As I’ve mentioned before finding, remembering and documenting accomplishments/achievements is usually a serious challenge for most job seekers. If you’re like most of us you go to work every day, work hard and usually accomplish good things. Sometimes by yourself but, more often as a part of a team.
Then, once that project is over or the goal is attained you dust off your hands and start on the new work. We soon forget about the old work because we’re buried in the new stuff.
Now along comes the job search and someone in an interview asks---“Tell me about a time when--------.” Or, “Describe a situation when------.” And we go blank. We’ve all had it happen. Trying to remember all those good achievements in the middle of an interview is very difficult.
But having those real-life examples can make all the difference when the prospective employer makes its hiring decisions. It’s been estimated that over 70% of today’s employers use “behavioral-event” interviews to screen potential employees. To ace these kinds of interviews requires the ability to tell good stories.
My company teaches our job search clients to use a special technique to help you remember and tell good interview stories. This technique is called SOAR. That stands for;
Situation- what was the overall situation or problem you were faced?
Obstacle – what unique circumstance made the problem difficult to solve?
Actions– what specific action or actions did you or your team take?
Result(s) - how did your employer benefit from your actions? More revenue? Less cost?
So, the next time you are preparing for an interview use the SOAR technique to develop compelling stories to highlight your strengths and make you the preferred candidate for the job.
