How to answer 'What are you most proud of?' in a job interview

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If you're running short on time to prepare for an interview, one question you should definitely be ready to answer is what you're most proud of accomplishing.

This is a tough one because there are a lot of ways in which you can answer it.

The worst thing you can do is to answer the interviewer with a blank stare.

First, brainstorm as many things you're proud of as possible. Unless you're in sales or a metric-oriented field, you are probably going to come up with vague statements.

Below are questions to ask yourself about each accomplishment you've listed. This will help you refine them, and in turn, determine which is your best example and the one to use in an interview.

You can only answer this question with one achievement. The interviewer has asked what you are most proud of, so you must pick only one example.

[See: The 10 Most Common Interview Questions.]

Is this a specific example?

You may have written down that you're proud of the teams you've built or process improvements you've made. These are too general. You need to get into details. For example, what is the best team you've built and how did you go about it? Give a specific example with information to support it.

Why am I proud of this?

Once you have your list of specific examples, define why you chose each one. Show instead of tell why it was a winning team that you built. Was a direct result of creating this team a measurable increase in customer satisfaction? Or perhaps you received comments from senior leadership about the team's success? Whatever it is, figure out why exactly you feel proud of what you've achieved.

[See: 8 Important Questions to Ask a Job Interviewer – And Yourself.]

What is it that I am most proud of?

Now it's time to pare down the list and decide what you feel has been most rewarding in your career. Doing this doesn't give less importance to the others, but you have to pick only one to use because that's what you've been asked. Interviewers often gauge your answers to questions based on how well you listen and how well you express yourself. That means that how you say something is almost as important as what you say. It's a good thing to keep in mind when you answer all interview questions.