Performing well in interviews is both a required and acquired skill to land your next job. We at mbaMission offer interview preparation guidance not only through one-on-one career coaching but also via our career advice blog posts, which cover job search–related topics, such as the following:
- Strategically Answering Behavioral Interview Questions
- Ending the Interview Strong
- Fixing Two of the Most Common Interviewing Mistakes
In today’s post, rather than talking about how to tell your stories, we want to focus on how to identify the right stories to tell.
Step 1: Research the job requirements to understand the needs of the role.
- Talk to people at your target companies and in your desired positions; ask specific questions to learn the basic and nuanced characteristics of a compelling candidate.
- Read the job description and/or look at the LinkedIn experience profile section of people who hold your target job.
- Use ChatGPT to understand more about the requirements for target roles. Try prompts like “Based on the job description, what specific skills or experiences should I highlight during my interview for [insert job title]?” and “Based on this job description, create a list of skills the recruiter is looking for.”
Step 2: Identify eight to ten stories from your past experiences using the following strategies:
- Review your brainstorming materials and final business school essays.
- Examine each bullet point on your resume, and think about the situation, your actions, and the results of those actions. Ask yourself what competencies you demonstrated in each of the circumstances highlighted in those bullet points.
- Talk with past colleagues and managers about your most impressive accomplishments at work or your strongest skills. Read past performance reviews.
- Reflect on your biggest accomplishments and your proudest moments.
Step 3: Choose your best, most compelling stories using the following checklist (these will be the stories for which you can say “yes” to all—or at least most—of these questions):
- Can this story be pivoted to reveal more than one skill (or address more than one potential interview question)? You need at least two stories for each skill required for your target role.
- Does this story require a lot of technical or industry-specific knowledge or substantial context to be understood? Find ways to help the interviewer quickly understand the situation you are relating without using a lot of jargon or background information. You will need to tell your story in approximately two minutes and do not want to spend too much time on details that do not relate to how you contributed to solving the problem.
- Did this situation happen recently? Ideally, you want to share stories that happened within the past two to four years, because you are likely to have had more significant responsibility and will better remember the details of the situation. This will help you tell the story in an authentic and engaging manner.
- Does this story demonstrate your ability to navigate unexpected situations? Often, interview questions seek to uncover how you behaved in a challenging circumstance (e.g., “Tell me about a time when you led a team with conflicting opinions on how to approach a problem”).
- Was the outcome important or impressive? What was at stake if you failed to perform? Use numbers to show the scope or complexity level of your work, as well as the results of your actions. Hiring managers want to know that you can contribute and help them achieve their key business objectives.
The bottom line is this: pick and share stories that demonstrate your relevant skills and expertise.
