Behavioral Based Interview Questions

 Tell me about a situation when you were able to fix a problem for a customer. What was the end
result?

 Tell me about your experience when an angry customer kept talking to you rudely. How did you
handle that situation smartly? What was the outcome?

 How do you resolve the issues of the customers? Explain.

 Describe a moment when you were able to successfully upsell a customer on a new product or
service.

 Tell me about a time when you were speaking with a customer who had already spoken with
several representatives but was unable to receive the assistance they required. What was the
consequence of your handling of this situation?

 Can you tell me about a time when your product or service had severe problems and you didn't
know how to handle the situation? What strategy did you use in such situations? So, what did
you say to the clients?

How to answer the “how to deal with a difficult customer” interview question.

In your pre-prepared interview answer, including any of the following pieces of advice is a good
approach:

1. I listened carefully to what the customer had to say.

2. I apologised and empathised with their situation.

3. I confirmed my understanding of their concern.

4. I took responsibility to resolve the issue.

5. I offered a solution (plus alternatives if possible).

6. I confirmed the customer was happy with this.

7. I thanked the customer for raising the issue with me.

8. I took immediate action following the call to resolve the situation.

9. I remained calm throughout the whole process.

10. (If appropriate) the customer wrote in to my supervisor congratulating me on my efficiency.

This may seem like a very long answer. But by explaining the situation, without going into the minutia of
the product or the complaint, your response need be no more than one minute or so.

Also, you will be able to impress your prospective employer by demonstrating that you already have the
skills necessary to handle the most difficult calls.
Sensitive intelligence, empathy, and behavior

Can you tell us about a time when you were proud of a customer for that level of service?

Have you ever dealt with an unreasonable customer? How did you handle it, and how did you handle it
today?

Have you ever turned down the rules to help a customer? Tell me about the situation and the
consequences.

In your past work, have you ever received negative feedback from a customer? What did you do with
this response?

What is the best way to work with multiple agents and help a client who has not received the support
they need?

Can you tell me about a customer you’ve had a hard time understanding, and how you approached that
interaction?

Can you describe a time when you had to say “no” to an important customer request?

In this section, you need to hear specific, true stories of past service experiences. Even very junior
candidates may have prior retail experience in drawing.

A good candidate will be able to share detailed examples from their own experience and be able to
answer follow-up questions on those examples. Look for people who show humility and take
responsibility for their mistakes.

Problem-solving

Can you give me an example of a situation where you had a major problem with your product/service
and you still need to respond without giving all the answers?

Have you ever had a time when a customer was reporting a technical problem you didn’t know the
answer to? What was your method and how did it end?

Can you tell us about a situation when you didn’t have a clear policy to use with a customer, and do you
need to make a call to make a decision? How did you approach your decision and what happened?

Solving problems is an invaluable skill and can always be improved. The best candidates will be able to
walk through their view of situations where they have no immediate answers. Ask for an example of
how they learned from these situations and apply it to another problem.

Beware of people who have never claimed to be stumped or who can only give examples where a team
or colleague provided the final answer.
Communication skills

Can you give an example of how a customer was alerted when your product/service was causing a major
problem?

When responding to a customer, how do you include what information, and how do you decide what to
leave?

Can you tell me about a time when you needed a client or colleague to explain the way they worked (for
example, to adopt a new method or change their language), and how did you keep up?

There is nothing greater than the ability of customer service employees to communicate clearly and with
the appropriate level of detail. This section is your chance to explain how your best candidates talk or
write to customers

Great candidates show the ability to interrupt a customer’s needs and refine their communication styles
for different audiences. Look for candidates who can only describe a single communication method, as
they are not very complicated.

Attitude and behavior toward work

When you answer behavioral interview questions, be prepared to share practical examples of how you
handled the situation. The interviewer is interested in knowing how to respond to certain situations and
how to handle a similar situation if you are hired.

Explain a time when you helped settle disputes between others.

Tell me about a time when you helped solve a particularly difficult customer problem.

Talk to me about a time when you were unable to assist a customer with their problem – what was the
problem and how did you handle the situation?

Give an example of a time in which you changed a customer’s emotions from frustration to joy.

Tell us about the issue with previously supported products or services. How have you dealt with these
issues?

What have you done to increase revenue, reduce costs, or save time at your current organization?

What was the last new skill you learned? Why did you choose this skill and how did you learn it?

Can you tell me about a time when you made a great contribution to your team?

What is better today than you had this time last year?

What do you think makes a good teammate?

Should I read my next book? Why?

People who can talk about their interests and carry on a casual conversation usually perform well in the
role of customer service. This final section is an opportunity to understand what this candidate will want
to work on. Are they always looking to learn new skills? Will they be helpful to their colleagues as well as
customers?

Behavioural Interview Questions (With Example Answers)

What are behavioural questions?

Behavioural questions are ones posed in an interview that showcase how you manage work situations,
challenges or circumstances. They aim to give insight into your abilities, skills and character traits and
can help interviewers determine how you might behave in future situations. Sometimes called
situational interview questions, they ask for specific work examples with detailed descriptions of the
circumstance, action and outcome and go beyond describing duties and responsibilities of past roles.

How do you prepare for behavioural interview questions?

You can prepare for answering behavioural interview questions in several ways, including:

 Brainstorm: think about past jobs and situations you encountered. You can look over your
resume or curriculum vitae to refresh your memory about your accomplishments since they can
often be good examples of outcomes resulting from challenges.

 Make a list: write a list of several examples that show your abilities and skills through
challenging situations. Consider stories of a suitable length—ones that are not too short but also
will not take long to explain.

 Hold a mock interview: practise answering behavioural questions. Record yourself to review
your body language and listen to your answers. You can also ask friends to do a mock interview
with you.

What is the STAR method used during interviewing?

The STAR method is a common interviewing technique to help you provide full and robust answers. It
stands for:

 Situation: a situation or test faced

 Task: the task, duty, or responsibility of an individual

 Action: the action one takes to overcome or resolve the issue

 Result: the outcome and results of the action taken

The STAR structure often lets you give insight into how you approach problems and apply your decision-
making skills to bring positive outcomes.

What are common behavioural interview questions?

Here are eight examples of behavioural questions with sample answers to help inspire your own:

1. Describe a time you successfully handled a stressful situation.

This question aims to learn how you deal with challenging situations using your problem-solving skills.

Example: "My supervisor had a family emergency during a sales conference and left before we presented
to advertisers. I had to finish the presentation with only a few notes my supervisor wrote before leaving.
I called a meeting with my three other colleagues and together we made changes, strengthening our
presentation. After pitching to the advertisers, we secured three new accounts and two other renewals."

2. Share a time you made a mistake at work and how you corrected it.

Mistakes are often inevitable, though how you handle them can often be more important than the error
itself. A strong answer is one that shows ownership of the error and impactful steps you took to correct
it or prevent it from happening again.

Example: "Early in my computer sales career, I accidentally misquoted the price for a server package. I
let my manager know, which he appreciated. I suggested we notify the customer with the correct higher
estimate and offer to waive the installation fee. The customer kindly understood and still selected us for
the job, in part because they valued how I handled things, and I kept an updated price list at my desk to
prevent another mistake."

3. Explain to me how you handle pressure at work.

This question shows an interviewer how you handle pressure and stress at work for any role or position.
A strong answer showcases a specific example with a successful outcome or one you might have done
differently.

Example: "An international musical theatre production got cancelled because of extreme weather and
with only five days' notice, the executive producer selected three national venues with entirely different
stage and lighting specifications. I had to apply our set designs to the new venues. My team and several
others worked quickly to alter designs, props, and lighting, making the show even more rewarding
because of our efforts."

4. Recount a time you and a peer had a conflict and how it got resolved.

Since workplaces have distinct personalities with various communication styles, it can be common for
conflict to arise. This question aims to see how you handle conflict with peers and what strategies you
use to reach agreeable solutions.

Example: "A new member of our sales team had a unique approach to closing deals, and some felt it was
too aggressive and misrepresented our company. I did not want my colleague to feel reprimanded if I
went to our boss, so I asked them to lunch instead. We had a productive conversation, and I used open-
ended questions to learn more about their work style. It turns out he sensed his approach was not
working well, too. He asked for my guidance, advice and expertise on how to improve his sales pitch. We
now have a great mentorship going, and he has increased his monthly quotas by 20% and brought in
new clients."

5. Tell me a time you make an unpopular decision at work and how you implemented it.
An effective answer to this question might show how you move forward with unpopular decisions and
communicate to teams for their support.

Example: "In my last role, employees could switch shifts as long as each one got covered, though it
meant managers did not know who would be there when. I implemented a process to have supervisors
approve schedule changes, which initially had resistance. I wrote an email communication explaining the
process and the reason behind it, reassuring employees it did not mean shift changes would not get
approved. The new method works well and employees continue to enjoy flexibility."

6. Share with me how you create goals.

This behavioural question aims to learn about your method for goal setting and how you achieve them.
Consider an answer that clearly explains your methods and techniques, with a specific example.

Example: "My goal of becoming a chef started in my teens. I wrote a plan of what experience I needed
and outlined my educational path. I worked as a server at a restaurant first and saved money for
culinary school and volunteered at food pantries and community kitchens to gain cooking skills. I placed
value on all culinary experiences and consider each an element of my success."

7. Describe an example of how you motivate and encourage coworkers, teammates or employees.

This question aims to see actionable ways you motivate others. Consider an answer that directly shows
how your input led to a good outcome.

Example: "Our company installed new software that was unfamiliar with a coworker. She was worried it
would affect her performance. I adapted to the computer program easily, so requested me to stay late
twice a week to help her gain skills in using it. She became so proficient that she now gives me tips to
use."

8. Explain a creative solution you implemented to solve a problem.

This question aims to get insight into your level of creativity and problem-solving abilities. Consider
sharing an example that offers a unique solution.

Example: "I approach budgets as unique challenges and like using my creativity to stay below budget. If
an initial design concept exceeds my budget, I find alternative ideas. For example, a canvas backdrop
was too expensive for a television commercial, but a muslin backdrop was well below cost and provided
softer backlighting."

behavioural Interview Questions

Here are examples of logical questions you might get asked in behavioral interview:

1. "Tell me about a goal you reached and how you achieved it."

2. "Describe a goal you failed to achieve and what transpired."

3. "Share a time you prioritised a task over something else and why."
 4. "Give an example of how you handle multitasking in one day."

5. "Recount a long-term project you completed. How did you keep the project on time and
organised?"

6. "Share a time you learned a new skill or responsibility quickly."

7. "Discuss an example of when you made a tough decision."

8. "Tell me about a time you had to be flexible."

9. "Elaborate on the proudest moment in your professional career and why it is important to you."

10. "Has there ever been a time you felt dissatisfied with your work or role and how did you handle
that?"

11. "Share how you stay motivated when doing repetitive tasks at work."

12. "Explain a project you feel affected your company significantly."

13. "Recount a time you had to say no at work."

14. "Describe a time you had to work closely with a colleague whose personality differed from
yours."

15. "Tell me about a time you considered yourself an excellent leader."

16. "Share a time you felt you went beyond the standard responsibilities of your job."

17. "Recount a time when you disagreed with someone."

Everything You Need to Know About Answering Behavioral Interview Questions

Behavioral interview questions are non-technical, focused on you, and 100% something you can
prep for in advance. You actually have the answers already. We just need to find the right stories and
polish them up a bit.

Here’s your ultimate go-to guide for answering behavioral interview questions—including common
behavioral questions you might hear and example answers.

What are behavioral interview questions?

Behavioral interview questions are questions or statements that ask job candidates to share examples of
specific situations they’ve been in. Usually interviewers want to know about an experience where you
had to use certain skills—soft skills especially—or had to navigate certain types of scenarios. (Read: It’s
the “Tell me about a time when…” genre of questions.)

Why do interviewers ask behavioral questions?

Interviewers like these questions because it can help them get a more realistic and nuanced sense of
how you work. It’s a way for them to see what you’re capable of accomplishing based on
your actual past professional performance. Think about it: What would convince you of someone’s
ability to work on a team better—them saying they totally love working on a team or them telling a story
that shows exactly how they worked on a team of five for several months to implement a website
redesign for a major client?

common behavioral interview questions

As much as I wish I could tell you exactly which behavioral questions you’ll get, I sadly cannot. But this
list will give you an idea of the types of questions you might be asked. As you read through, think of
stories you can share in response to each subset of questions—they can often be tweaked on the spot to
answer any variation an interviewer might throw at you.

Teamwork questions

Almost any job requires you to work with others, so be prepared to talk about your experiences as part
of a team. You’ll want a story that illustrates your ability to work with others under challenging
circumstances. Think resolving team conflicts, dealing with project constraints, or motivating others.

 Tell me about a time when you had to work closely with someone whose personality was very
different from yours.

 Give me an example of a time you faced a conflict with a coworker. How did you handle that?

 Describe a time when you had to step up and demonstrate leadership skills.

 Tell me about a time you made a mistake and wish you’d handled a situation with a colleague
differently.

 Tell me about a time you needed to get information from someone who wasn’t very responsive.
What did you do?

Adaptability questions

Times of turmoil are finally good for something! Think of a recent work crisis you successfully navigated.
Even if the outcome didn’t ideal, find a lesson or silver lining you took from the situation.

 Tell me about a time you were under a lot of pressure at work or at school. What was going on,
and how did you get through it?

 Describe a time when your team or company was undergoing some change. How did that
impact you, and how did you adapt?

 Tell me about settling into your last job. What did you do to learn the ropes?

 Give me an example of a time when you had to think on your feet.

  Tell me about a time you failed. How did you deal with the situation?

Time management questions

When an interviewer asks about time management, get ready to talk about a specific instance when you
had a few things in the air, prioritized, scheduled, organized, and completed everything—preferably
before the deadline.

 Give me an example of a time you managed numerous responsibilities. How did you handle
that?

 Describe a long-term project that you kept on track. How did you keep everything moving?

 Tell me about a time your responsibilities got a little overwhelming. What did you do?

 Tell me about a time you set a goal for yourself. How did you go about ensuring that you would
meet your objective?

 Tell me about a time an unexpected problem derailed your planning. How did you recover?

Communication questions

You use communication skills so regularly you’ll probably have plenty of stories to choose from. Just
remember to talk about your thought process or preparation.

 Tell me about a time when you had to rely on written communication to get your ideas across.

 Give me an example of a time when you were able to successfully persuade someone at work to
see things your way.

 Describe a time when you were the resident technical expert. What did you do to make sure
everyone was able to understand you?

 Give me an example of a time when you had to have a difficult conversation with a frustrated
client or colleague. How did you handle the situation?

 Tell me about a successful presentation you gave and why you think it was a hit.

Motivation and values questions

A lot of seemingly random interview questions are actually attempts to learn more about what
motivates you. Your response would ideally address values and motivations directly even if the question
didn’t explicit ask about them.

 Tell me about your proudest professional accomplishment.

 Describe a time when you saw a problem and took the initiative to correct it.
  Tell me about a time when you worked under either extremely close supervision or extremely
loose supervision. How did you handle that?

 Give me an example of a time you were able to be creative with your work. What was exciting or
difficult about it?

 Tell me about a time you were dissatisfied in your role. What could have been done to make it
better?

How to answer behavioral questions

So how do you go about actually answering behavioral questions? It’s actually pretty simple.

1. Quickly identify the hard or soft skill or quality the interviewer is trying to learn more about.

2. Choose a relevant story.

3. Share your story while emphasizing the details that speak to the relevant skills.

4. Sum up your answer with how you generally approach situations like the one the interviewer
presented.

Example answers for top behavioral questions

Check out these example questions and answers to see our advice in action and get more specific tips on
some of the most common behavioral questions.

1. Give me an example of a time you faced a conflict while working on a team. How did you handle
that?

Ah, the conflict question. It’s as common as it is dreaded. Interviewers ask because they want to know
how you’ll handle the inevitable: disagreements in the workplace. But you might be nervous because it’s
hard to look good in a conflict even when you’re not in the wrong. The key to getting through this one is
to focus less on the problem and more on the process of finding the solution.

For example, you might say:

“Funnily enough, last year I was part of a committee that put together a training on conflict intervention
in the workplace and the amount of pushback we got for requiring attendance really put our training to
the test. There was one senior staff member in particular who seemed adamant. It took some careful
listening on my part to understand he felt like it wasn’t the best use of his time given the workload he
was juggling. I made sure to acknowledge his concern. And then rather than pointing out that he himself
had voted for the entire staff to undergo this training, I focused on his direct objection and explained
how the training was meant to improve not just the culture of the company, but also the efficiency at
which we operated—and that the goal was for the training to make everyone’s workload feel lighter. He
did eventually attend and was there when I talked to the whole staff about identifying the root issue of a
conflict and addressing that directly without bringing in other issues, which is how I aim to handle any
disagreement in the workplace.”

2. Tell me about a time you needed to get information from someone who wasn’t very responsive.
What did you do?

Hiring managers want people who can take initiative and solve problems. Many workplace problems boil
down to a communication breakdown, which is what this question is getting at. Try not to get too
bogged down in the nitty-gritty details of the story and make sure to finish with a clear lesson learned.

A good answer to this question might be:

“Back when I was just starting out as an assistant to a more senior recruiter, I once needed to book
interview rooms for several different candidates with a few sessions each, all on the same day. The
online system the company used to schedule conference rooms was straightforward enough, but the
problem was that it allowed more senior people to bump me out of my reservations. I had to scramble to
get them back. When I didn’t get responses to my emails, I literally ran around the office to find the
people who took my rooms and explain why I needed them. It was stressful at the time, but it all worked
out in the end. Most were happy to move to a different room or time to make sure the interviews went
smoothly. I also met a bunch of people and earned early on that talking to someone in person when
possible can often move things along more quickly than an email can.”

3. Describe a time when it was especially important to make a good impression on a client. How did
you go about doing so?

A perfect answer to this question has an outstanding outcome and illustrates the process of getting to
that result. But even if you only have a decent outcome to point to instead of a stellar one, spelling out
the steps you took will get you a strong answer.

For instance:

“One of the most important times to make a good impression on a client is before they’re officially a
client. When the sales team pulls me into meetings with potential clients, I know we’re close to sealing
the deal and I do my best to help that along. That’s probably why I was chosen to represent the research
team when we did a final presentation for what would become our biggest client win of the year. I spoke
with everyone on the sales team who had met with them previously to learn as much as possible about
what they might care about. The thing I do that sets me apart is that I don’t try to treat all the clients the
same. I try to address their specific questions and concerns so that they know I did my homework and
that I care enough to not just give the cookie-cutter answers. In this case, having the data pulled and
ready for every question they had made all the difference in building their confidence in our company.”

4. Describe a time when your team or company was undergoing some change. How did that impact
you, and how did you adapt?
Interviewers want to know how you handle organizational change. Your story doesn’t necessarily need
to be about some massive company reorg, it could even be about a new system for sharing files. The key
is to make sure you clearly describe the steps you took to adapt and then generalizing your experience.

So you might say:

“This past year my manager left and the company was unable to fill her position for several months. This
completely upended the way our team operated since she’d been the one who made sure we were all on
the same page. After a couple of weeks of missed deadlines and miscommunications on the team, I
sheepishly suggested we do a quick daily check-in. It took no more than 10 minutes a day, but it helped
us get back to working efficiently again and really reduced the frustrations that had started brewing. It
helped me understand that adapting to change requires understanding the gaps a change creates and
thinking creatively about how to fill them.”

5. Tell me about a time you failed. How did you deal with the situation?

For broad questions like this, it can be helpful to narrow the scope a bit. For a question about failure,
you can do that by defining what it means to fail in your own words before sharing your example.

