Your work experience
how to explain it in a job interview
With a simple structure of situation, task, action and result, you can explain clearly and convincingly what you can do.
Updated
“Tell me about your last job.” Many people answer with a list of job titles. It works better to say briefly what you did there and what came of it.
A simple structure
Four parts are enough for each example:
- Situation: Where did you work and what was the starting point?
- Task: What was your role?
- Action: What exactly did you do?
- Result: What came of it?
Example: “I worked for two years in a warehouse for car parts (situation). I was responsible for order picking on the late shift (task). Because there were often mistakes with similar part numbers, I suggested colour-coding the shelves and put it in place with my team leader (action). After that, our shift had far fewer wrong deliveries (result).”
That takes a minute and shows responsibility, accuracy and initiative.
Experience from abroad
Experience from another country counts just as much. Briefly explain what the company did and how big it was, because the employer probably does not know it. “A company with around 200 employees making plastic parts for the car industry” says more than the company name.
Experience from another field
As a career changer, look for what transfers:
- Hospitality: working under time pressure, weekend shifts, hygiene rules
- Retail: goods-in, stocktaking, customer contact
- Care: documentation, responsibility, shift work
- Construction: physical work, safety rules, teamwork
Say openly that production is new to you, and explain why you want to switch.
When something went wrong
Some interviewers ask about mistakes or conflicts on purpose. Choose a real but not dramatic example and focus on what you learned from it. Speaking badly about former employers almost always comes across negatively, even when the criticism was fair.
Gaps and short jobs
Stay truthful and keep it short: “The contract was fixed-term.” “I moved.” “I did a German course during that time.” Then steer the conversation back to what you can do.
Practice helps
Before the interview, choose two or three examples from your experience and tell them out loud once, to a friend for example. The second time already sounds much more confident.
Checklist
- Two or three examples prepared as situation, task, action, result
- Short description of former employers, if they are unknown here
- Transferable skills from other fields written down
- Honest, short explanation for gaps
- Examples practised out loud once
Open application
A few details and your CV. We check which roles fit your experience and contact you when we have something for you.
