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Interview question

How to answer “What is your greatest accomplishment?”

Pick one recent result that you caused and that fits this job. Say what you set out to do, what you did and how it turned out, with a number. Use “I” for your part and credit the team for theirs.

A woman in her 30s with long braids and a sage-green blouse at a home desk by a bookshelf in the evening, telling her laptop about a result with a small, proud smile

What the interviewer is checking

  1. What you value

    Indeed's career guide says the question shows which achievements you see as most important, and gives the interviewer a real example of your work and what to expect from you.

  2. What you did yourself

    The U.S. Office of Personnel Management tells hiring managers to ask about your specific role in past jobs. Amazon's recruiters tell candidates to say “I,” not “we,” for what they did.

  3. A result you can show

    Amazon's interview guide calls the measurable outcome the most important part of a story. Think of time or money saved, sales, or people served.

  4. That it's true

    A recruiter quoted by SHRM says candidates who talk about accomplishments they didn't own lose her trust. Pick something that was yours.

Build your answer in three parts

  1. 1

    What you set out to do

    The problem or the goal, in a sentence or two. Give them just enough to follow.

  2. 2

    What you did

    Your own steps, told with “I.” Name the decision you made and the skill you used, and spend most of your time here.

  3. 3

    How it turned out

    The result, with a number if you have one. Then a line on why it matters for this job.

Teach For America asks applicants to describe one of their greatest accomplishments from the last three years, guided by three questions: what you were trying to achieve and why, the steps you took, and the outcome. The same three parts work out loud.

The question also comes as “What is your biggest achievement?”, “What are you most proud of?” or “What are your greatest accomplishments?” The same three parts work for each. Indeed's guide suggests preparing two or three stories, so you have another ready if they ask for more.

How to find your greatest accomplishment

If nothing comes to mind, take each part of your job and ask what happened because you did it, a question the Labor Department's CareerOneStop guide suggests. Then try these.

  1. What got faster, cheaper or bigger?

    Indeed's guide suggests work you finished faster or with fewer people, money you saved or revenue you brought in.

  2. What did someone thank you for?

    Think of a time a customer, a coworker or your manager praised your work. Indeed's guide suggests starting there.

  3. Why were you promoted?

    If you've had a recent promotion, Indeed suggests thinking about the reasons the company may have given it to you.

  4. Early in your career?

    School, volunteering or even a hobby can count if it shows skills that carry over to this job, Pomona College's career office says. Teach For America asks for one from school or from a role on a team or in a club, not a personal one.

Then pick the one closest to the work in the posting.

What to say, and what not to

  1. Say “I” for your part

    Say“I rebuilt the schedule and got all three shift leads to sign off on it.”

    Don't say“We did a lot of great work on that.” They can't tell which part was yours.

  2. Credit the team for theirs

    Say“The team launched [project]. My part was [what you did], and it [result].”

    Don't sayThe whole team's result told as yours alone. Federal guidance tells interviewers to ask what your specific role was.

  3. End with the result

    Say“By [month], [number] went from [before] to [after].”

    Don't say“…and everyone was really happy with it.” Say what changed, and by how much.

  4. Pick one and prepare it

    SayOne accomplishment, ready before the interview, with a second in reserve.

    Don't say“Maybe the time I… or there was also…” Pomona's career office lists indecision like this among the mistakes to avoid.

  5. Don't talk it down

    SaySay it plainly, and give the number.

    Don't say“This probably doesn't count, but…” Pomona's guide counts doubting your own accomplishment as a sign of a bad answer.

  6. Skip the superlatives

    SayWhat you did and what changed, in plain words.

    Don't say“Honestly, I'm the best they've ever had.” In a CareerBuilder survey, 59% of hiring managers called seeming arrogant or entitled an instant deal breaker.

Greatest accomplishment examples, by career stage

Swap in your own facts, and stop once you've given the result.

  1. IF YOU'RE EARLY IN YOUR CAREER

    “In my last year at [school], I led a [class project or club] of [number] people. We had [problem]. I [what you did], and by the end we [result, with a number]. That's the kind of [skill from the posting] this job asks for.”

  2. IF YOU'VE DONE THIS WORK FOR A FEW YEARS

    “Last year our [metric] was stuck at [number]. I found that [cause], so I [what you did]. Within [time] it was [new number], and my manager asked me to [what came next]. It's the same kind of problem this role deals with.”

  3. IF YOU LEAD A TEAM

    “When I took over my team of [number], we were missing [target] by [amount]. I [the decision you made] and [how you got the team behind it]. The team hit [result] for [time]. My part was the plan and keeping us on it.”

  4. IF YOU'RE CHANGING CAREERS

    “My proudest result is from my time as a [old role]. [One sentence on the problem.] I [what you did], and [result, with a number]. That's [skill from the posting], which is most of this job, and it's the work I want to do full time.”

More behavioral interview questions, and how to answer them →

More red flags hiring managers listen for →

Practice telling it out loud

An AI hiring manager asks the kind of questions real hiring managers ask about the job you paste, including a story from your own work. It may not ask this one word for word. It follows up on what you leave out, and on the default setting it can ask how you know a result was yours. The scorecard flags a story with no outcome, or a result you didn't personally cause, when it hears one, and quotes your words. An unscored panel counts how often you said “I” and “we.”

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More to practice: Phone screen questions · Tell me about yourself · Reasons for leaving a job · Why do you want to work here? · Why are you interested in this position? · Where do you see yourself in 5 years? · Salary expectations · Questions to ask the interviewer · Hiring manager interview questions · Internal interview questions · Explaining an employment gap · Behavioral interview questions · Situational interview questions · How do you handle conflict? · What are your weaknesses? · What are your strengths? · What not to say in an interview · How to answer interview questions · Why should we hire you? · Second interview questions