For example:

“As a team manager, I consider it a failure if I don’t know what’s going on with my staff and their work—
basically if a problem catches me by surprise then I’ve failed somewhere along the way. Even if the
outcome is ultimately fine, it means I’ve left a team member unsupported at some point. A recent
example would be this training we do every year for new project managers. Because it’s an event that
my team has run so many times, I didn’t think to check in and had no idea a scheduling conflict was
brewing into a full-on turf war with another team. The resolution actually ended up being a quick and
easy conversation at the leadership team meeting, but had I just asked about it sooner it would never
have been a problem to begin with. I definitely learned my lesson about setting reminders to check in
about major projects or events even if they’ve been done dozens of times before.”

6. Give me an example of a time you managed numerous responsibilities. How did you handle that?

Multitasking. It’s impossible and yet we’re all expected to do it. Your job is likely going to involve more
than one responsibility and the hiring manager is going to want to know how you plan on juggling a
number of tasks, projects, or deadlines.

You could say:

“This is almost a cliché, but being part of an early-stage startup meant I wore a lot of different hats. One
second I was recruiting, the next I’d be in front of potential clients, and then I’d be meeting with the
cofounders about the product. Switching gears so quickly often felt like getting whiplash. I realized that it
wasn’t necessarily the juggling that was the problem, it was the constant switching back and forth. I
started chunking my work so I could spend several hours focused on similar tasks. One block for
recruiting. One block for sales. One block for product. Once I figured out the secret to multitasking was to
not multitask, it got a lot more manageable.”
7. Give me an example of a time when you were able to successfully persuade someone to see things
your way at work.

No matter your role, communication skills are critical and interviewers are going to keep asking related
questions until they’re sure yours are up to snuff. When asked about persuasion, emotional intelligence
and empathetic listening can be good pieces of your communication skill set to emphasize.

A good answer could sound like:

“I once was tasked with pulling the plug on a project. Of course, this can be incredibly disappointing for
those affected. Done poorly it could destroy a team’s morale. I can’t discuss the project too much, but
suffice it to say that everyone on it worked really hard and it took some serious convincing for them to
agree this was the right choice. Rather than letting the idea take hold that months of their work was
being scrapped, I proactively shared with everyone all the ways their work would still be utilized by
different parts of the company. It’s not what they had intended, but seeing that their work wasn’t
wasted softened the blow and allowed me to share the hard truth that we wouldn’t be able to realize
our original goals. Taking the time to consider what negative reaction they might have and making the
effort to be empathetic allowed me to directly address their concerns and show them that this was the
best way forward.”

8. Tell me about a successful presentation you gave and why you think it was a hit.

You can probably predict whether or not you’ll get this question based on the job description. If the job
requires frequent public speaking, be sure you have an example ready to go. For questions like this that
have an “and why” part, make sure you give evidence for how you know you did a good job. In this case,
an engaged audience is pretty good evidence you gave a strong presentation.

For instance:

“Presenting is definitely something I’ve gotten better at over time. At my previous lab, I presented pretty
often at the weekly research meeting where we all kept each other up-to-date on the progress of our
work. When I first started, I would just pick up where I left off last time and spoke like I was talking to a
room full of experts—which I was, but they weren’t necessarily experts in my specific project. It’s obvious
in hindsight. The nature of research is that it’s inherently novel. I started doing more in my presentations
to give context, like a more compact version of a conference presentation. It was more work, but I could
tell everyone was engaged based on the questions I got. They were more thoughtful and challenging and
actually helped push my work forward. Now, whether I’m presenting formally or informally, I try my best
to scaffold my conclusions with relevant context.”

9. Tell me about your proudest professional accomplishment.

This question can sometimes make people freeze up. Proudest? Like literally the thing I am proudest of
ever? It’s a lot. A more manageable way to think about it is that it’s essentially a freebie to talk about
anything. So you can choose a story that showcases a relevant skill, passion, or experience you haven’t
been able to talk about yet or want to emphasize more and set it up as one of your proudest
accomplishments! If you’re applying to an entry-level role, feel free to talk about school
accomplishments.

For example:

“There’s a lot that I’ve done over the last few years at Major Telecom that I’m proud of, but one thing we
haven’t had a chance to talk too much about is my work in the parents employee resource group. As the
company has become more family friendly, I’ve worked hard to guide the conversation as the co-lead of
the parents ERG. This year, I spearheaded an effort to improve our flexible work policy, first writing a
letter on behalf of the ERG to the leadership team and then later drafting a proposal which ultimately led
to a better work environment and more flexible work for everyone, not just parents.”

10. Tell me about a time when you worked under either very close supervision or very loose
supervision. How did you handle that?

This question is getting at how you like to be managed, but it’s phrased in a way that may tempt you to
speak negatively of a previous employer. Stay focused and keep your response neutral to positive.

So you could say:

“As an intern at Online Content Co., I felt like my every move required approval, which isn’t everyone’s
cup of tea, but I really appreciated it back when I had no idea what I was doing. I actually credit the close
supervision I got for helping me pick things up so quickly. After I officially joined the team as a staff
writer though, it started to feel a bit restrictive. I thought once I “proved myself” it would get better, but
after a few more months with no significant change a mentor helped me see that I wasn’t being
proactive about communicating with my manager. Rather than going to my one-on-one meetings with
nothing prepared and being peppered with questions, I started arriving with an update of all my ongoing
work. All the same information got conveyed, but instead of feeling micromanaged, I felt empowered
and it made all the difference in my experience.”

What Are Behavioral Interview Questions?

The key to answering behavioral questions during a job interview is to face them without fear and
answer them with confidence and poise. Once you know the pattern of these questions, you can
respond appropriately to them while avoiding blunders and pitfalls.

Simply explained; behavioral questions are worded in a manner as to invoke a response from the
candidate that gives the interviewer a good idea regarding how he will behave under tricky situations. In
fact; these questions are designed to put you, the candidate, under stress. Every individual reacts
differently to stress, and some might even annoy or irritate coworkers creating disharmony in the
workplace. Employers want to minimize such friction and headaches; hence they ask a series of
behavioral questions to assess how an employee will act under stressful situations. No organization
wants a clown on their payrolls, neither does a company need employees who are likely to misbehave or
give a bad name to the entire company with their bad behavior. This is precisely why behavioral
interview questions are asked.
Behavioral questions are always unrelated to what you have put in the resume. They are meant for
assessing how you:

1. Dealt with pressure situations

2. Took steps to submit a project on time

3. Proactively solved an issue before it escalated out of control

4. Worked with a coworker who was difficult

5. Reorganized work when your responsibilities were shifted

6. Handled criticism

1) The biggest mistake you made and what did you learn from it?

The reason behind this question is that the interviewer is trying to judge if you can admit to mistakes
and whether you learn from them. Additionally he wants to know if you are humble enough to accept
mistakes or whether you have the tendency to blame others for them. You can tell the interviewer
things that you have learned from your past mistakes in your previous job. Examples include: when you
disagreed with your manager and went over him to higher authority that agreed with you but in turn
affected your relationship with your direct supervisor.

2) Have you worked with someone you did not like and was difficult to get along with?

The interviewer wants to know how you diffuse tension and how well can you work with others. You can
come up with a situation where in a manager was controlling and difficult but you won him over by
taking an interest in his hobbies etc or befriended him etc. Here, you may mention that even though,
working with the person whom you did not like was stressing, so you decided to work towards solving
the issue. You aimed at understanding the person and knowing what made him behave this way. You did
this through engaging in a project that involved working close with this colleague, by the end of it; you
had managed to understand the person and worked towards building a positive relationship. You may
also mention that you understood that one might be wrong and then, you worked towards building on
strengths rather than concentrating on weaknesses.

3) Have you worked with a coworker who was not shouldering fair share of the workload?

Here, you may mention coworkers who were habitually late, or made several mistakes leading to rework
or about coworkers who took several personal calls while on duty etc. You may also mention colleagues
who were overly chatty or took up extra long coffee breaks or lunch hours. Be sure not to relate overly
personal details but explain how you got involved and brought about a positive outcome in their
behavior.

4) Have you faced dishonesty in the workplace, if yes, how did you deal with it?

Here, the company does not expect you to be a policeman, but only expects you to NOT look away while
there is blatant dishonesty going on in the workplace. An example could be when a colleague has
purposely delayed a customer’s order just to get even with him. Any act of dishonesty that reflects badly
on you or your team or the Company must be pointed out to the higher management.
5) What are the qualities you look for in your immediate boss/supervisor?

The answer to this question should basically describe all the qualities that a good leader should possess:
clear communication, treats employees with respect, is available when needed, allows you to work with
minimal supervision, yet assists you in removing roadblocks that, in turn, increase your productivity etc.

6) The title of the book you read last –

This question is generally asked to get an insight into your reading habits: whether you read for
education or entertainment, regarding your interests or how you stay current in the latest trends in your
field etc. When giving an answer to this kind of question, it is important to think about the kind of the
job being interviewed. Giving a title which seems too aloof will reflect wrongly. The book name given
should also not be offensive in any way to avoid misinformation and misjudgment. The interviewee also
needs to give a title which he or she is comfortable giving a summary.”Last read” in this context does not
necessarily mean the book that was read last week, month or year, it basically means the one which
interested the interviewee, is related to the job in question and can easily be described if asked to do
so.

7) What steps do you take to improve yourself?

The answers to this could include facts like you are learning a foreign language or undergoing
professional certifications to improve yourself, or taking courses to learn more about
computer/programming or pursuing a degree side by side etc.

8) What are your hobbies/interests outside work?

This helps the interviewer get an idea whether you lead a balanced life or whether you are too focused
to have hobbies and outside interests and also regarding the kind of person you are. Remember here:
the more outside commitments you have, the less attractive you’d look to potential employers.
“Watching Television” or “playing PC games” may distract the employer’ attention. Reading good books
(you may name a few books related to your subject) will be a good answer. Though, it would be
suspicious if you say that your hobbies are studying financial market or working overtime for free.

9) What motivates you?

This question is known to render many candidates speechless. It is asked to get an idea as to “why you
do what you do”. High achievers naturally would answer this question using sentences like: “I like to
solve complex problems”, or “I like to teach and mentor youngsters” or “I like to make efforts to help
improve the lives of people” etc. Do not use factors like money, rewards, contests etc as these are non-
lasting and known to produce only a short burst of efforts. Here, you should mention your
goal/vision/passion for life. Be honest yet intelligent, what you say and describe.

10) Why did you choose your major in college?

This helps ascertain whether you have always known what you wanted in life, or whether you simply
chose the path of minimal resistance. The question also helps the interviewer note if you have a true
passion for your field. Here, you might want to point out things like you are true to your craft and
continually learning by taking nighttime classes or earning a professional certification etc. This will help
them know that you have a true passion for the field.
12) Explain what will be your reaction if a project you had been working on suddenly changed or the
deadline had been changed?

if a project I have been working on suddenly changes or the deadline is changed my first reaction would
be

 To consult the supervisor and ask the reason why the project had been changed

 I will ensure that all the facts and reasons are genuine before informing the team members

 Once everyone aware about the changes, I will sit down with the team members to discuss a
new plan for the project

13) Explain what if you realize at deadline time that a report you wrote to your supervisor is not to the
par?

If I realize that at deadline time a report that I wrote to my supervisor is not to the par, my first reaction
would be to inform my supervisor or boss. Also, I will see if there is any chance of rectifying the error,
and if not I will evaluate the cause behind the error.

14) Explain how would you deal with a co-worker at work with whom you are not able to build a
successful working relationship?

To deal with a co-worker at work with whom I am not able to build a successful working relationship, my
approach would be

 Practice common courtesy like “hello” and “thank you”

 Call people with their first name while maintaining the eye contact

 Communicate with them on regular basis

 Be friendly and encouraging to co-workers

 Invite a co-worker for dinner or outing over the weekend

 Find out a common interest

 Don’t present an unprofessional side in personal or on social sites with co-workers

 Keep email on topic and concise as possible

16) Explain what you will do when work comes to a standstill because your colleagues and team leads
are not present to answer a few important questions?

In a condition where my work comes to a standstill because my colleagues and team leads are not
present to answer a few important questions. I will adopt following approaches.

 I will contact and speak to my boss as well as colleagues and inform them that I continued
working on the project that were time sensitive
  I will contact client and other parties in the project to gather project related information that
will help to complete the project on time

 I will keep working on the project that falls under my capabilities until some experienced
colleague is not available for help

17) Being an HR manager what would you do if your team members are leaving the company in
alarming ratio?

 Try to identify the common problem that is faced by everyone, and look for possible resolution

 Hold an one-on-ones session with everyone on the team weekly or monthly and keep having
them, so problems can be resolved even before it occurs

 Protect the interest of the employees in organization

 Enhance training programs- by shortening or skipping the training period, you could be skipping
a useful experiences for the employee that can result in feelings of exclusion

 Try to eliminate the most common reason for leaving the company

 Identify the expectation of key employees

 Increase employees satisfaction and loyalty

20) Explain how you prioritize work when everything is a priority?

When everything is priority, you could use the following approach

 Make a list of all your tasks

 Identify task important vs. urgent

 identify the task that holds the highest value to your organization and business

 Target those topic first whichever one you think will take the most effort to complete

 Be adaptable and flexible to the task

 May happen that not everything in the list can be achievable, focus on the priorities that you
can complete

21) Explain how can you present complex task or project into simplified way?

To present complex task or project into simplified way, you need to follow the following steps

 Write down the task and break it down

 Convert big project or task Into Microtasks

 Break down your time and use time management tools

 Multitask wherever you can

 Stay Organized
  Work smarter not harder

22) Explain how can you present project presentations for clients and executives?

You can present project presentations for clients and executives in the following manner

 When communicating with management avoid complex project documentation

 Create a graphical project presentation using Excel, Powerpoint presentation, etc.

 Use Gantt chart to show the tasks and how it will be initiated

 Present the major milestones or deliverables of a project schedule

 Highlight key aspect – like summary of the project, what are the set expectation and how it will
be achieved.

34) Explain how people with better EQ deal with difficult people?

People with better EQ, they would deal with difficult people in following ways

 They establish boundaries with difficult people

 They focus on solutions and not on the problems

 They focus on their strength and weaknesses

 They use previous experience with difficult people

 They ignore negative talk

 They don’t involve any type of conflict with difficult people

 They get disconnect themselves with difficult or negative situations

 They stay connected with the likeminded people for support

35) Mention what are the two factors that may be responsible for resistance to change?

The two factors that may be responsible for resistance to change may be

 Fear of the unknown

 Possible job losses

36) Explain what is personal competence is about?

Personal competence is about

 Self Awareness

 Self Regulation

37) Mention what does a good model to build EQ in the workplace includes?

A good model to build EQ in the workplace includes

  Training

 Evaluation

38) Explain what ways you can successfully resolve a conflict?

To resolve the conflict successfully you can follow the following tips

 Manage stress quickly while remaining calm and alert

 Control your behavior and emotions

 Listen for what is felt as well as said

 Be willing to forgive

 Focus on the present

 Know when to let something go

40) Explain what is empathy in terms of EQ?

In terms of empathy is the ability to understand how other perceive situations, It includes knowing how
others feel about a particular set of circumstances or events.

preparing your ‘stories’ for answering behavioral questions:

1. If you have any notable achievements, ensure that you provide details regarding these. Focus on
obstacles you encountered and how you took steps to solve [Link] can even write down
some ‘stories’ prior to the interview and revise your answers until you are comfortable telling
these stories.

2. Rehearse your answers with a friend/co-worker.

3. Always place yourself in the hiring manager’s and think like him. Make sure you make an eye
contact with the interviewer because it is not only “what you say” but also “how you say it”.

4. Always talk about lessons learned. Did the experience teach you anything and how you plan to
cope with similar situations in the future?

behavioral interview questions

 Tell us why you are the best candidate for the job? Give us reasons why we should hire you?

 What is your customer service motto/philosophy?

 Tell us about the time when you were faced with an arrogant boss? How did you deal with it?

 Suppose a person has been trying your patience for a long time? How will you manage?
 Tell us about a situation when you had to cope with a colleague’s behavior which bothered you?
Shed light on circumstances and how did you tackle them?

 Describe a scenario where you had to use your “power of persuasion” to make your team
members see thin

 Often you are required to detect how a person is actually feeling or thinking. Have you been in
such situations where you had to size up the person? This will show us your ability of “reading”
people

 How do you handle a colleague or a supervisor who is not a good listener?

 Has there been a situation where you over spent time in planning rather than execution?

 What are some techniques of planning for a project? How do you use them?

 Describe a situation where you used your creativity in project to complete it on time?

 Some ideas come from hard work, some come from intuition. Describe a case where you came
up with an idea using both hard work and intuition

 Have you faced circumstances where you had to justify your actions for which you stood firmly
for, but it did not descend to well with others in the team?

 Give us an example that shows you are adaptable and flexible

 Provide examples that show us that you can deal with a wide array of colleagues, circumstances
or environments

 Think about a time when you were given constructive criticism/feedback that was not positive.
How did you respond to it?

 Imagine a situation where you are enforced to learn new software or a new application or
procedure. How did you deal with it?

 Tell us about a time where there was some bad blood between two employees and you had to
act as a mediator or a buffer between them

 Describe a situation where you demonstrated some brilliant customer service

 Describe a scenario when you had to verbally communicate a very sensitive issue to co-workers.
What was the outcome and how did you structure the communication?

 How do you think your college experience has prepared you for the chosen career?

 What are your greatest strengths and weaknesses?

 Give us an example of a situation where you had to deal with two demanding projects. How did
you manage time/resources while on these?

 Describe a situation where you took a wrong decision and the outcome was negative and
counterproductive. How did you turn this around?
 Describe a scenario when you had to deal with personal rejection or interpersonal conflict at
work?

 Tell us about a time when you showed high enthusiasm to create positive motivation in your
peers?

 Describe a scenario when you brought two disinclined people together?

 Describe a scenario when you had to cope with high stress situation at work? How did you cope
with it?

 Describe a scenario when you had obeyed the rules when you did not agree with them?

 How will you conduct yourself if you would have given unreasonable responsibilities at work?

Behavioral Interview Questions

Job

1. Can you describe for me one of your most important accomplishments?

2. Describe for me one of the biggest disappointments in your work history.

3. What special aspects of your education or training have prepared you for this job?

4. What specific things in your past experience that affected your present career objectives?

5. How do you go about making an important decision affecting your career?

6. Give an example of how you used what you learned from the last professional development
course you took.

Motivation/Self Awareness

7. Tell me about a difficult obstacle you have had to overcome.

8. Give me an example of a time you took initiative or took the role as a self-starter.

9. Provide an example of what gave you the greatest satisfaction at work?

10. Give an example of a time something frustrated you at work and how you handled it.

11. Describe your most significant failure in the last 2 years.

12. Give me an example of an experience on the job that you felt was satisfying.

13. Tell me about a time when you missed an obvious solution to a problem.
14. Tell me about a time you have been told, or discovered yourself, a problem in your job
performance, and what have you done?

Conflict/Stress

15. Tell me about how you worked effectively under pressure.

16. Give me an example of the most difficult conflict situation in which you were involved?

17. Tell me about a time you disagreed with a supervisor.

18. Tell me about a time you had to stand up for your beliefs

19. Tell me about a time you disagreed with your manager’s leadership style or team culture.

20. Tell me about a time when you were in conflict with a peer and how the situation was resolved.

21. Tell me about a time you wish you’d handled a situation with a coworker differently.

22. Tell me about a time you encountered pressure on the job and how you handled it.

23. Give me an example of the problems you encountered in doing your last job? Which ones
frustrate you the most?

Adaptability/Flexibility

24. Tell me about a time you had to learn something quickly.

25. Tell me about a time when you had to go above and beyond your regular job responsibilities in
order to get a job done.

