Congrats! You’ve researched the company and you’re a perfect match for this position. There’s only one hurdle standing in the way between you and your dream job … the actual interview!

It’s normal to experience anxiety when walking into an interview, but the more you plan and prepare ahead of time, the more comfortable and confident you will be.

One question that will surely be in your interviewers’ minds, whether or not they actually ask, is “How will you impact company success?” How can you make it easy for an interviewer to understand the positive impact you will have on the company?

Used Behavior-Based Interviewing to Show, Not Tell

Behavior based interviewing allows you to walk your interviewer through real-world examples of how you’ve made an impact. If the interviewer asks, “What’s your greatest strength?” for example, take that opportunity to demonstrate your strength through a real-world anecdote.

It goes like this, “I’d bring many strengths with me, but I’d say the greatest is my ability to relate small activities to the big picture. In fact, at my current position I was asked to come to the accounting department and help a struggling finance budgeting team understand why our salt water equipment was replaced at a faster pace than the rest of our equipment. I thought it would be helpful if they actually saw a sample of new equipment compared to a sample of year old piece of equipment and a video of how it was used in the production environment. This really helped them, and they went on a field trip to see operations so they could match up the rest of production equipment expenditures with the actual use. The team budgeted well for equipment, and we didn’t run into shortfalls after that.”

Answer Big Questions by Asking Pointed Questions

Another tactic is to ask the interviewer specific questions about the role and the company’s goals. This will allow you to talk about how you will impact the bottom line. Again, specifics make a bigger impression. Some examples could include: “Usually I like to lead a team by ensuring we have effective communication through weekly team meetings, even if they’re via Skype while we are all traveling. How have you handled this in the past?” Or, “I have often worked with sales to set internal calendars for meeting project deadlines utilizing project management software. What software do you use here for making sure those deadlines are met?”

Asking about the company goals is a strategy to match specific skills with the company plans. That might sound like this: “I read in the local business section that you’re hoping to cut the current company environmental impact by 20 percent this year. At my previous employer, we cut 5 percent of our impact by switching to a plant-based plastic, have you thought of utilizing that strategy?”

Be Remembered After You Leave

In a competitive marketplace, being able to help an employer envision how you will benefit company success could be what gives you the leg up on other candidates. PEAK Technical Staffing USA can help you prepare for these moments and connect you to the right positions. Contact us to get started on making an impact.