Answering the So What Interview Question

Answering the So What Interview QuestionAnswering the So What Interview QuestionTips on how to serve up your accomplishments with context in order to ace the senior-level interview.In the last article, Stop Taking Yourself for Granted, we looked at strategies to acknowledge and appreciate the impact you have had on organizations and individuals. Now, well take that to the next level with a four-part formula for quantifying your accomplishments and telling your stories in a memorable and compelling way.The single biggest mistake people make when it comes to sharing their accomplishments is providing results without context. Saying that you grew revenue by 15 percent without noting the market conditions or goals doesnt say much.In other words, you havent answered the question, So what?How did your approach compare to what the average person might have done? This is an important point many people miss.Without the benefit of a parallel universe in which to test our theoretical comparison s, this may be difficult to assess with any accuracy. Nevertheless, the temptation on the part of many humble souls is to believe that anyone faced with the saatkorn facts and challenges would have done the same thing. Not necessarily.Why didnt anyone think of this sooner? People may have recognized the problem or opportunity. They may even have come up with a way to address the issue. But if they didnt take action, the insight is meaningless. Ideas are everywhere. Credit rightfully goes to the people who make things happen.Converting your accomplishments into the STARs format will solve this problem.What was the SituationWhat was your specific role or Task?What Action did you take?What were the Results?What was the situation? This is where you explain what the real problem (or opportunity) was, why it was a problem, how long it had been a problem and what might have happened had the problem not been addressed. How and when did it become apparent that there was an issue?What was you r specific role or task? Describe your role. How did you find yourself in a position to address the issue? Were you selected? Appointed? Elected? If you were selected or appointed, what was the title of the person who appointed you? Did you volunteer? Did you take on the project on your own initiative?What action did you take? How did you address the problem? What specific steps did you take?What were the results?This part is relatively straightforward, since it requires quantifiable evidence of your effectiveness. The biggest mistake people make in this area is limiting their thinking to dollars saved or earned. Money is just one quantifier. Challenge yourself to incorporate the other fiveTimeQualityQuantitySafetyCompliance(By the way, if you cant imagine how safety and compliance apply to you, dont worry. They probably dont.)Heres an example from one of my clientsSituation/ChallengeTo address the waste and expense associated with the disposal of 30 55-gallon drums of waste coolant from machine operations per month. Disposal expense $4,500/month ($150 x 30)TaskSelected by Operations Manager to streamline operations and reduce waste coolant expenditures.ActionResearched opportunities to recycle coolant and recommended a $10,000, one-time investment in coolant recycling equipment.ResultsTotal annual savings $162,000. Recycling process eliminated$54,000/year in disposal costs$108,000/year in coolant purchases.ROI on $10,000 investment Less than one month.When quantifying is a challengeIn some cases, the quantifiers may not be obvious. One receptionist I coached insisted there was no way to quantify her accomplishments. On the surface, that would appear to be true. After all, it isnt helpful, or particularly enlightening, to say, I smiled at 87 percent of the people who walked in the door. However, when I probed further, she revealed that her company, on three separate occasions, had eliminated her entire division. Each time, she was hand-picked by the executive team and became the only employee to survive the layoffs. From a potential employers point of view, that quantifier is like a third-party endorsement that saysShes great. Thats why we went out of our way to keep her.As you may notice, this isnt about bragging its about evidence. People who come across as braggarts are the ones who cant offer anything other than glowing generalities with no reasons to believe.Stick to the facts, and the STARs approach will minimize the likelihood that your stories will come across as bragging. Instead, you will be leaving it up to the listener to judge the value of your efforts. I call this the Its a Wonderful Life Approach to marketing yourself. In the movie Its A Wonderful Life, George Bailey is given a chance to see what life would have been like for his family, friends, and town had he never been born. That is exactly what every job hunter needs to imagine as well. How are things different, preferably better, for your companies, co-workers, frien ds, and family? What happened- that might never have happened- were it not for your efforts?If you can answer this simple question, you will be well on your way to uncovering the gold in your background and telling your story in a compelling way. Your goal is to find a way to get people to thinkWow, if she can do that for them, just think what she could do for us.Do that and you will have succeeded in doing something most job hunters never do.