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“What are you particularly good at?” A typical question in job interviews that often poses challenges for applicants, especially when it comes to substantiating the mentioned strengths with concrete examples.
The PAR technique comes into the game here, with “P” standing for “Problem”, “A” for “Action”, and “R” for “Result”. The idea is to find at least a handful of situations where you were faced with a particular challenge, then describe how you dealt with it and what result it led to.
Ideally, these should be results which are quantifiable. However, many employees, especially clerks who primarily perform routine tasks, struggle with this. Nevertheless, even in such case there are surely examples beyond the daily routine, such as contributing to organize a company event, facing private challenges like moving into a new apartment, or preparing for a hiking vacation. Ultimately, job interviews are also about storytelling, getting to know you better as a HUMAN with all your personal facets.
From the PARs you form, all competencies, that contributed to solving the problem or mastering the challenge, should then be derived. These competencies can then also be visualized with the corresponding PARs in a matrix. This structure helps you if you get asked to provide practical examples for competencies you named, thus giving you situational flexibility in interviews.
Creating PARs has also the additional benefit of further strengthening your self-confidence. Successes from the past are brought back into the light – which feels simply great 😉
The quintessence from the elaborated PARs can also be woven into your CV and application letters. Furthermore, they also serve as a building block for your “90-second pitch”, which I will delve into further in one of my next blog posts.
PARs are therefore a powerful tool for the entire application process and for activating your personal resources. Give it a try and let me know, to which extent and in what kind of situations PARs were helpful for you!