Preparing Success Stories
You can best showcase your talents by being ready with your own success stories that show how you have developed the skills or traits required for your targeted position.
Your Task. Using the worksheets you prepared in Activity 16.4, prepare success stories that highlight the required skills or traits. Select three to five stories to develop into answers to potential interview questions. For example, here is a typical question: How does your background relate to the position we have open?
A possible response: As you know, I have just completed an intensive training program in _____________. In addition, I have over three years of part-time work experience in a variety of business settings. In one position I was selected to manage a small business in the absence of the owner. I developed responsibility and customer service skills in filling orders efficiently, resolving shipping problems, and monitoring key accounts. I also inventoried and organized products worth over $200,000. When the owner returned from a vacation to Florida, I was commended for increasing sales and was given a bonus in recognition of my efforts. People relate to and remember stories. Try to shape your answers into memorable stories.
Text Book: Business Communication: Process and Product By Mary Ellen Guffey, Dana Loewy.