Leadership Experience Examples for Interviews and Resumes

Are you about to attend an interview for a managerial role?

One of the key things that the interviewer will want to find out is if you have strong leadership skills. Leadership experience and skills are useful in a wide range of different types of jobs.

However, it can be difficult to demonstrate on a resume that you have the skill and experience to lead a team. Therefore, the interviewer is likely to ask you to provide examples that highlight your experience in the best way possible.

So, let’s take an in-depth look at how to create leadership experience examples for interviews and resumes.

Why Interviewers Want To Know About Leadership Experience?

Asking about leadership experience is a common tactic during all types of interviews. In most cases, the interviewer wants to find out if the candidate can manage a team of people. However, people who have leadership experience are also more likely to have essential skills and attributes.

For example, people who have strong leadership skills are much more likely to be loyal to a company. Rather than looking for an advanced role in another company, they take the initiative to promote their skills in their current company. As a result, they are more likely to get promoted when a suitable position becomes available.

Read more: Leadership Interview Questions

Perform well under pressure…

When referring to leadership experience, the interviewer wants to know you will help the company to achieve its goals. Therefore, it is important to provide a direct example of how you have done this in the past. Being able to lead other people with a simple vision also makes the whole team more productive.

People who are natural leaders are usually able to make judgments and decisions about important subjects. These people are more likely to be able to perform well under pressure. If there is an issue at work, interviewers know that people with leadership experience will be able to handle it.

Leadership Experience To Highlight On Your Resume

Leadership experience does not always mean being in charge of a team at work. There are lots of other ways that you can gain leadership experience both at work and outside of it. Here are some common leadership experiences that will look great on your resume.

Internships

Internships are a great way to gain work experience and can be referred to if you are an entry-level candidate. The simple act of securing an internship demonstrates drive and determination. Being part of a team or, even better, leading it, during your internship shows that you have valuable skills.

How to highlight it?

Make sure that you have an interesting story prepared that relates to your internship. This should include a challenging task that you and your group were set by an employer. Explain how you helped organize the group to complete the task in the best way possible.

Volunteering

Volunteer work is another great thing to highlight, especially if you have limited work experience. This type of work can be very challenging and shows employers that you have ambition and drive. Volunteering for a long period also shows that you can commit to an important cause.

How to highlight it?

When called to talk about your volunteer experience, highlight the skills that you gained. These skills should be directly related to the required skills for your current and future work. You should also be able to provide an example of a time where you led or organized a group of volunteers.

Sports

Most sports require participants to have a competitive spirit and be able to work as part of a team. These are strong transferable skills that most hiring managers actively seek and appreciate. Most athletes have a goal-based vision rather than simply watching the clock, which is valuable in an employee.

How to highlight it?

Playing sports is not necessarily something you would think to include on your resume. However, if you were a team captain, this demonstrates leadership experience. In addition, it is worth mentioning any special awards and trophies that your team managed to gain in competitions.

Teamwork

No matter what type of activity you want to mention, teamwork is always a valuable skill. Ideally, the teamwork activity you highlight should place you in a leadership role. A good example would be organizing a special event at college where the results were important.

How to highlight it?

Make sure that it is clear what the teamwork activity was and how you played a vital role. It should be clear why you have included the activity on your resume. This can give the interviewer something to touch on during the interview to help break the ice.

Cross-Cultural Experience

Traveling abroad can teach people valuable skills that go far beyond the office environment. If you have worked on a project in another country that you can relate to working on, this is worth mentioning. Even volunteer work in another country where you took the initiative can show valuable leadership skills.

How to highlight it?

Make sure the way that the cross-cultural experience relates to work is clearly highlighted. Spending time in another country and culture can lead to challenges such as language barriers. Being able to work closely with people from other cultures is a valuable transferable skill.

Student Government And Organizations

Active involvement in student government or an organization shows that you care about making a difference and improving situations. This is a valuable attribute that employers are sure to appreciate. It is important to highlight how your actions in the organization had a positive effect.

How to highlight it?

When describing this situation to an interviewer, be sure to highlight a particular project or event. It should be clear the role you took in this scenario and what effect you had. Take care to underline the transferable skills that you learned from this experience.

