How to answer “What is your greatest accomplishment?”

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.

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.

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 →