26. Tell me about the adjustments you had to make to your schedule working virtually.

27. Give me an example of how you communicate with your manager and co-workers in a remote
setting.

Problem Solving

28. Give me an example of the most difficult decision you made in the past year.

29. The last time you did not know what decision to make, what did you do?

30. Tell me about a time when you had to analyze information and make a recommendation.

31. Give me a specific example of a time when you used good judgment and logic in solving a
problem.

32. Give an example of when you took full responsibility for solving a problem only to find out that
you really should have included others in the process.
 Planning/Organizing

33. Tell me about a time when you were faced with conflicting priorities.

34. Give an example of something you’ve recently scheduled.

35. Tell me about how you met your objectives this year.

Leadership/Teamwork

36. Tell me about a time when you motivated others.

37. Can you give me an example of your ability to manage or supervise others?

38. Tell me about a time when you had to get your team together to establish a common approach
to a problem.

39. Tell me about a time when needed to get your team to accept your ideas or department goals.

40. How would you describe your basic leadership style? Give specific examples of how you practice
this.

41. Tell me about a tie when you led a group who doesn’t report to you, but from whom you have
to get work.

Creativity

42. In your work experience, what have you done that you consider truly creative?

43. Can you think of a problem you have encountered when the old solutions didn’t work and when
you came up with new solutions?

44. What kind of problems have people recently called on you to solve? Tell me what you devised?

Presentation/Communication

45. Tell me about a time you had to give a presentation? How did you prepare?

46. Give me an example of a time when you had to explain a complex idea or topic to people with
less subject knowledge.

47. Tell me about the most recent writing project you’ve worked on.

48. Tell me about a time you had to build rapport with a coworker or client whose personality was
different than yours?
Follow Through

49. Give me an example of a time when you had to make sure that due dates were met for work
that you delegated?

50. Tell me about a time when you gathered feedback from a customer after you completed a
project/task or made a delivery?

51. Tell me about one of the methods you’ve used to follow up on your projects, tasks, assignments.

How to Answer Behavioral Interview Questions With the STAR Method

The easiest way to answer behavioral interview questions is to follow the STAR method.

According to the STAR method, each interview answer should use the following structure:

 S for Situation. Describe the situation where everything happened.

 T for Task. Describe the task you had to complete in order to solve the problem/issue at hand.

 A for Action. Explain what actions you took to complete the aforementioned task.

 R for Results. Talk about the results of your actions and try to be as detailed as possible. How
did your actions lead to the company or organization to function better?

Now, here’s what a good answer looks like according to the STAR method:

Q: Give us an example of how you handled a challenge in the workplace.

Situation: Around the time I started working at Company X, the team I was working with was just
finishing up on a very important project on a tight deadline. They had to review everything before
submitting the work to the client, and my manager didn’t have a lot of time to pay attention to me to
make sure I was caught up to speed.

Task: Everyone around me was constantly working, and because of the timing, they didn’t seem very
approachable. So, to make sure I didn’t get left behind, I had to prove myself and take initiative.

Action: My plan was simple. I wanted to talk to my manager and a few of my colleagues whenever they
had time (e.g. over lunch, getting coffee together). Then, I would try to get to know them in a different
environment and also learn about the company better too. In the meanwhile, I would always go over my
onboarding material and resources to get better at my job.

Results: In the end, I’m glad to say everything worked out and I actually made a few good friends too. By
the time my manager came around to review my work and talk about the next steps - I already knew
most of it and the company’s main clients in detail. And I also knew my colleagues who I’d be working
with too. If anything, he was a bit surprised, but ultimately, happy I didn’t fall behind. This saved him a
lot of time, something he was very grateful for.

Question #1 - How do you accomplish tasks when under a tight deadline? Give me an example.

Sample Answer:

Situation: Well, typically, I try to never commit to a deadline I don’t think I can make. But sometimes,
unexpected things happen and you’re forced to think on your feet. For example, at my last job, my
coworker had to take some time off work because of an emergency, and his project was left without a
manager.

Task: My supervisor then instructed me to take over his project and complete what work was left.
Suddenly, I had a new project on my hands, and I wasn’t really sure how to handle it, as the deadline
was in 1 week.

Action: First, I requested a reduction on my own daily sales goals - which I was granted. This way, I could
pay more attention to the project, and only a few hours per day to my original tasks. Once I had a
consistent schedule and hours set for each of my tasks, it was mostly easy from there.

Results: Thanks to my teammates and my good time management skills, I managed to finish up 2 days
early before the deadline. And once my coworker came back to work, I was able to review the whole
thing with him before submitting it. For what it’s worth, he was thoroughly impressed. And a few
months later, I even got promoted based on my performance.

Question #2 - Describe a long-term project you managed. How did you make sure everything was
running smoothly?

Sample Answer:

Situation: When I was at Company X, I was managing the web development team in charge of setting up
a new website for one of our biggest clients at the time. With most projects, we had a process set up
and we would get most sites done in up to 2 months. This project, however, was a bit different, as the
website was supposed to be more detailed, with a lot of unique pages. So, we had to be a lot more
careful with our time-management.

Task: We had a strict deadline of 15 weeks, and I had to make sure that we used up our time as
efficiently as possible.

Action: Before getting to actual work, I decided that we should plan everything out by the week. After
some research and consulting with our team of developers, we decided to split the workload between
different stages. We would devote around 1 week to the discovery phase, 5 weeks to design, 3 weeks to
initial development and the rest to any modifications and updates.

Results: In the end, we actually finished the website with all the promised functionalities in just under 3
months. The client was very satisfied with the result and eventually ended up recommending partners
to our firm.
Question #3 - Sometimes, it’s almost impossible to get everything done on your to-do list. What do
you do when your list of responsibilities becomes overwhelming?

Situation: As a senior at University X, there were times when I just couldn’t physically get everything
done on time. For example, towards the end of my final semester, I was the Student Council President
and I was also writing my University thesis. I had to submit my thesis the next day, and I was also
working with my fellow student council members to organize the end-of-the-year ceremony for the
University.

Task: If I had tried to multitask both, I would just have done a poor job. Now, for me, the University
thesis was clearly higher up in my list of priorities. After all, this was what my studies were building up to
for so long. But I couldn’t just abandon my council members either. With 24 hours until my thesis
deadline, I had to think fast.

Action: I decided that the best approach was to send all of my notes and outlines for the event to the
Student Council VP, who was also a close friend of mine. Luckily, he understood my situation and took
over my event-management responsibilities. Then, I had just enough time to edit and finalize my paper.

Results: Thanks to the VP, I was able to fix and finalize my Thesis. And fortunately, the event went
without a hitch too. In the end, I learned a valuable lesson on time-management, and the importance of
having the right team around you who you can rely on.

Question #4 - Tell me about a time you set a personal goal for yourself. How did you ensure you would
meet your objectives and what steps did you take?

Situation: I think the most recent, and important, personal goal that comes to mind is that I managed to
teach myself web development from scratch. You see, I wasn’t very satisfied as a sales rep at Company
X. My coworkers were nice, and the pay was decent too, but I just didn’t see myself growing there.

Task: So, I decided that I wanted a career change in a field I’ve always been interested in - web
development. Now, because I was working full-time, I had to be very efficient with my time-
management skills.

Action: I did some research, and all that was left to do was just follow my routine and stay committed. I
set up a personal calendar and made sure to study HTML, CSS, and JavaScript for at least 2 hours every
day. I gathered a list of beginner-friendly books to start with, and once I was done with those, I paid for
some advanced online courses to improve my React and [Link] skills. When I felt comfortable, I started
working on some personal projects for my portfolio and did some freelance work part-time while I was
still working at Company X.

Results: In the end, I’m glad I stuck to my plan and continued with my set curriculum. If I did not have
my calendar planned out with specific objectives, I surely would have been overwhelmed. Sure, at times,
it felt like I was basically working 2 jobs and that a lot of the material wasn’t making sense. But I just
kept moving forward, and then, I got my first real break as a junior web dev at Company Y.
Question #5 - Can you describe an instance where your supervisor or manager just gave you too much
work with not enough time? What did you do?

Situation: I had a pretty rocky start with my manager at Agency X, as we had different expectations for
my workload. Normally, I don’t have a problem with a fast-paced working environment, and I tend to
thrive when I’m thinking on my feet. But at the agency, I had just finished onboarding, and I was already
bombarded with tasks and weekly reports. For the most part, I was managing to get everything done on
time, but I realized the quality would suffer if my list of tasks kept getting longer.

Task: So, I had to take up my work schedule issue with my manager and let him know about my concern.
I decided that being direct, and also respectful was the best approach, and booked the meeting.

Action: During the meeting, I remained calm, and just went straight to the point. I explained how I liked
my work, but the heavy workload was really impacting the quality of the work.

Results: Luckily, he was understanding. I was the first in-house designer they’d hired, and they weren’t
100% sure what was a lot of work, and what wasn’t. We ended up working together to better define my
responsibilities. From then on, I was, for the most part, only getting the workload I could handle without
diminishing the quality of my work.

Behavioral job interview questions about communication skills

Question #1 - How do you handle a disagreement with your colleagues? Give me an example of when
you successfully persuaded someone to see things your way at work.

Situation: When I was working as a recruiter at Company X, I noticed that one of the candidates who
had sent in their application was perfect for the role. Though he didn’t have a university diploma and his
resume wasn’t too polished, reading his cover letter, it was obvious he knew the industry and had
delivered clear results.

Task: I thought it was worth giving him a shot, but my supervisor didn’t see it that way. She skimmed
through the resume and told me not to waste time, and just discard the candidate.

Action: I was, however, still pretty confident in the candidate, so I talked to the supervisor over lunch. I
took a bit of an indirect approach, though. Instead of trying to directly pitch the candidate, I asked her to
clarify the job description a bit more. We went a bit in-depth on what, exactly, we were looking for in
the candidate, and once we were done discussing it, I told her that we happened to have a candidate
that possessed all the relevant experience, but his resume was a bit weak.

Results: Convinced, the supervisor decided to give the candidate’s application a more in-depth look and
realized that they were, in fact, very qualified. She thanked me for bringing it up and agreed with me
that the candidate was worth calling in for an interview.

Question #2 - What would you do if you misunderstood an important task on the job? Give me an
example.
Situation: At my previous internship at Company X, I underestimated the amount of time it would take
me to finish a presentation for a team meeting. The deadline my boss gave me was around a week,
which was completely fair and I didn’t think it would be a problem. However, apparently, we had some
miscommunication with what he’d meant with the deadline. I thought it was the date where we would
go through the presentation, edit it together, and submit it like that. Apparently what he’d meant,
though, was to have the presentation 100% ready on that date.

Task: So, I had to submit a draft presentation first, edit it based on my manager’s comments, and then
present the report, all within 2 days.

Action: I booked a meeting with the manager for the following day, and spent 4 extra hours at the office
to make sure that the first draft of the presentation was spotless. We held the meeting the next day, and
went through the presentation together to make sure it’s spotless.

Results: The manager loved the work, and it only took us around 30 minutes to finalize the whole thing.

Question #3 - Have you ever had to work under someone who wasn’t very good at communicating?
What happened?

Situation: Yes, at my last job as a tech recruiter the hiring manager I was working directly with was
somewhat more difficult to communicate with. He had very strict and precise requirements on the type
of candidates he wanted to invite for interviews. He wasn’t open to much communication on the matter
or trying new things even when the company desperately needed new hires. This one time, I got a
candidate that was a pretty good fit for the job, but was lacking in some aspects.

Task: I wanted to make sure that we got the person in for an interview, but I was 100% sure that my
hiring manager would shut me down.

Action: So, before running the candidate through him, I called them and collected his biggest strengths
to present to the hiring manager.

Results: The hiring manager did, indeed, end up liking the candidate and calling them in for an interview.

Question #4 - Tell me about a time when you successfully explained a technical problem to a colleague
or a customer who didn’t have a tech background?

Situation: I’ve worked as a tech support specialist before, so I really excel at this. I’ve had to explain
complex concepts to customers on a regular basis, but to give you one single example, I’ve had to
explain to clients with next to no understanding of computers how to delete a virus on their computer.

Task: After trying to give basic instructions to the client, they still didn’t really understand much, so I had
to come up with a smarter solution.

Action: So what I did was, I walked them through the entire thing step by step while explaining it simply
but in no condescending terms. Instead of making them do most of the work, I walked them through the
process of getting me to connect with their computer, and then I explained to them what, exactly, I did.
Results: The customer was very happy with my work, and we managed to fix the issue with their
computer.

Question #5 - Can you tell me about a time you gave a presentation that was particularly successful?
Why do you think it went well?

Situation: Sure thing. As the business development manager at Firm X, there were quite a few
opportunities when I had to speak in front of a crowd. The most recent, and successful, one was for the
new project we were launching.

Task: I was called on to speak for a 2 department-wide meeting, of up to 50 people. Now, I had never
delivered a presentation to this many people, but luckily, I knew most of them quite well after years of
working with them.

Action: Working with 2 other members of my team, I decided to take a more creative approach, and
create a short video (a skit) to hook the audience. That was the intro, and then we used PowerPoint and
hands-on examples to show what to expect from the new project launch. And finally, we dedicated the
last 5 minutes to a Q&A session.

Results: It felt longer, but the whole speech took about 13 minutes in total. We got great feedback from
the audience, and I was later asked to present at the all-hands meeting the next month. I knew my
colleagues well enough and I tried to make the speech as if I was having a one-on-one conversation with
a friend - with a few jokes in-between.

Behavioral job interview questions about teamwork

Question #1 - Tell me about a time when you had to work with someone completely different from
you. How did you adapt to collaborate better?

Situation: Sure, I always enjoy working with new and different people. Usually, because they bring
something new to the table. At Company X, there was a particularly young developer who was assigned
to work with me on a new software development project, and I was to run him through what our typical
coding process was like.

Task: It was also my job to get to know him, and find common ground so that we could effectively work
together. The fact that he was younger wasn’t an issue for me, but because he was completely self-
taught, he didn’t know a lot about the industry methodologies we used.

Action: Teaching him everything from scratch would take too much time. So, instead, I briefly explained
the development process (waterfall model) we were using for that specific project, and taught him how
to write tests for our code-base. Writing tests is the number 1 way to learn what code does. After all,
that’s how I got started with development.

Results: I also sat down and helped him go through the material at times, but in the end, he surprised
me by how much of a fast-learner he was. He just needed a bit of encouragement and guidance.
Through this approach, he learned our whole routine in less than a week, while most of our new hires
needed at least up to 2 weeks. In return, I learned a lot about multitasking and time-management from
him. The whole thing was a win-win situation, and it was all smooth sailing the next time we worked
together (which was quite often).

Question #2 - What do you do when your team member refuses to, or just can’t complete their part of
the work? Give me an example.

Situation: There was one co-worker at Company X who was notorious for being bad at deadlines. But
she would always end up delivering exceptional work, just a few hours (or worse - days) late. For some
reason, the company was ok with this as her work was just too good. So, this one time, the management
put us together to work on a time-sensitive project.

Task: Our task was to turn in a sales presentation together and have our manager go over it before
sending the client the final version. Because of how important the project was, I didn’t want to risk going
over the deadline - as this would also directly impact other people. Either way, for everyone’s sake, I had
to somehow get her to hurry up with the project. So, I decided to try and push her a little and see what
would happen.

Action: I started regularly checking in on her to see where she was with work. I would bring it up at
times over lunch, send a quick Slack message, and so on. She wasn’t taking this quite well, but it DID get
her to work faster and more efficiently.

Results: At the end, the constant check-ins and pushing did have a positive effect, even though the co-
worker didn’t particularly like me too much once we were finished with the work. We even managed to
submit the final version of the presentation 2 days before the deadline.

Behavioral job interview questions about working with clients

Question #1 - Clients can be difficult to work with sometimes. Can you describe a situation when a
client was wrong and you had to correct them?

Situation: Absolutely. One of our past clients at Agency X came to us because his Facebook advertising
strategy wasn’t working. He was driving traffic but wasn’t getting any conversions, so they thought that
it was because they weren’t reaching the right audience. We realized, though, that it was actually
because their product homepage wasn’t really that convincing. The client, however, was adamant about
“not fixing what wasn’t broken.”

Task: I had to somehow communicate with the client that the service he wanted wasn’t what he wanted
there was no way for us to fix his Facebook ads if his homepage wasn’t selling the product.

Action: We had to give the client an ultimatum - they either go with our approach, or we wouldn’t be
able to get the results (and hence, work with them).

Results: After some back and forth, the client grudgingly agreed to do an A/B test between the existing
landing page, and one that we’d propose. So, we tested the two landing pages with the same ads he’d
been running, and ended up getting 2.5x better results. From then on, the client was a lot more willing
to allow us to experiment with whatever we proposed.

Question #2 - How do you handle irate customers? Give me an example.

Situation: Working in customer support, you really get to talk with many different kinds of people. I
remember I had one angry customer that called the helpdesk once to complain. He kept repeating the
product he bought was faulty and demanded me to resolve the situation then and there.

Task: Customers calling for refunds happen all the time, but this one was different as he just kept
shouting over the phone the whole time. I had to get him to calm down if I wanted the call to go
anywhere.

Action: Fortunately, I had experience dealing with loud customers, and knew the first thing I had to do
was listen to his story. Halfway through telling his story, he calmed down once he realized I was trying to
help. He explained that the product was supposed to be a gift, and that’s why he was so frustrated.
Then, I offered 2 solutions: a refund or a replacement for his product with express delivery.

Results: The customer opted for the replacement option. I called him back once they received the order
just to check-in if he was happy with the product. He turned out to be happy both with the product and
our service, and thanked me for the help.

Question #3 - We all make mistakes sometimes we wish we could take back. Is there a time that
comes to mind where you wish you had handled a situation with a client or colleague differently?

Situation: This one client we worked with was particularly difficult. They were extremely unpleasant to
work with and treated our staff pretty badly. The management, however, insisted on sticking with them,
since they made up for a good chunk of our income. At one point, though, the client just barged into our
office and started yelling at their account manager for a small mistake on their end.

Task: At this point, I realized that working with the client was really affecting our staff negatively, and
we’d be losing some good employees if we kept working with them.

Action: So, I set up a meeting with the management team, and gave them concrete facts and figures
about the client. Sure, they were paying us good money, but they were really hurting the workplace
morale.

Results: After hearing me out, the management agreed and fired the client. They decided that overall,
the impact such clients had on the company wasn’t worth it, and started doing stricter vetting during
discovery calls.

Behavioral job interview questions about adaptability

Question #1 - Tell me about your first job in the industry. What did you do to learn the ropes?

Situation: Well, my first job in the field was as a junior dev ops engineer. While I did have extensive
knowledge of the field, I didn’t have too much experience doing it.

Task: This made it very hard for me to get started with the job. While I was working almost all the time, I
wasn’t getting too much done.

Action: So, what I did was, taking a lot of my personal time to really work and learn the ins and outs of
dev ops. I also made sure to talk to my team members and get their input on daily tasks.

Results: A few months into the job, I managed to learn the ropes and ended up being a lot more
productive.

Question #2 - Can you give me an example of when you had to adapt to a new and sudden change in
the workplace? What happened?

Situation: Sure thing. In my previous position as an account manager at Company X, we had to suddenly
change all of our CRM software and move all the data to a new tool. The CRM tool we’d been using till
now wasn’t fit for a growing team, and on top of that, they were upping their pricing, so it wasn’t really
worthwhile for us.

Task: I was put in charge of finding the replacement CRM, as I was the one who knew the previous one
inside-out. And this was also an opportunity for me to clean up our outdated info and start fresh. All the
while, I still had to handle my daily responsibilities and as usual.