Describing Your Leadership Experience In An Interview

When talking about your leadership experience, it is best to give a direct example. You need to choose an example that puts you in the best light and will directly relate to your new job. Here are some tips on how to create the perfect example.

Use the STAR method

The key to answering any behavioral interview question well is using the STAR method. This method outlines the Situation, Task, the specific Actions you took, and ultimately the Result. Using this method when outlining your story before the interview helps you to create a well-structured example rich in detail.

Use strong verbs

When creating your resume, make sure you use strong and clear verbs to describe a particular leadership experience. There are certain verbs like ‘led’ that create a strong picture in the mind of the listener. These verbs make it clear exactly what type of role you took on and how effective you were.

Search for keywords

Take another look at the job description, paying close attention to keywords related to leadership. Words such as ‘support,’ ‘pioneer,’ and ‘guide’ refer to very different types of leadership roles. This will serve as an indication of the types of leadership experiences and skills that you should refer to. It is also a good idea to use these words when describing your leadership experience example.

Consider past leadership experience

It is worth spending a few minutes thinking about times in the past when you have gained leadership experience. The perfect example may not come to you immediately or even be from your recent past. However, taking the time to choose the perfect example rather than the most obvious one can make all the difference.

Show that you are an effective team member

While you are being asked to talk about your leadership experience, leaders also need to perform as part of a team. It is important to demonstrate that you are a team player who can step into many different roles. Otherwise, the interviewer may get the impression that you always insist on taking charge.

Outline the steps to success

It is important to be able to demonstrate how well you can guide a project to success. Using the STAR method will help to make sure that your answer is well structured and complete. While you should keep your answer as brief and simple as possible, each of these steps should at least be touched on.

Explain how you delegated tasks

Part of being a good leader is delegating tasks. It is important to have an understanding of the different skills of all the people on your team. This will allow you to select the perfect person from your team to accomplish each essential task.

Read more: Why Not Getting Job Interviews?

Measure your accomplishments

Make it clear the exact benefit your example had to the company, organization, or other types of groups. This could be the exact amount of money you raised during a fundraising event or the percentage of productivity you improved. This will help the interviewer to understand how valuable your leadership experience will be to their corporation.

More Interviewing Info And Advice

I’ve put together my advice and guides on interviews with the how to Answer Why Best Candidate Position, the Strengths And Weaknesses For Job Interviews, What Are You Most Proud Of, How To Answer What Are You Passionate About, What Are Your Career Goals, or even Why Do You Want To Work Here, How Do You Handle Stress, What Makes You Unique, and of course the Best Questions To Ask In An Interview in 2023.

We also found an amazing selection online to read up on, such as the INTERVIEW with DESIRE and GET HIRED!: How to Ace the Interview, Sell Yourself & Get Your Dream Job, Get That Job!: The Quick and Complete Guide to a Winning Interview, Hiring Squirrels: 12 Essential Interview Questions to Uncover Great Retail Sales Talent, as well as Amazing Interview Answers: 44 Tough Job Interview Questions with 88 Winning Answers.

But that’s not all; we also have the How to Answer Interview Questions: 101 Tough Interview Questions or my favorite on the STAR Method is The STAR Method Explained: Proven Technique to Succeed at Interview and The STAR Interview: How to Tell a Great Story, Nail the Interview and Land Your Dream Job also available online today.

A practical notebook to help prepare is the STAR METHOD INTERVIEW: Interview Journal: designed for job seekers as a guide for interview prep and as a tool for interview questions and answers during interviews.

Final Thoughts

It is almost certain that the leadership experience example question will be asked in a professional-level interview. Like all types of behavioral questions, you can prepare your examples of leadership experience for interviews and resumes in advance. This allows you to make sure your key skills and attributes are highlighted to the best effect.

It is best to use the STAR method to create a strong outline for your leadership experience example. Rather than trying to memorize the entire answer, focus on the overall story that you want to tell. This will help to make sure that your answer sounds more natural and spontaneous during the interview.

All the very best in your future Leadership Roles!