We asked Sam in an Employability workshop to come up with an example to give evidence of what he said was his greatest strength: tenacity (or pig-headedness…) He talked about turning round a disillusioned and shambolic community youth football team.
Then we asked him for an example to back up his second claimed strength: team management.
‘Oh dear’ he said ‘I was just going to use the same item I used previously’.
This wouldn’t matter – as long as Sam angles the example so as to link the strength clearly. Like so:
To illustrate pig-headedness he says:
Assignment: ‘I think I probably showed my highest level of pig-headedness when I turned round our local estate football team. They had no leadership and were on the brink of giving up altogether.’
Action: ‘I got them to vote for a captain and together we organized training, fixtures and our small budget. It was really difficult to get guys to ’
Achievement: ‘Enough turned up to put pressure on the others. Within a year we were 3rd in our local community youth football league’.
And to show team management, he says:
Assignment: ‘I’ll use the football example again’
Action: ‘As well as a captain, we knew of a retired professional footballer who lived nearby. We asked him to get involved and he brought a whole raft of his friends along. I allocated them roles – treasurer, fixtures secretary, fitness coach even! – and they threw themselves into it’
Achievement: ‘I learnt a lot from this. Some of these men had been following football for 40 years. But I asked them to teach me all they knew and we all knew we shared the common goal of trying to make our one-horse side as professional as possible.The best thing is their nick-name for me. They call me ‘Leader lad’.
Depending on your age and experience, I’d suggest you need a minimum of three of these best scenarios to back up what you cite as your skills and strengths.And although you are shaping them according to a clear formula of AAAs, please don’t overlook the power of the vivid and the human. Sam revealing that the football veterans called him ‘Leader Lad’ will have more impact than him boasting ‘I’m a natural leader’.
So to sum up this section from Intee’s point-of-view:
In a round of interviews they will be hearing a huge amount of content, data and claims. They will be especially grateful to you if:
- you do not assume they have photographic memory of every detail on your cv
- you convey your evidence in simple, clear and vivid (therefore memorable) AAAs
- your modesty does not preclude you stating your skills and strengths very clearly
- you illustrate your skills and strengths in a way that helps them see your future potential.
By now you should be feeling well and truly ordered and formatted, content-wise, for any interview. With practice, you will start to think in AAAs almost instinctively. A handy knack for meetings, presentations and any event where you need to produce readily absorbed evidence.