Take this information to the bank

In the past two years, I interviewed with three major corporations (Sarah Lee, JP Morgan-Chase, and Reckitt-Benckiser) and was extended offers by the hiring managers at all three. The offers fell through because of an inaccuracy in my background check (which I only found out recently -- check up on yourself! -- Affiliate link -- I stand to gain financially if you try that product), but I got the jobs... sort of.

I have coached others on interviewing, and they, too, have landed great jobs. Most recently, one of my friends landed a cushy state job -- yeah, in this economy -- because she let me write her resume and practiced interviewing with me. She'll give me all the credit, too. I'll see if I can get her to comment about it here. Today is her last day of work at her old crummy job. She's taking next week off before starting her new job so maybe she'll have time.

Anyway, I know the secret to interview success, and I'll give it away for free because I'm on a mission to help people.

It's a very simple formula: PAAR.

You will be telling true stories. You need to think of four or five specific instances in your career when you:

1. ... faced a problem
2. ... analyzed it
3. ... took action

and

4. ... resolved the problem or achieved some desirable result.

If you can do this, you can answer any interview question in an impressive way.

Here is an example of how such a story might go:

PROBLEM

"Our company was wasting millions of dollars a year on inefficient procurement procedures (go into some detail). The main problem was inertia. There was a guy named Dewey who had a local database through which all transactions had to run. The constant logjam was Dewey's job security. It cost the company x dollars every year because when Dewey got backed up, the whole system ground to a halt."

ANALYSIS

"I determined with help from a colleague in IT that if we put the database on an Intranet and ran procedures through it systematically, with sign-off at each stage, that we could move procurement along much more quickly and with less confusion about who said what and when they said it."

ACTION

"Dewey had been with the company for quite a while and his opinion was respected. It took a year of diplomatic advocacy, but eventually my allies in IT and I got buy-in from higher-ups. We got funds to hire a programmer and started designing and building the new system."

RESULT

"We got the system running. Today it replaces four jobs and saves the company x million per year. Dewey left the company which was a shame because he knew the business inside and out."

(Note: These stories can be much shorter than the above example, as little as four sentences.)

The interviewer asks, "Tell me about a time when you had a difference of opinion with a co-worker."

You have a ready answer.

The interviewer asks, "Are you a leader or a follower?"

You have an answer. (Start with, "a little bit of both.")

The interviewer asks, "What's your greatest weakness?"

You have an answer. (Start with, "I tend to rock the boat when it's in the best interest of the business.")

You can answer dozens of questions with this story. Put four or five of these PAAR stories in your interviewing toolbox, and every hiring manager you talk to will want to hire you.

Just make sure your background check isn't showing something it shouldn't! (Disclosure: That is an affiliate link -- I stand to gain financially if you try that product.)

Good luck!