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Storyboard Technique
This is a technique much loved by politicians when they have a message they wish
to deliver, regardless of what the interviewer asks them. However as your objective
is to endear yourself to the interviewer, we do not suggest that you mimic the technique
of “answer avoidance” also perfected by politicians! The principles of the storyboard
technique will help you illustrate a point and sell yourself positively.
Before the interview, try to establish the core competencies that are required for
the role, and if possible the most important thing the interviewer is looking for.
Then prepare a storyboard of anecdotes that can be used at the appropriate time
to illustrate your relevant competencies. Learn the salient points of each story
so that you are able to spontaneously tell them accurately and concisely, however
don’t learn them word for word otherwise your presentation will seem unnatural.
Half a dozen good stories should be capable of addressing most of the questions
you may be asked. Remember that you not only need to be able to emphasise your strengths,
you also need to be able to address any weaknesses the interviewer may identify.
So if you feel your have a weak area, don’t just hope the matter doesn’t come up,
be prepared to deal with it by having a story ready that illustrates complimentary
skills.
If the interviewer is conducting formal competency based interviewing, they will
expect you to be able to talk in depth about situations where you displayed certain
competencies or behaviours. So this technique is a great way to prepare, whichever
approach your interviewer takes.
Each of these stories should:
- Be true
- Illustrate your specific involvement in something, not just the team’s activities
- Portray you in a favourable light
- Highlight different qualities
- Detail the result of the activity, being quantifiable wherever possible
By the end of the interview, you should have had the opportunity to naturally tell
most of the stories. If this happens you won’t be thinking “I wish I’d told them
xyz”, as you’re leaving the building.
We have provided four examples of the type of story you could use:
- In my last role as HR Director, the company was going through a period of extreme
change, with staff turnover at an all time high of 41%. By initiating a new employee
engagement programme that considered the entire journey an employee takes from recruitment
to leaving, I implemented a comprehensive series of new initiatives.
These included establishing a comprehensive competency framework and embedding the
competencies into formal recruitment and performance management processes. In addition,
I introduced an employee survey and long service recognition rewards.
The result was reduction of staff turnover to 29% over a two year period, reducing
attrition costs by £235,000 per annum.
This story illustrates the ability for the HRD to be creative and commercially-minded
while supporting the business through a period of change.
- In my last company where I was Managing Director, I grew revenues by 15% from £20m
to £23m during the last year, by exploring new markets in which to sell our products.
We won two major new contracts from FTSE 100 companies, to the value of over £2m.
We also managed to reduce costs from £10m to £8m by a combination of streamlining
in house processes and outsourcing some non-core activities.
The net effect was an increase in profit of 50% from £10 to £15m.
This story could be used to illustrate a number of qualities such as innovative
thinking, salesmanship, ability to cut costs and form strategic business partnerships,
ability to act as a change agent and ability to deliver etc.
- When I was appointed Sales Director at ABC Ltd I inherited a sales force of 50 staff
selling car fleet services. Sales were down 20% year on year, market conditions
were tight and morale was very low.
I initially analyzed the few successful sales people from the team to find out how
they were delivering results whilst most others were not.
I identified a common thread to their approach: they had each built into their portfolio
some incentive to their clients for personal car purchases. This personal side benefit
seemed to sway many corporate buyers into using ABC for their fleet services, while
the personal car sales side of the business also benefited from increased sales.
As a result I established creative cross-team incentives and working practises to
formalise this successful formula. Sales increased by 25% in the first quarter,
market share increased and morale was greatly improved.
This illustrates innovative thinking, ability to act as a change agent, ability
to deliver.
Perhaps you may have a simple story such as the following:
- At my last company we had committed to the customer that we would deliver the product
to him on Monday morning in order that he could have two days for testing, prior
to going live on Wednesday. By the previous Thursday, I realised that we were going
to miss the deadline.
I went to see the manufacturing director and he and I personally talked to a few
key staff in order to persuade them to work through the week-end. They agreed. On
both Saturday and Sunday I visited the factory to see that things were going OK,
armed with some bacon sandwiches for the engineers. The product was delivered on
time.
This story illustrates commitment, determination, hard work, ability to motivate
staff, ability to communicate at various levels and passion for customer service.
© Copyright Starbuck James Limited 2009
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