Interview Power. Tom Washington
rejected by quality control) from a rate of 6% to 2%. People often miscalculate such figures and might report that they reduced rejects by 4%, simply subtracting 2 from 6 and getting 4. Going from 6% to 2% actually represents a 67% reduction in rejects, however. The proper way to calculate this is 6 - 2 = 4; 4 ÷ 6 = .6666 or 67%.
a The formula for decreases is:
In another example, assume that the average daily absenteeism in a department has been reduced from 15 people per day to 7. Logic tells you that absenteeism was cut by a little more than half so you know it will be slightly above 50%. If you wanted more precision you would calculate it. Reducing something from 15 to 7 equals 53% (15 - 7 = 8; 8 ÷ 15 = .53).
Using the formula it would be: 15 - 7 divided by 15 = .53.
Large Increases
With large increases you must be careful when calculating percentages. Let’s say production in a plant went from 10,000 units per year to 30,000 over a five-year period. It is easy to see that units tripled, so one would tend to say that production increased 300%. The problem is that it actually represents a 200% increase. Going from 10,000 to 20,000 was a 100% increase, and going from 20,000 to 30,000 was another 100%, for a total of 200%. Using the formula for increases
Guesstimating
Quantifying figures often requires guesstimating. Whenever you have computer printouts and company documents which specify your improvements, by all means use them. Such “hard numbers” are rarely available, however. Guesstimating is a very accepted interview practice. To be accepted you merely need to explain what you did and how you did it.
Chapter 7
SELLING YOURSELF THROUGH ACCOMPLISHMENTS
Using experiences and accomplishments to sell yourself in interviews is the most powerful interviewing skill you can develop. Providing actual examples from your life experience convinces interviewers that you possess the necessary skills and qualities for the job. The following exercise will enable you to identify your top skills and will provide you with the evidence to support whatever claims you make about yourself. Taking time to complete this exercise will better prepare you for interviews and will set you apart from your less industrious competitors.
RECALLING YOUR ACCOMPLISHMENTS
Knowing your accomplishments—and identifying the skills used to achieve them—is one of the most important tasks of an effective job search. Recalling these key experiences will increase your self-confidence and will enable you to feel comfortable selling yourself.
Accomplishments can be big or small, very impressive or rather simple. An accomplishment is anything that includes at least one of these four items. You:
Enjoyed doing it
Did it well
Gained satisfaction from it
Are proud of it
Many accomplishments include all four aspects, while some may include just one or two. Accomplishments often involve solving problems. With some accomplishments you may receive recognition or compliments from parents, friends, coworkers, customers, or supervisors, while at other times you may be the only one who knows what you did. Some accomplishments are achieved through great effort, while others come easily. Many of your accomplishments were enjoyable and fondly recalled.
Other experiences are genuine accomplishments, but they may be “bittersweet.” It may be an accomplishment simply because you overcame many adversities. At the time you may have been extremely frustrated. Even thinking about the experience may bring back those feelings of frustration, anger, or hurt. It’s okay to remember the negative parts, but concentrate as much as you can on the positive aspects of the experience. In other words, concentrate on the result. These seemingly negative experiences often produce great personal growth.
Accomplishments are best thought of as specific experiences. Most of your accomplishments should be things that occurred during a relatively short period of time. It could be something that occurred from start to finish in fifteen minutes or several hours. More typically accomplishments are experiences which occurred over days or weeks. Although some accomplishments may take place over years, those long-term accomplishments can be broken into sub-accomplishments. For example, graduating from college is certainly an accomplishment. Although you should list an accomplishment like that, step back and consider all of the smaller accomplishments that enabled you to achieve the larger accomplishment. In the case of graduating from college that would include the key papers you wrote and the projects you worked on. Those papers and projects should be listed as well.
Now review the following list of accomplishments. These experiences have been provided by many different people. Notice how some of the accomplishments are impressive, while others seem rather common and ordinary. That’s to be expected. Note that most of the accomplishment statements also contain a result. As you list an accomplishment, the result helps you clarify what made it an accomplishment. Once you review the list you will then read three accomplishments in which 5-10 skills were identified. Then you’ll find instructions for completing this exercise. Basically you’ll be asked to identify 30 or more experiences that can be considered accomplishments, and then write about your top twelve experiences. Then you’ll identify the skills you used in each accomplishment. This is a critical exercise that can pay big dividends.
Jobs
I received a $600 award from Boeing for suggesting a money-saving idea.
I became the first woman engineer in the firm.
I earned my way through college painting houses.
I figured out a faster method of estimating the cost of our printing jobs.
My advertising jingle is credited with increasing sales 15%.
My plan for flextime has really reduced absenteeism.
I made a sale to a firm that had refused to deal with us for 15 years.
I increased sales in my territory 39% in two years.
I added 24 customers to my paper route.
Wrote recommendations for a hazardous waste program that were adopted by the state.
I received three promotions in four years.
I became one of the youngest store managers ever in the chain.
I produced a videotaped training program for our tellers which cut training time of new tellers about 20% and significantly reduced the errors they made.
I developed and implemented a plan to purchase a fleet of trucks to handle our own deliveries. The plan cut our costs by 5% and provided more reliable service to our customers.
Made history and literature interesting to bored kids.
Created the first performance measurements, charts, statistics, and graphs for most functions of the department.
Developed a form and formula for calculating return on investment on large-quantity purchases.
Won the first “innovative achievement in purchasing” award from corporate.
Appeared with Mickey