Action: So, the first thing I did was ask our sales associates and lead generation teams what they
thought of the old CRM, and if there were any new features they were lacking. After doing a bit of
research and asking around, I found the perfect tool that had it all - sales analytics, email integration,
and more. And because I typically have no problem with learning new tools, I stayed in one evening,
transferred our data to the new tool, and wiped the old account. Finally, I sent a new announcement to
the entire team about the new software, as well as a video on how to use it.

Results: We completed the transfer with 4 days to spare, the team was satisfied with the new CRM, and
my daily responsibilities as an account manager didn’t suffer.

Question #3 - Give me an example of when you had to suddenly perform under pressure. What
happened and how did you handle it?

Situation: As a seasonal worker, there have been a lot of times where I had to juggle extra
responsibilities. My last position as a line cook at Restaurant X comes to mind. During summer, we were
pretty much always full, and sometimes, even understaffed to handle all the customers. To make things
worse, we didn’t have the best shift system at the time either. So, if someone were to unexpectedly not
show up for their shift, we’d have to put out the fires as they came up.

Task: Which is exactly what happened when one of our waitresses had to cancel her shift due to an
emergency.
Action: So, I stepped up and took her shift as soon as I had clocked out of mine as one of the line cooks.
Luckily, I had previous experience working as a waiter.

Results: I was tired and a bit uncoordinated at the beginning, but at the end of the day, everything
worked out just fine.

Behavioral job interview questions about leadership

Question #1 - Tell me about a time when you successfully delegated tasks to your team.

Situation: Well, at my first job as a team lead, I had to really get to know most of my team in order to
delegate tasks appropriately.

Task: Most team members were new to the company, so I didn’t have much to go with.

Action: So, I sat down with each team member individually, and really got to know them and their
strengths and weaknesses, and distributed tasks based on their personality.

Results: Team members were pretty happy with the tasks they got, and started off their relationship
with our company on a positive note.

Question #2 - Can you tell me about a time when you had to perform a task or work on a project you
had no previous experience before? How did you approach this situation and what did you learn?

Situation: In my previous position at Company X, my manager had to leave unexpectedly for about a
month due to a medical condition. Fortunately, she was able to give us a week's notice.

Task: Because of that, our director asked me to fill in as the interim manager. I was familiar with the
basics of management on a theoretical level, and I had worked with my manager closely before, but I
certainly wasn’t trained to be a manager yet. Though, I wasn’t going to say no, and I, more or less, felt
confident about my ability to take on the new challenge.

Action: So, I accepted the position. The first thing I did was gather the team and let them know about
the situation. I was very open about my lack of experience, and asked them to be open about giving
feedback when possible. I also asked a manager for an hour of their time to pick their brain and make
sure I’m doing everything right.

Results: In the end, we managed to get through the month without any problems, and delivered all the
projects on time. When my manager returned, she was very pleased with the work, and I even got
compliments from our director. Because of my success with the role, I was then promoted to team
manager at the end of that year.

“Tell Me About a Conflict You’ve Faced at Work”

In one scenario, you might be trying to one-up a friend on who has the worst co-worker ever over
drinks; in the other you’re attempting to show that you’re not only good at resolving conflicts
professionally, but also that you’re open to learning from tough experiences.

The problem is that sometimes the fine line between these scenarios get confused. So, the next time
you’re asked to describe how you resolved a conflict at work, avoid these common interview mistakes:

1. You Focus Too Much on the Conflict, and Not Enough on the Resolution

Hey, I get it. Sometimes work conflicts can get personal in a hurry. And because that’s the case all too
often, some issues can be harder to get over than others. However, that’s not a good enough excuse to
spend all your energy explaining the conflict during an interview—and omitting the details about how
you did (or didn’t) resolve the issue with your colleague.

What to Do Instead

When I was a recruiter, candidates would sometimes be excited about answering this question because
they were just ready to do some ranting and get me on their side. But even if the wound’s still fresh,
don’t forget that the interviewer is looking for some amount of proof that you can resolve conflicts
professionally. So, if you’re still feeling frustrated, go ahead and acknowledge it—but then quickly turn
your focus to how you solved the problem with that colleague, and how you might approach the
situation differently in the future. (And if you’re still that upset over it, best to choose another example.)

2. You Spend Too Long Trying to Dodge the Question

One of the biggest mistakes I’ve seen is that even the best contenders for a job get too caught up in
trying to be the “perfect” candidate. When it comes to conflicts with colleagues, they’d rather have you
believe that they’ve never wanted to flip your lid and give that annoying guy across the hall a piece of
their mind. And when an interviewer prods for a little honesty about the matter, they spend too much
time trying to change the subject—which is a fast way to turn a hiring manager off.

What to Do Instead

For starters, it’s perfectly OK to acknowledge that you’re a little uncomfortable with the question. It’s
even more acceptable to talk about how you try your best to resolve issues before they become full-
blown conflicts. But it’s also important to have an actual example ready to talk about in detail. You’re
not perfect, and I’m sure you’ve let things boil over to the point where something inane became an
actual issue. And the best news? Most hiring managers know this too, and very few will expect you to be
100%-turmoil free throughout the course of your career.

3. You’re Getting Confrontational About Follow-up Questions

It’s perfectly natural to get a little tense when an interviewer asks you to describe something you’d
rather not, especially when your anecdote could potentially make you look bad. But here’s a hard truth
you’re going to have to accept about the interview process: You are going to have to answer some
difficult questions. And the worst thing you can do, especially when you’re asked to describe how you
resolve conflicts at work, is to take out your frustration about the question on the hiring manager during
an interview.
What to Do Instead

First of all, take a deep breath and remember that you’re not the first person who’s ever faced a conflict
at work—and you definitely won’t be the last. Once you’ve done that, remember that the interview’s
trying to get the proof she needs to make a solid hiring decision about you. The fact that she’s asking the
question is not a personal attack against your character. It’s an attempt to see how you approach
problems. So don’t be afraid to get into some of the details when answering—just make sure to end on
a positive note (a.k.a., what you learned from the experience).

Talking about conflict resolution during an interview is never fun. But it’s something that you’ll often
have to tackle if a dream job is on the line. If someone asks you to describe your conflict resolution style
at work, don't sweat it. Nobody’s expecting you to have the perfect answer to how you resolved it. In
fact, most people who ask are only looking for evidence that you’re willing to face these kinds of issues
head-on and make a sincere attempt at coming to a resolution. So don’t be afraid of answering this
honestly (but not “happy-hour-honestly”). In all likelihood, your interviewer will be able to relate to your
story on some level and you’ll keep moving along in the process.

“How Do You Deal With Stressful Situations?”

Clearly, you know that’s not the best way to start your answer.

So, you go with the next thing you think of. And while it sounds good in your head, well-meaning replies
can actually for interviewers.

1. You Say: “I Just Put My Head Down and Push Through It”

You think this answer will make you look like the non-complaining hard worker you are.

Unfortunately, it raises two flags.

First, it makes it seem like you’re someone who wouldn’t think to loop in your boss, even if there was a
problem. (Are there times when you could handle it on your own? Possibly, but this tendency can lead
to mistakes that could’ve been avoided through proactive communication.)

Second, the interviewer may fear that you’ll push yourself so hard you’ll burn out. And odds are, if
they’re asking this questions, there will be a demanding workload.

Instead Say

“I stay motivated by thinking about the end result. I’ve found that even in the midst of a challenging
situation, reminding myself of my goals helps me take a step back and stay positive.”

2. You Say: “I Don’t Get Stressed Out”

To you, this answer shows that you’re able to control your emotions. Or, maybe you’re trying to say that
you capably manage your workload.
But it could make the hiring manager worry that you have low self-awareness. They don’t want to hire
the person who’ll be snapping at his colleagues or making rushed decisions—and not even realize he’s
not at his best.

Instead Say

“I like to [or some other strategy] to stay even-tempered.”

3. You Say: “I Delegate”

If you’re interviewing for a management role, you’re going to want to talk about delegating. But this
is not the way to do it.

That’s because, if you’re doing it right, you’ll be thinking about giving meaningful assignments to your
team in relation to overall goals, not your personal workload. No one wants to work for a boss who
hoards projects until she feels overwhelmed, and then assigns them elsewhere to “manage stress.”

Instead Say

“I realize that, as a manager, my response to stress will affect my whole team. My goal would be to
model what I’d want my team to do, so I’d openly communicate that there was a high-stress situation
and ask if anyone had the time to in and help troubleshooting.”

Yes, it’s ironic that you’d be asked how you cope with stress in the midst of a high-stress situation like
responding to interview questions. And if it makes you feel any better, you will get points just for being
composed the whole time! But if you can go beyond that and explain how you handle pressure at work
—while sidestepping any common wrong answers—you’ll stand out from the other applicants in the
best way possible.

“Tell Me About a Time You Went Above and Beyond”

How Do You Answer “Tell Me About a Time You Went Above and Beyond”?

Here are a few steps to follow to prepare and give an impressive answer:

1. Figure Out What Skills, Qualities, or Experience You Want to Convey

Remember, in addition to your motivation, your answer to this question can also illustrate specific skills,
accomplishments, and/or other traits you possess. So take some time to figure out which attributes
you’d like to convey. These qualifications can relate to the position you’re looking to nab—for example,
“For a sales position, they are [usually] looking for go-getters who will always go the extra mile to land a
deal,” Eonnet says. Or they might be relevant to the company you’re hoping to join—for example, “For a
startup, they are [often] looking for self-starters who take initiative and spearhead projects without
much direction,” Eonnet says. If the person in this role will be in charge of solving a specific problem or
completing a certain project, you might want to show the interviewer how you went above and beyond
while doing similar work in the past.

To figure out what skills, experiences, or qualities are important for this position, review the job
description, think about anything you learned about the role or company from earlier interviews, and do
some research on the company’s website, social media, and Muse profile—if they have one. Then,
match the qualifications they’re looking for with attributes you possess to nail down what you should be
emphasizing—both in this answer and others throughout your interview.

2. Select the Right Story

Any time an interview question starts with “Tell me about a time…” that’s a signal that your interviewer
is looking to hear a story detailing a specific scenario. Telling a story can show your skills and
qualifications in action, as opposed to just listing them, which doesn’t give the interviewer any proof or
context.

So the core of your answer to “Tell me about a time you went above and beyond” will be the story you
choose to tell, and you want to make sure it’s a good one. A “good” story will be relevant to the work
you’d be doing in this position and will communicate the qualifications you chose to convey, says Muse
career coach Lynn Berger. And it may seem obvious, but make sure you pick a story about a time you
successfully went above and beyond what was expected of you. So don’t just recount your greatest
achievement or a situation where you really crushed what was asked of you; talk about a time you
did more than you needed to and delivered more than your boss, teammates, or customers thought you
would.

3. Use the STAR Method to Construct Your Answer—With a Few Additions

Once you know what qualities you want to convey and what story you want to tell, it’s time to put your
answer together. First, don’t just assume that the interviewer will interpret what you’re hoping they will
from your story. Help them connect the dots by leading with the quality you want to put forward and
explaining why that quality led to you going above and beyond, Eonnet says. And “start with enthusiasm
for your accomplishment,” Berger says. For example, if interviewing for a role or company where
teamwork and collaboration are important, you might begin your answer with something like:

“I’m someone who really gets a sense of satisfaction from helping others, and I’ll always go above and
beyond when a coworker needs some support.”

From there, tell your story. One great way to structure it is using the STAR method. STAR stands for:

 Situation (the context around your story)

 Task (what you were expected to do)

 Action (what you did, with an emphasis on the piece that was above and beyond)

 Results (the outcomes of your actions)

As you tell your story, be sure you’re describing how you did what you did and make your answer
outcome-oriented by highlighting the impact you had on the business or your team, Eonnet says.
What does this look like in practice? Continuing with the answer we started above, you might say
something like:

Situation: “In my last role, a group of marketing coordinators needed to put together a presentation for
the decision makers at the company on a new marketing campaign we were proposing for the next
quarter.”

Task: “I was in charge of analyzing the results of three past marketing campaigns with similar
components to the one we were proposing and deciding what we could keep the same and what should
be changed. Then, I was supposed to pass my work to a teammate so they could suggest new strategies
for this campaign based on what I’d found.”

Action: “I completed my analysis and passed it to my coworker, but I noticed that they seemed
overwhelmed. They mentioned that they’d been out the week before unexpectedly due to some personal
issues, and they were still trying to catch up. I asked if it would be helpful for them to have a short
meeting where we could talk through my analysis and start to brainstorm solutions together. Our
meeting went really well, and afterward, I stayed late to write it all up. I did some research to figure out
how viable these strategies were based on competitors’ campaigns and double-checked how our idea for
increased social media spend would fit into our overall ad budget.”

Results: “My coworker was extremely thankful for my help and they were able to use what I’d sent them
to get their part of the presentation done on time. The presentation went well and the campaign was
approved. My coworker gave me a shoutout at our next team meeting and going forward, we all made a
habit of checking in with one another to see if we could help with anything. Not only did we all get more
efficient and end up with a bit less stress, but we also learned new aspects of one another's jobs so that
it was easier to fill in when someone was out or left the company.”

Once you’ve finished your story, Davis recommends ending with an invitation to your interviewer to ask
any follow-up questions. This can help transform a question-and-answer interview into a genuine
conversation. So you might end your answer with:

“I’m happy to share more details about the campaign or how I helped out my teammates, or we can
continue.”

“Tell Me About a Time You Went Above and Beyond” Example Answers

If you’re in account management or another client-relations role, you might want to give an example of
how you’ve gone above and beyond for a customer. For instance:

“As an account manager, I always try to go above and beyond for the client—one of my favorite parts of
the job is finding the right solution for their problem. For example, I once had a client who was at risk of
churning after one year using our task-management software, and my job was to renew their contract.

“Rather than boasting about all the new features on the way, I asked them what they needed and what
issues they were having with our product. They told me that one thing that was really missing was the
ability to remove people from tasks and projects—their employees were getting overrun with alerts on
projects they’d completed their work on months ago and missing relevant notifications within all that
noise. I knew that there were enhanced tagging features on a higher tier of our product, but instead of
insisting that moving up was the only option, I went over all the features of the upgraded tier with them
and found that the only one they could use at the moment was this enhanced tagging.

“So I went to my manager and then to our product team and found out that there was no technical
reason this feature couldn’t be offered as its own upsell. I chatted with other AMs and looked through
my own account list to predict how many additional clients might buy this feature if it was offered on its
own. After seeing that this was an issue many customers had mentioned before, I worked with finance to
determine a price and went back to my client with it. They re-signed immediately—for a total deal size of
$8,000—and they’re still a client three years later. Now that they’ve grown, they’ve fully upgraded to the
higher tier and they’re willing to spend that extra money because they know I wouldn’t have
recommended it to them if they didn’t need it. Their contract is now worth $40,000 yearly. And the AM
team has had over 50 customers pay for this feature as an upsell in the last year alone.”

If you’re an entry-level candidate, your past experiences might not line up as directly with the job you’re
trying to land, but you can still highlight transferable skills you’ve gained from your education,
extracurriculars, and any jobs or internships you’ve held. So for example, if you’re an entry-level
candidate wanting to highlight your willingness and ability to learn new things, you might say:

“I’ve always loved to jump right in and learn how to do new things—and I’m good at getting up to speed
quickly. During my senior year, I had to do a research project on an event that happened between 1940
for a course on race in the U.S. in the 20th century. We only had to evaluate written primary sources and
previous research on the event, but I jumped at the chance to learn how to conduct historical interviews
and speak to people who had experienced the Race Riot of 1940 firsthand. My T.A. for the course was a
grad student focusing on the 1960’s civil rights movement and I knew she was interviewing people who
had been present at the Selma to Montgomery Marches for her thesis. She allowed me to sit in on an
interview she did with a source and answered any questions I had afterward. I also did a lot of outside
reading on how to find and vet sources and how to prepare questions. After some additional research, I
was able to find a few great interview subjects through a local historical society. I aced the project and
my professor even chose me to present my project at a national conference that’s primarily for historians
and PhD students. I was one of only three undergraduate presenters that year.”

“What Is Your Greatest Accomplishment?”

How to choose your greatest accomplishment

For this question, you’ll want to talk about an accomplishment that’s targeted to the company and its
needs as well as the position you’re interviewing for. So do your homework: Review the job description,
the company’s website, and its social media presence if you haven’t already. Be sure to check out any
recent press or employee reviews, too. If you received notes from a recruiter or have a connection
within the company who referred you for the job, these will also help you understand the company
better.

Then think about which of your past accomplishments is most relevant. For example, if you’ve read that
one of the company’s core values is about having “a sense of ownership,” you’ll want to choose a time
when you took on a project because you saw it needed to be done, or stepped up to fill in the gaps on
your team when someone left for another job. Bonus points if the project you took on or gaps you filled
were directly relevant to the work you’d be doing in this job.

You also want to choose a professional accomplishment unless a personal accomplishment is especially
relevant to the role. So as impressive as the time you binged Game of Thrones in one weekend or scored
those Taylor Swift tickets was, they don’t really belong in this answer.

If you’re having trouble coming up with accomplishments you might talk about, here are are a few
questions to ask yourself:

 How did you contribute to company goals in previous roles? Maybe you had a big impact on a
key performance indicator like increased revenue or spearheaded the development of a new
product feature.

 What impact did you have on a team as a mentor, manager, or team player? Perhaps you
helped onboard an intern and set them up for success, which benefited the entire organization.

 How did you help an organization become more efficient? Maybe you led process improvements
by enhancing communication channels.

 What did you do to enhance the customer or client experience? Maybe you helped innovate
toward a new user-centric solution.

 If you’re new to the workforce: Did you ever take the lead on anything in a student organization
or during volunteer work? Maybe you organized an event, won a competition, or raised money
for a good cause.

 If your interviewer asks specifically for a non-work example: Beyond the office, what personal
goals have you met? Maybe you ran a marathon or hit a major goal in one of your hobbies, or
maybe you overcame a personal challenge of some kind.

If it’s hard to choose just one achievement that feels like the “greatest” accomplishment, then go back
to your research and think about which achievement would feel most relevant to the hiring manager
you’re trying to impress and the job you’re trying to land.

How to answer

As with any interview question, you’ll want to have a strategy for organizing your response. The tried-
and-true way to structure your answer is with a simple story arc. “The best interview stories have a clear
starting point, a high point, a low point, and a definitive ending,” says Timothy Thomas, an executive
coach at Coaching Technology Group. “It’s important to have a story that has both a high and low point
because you can use the contrast to give your story some stakes—something that was at risk.”

How do you make sure your story has a clear structure and arc? Brush up on the STAR method.

Here’s how the STAR method works:

1. Set up the situation that led to your accomplishment. Keep this concise—only give enough
detail for your interviewer to understand the story.
 2. Establish what the task or goal you set out to achieve was. This might be what was assigned to
you as a work task or a goal you set for yourself.

3. Walk them through, the action (or actions) you took. Your “greatest accomplishment” answer
should often be as much about process as outcome, so this will likely be the bulk of your
answer. For example, Neiha Arora, a recruiter at Starbucks corporate headquarters, says she’s
interested in hearing about how you play well with others. “When I interview, I’m not looking to
hear just about a project, but more about relationship management. How do you work with
your coworkers? How are you able to influence and lead?”

4. Discuss the results of your action as well as what effects your accomplishment had on your
company. If you have numbers to help establish the scale and impact of your achievement, jot
them down ahead of your interview so that you can easily reference them while answering this
question.

Once you have your story laid out, prepare and practice your answer so it comes naturally. It doesn’t
need to sound perfect, but you need to sound confident.

Example answers for “What is your greatest accomplishment?”

