Interview Question: "What applicable experience do you have?" (How to give examples to demonstrate experience)

The best way to communicate your skills, knowledge, and experience in an interview, is to have examples and stories ready.

Having a toolbox of stories is a great place to start when determining how best to articulate what you have to offer. We suggest having at least three stories but as many as five or six is even better. Choose examples of your work history that can be adaptable for several different kinds of questions.

For example: You may have had a very challenging client. Let's say he was particularly adamant about getting his way, he was argumentative, and very exhausting. However, he was an extremely important client - so you dug deep, became more sympathetic to his tight schedules and began to anticipate his needs. You started delivering before he even needed to ask. A short time later, this client invested half a million into the company, and you were credited with raising your department's profits by 27%.

This story can be an example of: "describe a conflict you had with a customer", or "describe your biggest accomplishment". It can be an example of your tenacity to achieve extraordinary results, your drive to improve profits, your passion for the client's happiness, etc. The story can be elaborated on in certain areas, depending on how the questions are asked in your interview.

When you have stories/examples to share, the hiring manager knows that you are not simply stating a fact, you are proving it. So your stories and your responses to interview questions help identify how you would fulfill their needs and how you would fit into their company culture.

You want these chosen stories, to be relevant and compelling - so first determine which stories from your work history, you should develop into an interview worthy example of your skill.

To determine relevancy, establish the position's key required skills. Dig into the company website, and research the position, to determine exactly what they are looking for.

Then structure your experiences using the STAR method:

Situation: This is the backstory, the who, what, where, when.

Task: What was your part to play in this situation, your assigned role, and how were you able to turn this into an opportunity.?

Action: What were the steps you took to solve this challenge?

Results: What were the tangible results of your work? How were things better off because of what you did?

The STAR approach ensures you have detailed, succinct responses to their questions and ensures that your experience is applicable to the position you are interviewing for.

For member's of Interview Success Formula, visit Prepare Your Story found within the Build Section.