By: Taylor James, Living Sport Hamburg 2019 Alumni
The Question: Tell me a little about yourself?
The most common interview question. No matter how many times I had practiced this question, I hated answering it. I never had confidence in my answer and it always sounded rehearsed and robotic. Because it was. There was not much I could say to make me sound unique and stand out among hundreds of applicants. Or so I thought. Why should anyone believe you have any valuable experience when you do not have confidence in yourself to express the experience you do have?
After returning home from Hamburg, Germany with Living Sport, this all changed. I had experiences I loved to talk about and felt much more confident in all of the skills I could bring to an organization.
When I talk about my experience during my international journey, I can tell the difference in my demeanor and tone. I now have a non-robotic answer that is natural and conversational. Based on my Living Sport experience, my advice when answering this type of question is to NOT write it out word for word and recite the same information for each position. Instead, tailor your answer to the specific job you are interviewing for and say every word with confidence that your experience will add to their organization. The more experience you have to talk about, the easier it is to prove your knowledge and skills.
Now, my new response would look a little like this:
My name is Taylor James and I am a current senior at Aurora University double majoring in Sport Management and Business Administration. This past year, I had the unique opportunity to travel to Germany with 12 strangers to experience a different culture and learn about international event operations. Throughout my four-day experience with the Tough Mudder staff, I learned the ins and outs of what it takes to make a 12,000-participant event run smoothly.
Here is the start of one of the many race heats. Each participants received a specific heat time to start the race.
I gained experience in everything from parking to the logistics of the course layout. I made connections with sport business professionals from around the world and learned to communicate with those that do not speak the same language as me. This experience helped me grow personally and professionally into a hardworking individual who could utilize this experience to add great value to your organization.
Assisting the staff build the 8 mile wooded course.
Taping off locations to ensure correct course flow.
The Question: Tell me about a challenge you've faced at work, and how you dealt with it.
Communication is hard. It’s even harder when you don’t speak the same language as those around you. My time in Germany allowed me the chance to figure out how to communicate with people whose first language is not English. On the third day of our Tough Mudder experience, there were several lightning strikes in the nearby area, which is a major issue for outdoor events.
We were forced to shut down any obstacles that contained any metal or water. I was stationed at an obstacle that had both. After being informed that we must shut down the obstacle, we had to communicate to the runners to evacuate the area and head back to base camp.
Taking a break from the action to take a photo of myself working the fan favorite obstacle, Blockness Monster.
This presented a challenge for me and my Living Sport teammate, Emily. How do we tell event participants that are flying past us to go back to base? They are tired, wet, and muddy. On top of that, English is not their first language.
We decided to resort mainly to hand gestures in order to direct the runners toward the base. It gave them a visual that they understood that would allow them to keep running and not stop and ask what we were saying. Before we knew it we had everything under control.
This is a unique story that I am able to pull from to answer this type of question in an interview.
The Question: What can you contribute to our organization?
This vague or general question should be tailored to the job you are applying for. Make sure you pull from the right experiences to show off how you will add to the organization.
Our social media team creating our plan of action.
If I was applying for a marketing job, I would mention the work that I did as a member of the social media team. I can talk about what I learned through the process of collaborating with others as well as working by myself to create content that followers would like to see.
On the other hand, if I was applying for an operations job, I would mention the logistics and problem-solving skills I gained working with the course zone leaders during the setup process of our work experience.
I was fortunate enough to build a relationship with one of the zone leaders named Henning. We worked together so well on day one that he asked me to work with him again the next day. We worked together to layout the course outline and build obstacles and signage for the 8 mile course. We collaborated with other zone leaders and completed the course in time for the 12,000 participants that would trek through the course over the following two days.
I learned the logistics of the course and used problem-solving skills to fix issues that arose. These two experiences are completely different and can be used to my benefit when considering many job opportunities.
Henning and I after a successful day of Tough Mudder
Henning and I reviewing our game plan for setup.
The first thing I did when I got back to America was write down the stories and experiences I had. I knew the trip had made an impact on my life and I wanted to make sure I remembered it all.
Before going on the International Sports Business Program with Living Sport, I was a shy person who didn’t know how to use my experiences to the best of my abilities. Germany gave me the chance to be exposed to so many new things. Maybe the most important lesson of all was the professional advice on how to talk about those experiences to earn my dream job.
After returning home, I had another internship experience where I pulled from many of the lessons I learned and I have had several successful interviews based on the skills and knowledge acquired.
I was an insecure student that went on an overseas trip with 12 people I didn’t know and came out a completely different person. This experience changed my life for the better in my professional career and allowed me to develop lifelong friendships that I will cherish forever.
A few members of our Hamburg 2019 team in the streets of Hamburg enjoying our free day exploring the city!