Here’s what all this advice looks like in practice:

Example answer for a sales role

Say you’re applying for a sales manager role. You may want to show off your grit and competitive side
and cite a recent, quantifiable example. Here’s how you might use the STAR method to talk about your
achievement:

Situation: “My greatest accomplishment was when I helped the street lighting company I worked for
convince the small town of Bend, Oregon to convert antiquated street lighting to energy-efficient LED
bulbs.”

Task: “My role was created to promote and sell the energy-efficient bulbs, while touting the long-term
advantage of reduced energy costs. As this was a new role, I had to develop a way to educate city
officials on the value of our energy-efficient bulbs. This was challenging since our products had an high
up-front cost compared to less efficient lighting options.”

Action: “I created an information packet and held local community events aimed at city officials and the
tax-paying public. There, I was able to demo the company product, answer questions, and evangelize the
value of LED bulbs for the long term. I was able to reach a wide variety of community members with
these events, and in this small town, it was crucial to have the public on board.”

Result: “I not only reached my first-year sales goal of $100,000 with this sale, but I was also able to help
us land another contract in a neighboring city that was interested in energy efficiencies. Plus, the
community-focused communication strategy garnered attention from the national media. And I’m proud
to say I got a promotion within a year to Senior Sales Representative.”

Example answer that shows off your teamwork

Suppose you’re applying for a role in a typically collaborative field such as design or software
engineering. This is a chance to talk about how you persuaded your teammates to go in a certain
direction or adopt a particular strategy.

So you might say something like:

“My greatest accomplishment was when I was a content leader at a local design agency. I was part of a
small team assigned to redesigning the agency website in hopes of attracting new regional clients. As a
senior member of the team, I was tasked with being both the content strategist and the overall project
manager. Our team was small but needed to deliver big results as our little agency was being crowded
out by bigger agencies in our market.

“To stay on track, I set up clear creative milestones and regular check-ins with the agency owners. From
the first kickoff where I organized a fun brainstorm to identify our unique positioning to weekly meetings
where we gave each other direct and actionable feedback, I was able to engage other team members in
a way that made everyone feel valued and motivated. I even sat alongside my design counterparts to
make edits right to their files, building up camaraderie as well as ensuring efficiency.

“Our team completed the redesign on schedule, and with the help of our marketing squad, we were able
to see an increase in site traffic within two weeks. We landed two new client pitches within 30 days and
secured both of them for long-term campaigns. Through trust building and collaboration with every
team member, I can proudly say the redesign was a major success.”

Example answer for a recent grad

If you haven’t held a full-time job before, you’re likely going to find your greatest accomplishment in
your education, activities, volunteer work or past part-time jobs and internships. Here’s an answer that
highlights some transferable skills—like time management, communication, work ethic, and
prioritization—that’ll be useful in any job.

“My greatest accomplishment is probably making it through my senior year of college with a
Unfortunately, the summer before, my parents ran into some financial trouble and weren’t able to help
me out with living expenses anymore. I knew how lucky I was to have their help for the first three years
of school, and I decided that I wasn’t going to let it set me back.

“I got a part-time job waiting tables alongside my coursework, capstone project, and extracurricular
activities. I was upfront with my boss that once the semester started, I’d need to schedule around classes
and project meetings, but that I’d be available to work the weekend night shifts that were hardest to fill
with a mostly college student staff. Then, the first week of classes, I took all my syllabi and marked off
every significant due date on a calendar, as well as major milestones I’d need to hit ahead of the bigger
due dates. That helped me set up meetings with my capstone project group that wouldn’t interrupt my
coursework and from there I was able to give my boss my availability. Unfortunately, two weeks in, I
realized I wasn’t going to be able to fulfill all my duties as treasurer of the juggling club—which I’d really
been looking forward to. But I went to my fellow club leaders and we decided that instead of me
stepping down, we’d elect an assistant treasurer who was able to be at all the events I had to miss due
to my work schedule.
“It was a tough year, but by keeping schoolwork as my first priority, followed by my job, I was able to get
As in most of my classes and make enough money to pay my rent and even send a bit of money home,
which was personally the most rewarding to me. And by being up front with the juggling club, I was able
to make sure my responsibilities there were always covered and I didn’t let down the friends I made over
the last four years.”

Even if you never ever get this exact question, thinking about your greatest accomplishment will be
worth the time you put into it. It will not only prepare you for a job interview, but also a great way to get
to know yourself and your values better.

What is the STAR method?

The STAR method is an interview technique that gives you a straightforward format you can use to tell a
story by laying out the Situation, Task, Action, and Result.

 Situation: Set the scene and give the necessary details of your example.

 Task: Describe what your responsibility was in that situation.

 Action: Explain exactly what steps you took to address it.

 Result: Share what outcomes your actions achieved.

By using these four components to shape your anecdote, it’s much easier to share a focused answer,
providing the interviewer with “a digestible but compelling narrative of what a candidate did,” says
Muse Career Coach Al Dea, founder of CareerSchooled. “They can follow along, but also determine
based on the answer how well that candidate might fit with the job.”

What questions the STAR method used for?

The STAR method can be used to answer behavioral interview questions (or any other kinds of questions
where you need to tell a story). In other words, use the STAR method for those prompts that ask you to
provide a real-life example of how you handled a certain kind of situation in the past (i.e., how
you behaved in the past).

Don’t worry—these questions are easy to recognize. They often have telltale openings like:

 Tell me about a time when…

 What do you do when…

 Have you ever…

 Give me an example of…

 Describe a situation…

When it comes to answering these sorts of questions, thinking of a fitting example for your response is
just the beginning. You also need to share the details in a compelling and easy-to-understand way—
without endless rambling. That’s exactly what the STAR interview method enables you to do. “It
provides a simple framework for helping a candidate tell a meaningful story about a previous work
experience,” Dea says.

Sample behavioral interview questions you can answer using STAR

Here are some of the most common behavioral questions you might get in an interview and can use the
STAR method for:

 Give me an example of a time you had a conflict with a coworker.

 Tell me about a time you made a mistake.

 How do you handle pressure at work or school?

 Tell me about your proudest professional accomplishment.

 Describe a time you failed and how you dealt with it.

 Tell me about a time you went above and beyond.

How exactly do you use the STAR method?

Knowing what the acronym stands for is only the first step—you need to know how to use it. Follow this
step-by-step process to give the best STAR interview answers.

1. Lay out the *situation.*

First, set the scene for your interviewer. It’s tempting to include all sorts of unnecessary details—
particularly when your nerves get the best of you. But if the hiring manager asks you to tell them about
a time you didn’t meet a client’s expectations, for example, they don’t necessarily need to know the
story of how you recruited the client three years earlier.

Your goal here is to paint a clear picture of the situation you were in, so the interviewer can understand
the rest of your answer. Keep things concise and focus on what’s undeniably relevant to your story and
the interview question you’re answering. “The STAR method is meant to be simple,” says career coach
Emma Flowers. “Sometimes people provide too much detail and their answers are too long. Focus on
just one or two sentences for each letter of the acronym.”

For example, imagine that the interviewer just said, “Tell me about a time when you achieved a goal
that you initially thought was out of reach.” The situation portion of your response might be:

“In my previous digital marketing role, my company made the decision to focus primarily on email
marketing and was looking to increase their list of email subscribers pretty aggressively.”

2. Highlight the *task.*

You’re telling this story for a reason—because you had some sort of core involvement in it. This is the
part of your answer when you make the interviewer understand exactly where you fit in.

This can easily get confused with the “action” portion of the response. However, this piece is dedicated
to giving the specifics of what your responsibilities were in that particular scenario, as well as any
objective that was set for you, before you dive into what you actually did.
Continuing the example from above, for the task portion of your answer you could say:

“As the email marketing manager, my target was to increase the size of our email list by at least 50% in
just one quarter.”

3. Share how you took *action.*

Now that you’ve given the interviewer a sense of what your role was, it’s time to explain what you did.
What steps did you take to reach that goal or solve that problem?

Resist the urge to give a vague or glossed-over answer like, “So I worked hard on it…” or “I did some
research…”

This is your chance to really showcase your contribution, and it’s worthy of some specifics. Dig in deep
and make sure that you give enough information about exactly what you did. Did you work with a
certain team? Use a particular piece of software? Form a detailed plan? Those are the things your
interviewer wants to know.

The action portion of your answer might be:

“I started by going back through our old blog posts and adding in content upgrades that incentivized
email subscriptions—which immediately gave our list a boost. Next, I worked with the rest of the
marketing team to plan and host a webinar that required an email address to register, which funneled
more interested users into our list.”

4. Discuss the *results.*

Here it is—your time to shine and explain how you made a difference. The final portion of your response
should share the results of the action you took. Lydia Bowers, a human resources professional, warns
that too many candidates skip over this crucial step. But, she says, “That’s the most important part of
the answer!”

Remember, interviewers don’t only care about what you did—they also want to know why it mattered.
So make sure you hammer home the point about any results you achieved and quantify them when you
can. Numbers are always impactful. You can also add in any long-term effects of your actions—did you
or your team develop a new way of communicating or completing a task? Did the contract with your
client continue? Did you get great feedback on your presentation?

Of course, the result better be positive—otherwise this isn’t a story you should be telling. Does that
mean you can’t tell stories about problems or challenges or that every situation you talk about needs to
have gone perfectly? Absolutely not. But even if you’re talking about a time you failed or made a
mistake, make sure you end on a high note by talking about what you learned or the steps you took to
improve.

Here’s the result portion of our example answer:

“As a result of those additions to our email strategy, I was able to increase our subscriber list from
25,000 subscribers to 40,000 subscribers in three months—which exceeded our goal by 20%. And
webinars have now become a regular event to boost and maintain our email list.”

A STAR method example answer

It’s making sense now, isn’t it? Here’s one more example for some added clarity.

If the interviewer says: “Tell me about a time when you had to be very strategic in order to meet all of
your top priorities.”

Your response might be (just, you know, don’t actually say “situation” and so forth):

 Situation: “In my previous sales role, I was put in charge of the transition to an entirely new
customer relationship management (CRM) system—on top of handling my daily sales calls and
responsibilities.”

 Task: “The goal was to have the migration to the new CRM database completed by the start of
Q3, without letting any of my own sales numbers slip below my targets.”

 Action: “In order to do that, I had to be very careful about how I managed my time. So I blocked
off an hour on my calendar each day to dedicate solely to the CRM migration. During that time, I
worked on transferring the data, as well as cleaning out old contacts and fixing outdated
information. Doing this gave me enough time to chip away at that project while still handling my
normal tasks.”

 Result: “As a result, the transfer was completed two weeks ahead of deadline and I finished the
quarter 10% ahead of my sales goal. The new CRM has also helped us get more organized as a
team, and overall our department sales are up 25% year over year.”

How do you prepare to use the STAR method ahead of your interview?

To be ready to use the STAR method in your next interview, it will be helpful for you to prepare what
stories you might tell ahead of time as well as how you’ll tell them. These tips will help you out:

 Look over the job description: The job posting you applied to contains all sorts of useful
information that will tell you what an employer is looking for in a candidate. Think about what
qualities and skills are most important to the role and choose stories that emphasize them. For
example, if you’re interviewing for a client-facing role, you’ll want to have a story about a time
you provided great customer service.

 Choose a few strong, versatile example stories: The STAR interview method won’t be helpful to
you if you use it to structure an answer using a totally irrelevant anecdote. There’s no way for
you to know ahead of time exactly what the interviewer will ask you, but you can prep a
few stories about different types of experiences that you can tweak and adapt for various
questions. For example, interviewers are likely to ask questions where stories about overcoming
a challenge or working with a team will be useful.

 Write down key details: It’s OK to go into an interview with some notes or a cheat sheet. For
each of your stories, jot down some of the important points. And don’t forget to write down any
specific numbers as well.

 Practice your storytelling: While the STAR method is a great technique, you still want to make
sure your delivery is up to snuff. “Whether it’s in a mock interview or just practicing your answer
in the mirror, talk through your response so that it feels natural and comfortable when you’re
actually in the interview,” Flowers says.
  Don’t rush yourself: If you’re struggling during your interview to come up with an example that
fits, “It’s OK to take a few seconds,” Flowers says. “I’m always impressed when a candidate asks
for a moment to think so that they can provide a good answer.”

The STAR interview method might seem a little overwhelming at first. But with just a little preparation
and strategy, you’ll soon view behavioral interview questions as less of a burden—and more of an
opportunity to emphasize your awesome qualifications.

“Tell Me About a Time You Failed”

How to answer “Tell me about a time you failed”

Here’s how to put together your response.

1. Pick a real failure.

Step one is to pick a failure. Don’t try to weasel your way out of this by talking about that one time you
got a B in a college class. You’re not fooling anyone. At the same time, you probably also want to shy
away from any colossal failures related to the kind of work you’re applying for. For example, if you’re
interviewing for an account management position, maybe don’t tell them about the time you lost your
company’s largest client in a huge blowup.

If the interviewer specifically asks for something related to work, try to at least pull the story from
something that happened a long time ago if you can. Choose a story in which something fairly important
didn’t go right due to your personal actions (or lack of actions)—not something smaller that might be
classified as a mistake.

Note that I said “something” and not “everything”—the reason people so frequently trip up on this
question is because they’re looking for a situation in which everything went wrong. You only need one
thing to go wrong for your answer to work.

2. Define failure in your own words.

The reason you don’t need to talk about some immense failure in which everything goes catastrophically
and comically wrong is because you’re going to spell out why you felt this situation was a failure.

After you’ve picked your story, define failure in a way that works for it. Once failure is defined, your
story no longer needs to be an obvious failure; it just has to be whatever you define failure to be, which
also gives your interviewer insight into how you approach your work.

Here are three examples of what this might sound like:

 “To me, failure is about not meeting expectations—others’ as well as my own.”

 “As a manager, I consider it a failure whenever I’m caught by surprise. I strive to know what’s
going on with my team and their work.”
  “I think failure is more than just not meeting a goal, it’s about not meeting a goal with the
resources you’re given. If I end up taking more time or supplies than I was originally allotted,
that feels like a failure to me.”

3. Tell your story.

Now that you’ve established how you evaluate failure, tell the story that you chose. Try not to spend too
much time setting the stage, and get to the point quickly. Interviewers don’t ask this question to see you
squirm, they want to know how you handle setbacks—so get to the part where you’re dealing with the
failure as quickly as possible.

Start with the situation, and explain why it was challenging. Then go into what you specifically did to try
and rectify it. Presumably, since this is about failure, you will not be successful or will only be partially
successful. That’s fine. Do not try to cover up the fact that things didn’t all go as planned.

It’s impossible to do well in an interview if the interviewer doesn’t believe what you’re saying, so don’t
try to sugarcoat things. Additionally, make sure that you take responsibility for your actions and don’t
put the blame on others for your failure.

4. Share what you learned.

Finally, at the end of your response, after you relay the disappointing outcome of your story, you get to
the good stuff: the lessons you learned.

Talk about why you think things went badly, maybe what you would have done in hindsight, and, of
course, what you’ll be doing going forward.

Here are a couple of examples of what you could say:

 “Our big problem was assuming that we would be able to get clean data from users. It’s one of
my biggest takeaways from the experience: Never make assumptions about the data. I haven’t
made that mistake again.”

 “If I had just communicated the first few bumps in the road, we could have managed our client’s
expectations, but because we didn’t, we damaged the relationship. Now, I never let an
uncomfortable conversation prevent me from communicating the status of a project
transparently.”

Example answers for “Tell me about a time you failed”

Here’s what a full answer might look like for a new grad talking about a school project:

“To me, I’ve failed any time I turn in work that I feel I could have done better with the resources allotted.
One time, in my junior year of college, the final for an engineering class was to build a small, functioning
hovercraft. Each team was given $300 for supplies as well as access to the engineering school’s supply
storage. I was responsible for the construction of the hovercraft, including ordering any needed supplies.
I quickly made a list of supplies we needed and ordered them online. Unfortunately, getting everything
on my list was too expensive so I cut a few components from our design. When I saw other teams
constructing their hovercrafts, they had way more supplies than we did. I realized that if I had checked
the supply storage before making my list and taken the time to look around for better prices instead of
taking the first thing I saw online, I could’ve saved significantly. The rest of my team did a great job on
their parts, but I knew I could’ve done better. I emailed my professor directly to take responsibility for our
hovercraft’s underperformance. I ended up with a lower grade on the project than the rest of my group,
but I’m glad I didn’t bring them down. I learned to always take my time before using any resources I’m
given to make sure that I’m using them wisely, and never make a purchase before shopping around a bit
—both in work and outside of it.

Or if you’re talking about a work failure, you might say:

“To me, failure is when you give up without trying everything you reasonably can. When I was an email
marketing associate, my company rolled out some new KPIs that were fairly aggressive, including that all
email newsletters should be growing their subscriber lists at a rate of 25% per quarter. I was floored. It
felt like too much to ask for, and I had no idea how to get it done. So I continued to focus primarily on my
other KPIs. After about a month, my boss asked how my numbers were looking. I admitted they were
about the same and I hadn’t done anything differently. I could tell she was upset. She immediately
tasked me with coming up with three possible ideas to grow the subscriber list and sending them to her
by the end of the next day. It didn’t matter how small or basic or out there they were, she just wanted to
see a list. Then, we talked through each of my ideas and how to accomplish them and came up with
more. I ended up implementing a few, but starting so far into the quarter, I only saw growth of 12%, so I
failed to meet the goal. But by continuing to try new things the next quarter, I was able to grow my list
by 26%. I learned that if something feels too big, I should never ignore it and instead try to break it down
or reach out for help. This early experience turned me into someone who is super conscientious and
effective when it comes to pursuing new goals—the more challenging, the better.”

The failure question frequently takes people by surprise. Even if you’re prepared for it, talking about
failure is difficult. The key to answering this question well is first framing the way you see failure and
then finishing with your key takeaways from the experience.

“Tell Me About a Time You Made a Mistake”

How do you answer “Tell me about a time you made a mistake”?

When you put it all together, your answer should roughly follow the STAR method—an interview answer
structure for behavioral questions like this one that includes laying out the Situation, Task, Action,
and Result of a past experience—but with some minor modifications to ensure you’re fully answering
this specific question. Here’s how to make sure your interviewer comes away knowing you can own up
to your mistakes and learn from them.

1. Choose the right mistake to talk about.

“I recommend talking about minor mistakes,” Smith says. While you may want to come prepared with a
story from earlier in your work experience, Muse career coach Barb Girson, CEO of Beyond Sales Tactics,
says that as employers are putting an increasing emphasis on emotional intelligence and humanizing the
workplace, choosing to talk about a more recent mistake will also be just fine.
And at least as important as the story itself is how you reacted to it. “Select a mistake that reflects your
ability to own your errors, take in feedback, create a plan for improvement, problem-solve, and share
lessons learned,” Girson says.

Here are some kinds of mistakes you might talk about:

 Miscommunications

 Misunderstandings

 Lack of attention to detail

 Situations where you were reactive instead of proactive

 Errors on work products you submitted

 Missed deadlines

 Productivity issues

 Conflicts, disagreements, or coordination issues when working with others

 Fumbled presentations

 Knowledge or skill gaps

Meanwhile, you should avoid talking about mistakes that:

 Can be seen as ongoing character flaws (e.g.,“I’m always late”)

 Involve integral skills for the job you’re applying to (e.g., a fundamental accounting error if
you’re applying for a financial analyst job)

 Are legal, ethical, or otherwise controversial issues (let’s be real, if your “mistake” was taking a
swing at a coworker or pocketing some inventory, you’re not getting the job)

 Are framed to be someone else’s fault (e.g., “I made an error in judgment by trusting my boss’s
strategy”)

 Aren’t really mistakes (No, “caring too much” and “working too hard” don’t count.)

And of course, you should also avoid saying you’ve never made a mistake or can’t recall any.

