Articulating Your KSAs in an Interview: Using Accomplishment Statement Stories

Now that you have identified your strongest transferrable skills and have some short examples of how you demonstrated these skills abroad, it is time to think about how you can best explain what you learned to a potential employer. Go back to your Transferable Skills Inventory worksheet from the activity in the previous section and look at the examples column; these are the accomplishments you can be ready to talk about if you are asked specific skill-related questions in an interview. Often, these questions take the form of behavioural interview questions.

Behavioural Interview Questions

Most employers will try to assess your skills and abilities by using behavioural interview questions. These types of questions are based on the idea that the best predictor of future behaviour is past behaviour. In other words, to find out how you demonstrate skills or handle situations in the workplace, an interviewer will ask you to give examples of similar things you did in the past. In answering the question, you should be able to give a concrete example of a situation where you used one (or more) of your transferable skills, what your role in the situation was, what you did, and how it turned out. It’s a structured way to turn your accomplishment statements into a short story that highlights your KSAs and explains how you developed your transferable skills.

For example, an employer might ask, “Can you give us an example of a time when you had to research a situation in order to problem-solve?” While this isn’t a direct question about your travel abroad, it could be a great time to highlight the travel experience that might set you apart from other candidates. When responding to behavioural questions, it’s helpful to break down your answer using the STAR method: Situation, Task, Action and Result. Using STAR can help you keep on topic and keep things short while articulating your KSA in a structured and easy-to-understand way (interviewers love a clear, relevant story that sets you apart).

Using STAR, your answer to “Can you give us an example of a time when you had to research a situation in order to problem-solve?” might look like this:

• Situation: I participated in an exchange program where I travelled by myself to Singapore to live and study at a university there. I have a service dog and had to figure out how to take him with me.
• Task: I had to determine reliable sources of information and research all aspects of arranging travel for myself and my service dog, including preparing for a long flight and getting through customs to be admitted into the country.
• Action: I contacted the Singaporean embassy to get information on service dogs entering Singapore and also used information from an organization that supports travel for people with assistance dogs. I sought additional help from the Singapore University website and support office.  The Airline provided information to me on travelling with a service dog
• Result: I discovered that I had to obtain an import license for my dog and ensure that he had a veterinary certificate and that his breed is on the list allowed in Singapore. With the help of the airline, I planned some connecting flights instead of one long direct flight to give my dog and me a break along the way. I determined that he did not need to quarantine when we arrived, and with all my paperwork in order, we arrived and were admitted into the country with no issue.

  Learning Activity: Accomplishment Statement Stories

Based on the transferrable skills and examples listed above, think about the top transferable skills that you either acquired or developed further during your time abroad.

Using your Transferable Skills Inventory Worksheet from the learning activity in the previous section, let’s turn your accomplishment statements into accomplishment statement stories.

Take those short accomplishment statements in the last column and work on turning them into accomplishment statement stories you can use in an interview or networking conversation with a potential employer.

Using the Accomplishment Statement Story Worksheet [DOCX], take each of your short accomplishment statements and describe them in more detail using the STAR method. This can really help you anticipate a behavioural interview question where you need to describe how you developed your KSA. Using this structure can prevent sounding unprepared as you fumble for an example on the spot. It can also help you reflect on your international learning experience in new ways and develop a deeper understanding of your personal and professional development.