Interview like a professional: 350 action verbs to incorporate into your behavioral interview answers.
Action verbs are the foundation of your job interview answers. They express your experience, skills, and accomplishments. They communicate your potential.
… DO YOU EVER NOTICE THAT some people have a way with words? Well, you can too. Getting comfortable with action verbs for interviews is something you can learn. Using more sophisticated vocabulary is crucial when you need to describe your past successes in a convincing way.
Don’t Do It Wrong
Truthfully, you don’t want to be perceived as a “Ninja Rockstar.” You just want to be seen as a professional person who can smoothly describe your work experience in terms of results and outcomes.
In a lot of resumes I see (and the same for interviews) I hear people saying they were “responsible for” or they “worked towards,” “helped,” or “assisted” — these are activities, not outcomes.
✔︎ Don’t talk about what you were responsible for. Instead, detail your wins and impact.
Develop Outcome Statements In The SOARL Story Format:
⇨ Situation / Objective / Action / Results / Learnings = SOARL
Interview Answer Template
“Sure. To answer your question, last quarter we had a situation where the problem was [SITUATION]. To solve this, I decided my objective should to [OBJECTIVE]. The step-by-step action I took was [ACTION] — and due to my efforts and because of my competencies, the positive outcome was [RESULTS]. What I learned from this situation was [LEARNINGS].”
Now try working some of the following action verbs into the answer template. They're great for resumes too:
» Action Verbs for Interviews on SlideShare.
If you want this list of action verbs on your computer so you can copy and paste, then use the form at the bottom of this page for an instant download.
Write out your answers!
It’s important to spend some time writing out your answers. It may seem difficult at first, but the best way to start is to get started.
After you have written out 6 to 8 SOARL Stories, then practice saying them aloud. You may notice that you want to say them slightly differently than you have written them, so go ahead and rewrite them according to your natural speaking personality.
How many of the action verbs were you able to incorporate into your SOARL Stories? … Practice with a friend and get comfortable with the vocabulary. Submit the form below to grab the complete list. ↓↓