2. Clearly lay out the situation.

Before you get to the mistake itself, give your interviewer all the context they’ll need to understand
what your mistake was and why it was in fact a mistake. But don’t feel the need to add in any extra
details. Just briefly lay out what the overall goal was for your project, team, or company, and talk about
what your individual tasks and responsibilities were.

For example, Smith suggests you say something like:

“I was responsible for coordinating the logistics for a live virtual presentation for 100 of our summer
interns across the country. Our senior vice president of sales was joining us to talk about their career
path and share advice with our interns.”

3. Tell your interviewer what mistake you made.

Be direct about your mistake and what led up to it. Don’t get defensive, blame anyone else, or use
passive language—say, “I wrote down the wrong time,” not, “The wrong time got written down.”

Continuing with Smith’s example:

“We ended up having a last-minute time change for this event due to business needs; so I had to quickly
update all the logistics and I forgot to update the calendar invite for the SVP.”

4. Explain how you addressed the mistake in the moment.

Your interviewer might phrase this question as, “Tell me about a time you made a mistake and what you
did to correct it,” or they might just say, “Tell me about a time you made a mistake.” Either way, they
absolutely want to know what you did once you realized you’d messed up and how the situation turned
out. Everyone slips up, but not everyone owns up to it immediately or takes steps to fix it.

For example:

“As we were preparing to go live, our speaker wasn’t there. The second I realized this I contacted their
admin, we located them quickly, and they were able to join just a few minutes late. As a result, the event
went on with just a few minutes of delay in start time.”

5. Talk about what you learned and how you’ve avoided making the same mistake again.

“It is critical to include what you learned and what you will do to prevent the same mistake from
happening in the future,” Girson says. Remember, your interviewer will be thinking of you as a future
colleague when listening to your answer. “They will appreciate it if you do have the ability to make
course corrections and that you are not a repeat mistake offender.”

So say something like:

“This taught me that I have to be better prepared for last-minute changes. I created a checklist for all of
the major components of events I was coordinating going forward—including everywhere various pieces
of information had been communicated or recorded—so the next time something similar happened, I
had something that I was able to refer to easily to make sure I had everything covered and wouldn’t miss
a beat.”

“Tell me about a time you made a mistake” example answers

Need more inspiration? Check out these example answers.

An entry level candidate might draw on their experiences in school and say something like:

“For my neurobiology class, our final lab reports had to be written individually, but based on experiments
run by each member of our lab group. We quickly divided up who was doing which experiment and
decided we’d all have our experiments done by April 15, so we’d all have time to write. I didn’t
thoroughly look at my section until I was literally walking into the lab and only then realized that I
needed results from other group members before I could start. I quickly reached out to my group to let
them know what I’d done wrong, apologize, and to see if they had their results yet.

One person didn’t and didn’t have time in their schedule to do their experiment until April 14. Luckily, we
were able to switch sections, and I was able to complete their original part and compile all the results
they needed so that they could complete my original part. Since then, I’ve always made sure to lay out all
of the steps and requirements for each step of a project before starting and be super clear on what I’m
responsible for and how it fits into the larger picture.”

Someone talking about a time they made an incorrect assumption could answer:

“At my last job, we always called the project managers ‘PMs.’ When I first started my current job, I was
tasked with sending ‘the PMs’ some budget numbers by Friday so they’d have them for a meeting on
Monday midday. I was still very new and didn’t quite know what the numbers were for, but I didn’t want
to seem clueless by asking too many questions. So I sent the numbers to the project managers. On
Monday morning, I walked in to see someone at my boss’s desk asking where the budget numbers were
—and that person was a *product* manager. My immediate instinct was to run and hide—or to at least
only tell my boss what had happened once this person had left—but instead I politely introduced myself
and explained my error. I sent the numbers to the correct people right then and there and offered to help
set up the conference room ahead of their presentation if they needed more time to prep because of my
delay. After that, I always asked any questions I had rather than making assumptions and I haven’t had a
mixup like that since.”

A manager who acted too quickly when dealing with a direct report might say:

“As a woman in software engineering I’ve always felt the need to speak up to make sure I’m respected
by my colleagues and coworkers. This has usually worked well and I’ve also helped other female or
nonbinary engineers feel more comfortable doing the same. However, when I was first promoted to
engineering manager, I took it too far. When one of my team members failed to complete his part of the
sprint in time, I called him out in a team Zoom meeting.

“Later on, he Slacked me and explained that he’d been dealing with multiple cases of COVID in his family.
I apologized to him for how I’d brought it up and asked about his situation. When he was ready, we
discussed why he hadn’t talked to me ahead of time and how important it is to know when someone is
falling behind so that we hit our overall goals. He’s been more forthcoming since, and at our next huddle
I told the team that I shouldn’t have called the engineer out like that, while still maintaining his privacy.
Since then, I’ve developed a policy of always checking in one-on-one first. I’ve also learned that while
being assertive is necessary sometimes, it’s never necessary for that to cross the line into putting
someone on the spot like that. As a result, I’ve gotten some of the highest management scores in the
company and that engineer is now one of our top performers.”

Someone who made a mistake with a customer could say:

“At my last retail job, we had a daily meeting before each shift started just to hear any announcements
or learn about promotions going on at the store. I always attended and listened, but I didn’t take notes.
One day, the shift manager told us that all birthday party supplies were on back order so they wouldn’t
be replenished on Tuesday as usual. Later on, someone shopping for their child’s birthday party asked if
we’d have more Roblox decorations in by Wednesday. I automatically told them to come back on
Tuesday and only realized my mistake the next morning when the manager made the same
announcement again. From that day forward, I started taking notes at shift meetings and haven’t
forgotten anything since. And, on Tuesday, I happened to spot that same customer and apologized, but
told them that I’d checked and another location five miles away had the decorations they were looking
for in stock. I even called the other store to set them aside while the customer drove over. I’ve seen the
same customer multiple times since and we always say

The STAR technique / method is a system used to answer behavioral interview questions. (You can’t
really use it for basic questions like “Tell me about yourself” or “Why do you want to work here?”) It
provides a structure for you to remember so that you include the correct info in your answers.

These are the four steps of the technique:

S – Situation

T – Task

A – Action

R – Result

Let’s look at each of those steps in detail.

Situation

The context. Describe the situation you faced and the background. The who/what/when/where/why.

Include:

 Company background: company name, industry, brief overview of product/service.

 The project: What was it about? What was the size/scope?

 Your role and responsibilities: Your job title, activities, decisions you owned, and decision-
making level on the project.

 When this happened.

 Who was in it with you; what were the relationships?

 What would have happened if you didn’t resolve it (blast radius)?

Task

What did you need to accomplish in this situation?

Action

How did you solve the problem? What was involved in the execution?

Some things to include:

 What options did you consider? What were the pros/cons of each?
  Who else was involved?

 What was your thought process?

Results

Was it resolved? What was the outcome you achieved?

How did you measure success for this project? Quantify to understand volume, size, scale. You can give
both absolute numbers and relative percentage.

Where was the impact?

 Top-line driven: revenue, market share, new customer acquisition

 Bottom-line driven (cost-savings): time/person hours, budget, space, equipment reuse

 Customer-value driven: CSAT, customer anecdotes, adoption rate, retention rate

 Engineering-driven: traffic volume/velocity, week-over-week bug/severity tally, implementation

time, deployment time, compute power/time metrics

 Risk-driven: risk reduced, crisis prevented

 Impact on the team

If you get asked a behavioral question, answer by going through the letters in order. First give the S part
(explain the basic situation). Then give the T (what was your job in this situation?) Then A (show what
you did). Last, give the R (outcome).

You can keep the letters in mind as you’re saying your answer so you don’t miss a step.

How to Use STAR Method To Answer Behavioral Interview Questions?

Behavioral interview questions are tough to answer if you are not prepared for them. You will be taken
'off guard' and will struggle to think of a situation from the past, and stumble your way across with a
long narrative - without any proper structure and meaningful outcome.

Luckily there is a better and easier way to answer these questions - The STAR method.

The STAR method provides a framework to answer these questions.

Communication style For STAR Method.

Behavioral questions give you an opportunity to show-off your communication skills and show-case your
achievements, skills and traits that the interviewer is asking for. Do not lose this opportunity by being
modest. Following tips will help you craft an impactful answer.

1. Use 'I' (or 'My', or 'Me') as much as possible instead of 'We' (or 'Our'). You want to highlight YOUR
achievements and traits.

2. Be bold in highlighting the task you had to do - “I had to lead...”, “I had to deliver...”

3. Use impactful words for the actions you took that match question. If the question is about leadership
then showcase the leadership traits in your actions -“I led the team...”, “I took the lead...”.

4. End your answer with a concrete, measurable result - “I delivered 2 weeks before deadline...”,“I
reduced costs by 5%”.

5. Mention how your achievement impacted you - “I got a pay raise...”, “I got a promotion...”

Example Of An Answer To A Behavioral Question Using STAR Method.

Let's see how Micheal, a engineer in XYZ Auto company, answers a behavioral question. Notice how
Jason provides well crafted answers highlighting the key traits that the interviewer is looking for.
Question - Tell me about a time when you demonstrated leadership skills.

Situation - As a Junior Engineer in my previous role, my lead manager tasked our team with providing
more efficient ways of carrying out diagnostic problems on automobile testing. Despite not having
experience in a leading capacity, I was subsequently placed as manager of the Engineering team with
the instruction to implement a solution.

Task - I was tasked with implementing a more efficient diagnostic method. This was problematic
because my manager required that the process should be at least two seconds shorter than our current
testing framework. This required me to employ a firm understanding of theoretical physics, the supply-
side process as well as my cumulative experience having worked at 'XYZ Auto Company'.

Action - order to make my team feel more comfortable with tackling the solution, I invited them to an
informal consultation where we could pitch ideas and feedback from each other’s suggestions’. This
helped to defuse the unease as a result of the enormous responsibility placed on us and engage in more
productive tasks. I suggested that we break down the task by placing ourselves in a specialized area,
best optimized to dealing with subsets of the task individually. My suggestion as the lead was significant,
because it allowed us to employ our skills where we were best suited instead of wasting time
familiarizing ourselves with different abstract concepts and becoming pressured by skill gaps. When
colleagues were having problems, I made it a priority to listen to their concerns and suggest ways which
they could improve or implement methods which as I understood in my experience, could potentially be
used to solve the problem. This was invaluable time-management wise and helped us to finish the task
as the project deadline loomed.

Result - We finished the project on time, surpassing my lead manager’s requirement of '2 seconds' with
a new diagnostic method which cut inefficiencies by 4 seconds. As a manager, I learnt a lot about the
importance of collaboration while dealing with the concerns of my colleagues seriously and
empathetically. My suggestion to breakdown the task into areas of specialization proved invaluable to
producing a solution within the required framework, which conformed to the high industry standards of
the XYZ Auto's engineering program.

Sample answer for “Tell me about a goal you had and how you achieved it.”

S – I was working at Oracle in 2021 as a Software Development Manager. After I got promoted, I learned
that we had more projects ongoing than we had originally pIanned and that some of the projects were
taking longer than we had planned. Once I realized this I knew I would need more Engineers to complete
the work.

T – Hiring was my responsibility, so I needed to decide how many Engineers to hire.

A – I charted our planned projects and then decided how many people I thought I needed. I used our
records as well as my own observations. I came up with the number of people and then asked my
colleagues for their opinions. Once we had a final number, which was four, I worked with recruiting to
create job descriptions, screen candidates, and then interview them. We spent three months on this
process and eventually hired enough people.
R – Now we're adequately staffed, and the work is going well. We didn’t miss any of our deadlines even
though we were understaffed, although we had to work extra hours for a while.

Tip: This candidate uses the right structure, but the Results sections lacks metrics. If possible, pick an
example where you can use numbers in your results. For instance, "And we made 5% more this quarter,"
or "My sales numbers are up 38 % over last year." Numbers, particularly financial metrics, make the
results more impressive. This example did talk about the number of people hired but not the number of
projects or the size of the projects.

Sample answer – "Tell me about a time you had a difficult situation with an employee."

S – I recently had an employee, one of my Product Managers, who was not performing well. She was
late meeting some deadlines, she missed details, and she lost her temper in meetings occasionally. The
people she worked with were complaining about her attitude and the quality of her work.

T – The executive team wanted me to fire her but I wasn't sure that was the right thing to do. I needed
to evaluate the situation and make a plan.

A – I talked to HR and the executive team, and we decided I would collect the evidence about her
performance in a document and then present it to her. I did this. There were quite a few examples of
her mistakes. During her review, she was very angry and blamed her problems on the company
structure. We discussed the issues and in the end we decided that we would work closely together for
60 days to improve her performance. I monitored her closely during that time period.

R – My plan was successful in that her performance did improve (as well as her attitude). I'm not happy
with the amount of time I had to spend with her, but I hoped that by spending the time mentoring her I
would end up with a good Product Manager who could work independently of me.

“Can you tell us about a time where you’ve handled a problem with a customer?”

1. Situation

Set the scene by describing the situation you faced. Make sure your listeners understand the problem,
so that your results impress them. Keep your answers short—2 to 4 sentences at the most for each
letter of STARS. For example:

“An unhappy customer claimed the shipping department sent her shop the wrong parts.”

2. Task

Show what your duties were and any goals that were set for you before you started. Remember to save
your actions for the next section. For example:

“As parts supervisor, I had to find out how this problem happened and how to solve it. My goal was to
keep this important customer happy.”

3. Action
Describe the steps you took to solve your problem and reach your goal. Be specific. You can mention
plans you made, special software you used, or teams you formed. For example:

“I assured the customer that I would look into the situation myself. I checked all the details, comparing
our database with our supplier’s digital catalogues. Sure enough, we’d made the mistake—a typo. The
problem was our system for numbering parts, which assigned similar numbers to parts that were too
much alike.”

4. Result

Explain how your actions led to positive results. If you can, use numbers to quantify your success. Use
this section to show how you can shine. For example:

“I couriered the correct parts to the customer overnight and told her she would be reimbursed for the
full cost of the order because of the inconvenience. I assured her that we would make changes so that
the problem wouldn’t happen again. I then worked with my team to develop a new numbering system
that has reduced errors from an average of 13 to 3 per month and cut response time by 16%. Because of
these improvements, the customer has increased her orders by 30%.

Examples of S.T.A.R. interview questions for customer service

Before your interview, it helps to run through a few examples of S.T.A.R. method interview questions
with a friend, family member or former coworker. Still not sure where to start? Check out these
examples for answering common behavioral interview questions using the S.T.A.R. method:

Q: Tell me about a time you had to handle a customer complaint.

A: S-“I once had a customer call and complain that they waited over two weeks for a reply regarding
their order”.

T-As the customer service rep on duty that day, I needed to address the customer’s complaint and
figure out what went wrong with their order.

A- First, I apologized and got their order details. Then, I passed the information along to my manager
that contacted them within the hour. I investigated why no one followed up about the order. It turned
out that the company had the wrong cell phone number and email address on file. I let the customer
know about the mix-up, confirmed her updated contact information and offered her a discount on her
next order.

R- In the end, the customer was happy with how we resolved the situation. She not only continued
ordering from us, but posted a positive review online.“

Q: Tell me about a time when you needed to handle a lot of customers at once.
A: S- I was working for a retail store during the holidays, and we had a lot of customers coming in the
week after Christmas to return items. Customers were waiting in the return line for 10-15 minutes,
which was causing frustration for some of them.

T- I was one of two staff members stationed at the return counter, so I was responsible for processing
customers’ returns during this busy period.

A- To help speed up the process, I recommended to my manager that we post a sign next to the counter
that spelled out instructions for customers: to already have their item, receipt and payment method
ready to go when it was their turn.

R- By adding the sign with instructions, we decreased the average wait time on the return line from 16
minutes to 5 minutes, resulting in higher customer satisfaction and a more efficient workflow.”

Q: Describe a time that you provided great customer service.

A: S- While I was working as a cashier, a customer was struggling to carry her groceries out to her car
while pushing a stroller with her two young children.

T- I was one of three cashiers at the register that day, and I had just finished checking out her
groceries when I noticed that she was having trouble. So I decided to help.

A- First, I asked my two coworkers at the other registers if they could handle the remaining customers
in line so I could help the woman carry the groceries to her car. They agreed, so I put up my “Register
Closed” sign and assisted the customer in carrying the groceries outside.

R- The customer was so happy for the help. She thanked me after I helped her load the groceries into
her car. When she got home, she even called the customer support line listed on her receipt to give a
glowing review—and she mentioned my name!“

“What is your greatest achievement?”

A good answer should look something like:

Situation - after graduation I worked for a year as an assistant to Company Y’s marketing director. We
had a meeting with a potential client this one time and I was supposed to meet my boss straight to the
location of the meeting. On my way there she called me and told me she was headed to the hospital as a
family member of hers had had an accident.”

Task - “She asked me if I could carry on the presentation by myself and if not, I could cancel the meeting.
I’d assisted my boss while she made the presentation, but I wasn’t prepared to deliver it. I was only
supposed to help with setting up the place and carry the documents.”

Action - “Nevertheless, I like a challenge and I was confident I could do it so I agreed to hold the
meeting.”
Result - “The presentation not only went well, but the client actually hired our company. My boss was
more than happy. She gave me a raise and eventually became more of a than a boss.”

Star Method Behavioural questions:

1. Tell me about a time when you were faced with a challenging situation. How did you solve it?

2. Do you usually set goals at work? If yes, could you give me an example of a goal you had and
how you achieved it?

3. Give me an example of a time you made a mistake at work.

4. Have you ever faced conflict with a coworker? How did you resolve the situation?

5. Tell me about a time when you handled the pressure well.

6. Was there a time when you had to be very strategic in order to meet a goal?

7. Give me an example of a situation when you showed initiative and took charge of a situation.

8. Tell me about a time when you went above and beyond your duties for a job or task.

9. Did you ever have to correct one of your superiors when they were wrong? How did you
approach that situation?

10. Have you ever had to work under a tight deadline?

11. How do you deal with coworkers that don’t cooperate or can’t contribute enough?

12. Tell me about a time when a client was asking for the impossible. How did you explain and
communicate this to them?

13. Give me an example of a time when you didn’t meet a client’s expectations. How did you deal
with the situation?

14. Is there a situation you think you could’ve handled better or differently?

15. How do you adapt to sudden changes in the workplace? Could you give me an example?

16. What was the first job you ever had? Do you remember how you adapted and learned the
ropes?

17. Tell me about a time when you had to think on your in order to deal with a situation.

18. Sometimes employers put too much on their employees’ plates. Was there a time when you
were overwhelmed with work? How did you handle the situation?

19. Tell me about a time when you had the liberty to be creative with your work. Was it exciting or
difficult for you?

20. Give me an example of a time when you and your team had opposing views on an issue. How
did you persuade them to go with your decision?
#1. Have you ever faced conflict with a coworker? How did you resolve the situation?

S - “I’m usually a very easy-going employee and get along with most of my coworkers. There was this
one time though, when I was working for Company Y. At the time they had just purchased new software
for the company.”

T - “I was in charge of introducing it to my coworkers since I had previous experience with it. The CEO
however, also brought in someone from the software company to assist with the transition as well. We
had to cooperate on this task and well.. the guy wasn’t too thrilled about the idea. He often interrupted
me whenever I was explaining something, and sometimes didn’t even invite me to some of the training
we were supposed to organize together. “

A - “I decided to approach him and suggested we split the responsibilities. He would handle the
theoretical part of the training (introduction to how it works), and I’d explain the practical stuff (as in,
how we can implement the software for our business case).”

R - “He agreed, and the transition went smoothly since then. Took us around a week and a half to get
the entire team on board and productive with the new tool.”

