful (How did you save or make the company $$, improve quality, and /or improve the company’s image?)
Communicated customer feedback to boss. Customer said they weren’t aware that our downtime was so low. A week later, the customer increased their orders by 25%, resulting in a $200k annual boost in sales.
Once you have created your success stories, practice them out loud with a friend, on your smart phone or even the shower.  The more familiar you are with your stories, the more natural you will sound.
Interviewing is stressful.  Trying to come up with an answer to every type of interview question is impossible.  Using a Success database will provide clear evidence of your career successes. The more evidence you collect, the more confident you will feel about yourself. With five to seven stories in your back pocket, you are ready for anything!

Article Author: Leslie Arnold, M.Ed., CDF