Interviewing is the most important step in your job search!

No matter how you reach this stage (online applications, referrals, internal mobility, networking), you need to crack this to get the job. Yes, it is your experience and you know what you have done.

But there is a big difference between knowing your experience and communicating it to show your value.

This is where having your Career Stories prepared makes the biggest difference. Career stories are your answers to the Behavior-based Interviews (BBI).

Questions that start with:

• Tell me about a time when….
• Give me an example of…
• How have you….

There is an easy structure to follow – “CAR” framework!

C – Context:

• What is the situation?
• What was happening in the organization/ team/project?
• What needed to happen to resolve the situation?
• Why was it important to get this done? {This adds the required spice to your story}

Give time-period, company name, and keep this to 30% of your answer. Most people get lost in detailing this!

A – Action:

This is the most important part of your answer that the interviewer uses to assess your fit and they are not assessing your whole team.

This should be 50% of your answer.

So, while you may want to have a line about what you decided to do as a team, focus on your specific action steps. Add details and in some cases, the reason for a particular action.

R – Result and Learning:

Don’t leave the interviewer hanging to find out what happened.  Quantify the outcome to let them have a complete picture. For negative questions (Biggest failure, dealing with difficult stakeholder), talk about your learning as well!

A few things to note:

1.  Prepare at least 7-8 career stories. For Consulting, 10-12 stories, and for Tech, 12-15!
2. Quantify the story so people get an objective overview of situation, project/ business/ team size, your impact, the outcome.
3. Content is one thing, the delivery creates the impact!

Now, go rock that interview!

• Whenever you are ready, you can read up on the 3 ways I can help you land an amazing job here
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