#2. Tell me about a time when you went above and beyond your duties for a job or task.

S - “During my time as a real estate agent at Y Company, we got one of the biggest listings the company
had ever had. A $5M house, newly built, ready to go out in the market.”

T - “All agents were allowed to work on selling the property since we only had a 3-month deadline by
the owner.”

A - “I decided I’d add something new to the website marketing of the house: a virtual tour. I felt like only
photos weren’t enough for this property. I rented a 360-degree camera, stayed up watching tutorials,
and taught myself how to create the tour.”

R - “When I presented it to management, they were thrilled. They put up the tour on the website and
also asked the agents to send it out to their lists of clients. The person who ended up buying the house
was in Europe at the time and didn’t even come see the house in Vancouver before purchasing it. His
agent did. He said his client felt like he’d already been in the house because of the tour and had no
doubts about purchasing it.”

#3. Tell me about a time when you made a mistake at work

S - “The store I was working for would be opening a new location soon and they offered me the position
of manager there.”

T - “That meant I was also in charge of monitoring the work until the store opened. I ordered the
clothing shipments, trained the new employees, and organized the inauguration event. One hour before
the event, the last shipment of boxes hadn’t arrived yet. The clothes the mannequins had to wear were
in those boxes.”

A - “I called the delivery company and they said the boxes had already been shipped...to the other
location of the store...across the city. I’d given them the wrong address. There was absolutely no time
for those boxes to arrive in time at the store.”

R - “The mannequins were dressed in other clothes, none of them belonging to the new collection. I
explained the situation to my superiors. They weren’t very happy about it of course, but they
acknowledged that it was a human mistake and it could happen to anyone.”

Questions about STAR Method

1. What does STAR stand for? Explain it.

A STAR is an acronym for Situation, Task, Action, and Result.

 Situation: Give details about the situation and your example.

 Task: Outline your responsibilities in that situation.

 Action: Describe how you resolved the problem.

 Result: Explain the outcome of the actions you took.

A STAR interview method (Situation, Task, Action, and Result) offers a straightforward format for
structuring your responses. Using this technique of interviewing, you will have the ability to tell your
story in a simple, straightforward manner by outlining the Situation, Task, Action, and Result of the
situation. It is particularly helpful to use this strategy when answering a competency-based question in a
job interview. By keeping these four components in mind, you are much more likely to provide the
interviewer with a concise, compelling narrative of what you have accomplished.

Sample Answer:

S-During my time at my last employer, I was eager to advance into the position of a senior
software engineer as soon as possible, so that I would have a better grasp of the technology.

T-Having been there for over two years, I set a target of completing my goal in three years. So I
only had a year to achieve it.

A-During this period, I worked diligently to enhance my skills and knowledge, as well as take on
more challenging projects. Even though I had no prior experience with such projects, I tried to
deliver superior quality.

R-My supervisor finally put me at ease and I got promoted within period of six months of setting
that goal.

2. Can you tell me about one of your proudest professional accomplishments?

This question allows employers to determine whether you have the skills and work ethics they are
looking for and if your attitude fits into their culture. Choosing your greatest achievement will
demonstrate what is important to you, and how you achieved it will reveal your work style. You will be
able to convey both your hard and soft skills in answering this question.

Tips:

 Take pride in your work, but don't flaunt your accomplishments. When answering, be sure to
provide examples and explain your thought process.

 Your reply to the interview should be pragmatic and reflect your approach to success and hard
work, and make sure you sound down to earth.

 It is recommended that you use the STAR method to structure your answer for clarity.

Sample Answer:

S-During my last employment, our technology development team had to let go of one of our colleagues
due to relocation.

T-His role was to lead the iOS development of the app. No one else on the team had experience
developing apps for iOS. Since I had developed iOS apps in the past, I volunteered to take the lead on the
app development process.

A-Together with the other team members, I worked on creating and troubleshooting the new
application.

R-It took me 40 days to complete the development ahead of schedule. As of now, it has over 220 positive
reviews in the iTunes Store, offering the company another revenue stream.

Question about Problem Solving

3. When have you been faced with a challenging situation? What solution did you come up with?

Interviewers ask this question to find out how you handle challenges in the workplace. Take a moment
to think about the last time you faced a challenge and overcame it. You may also discuss an experience
that has helped you learn more about your craft and improve your performance.

Sample Answer

S-I was working on a project with my team, and one of our team members decided to quit the team in
the middle of the project due to personal reasons.

T-I know that in any case, I had to finish the project to keep the organization's reputation intact.

A-However, I went to the other member and we agreed to divide the remaining work equally. We went
above and beyond to complete the tasks until we reached our goal.

R-Despite the tight deadline, we were able to complete the project on time.
4. When was the last time a client asked you for the impossible? What was your approach to
explaining this to them?

As part of the interview process, the interviewer may ask how you deal with difficult clients so they can
gain a deeper understanding of your client service skills. With this question, you will be evaluated
specifically on your problem-solving skills, interpersonal skills, and ability to deal with stress and diffuse
tense situations.

Sample Answer

S-A client asked for a complex feature to be delivered within an unrealistic timeframe.

T-I had to explain the challenges and limitations of the project and suggest a more feasible approach.

A-I made sure to listen carefully to the client's requirements and concerns, explained to them the
technical challenges involved, and highlighted the risks of rushing the development process.

R-The client appreciated my transparent communication, agreed on a more realistic timeline, and the
project was completed successfully within the new timeline.

5. Have you ever had to correct a mistake made by a superior? What was your approach to that
situation?

The interviewer wants to know how you would handle a potentially uncomfortable situation with a
superior. Explain your thought process and the action you would take in response to this question.
Ensure that your answer demonstrates your professional approach to the potential employer.

Sample Answer

S-I identified a mistake made by my superior in a software project.

T-I took the task upon myself to correct the mistake and communicate the issue to my superior.

A-Firstly, I reviewed the code and identified the issue in detail. Then, I discussed the mistake with my
superior in a professional and respectful manner, providing evidence and suggesting possible solutions.

R-My superior acknowledged the mistake and appreciated my input. Together, we corrected the issue
and implemented necessary changes to prevent similar mistakes in the future. The project was
completed successfully with improved quality.

6. How do you cope with sudden workplace changes?

The purpose of asking this question is to learn more about how you cope in a fast-paced, ever-changing
work environment. Interviewers may want to know that you are confident and poised as you face these
challenges. They may also be interested in hearing how you have used those skills in a previous role.

Sample Answer

S-As a software developer, I have faced sudden workplace changes in the past multiple times.
T-I cope with sudden workplace changes by following a few key strategies.

A-Firstly, I assess the impact of the change and the tasks that need to be completed. Next, I
communicate with my team members and seek their opinions and suggestions to better adapt to the
changes. I also stay organized by breaking down my tasks into smaller manageable units and prioritizing
them accordingly. Finally, I remain flexible and adaptable to adjust to the new situation.

R-By following these strategies, I have been able to cope effectively with sudden workplace changes and
ensure that my work is completed efficiently and effectively.

Question about Teamwork

7. Has there ever been a conflict between you and a co-worker? What solutions did you come up
with?

When handling such behavioral questions, it is essential to be careful. Collaboration and the ability to
resolve conflict can increase productivity and foster a more pleasant working environment. It is
therefore necessary for you to clearly describe the conflict and how you resolved it in your answer. It is
important for you to be respectful and not bad-mouth the co-worker no matter how enraging the
situation was. The outcome should be clearly stated.

Sample Answer

S-Once, a team member thought my method of tackling a project was incorrect. The way he came across
sounded harsh to me.

T-Having to cooperate on this project was going to be a challenge, and the person wasn't too thrilled
about the idea, to be honest. While explaining something to them, they would often interrupt me.

A-I chose not to get mad at them but instead politely asked them if they had any other suggestions that
might work. They shared their thoughts, and we discussed them as a team. They gave us a better idea
and we decided to go with it as a team.

R-As a result, we recorded better results. We also sorted out our misunderstanding in the process and we
became good friends.

8. When was the last time you worked with another department to complete a project?

Often interviewers ask these questions when cross-functional teamwork is a critical component of their
work environment. Among the teamwork skills you want to remember are active listening,
communication, conflict management, developing consensus, encouraging others to pull their weight,
and so on.

Sample Answer

S-At my previous company, we had the C-suite of Marketing and Operations, Creative Services, the
Content and Communications department, and Consumer Insights.
T-We had to work with them to understand the business requirements better for developing new
software applications. Collaboration across departments was an integral part of our work all of the time.

A-We came up with a plan to meet on a weekly basis to discuss bigger projects and then collaborate
throughout the rest of the week based on our needs.

R-In all, the set-up proved to be excellent and helped to ensure the smooth progress of the project at
every stage.

9. Do you have any strategies for dealing with coworkers who are too incompetent or unwilling to
cooperate?

Many employers ask about your experience handling difficult coworkers in order to assess how well you
handle them. It is important to be respectful while answering this. You may be asked if you are a team
player who can work well with others or if you enjoy any type of interpersonal relationship. It is
common for organizations to look for people who can cope with difficult situations and are able to
remain calm in the midst of them.

Sample Answer:

S-As a client support specialist, I and my coworker were responsible for contacting clients to verify login
information.

T-Unfortunately, we miscommunicated how the client list should be divided up between the two of us.
Originally, I thought I would get in touch with clients with names A through K; and my colleague hoped
to get in touch with clients with names L through Z. We were not on the same page regarding this and it
caused confusion amongst us. It also caused confusion and frustration for our clients as we contacted
them twice.

A-As we both expressed our frustrations with one another, we both admitted that we misheard one
another. For future projects like this, I suggested using a color-coded spreadsheet that represented who
would work with what clients.

R-The new system has been working well for us since this incident, and we have not had any similar
issues.

Questions about Communication Skills

10. Do you ever have to make unpopular decisions? What did you do?

The downside of managing or leading involves making decisions that not everyone agrees with. It is
important to tell the interviewer that although you made a decision to press forward, you were very
careful to communicate with the other employees and even increase their support.

Sample Answer
S-When I was working at my previous job, I was assigned to supervise a small team of coworkers for a
huge project.

T-Since the project was huge, it could significantly impact the company's reputation, and it needed to be
completed quickly.

A-Due to time constraints, we were unable to complete the project during the week, so we decided to
work on Saturdays to finish it by guaranteeing incentives to my team for their hard work. As soon as I
broke the news of overtime work to my coworkers, they complained and developed resentment against
me. But I assured them of proper incentives and made them understand why it was important to gain
that deal.

R-As a result, my team was convinced and they onboarded to complete the project and we even
successfully managed to acquire new clients. Additionally, my team was rewarded for their work with
incentives and due recognition. At the end, was happy.

11. Can you tell me about a time when you disagreed with your manager and how you resolved the
matter?

Basically, this particular question is designed to test the level of communication skills you have.
Interviewers are looking for several qualities in your response, including emotional maturity, validity,
loyalty, and responsibility.

Sample Answer

S-There was once a disagreement between me and my manager over the best way to assist an intern.

T-To avoid confronting him in front of everyone, I spoke off the floor with him instead. I explained my
concerns about his behavior openly and honestly.

A-During the course of the conversation, it became apparent that there had been a simple
misunderstanding.

R-A disagreement with my colleagues taught me the importance of communication to prevent bigger
problems.

12. Have you ever persuaded someone to do something?

Interviewers use this question to assess your ability to persuade. You will be asked to describe specific
situations and actions in which you were able to influence others.

Sample Answer

S-During my previous job as a software developer, I noticed that one of my colleagues was not following
the best practices for code documentation.

T-It was important to me that we maintain consistency in our team's code quality and documentation, so
I needed to persuade my colleague to change his approach.
A-I approached my colleague and explained my concerns about the lack of documentation in his code. I
also highlighted the benefits of maintaining high-quality code and how it could save time in the long run.
To persuade him, I shared some best practices, provided examples, and offered to assist him with any
questions or concerns he may have had.

R-My colleague was initially hesitant to change his approach, but after listening to my suggestions and
seeing the benefits, he agreed to improve the documentation in his code. As a result, the code quality
improved, and we were able to collaborate more efficiently on future projects.

13. Do you have experience motivating others? What steps did you take to achieve this?

The purpose of this question is to determine whether you are capable of working in a team environment
and motivating your coworkers. Being able to influence others around you will help you fit in well with
any team. Do not forget to mention the result of your motivation.

Sample Answer

S-During my last position, a member of my team was never fully committed to the project thereby
impacting their deliverables.

T-It took conscious effort on my part to visit their desk every morning in order to understand what they
were going through and motivate them.

A-They opened up to me about their problems and how they were unable to focus due to lack of
confidence. I motivated them consistently by highlighting how their skills were crucial for the project we
were working on and provided regular feedback on their progress.

R-As time went on, they began to express their opinions and suggest original, creative ideas during staff
meetings. They felt valued and recognized which boosted their self-confidence and at the end, things
worked well for our team too.

Questions about Self-management Skills

14. When was the last time you had to be highly strategic to achieve a goal?

In asking this question, the interviewer is interested in learning how you deal with priorities as well as
the ability to work under pressure. A key work competency for individual contributors and managers
alike is the ability to prioritize confidently in the face of the incapacity to complete all tasks.

Sample Answer

S-Since my job involved a number of competing priorities, it was often very challenging to determine
what was most critical and urgent in order to carry out my duties.

T-My manager and I worked out a scale for judging the importance and urgency of a task so that it's
clear what should take the highest priority from the start.
A-Priority was given to things that are both important and urgent (IU). Next was important and not
urgent (INU), followed by urgent and not important (UNI), and lastly not important and not urgent
(NINU). I received requests from my manager labelled as IU, INU, UNI, and NINU when the rating system
was in use.

R-Due to this prioritization rating system, my overall productivity increased considerably over the past
year.

15. Tell us about a time you failed. Have you learned anything from this experience?

If the interviewer specifically asks for a work-related example, try to recall a long-gone incident that is
related to your job role. It is best to choose a story in which something significant didn't go according to
plan as a result of your actions (or lack of actions)—not something more trivial.

Sample Answer

S-Early in my career as a software developer, I was tasked with developing a new feature for a web
application.

T-I was responsible for developing the feature within a specific timeline and ensuring that it worked
seamlessly with the existing application.

A-I approached the task with enthusiasm and started coding immediately. However, I realized after a
few days that my code was not working correctly, and I was unable to identify the source of the issue.
Realizing my mistake, I reached out to my supervisor and explained the problem. He was able to help me
debug the code and identify the issue.

R-Unfortunately, because of the time it took to debug the code, we missed the deadline for the feature's
launch. I learned that I should have approached the task more systematically, taking more time to plan
and test my code before starting to code.

16. Can you recall your first job? How did you learn the ropes and adapt to your new environment?

By asking this question, the interviewers want to know how you work with individuals who have
different personalities, and how you motivate individuals to become personally invested in the job or
project beyond just a paycheck. Their interest is in seeing how you cope with job-related challenges and
learning from them.

Sample Answer

S-My first job as a software developer was at a small software development company. I was fresh out of
college and eager to apply my skills in a professional setting.

T-My task was to develop a new feature for an existing web application, which required me to learn the
company's coding standards and work processes.

A-To learn the ropes, I spent the first few days observing and asking questions about the company's
coding practices and processes. I also familiarized myself with the codebase by reading the existing code.
Once I had a good understanding of the company's work processes and coding standards, I started
working on the new feature. I made sure to communicate regularly with my supervisor and colleagues,
asking for feedback on my code and how I could improve it.

R-Through my hard work and dedication, I was able to complete the new feature on time and to the
satisfaction of my supervisor and colleagues.

Questions about Creativity Thinking Skills

17. When was the last time you took charge and demonstrated initiative to manage a situation?

Interviewers ask this question to determine if you are a self-starter with a strong desire to innovate.
Whether you put your best effort into something out of your own desire, not out of obligation.

Sample Answer

S-Recently, I was working on a project that had a tight deadline. As we approached the deadline, we
realized that there were some missing requirements that had not been addressed.

T-My task was to take charge of the situation and ensure that we could meet the deadline by addressing
these missing requirements.

A-I took the initiative to convene a meeting with the project team and stakeholders to discuss the
missing requirements. During the meeting, I asked questions and took notes to ensure that everyone was
on the same page. After the meeting, I identified the tasks that needed to be completed and assigned
them to the team members. I made sure to provide regular updates to the stakeholders, keeping them
informed of our progress.

R-Through my proactive approach, we were able to address the missing requirements and meet the
project deadline. The stakeholders were pleased with our work and appreciated our efforts to keep them
informed

18. Tell us about a situation in which you used logic or data to make a recommendation.

Employers usually ask this question so they can assess your critical thinking skills, including your ability
to handle unexpected obstacles. The hiring manager often values employees who are able to apply logic
to determine the most appropriate course of action in various situations. You can demonstrate your
problem-solving skills by providing concrete examples of how you could fit into an organization.

Sample Answer

S-During my tenure in my previous organization, I analyzed datasets daily to research competitor

strategies.

T-The monthly sales of significant competitors increased by 5% during a high-traffic month, which
deviated substantially from our forecasts at the time.

A-With updated market research and key historical data, I determined our competitor analytics model
would produce more accurate forecasts going forward.
R-With multiple tests of each adjustment, I was able to increase our forecast accuracy by 20%.

19. When was the last time you set a goal and achieved it?

Specifically, the interviewer is trying to get a sense of your ambitions and initiative by asking this
question. It is likely that the hiring manager is attempting to determine if you have the ability to achieve
the goals you have set for yourself. It might be a good idea to emphasize your planning skills in an effort
to show what you are capable of and distinguish yourself from other candidates.

Sample Answer

S-As a software developer, I wanted to improve my skills in a specific programming language that I had
only a basic knowledge of that.

T-My task was to set a goal to improve my skills in this programming language and then achieve that
goal through dedicated practice.

A-To achieve my goal, I started by setting a specific and measurable target for my improvement. I then
identified online resources and practice exercises that would help me achieve my goal. I dedicated a
specific amount of time each day to practising my skills in the programming language, and I tracked my
progress regularly to stay motivated.

R-Through my dedication and consistent effort, I was able to achieve my goal and improve my skills in
the programming language significantly. I felt a great sense of accomplishment and was proud of myself
for achieving this goal.

20. Describe a time when you failed to meet a client's expectations. What steps did you take to deal
with the situation?

Candidates are often challenged with this question since it forces them to talk about failure.
Interviewers aren't just interested in how you failed; they are also interested in why you failed. Most of
the time, the answer lies in the circumstances and the blame game that follows. Are you accountable for
not meeting a deadline? Or is it all the fault of others? It is important to answer respectfully and not to
be a part of the blame game.

Sample Answer

S-At my current job, I have both a dotted line manager and a direct line manager to work with. As a
result of an urgent firefighting request made by my dotted line manager, I had to interrupt my primary
project in order to meet that request.

T-Although my direct line manager approved it, it put me behind my primary delivery deadline. I
eventually resolved the firefighting issue and completed my primary project despite having been delayed
for over a week, leading to frustration with this client.

A-Upon discussing this with my direct line manager, we agreed to include contingency buffers in future
projects to enable me to divert to the dotted line department if necessary.
R-Also, I talked with my dotted line manager about the possibility of training someone else so that I
wouldn't have to handle these kinds of situations on my own.

Questions about Time-management Skills

21. Describe a situation in which you exceeded your duties for a job or task.

In asking this question, interviewers want to know that you will go the extra mile when possible,
specifically in ways that will benefit them and their team. Further, this question shows interviewers
whether or not you're motivated and if you simply settle for "good enough" rather than striving for
greatness.

Sample Answer

S-Having been promoted to a senior software developer in my last role, I was in charge of leading a
major client's project. The client requested a particularly unique feature that would normally take a
month to complete but I had to finish it in three weeks.

T-Since it was my first project post-promotion, I agreed to complete this. Afterwards, I realized that it
would take me a while to finish it and make it of high quality.

A-Right away, I contacted the client and requested an extension by providing a detailed presentation on
why it would take longer., which they generously granted. With my extensive research and regular
follow-ups, I was able to work with the team and make sure the wireframes were created for the
website/app and finalized.

R-The project was completed and delivered before the extended deadline. However, I learned to manage
my time more efficiently and to never overpromise on something that I am unable to deliver.

22. Is there any time you have been under a lot of pressure at work? What did you do in response?

Interviewers use this question to determine how you cope with various stressful workplace situations.
This means you should emphasize your skills and use real-life examples to demonstrate your
competence.

Sample Answer-

S-During my previous job as a software developer, we had a tight deadline for a project that had to be
delivered within a month.

T-As a part of the team, I was responsible for developing a complex module that required a lot of coding
and debugging.

A-To deal with the pressure, I broke down the project into smaller achievable tasks and created a
schedule with daily and weekly goals. I worked on the most important and time-sensitive tasks first and
then delegated some of the less critical tasks to junior developers in the team, which helped to reduce
my workload. I also communicated regularly with my team leader to keep him informed about my
progress and any potential issues that may arise.

R-By managing my time effectively, I was able to complete the module on time and deliver it to the team
leader for review. The team leader was impressed with my ability to work well under pressure, and the
module received positive feedback from both the team leader and the client.

23. Employees are sometimes overburdened by their employers. Have you ever felt overwhelmed by
work? What did you do in this situation?

An interviewer uses this question to determine if you are capable of handling heavy workloads and high
volumes. Your well-prepared answer would demonstrate your maturity and ability to work beyond your
contracted hours when necessary. A prospective employer wants to know how you handle tough
situations.

Sample Answer

S-The latest version of our product, which was released last year, was incredibly buggy.

T-As a member of the front-line customer support team, the first two weeks after the release probably
were one of the most challenging times for me. The line was always crowded with people waiting. In the
course of the two weeks, you ended one call just to begin another, and I did not stop at all during that
time.

A-However, I knew that it was a temporary situation, that the engineering team was working hard to fix
the bugs, and that a critical update was on its way. So, I patiently took part in supporting the clients
along with coordinating with the engineering team regarding the release updates.

R-The release with bug fixes happened exactly after 2 weeks and the customer support team survived
the tough period, and things returned to normal afterwards.

“Give me an example of when you had to be very strategic in your tasks to meet all of your
responsibilities under a specific deadline.”

Situation - “I typically like to plan out my work weeks in advance if possible. But in my previous sales
manager role at Company X, I had to suddenly move the team to a new customer relationship
management (CRM) software. The software we were using before unexpectedly changed their pricing
model, which made it too expensive for us.”

Task - ”I had to find new software that met our requirement, by the end of Q3 (when the price increase
hit), while making sure my own sales numbers did not decrease. The new tool also had to be intuitive
and easy for our employees to adapt to.”

Action - “In order to do that, I had to be very careful with how I managed my time. The first thing I did
was ask our sales associates what the number one problem was with our current CRM, so I knew what to
look for in a new one aside from the price factor. After that, I dedicated 1-2 hours each day to research,
and once I found the new software, migrating our data. I made sure to delete any old contacts, update
the missing information on our current leads, and caught the team up on how to use the new software.
All the while, I was still handling my daily responsibilities as usual, without any decrease in
performance.”

Results - “Finally, we managed to complete the transfer 1 week behind the deadline. I finished the
quarter 12% ahead of my sales goals, and the team was with the new CRM. By planning ahead and with
proper time allocation, everything worked out well.”

1) What is your greatest achievement?

S - “When I was a manager at Cafe X, we would always get a lot more customers than usual during the
summer. It would almost always be packed, and sometimes, there were not enough servers to handle
the work. And if someone got sick or unexpectedly could not show up - things were only worse.”

T - “So, I had to come up with a system so that we would not get overwhelmed during those 3+
months.”

A - “To make sure we were prepared, I realized we needed a better schedule. For the next summer, I
had a very strict shift schedule ready, and a reward system in case someone couldn’t show up for their
shift. If someone called in sick, whoever filled in for them would be rewarded with extra pay. And if
there was absolutely no one else available, I would personally fill in for them instead.”

R - “Overall, the summer went pretty smoothly with minimal accidents. We didn’t get ANY negative
reviews on TripAdvisor for the summer (whereas for the summer before that, we had several for slow
service).”

2) How do you set and accomplish personal goals when under pressure? Give me an example.

S - “Sure! To give you some context, during university, I had very limited financial aid, and my parents
couldn’t help co-pay the rest of the tuition. So, while studying, I also had to work to pay for the
university. At the same time, I also took up a lot of extracurricular activities (and internships when
possible) to get as much professional work experience as possible before graduating.”

T - “To keep up with the workload, I realized I had to manage my time very efficiently. So, I set up Google
Calendar and got a personal notepad for my daily tasks and responsibilities.”

A - “Through hard work and dedication, I managed to balance studying, a part-time job, and all
extracurricular activities. Sure, it was pretty tiring at times, but by the end of each day I would always go
over and edit my calendar for the rest of the week. This way, I knew pretty much everything I had to get
done daily, and never missed an assignment or a deadline either!”

R - “In the end, I graduated with a 3.7 GPA, no student loans, and a personal design portfolio which
landed me my first real job at Company X within a month of graduating.
3) Have you ever faced conflict or disagreement with a coworker? What happened and how did you
resolve it?

S - “Yep! During my internship at Company X, my team and I were supposed to work together and find
new talent sourcing ideas for a client. The client was a large supermarket chain located in a very rural
area, so they were struggling to source new talent. ”

T - “Basically our task was to meet on a daily basis, brainstorm and finally settle on 3 great ideas. After a
couple of meetings, we did have SOME ideas, but none of them were too exceptional. The management
wanted something that they could confidently present to the client (that would, for sure, drive results
for them).

Some of my teammates wanted to just give up, say “well, here’s our ideas, we don’t have anything
else!” and be done with it. Me and another teammate, however, wanted to work on it a bit more and
come up with something that WOULD work.

There was a LOT of back and forth from there, the tensions were high, and the team kept shutting down
all the ideas we were proposing. The deadline was super close, and had to figure out a way to move
forward.”

A - “So, I gave it some thought, and realized that we’d forever be in a deadlock if we continued like this.
They wouldn’t agree with our approach, and we wouldn’t agree with theirs. So, we decided to bring in
an unbiased third party who didn't have any emotional investment here.

We then conducted a longer meeting without any time restraints (so we’d get everything done ASAP in a
single meeting), where we went through each idea one by one, and the third party acted as a sort of
mediator. When someone pitched something, they also had to back it up with as many facts as possible,
otherwise it wouldn’t count.”

R - “This really helped bring in something new to the table. The “mediator” helped sort through all the
bad ideas, as well as infusing the team with some new energy.

We eventually DID end up coming up with completely original ideas, which were also something we all
agree upon. We finished the meeting in approx. 2 hours, and the management had 3 awesome ideas
they could pitch to the client. The client DID implement one of the ideas, which eventually resulted in 3
new hires.”

4) How do you handle unexpected challenges? Give me an example

S - “One time, while preparing for a presentation at a conference for Company X, one of our guest
speakers had to unexpectedly cancel due to an emergency. We found out only a few hours before the
event, and there was now a 1-hour gap in our schedule we had to fix.”

T - “So, we didn’t have a lot of time, and had to somehow fill up the time slot to keep the event going.”

A - “As one of the main event organizers and community managers at the company, I decided to take
initiative. Instead of the guest speaker, I wanted to present our CEO as the speaker instead - which was
definitely a possibility because he was working behind the scenes as well. I personally spent an hour
working with him one-on-one, trying to get him to transform his decade’s worth of experience into a
presentation. With 30 minutes to spare, everything was ready to go and all that was left was to
present.”

R - “From the one 1 hour gap, the speech lasted about 45 minutes, and for the rest of the 15 minutes we
took some questions from the audience. After that, everything continued on track, and most of the
audience members liked the presentation.”

5) Have you ever been in a situation when the client was wrong, and you had to correct them? Give
me an example.

S - “Yes, that happens every so often.

I can think of one example which happened during my first job as a recruiter. I had sent out a candidate
over to a client and the hiring manager had rejected him based on CV alone. They said that the
candidate was too junior of a profile for the position, no experience with X, Y and Z.”

T - “I went through the resume and my notes several times, and I was 100% sure that this had to have
been a mistake on the client’s part - the candidate was an exact match for the job ad they gave me.

So I had to somehow let them know about it without seeming to be telling them how to do their job.”

A - “I contacted my candidate, I got exact and thorough information on his experience with X, Y and Z,
wrote it all out in an email and obviously with a very calm and professional tone explained to our client’s
hiring manager that my candidate did in fact have experience in all areas pointed out, proven by this and
that project, etc. And I kindly asked him to review his application.”

R - “He responded, agreed that the candidate did in fact have the required experience and admitted that
it was an error on their end. So, they DID invite the candidate for an interview. Given, he wasn’t chosen
for the role, but oh well, at least we gave him a chance.”

6) Tell me about a time you failed. What happened and what did you learn?

S - “During my last job, I was managing the web dev team in charge of setting up an online e-commerce
store for one of our clients. In hindsight, I was too ambitious with the project, and over-promised the
turnaround rate for the website. I told them we’d be done within 2 months, as it seemed like a very
cookie cutter project at the time. However, around 2 weeks into the project, we realized we were off by
at least a month, as we would have to hand-code a bunch of stuff that we thought was open source or
sold as packaged plugins.”

T - “So, I had to inform them about the issue, give an updated deadline for our team, and fix my
mistake.”

A - “After the meeting, they were understanding, but not very happy. I then assembled our web
developers and started working hard on the project the very next day. We focused 100% of our time on
fixing the issue, outsourced some of the small tasks to save time, and ended up fixing everything before
the new deadline.”
R - “In the end, their site was a success and I learned a valuable lesson on managing expectations. I
realized that sometimes it’s better to under-promise and over-deliver, and learned how to better set
and manage deadlines for my team.”

8) Can you tell me about a time when you went above and beyond to deliver excellent customer
experience?

S - “When I was working at Company X, we were preparing for a video presentation for a client when I
learned that someone on their team was deaf. The presentation was due the next day in the morning
and I was the only one left in the office after 5PM.”

T - “I realized there was only one solution and that was for me to stay behind in the evening and add the
captions myself.”

A - “It took a few hours, and around 8PM, I was done. Then, I let our team know about the update.”

R - “In the end, the client enjoyed the presentation. They were very impressed (and surprised) by our
attention to detail, and we ended up closing them soon after.”

9) Can you give me an example of a goal you set, but couldn’t meet? How did you handle it?

S - “In my previous job, one month, we decided to focus most of our marketing efforts on growing our
blog. I was charged by the CMO to take over the blog and create content. The issue was, I had ZERO
experience with content, but we didn’t have anyone else to own the channel.”

T - “I had to write 5 total articles in that month, create the social media posts for them, and work on
promoting them.”

A - “halfway through the month, I realized I couldn’t write. At all. It just wasn’t my thing, and I had
nothing to show for the month’s work. So, here’s what I did: I explained the situation to the CMO, and
we came up with an alternative solution. We’d find outsourced content writers , and I’d manage them as
a content strategist.”

R - “Overall, we ended up hiring a content writer, who managed to pump out the 4 articles before the
deadline. I worked hand-in-hand with them to ensure that their writing was on-brand, and I also created
the social posts for them and promoted them. Overall, the articles performed pretty well, even landing
us a handful of new leads.”

Q1. Describe a time when you delivered outstanding customer service?

S-In my previous job, I was managing the telephone lines and responding to customer calls. One day, an
elderly gentleman telephoned to place an order online and he was clearly having problems selecting the
product he needed and also making the payment over the phone.
T- I saw it as my task to spend time patiently helping the gentleman choose the right products for him
and to also talk him through the payment process, reassuring him along the way.

A-I started off my asking him a series of probing questions to ascertain which product he needed. Once
we had achieved that stage, I then explained in detail how we would use his payment details to process
the payment, and that his details were totally secure. I then took the payment details and his address
for delivery. I also upgraded him to our free express delivery service to provide further reassurance that
he would receive his good quickly.

R- Although the customer was initially confused and he struggled to find the product he needed, I
managed to talk him through everything successfully by being patient and methodical in my approach.
The customer was very happy with the service and he has since used our company again to buy
products.

Describe a stressful situation and how you handled it?

S- I was working as part of a team on a difficult, time-sensitive project for a client. The client
unexpectedly brought forward the completion date, which meant we had to work around the clock to
get everything completed.

T-It was my job to monitor each stage of the process and support the other team members in
completing each of their specific tasks. If they needed anything specifically to complete their part of the
project, I would find it for them. It was particularly stressful because we all had to work additional hours
outside of the normal working day, whilst also concentrating on each specific task in hand.

A-I carried my element of the project as required and remained calm and focused at all times whilst
supporting my team colleagues.

R-The end result was a success! Due to the extra effort we all put into the team task, and the extra hours
we all dedicated to the project, we managed to complete the project with just 3 hours to spare. It was
great all round team effort.

Explain a time when you used data to make a recommendation.

S- Our website experienced a drop in traffic. As a result, we weren’t selling as much of the product
anymore, and revenue was dropping.

T-I had to figure out what the problem was. There hadn’t been a core update, so we had to figure out
what else could be causing the traffic drop.

A-I started analyzing traffic patterns and user acquisition and discovered two things. First, our pages
weren’t loading as quickly as they needed to. This was partly due to some tracking pixels we inserted but
also because we started adding more complex graphics to the pages. Second, some of the information
hadn’t been updated in a few years, and the data was outdated (and flat-out wrong in some cases).
There wasn’t much I could do about the tracking pixels, and after talking to the writers, there also
wasn’t much we could do about the graphics. However, we created a long-term plan to update the older
articles and set up a timeline so I could track when each post was updated and monitor performance.

R-After about three months, traffic to those pages started to tick up. And as I monitored those pages, I
also learned that the more internal links we included, the more likely people were to stay on the overall
website, which helped boost our positions. As a result, people learned more about our products and
were 10 times more likely to purchase them.

“Tell me about a time you worked with a colleague who was unreliable and didn’t complete the things
he said he was going to do.”

S- I was a Team Lead at the previous restaurant I worked at, where I was tasked with leading the
morning shift team. Our team size ranged from 10 to 15 employees at any given time.

T- One of my tasks was to coordinate with the other shift managers and put together the weekly food
wastage report. A problem arose when one of the night shift managers would constantly tell me that he
couldn’t get his reports on time. This often happened right when the deadline was about to hit, and it
impacted my ability to do my job in time and deliver my work consistently.

A- While many of my fellow managers suggested that I went straight to senior management, I respected
him as a co-worker, and so I took the concern straight to him to talk things through. I first showed
empathy and said “I can imagine you have so much you’re working on right now, and I can tell that
you’re working hard. I wanted to discuss the past 3 deadlines that we set, and that you weren’t able to
meet. When you don’t get me the wastage reports on time, it delays the entire reporting process and
leads the rest of us to take several hours to readjust the schedule. Is there a way we can ensure that this
doesn’t happen in the future?”

R- While I was nervous about confronting him directly, I felt it was necessary in order to resolve the
situation. Thankfully, he opened up to me about how he was also struggling to gather information
required for the report from his team members. Having already created a Standard Operating Procedure
(SOP) with my own team, I decided to share my routine with him. Knowing full well that each team has
its idiosyncrasies, I suggested that we come up with a streamlined solution that fits his team’s work
style. With our new solution, his team members had to submit a form with every report request before
they could clock out, which has enabled him to compile his numbers on time. Since then, he stopped
putting off the task and we were able to generate the report on time.

“Tell me about a time where you had to appease an unsatisfied customer.”

S- I was working as a server at a fast-food chain about 2 years ago. It was the peak period at a
restaurant, and generally, with peak periods, our staff are often overwhelmed which results in increased
waiting times. Unfortunately, these are the same periods in the day in which customers are in a hurry,
and patience can sometimes wear thin.
T-During one of the peak dining periods, there was a couple who was dining in and we served one of
their meals slightly later than the other person (say 15-20 minutes waiting time in between). They were
highly displeased by the delay, especially since they thought the other dish would have been served
soon after the first dish was served. In fact, they actually waited for the other dish, and by the time the
final plate was served, the first dish was already cold. Evidently, this led to an unpleasant dining
experience, and they expressed their frustration to me.

A-I am a firm believer in empathetic listening. After all, we have all been in frustrating situations as a
consumer. I first stood by their table and listened attentively to their complaints. Subtle cues like
occasional nodding and acknowledgment of our mistakes are, in my opinion, signals to the customer
that they are heard. I proceeded to apologize, and shared my appreciation for their feedback. I assured
her that as a team, we would continue to work on our processes, and going forward, we’ll inform
customers should we anticipate a longer wait between dishes. I then offered a 15% discount after
consulting with my manager, along with a dining voucher for their next visit.

R-Thankfully, the customers did not make a huge fuss when I approached them. In fact, one of them
shared their appreciation for me listening to their complaints in spite of the crowd. It was definitely
encouraging to see their faces during subsequent visits, and we’d even exchange greetings like old
friends thereafter. I was glad I took the time to listen to them.

“Describe a situation where you were under very pressure and the steps you’ve taken to ensure that
success is achieved.”

S-I was a new member of the front-of-house team at a Steakhouse restaurant in Atlantic City. My
primary responsibilities were as a server and buster, and two weeks into the job, I was presented with a
daunting task.

T-One of my colleagues had to miss work and I was asked to cover their shift. We were extremely short-
handed that day, and the manager asked if I had the confidence to take over her role as a cashier. Being
a fast-casual steakhouse, ordering and cashiering was undoubtedly complicated. You had to ensure the
doneness of each order was entered correctly, and failure to do so could cause the restaurant to incur
unnecessary complaints and even wastage should they request for the steak to be redone.

A-I was placed under immense pressure to familiarize myself with the cash register, and there were no
other seniors or experienced team members on the team to guide me throughout service. Thankfully, I
found a manual of the register and I jotted down the steps that were required on a small post-it and
stuck it by the register. While I was not nearly as efficient as some of my co-workers were at cashiering, I
found that it was a great opportunity to demonstrate some of my interpersonal skills. I would crack
jokes with the customer while taking orders and constantly sought their kind understanding if it took a
while longer. Sometimes, I would even make tiny digs at my own speed, saying “How hard could
cashiering be right? It’s just a couple of buttons. Jeez, I never understood what took Jasmine so long in
the past. Now I know.”

R-To my surprise, most of the customers did not seem to notice or even mind the slightly longer
ordering time. I realized that people often feel impatient when disengaged, and my small talk and banter
actually positively impacted their dining experience. While it may have been a small accomplishment to
many, I felt extremely rewarded by the end of that shift. Apart from learning a new skill set, I think my
main takeaway was how important it is to always be personable and relatable. Customer service isn’t
just about speed. It’s also about the acts of eye contact,

Question: Tell me about a time when you were in charge of a group.

Answer: “In college, I was in charge of a group assignment involving running a fictitious company. There
were various steps and duties involved in this task, from marketing to the accounts to a myriad of things
in between. We had to find a new office for relocation of the company. This involved a cost-benefit
analysis as to where to move the office. We had to consider space, rent, and location, as well as some
other details like travel time for our workers and funding. The exercises we had to complete for the task
were not the main challenge though. As the project leader, it was my job to ensure that everyone had a
task to do, and that meant ensuring that everyone was up to speed on where everybody else was at.

However, we did encounter a problem. One member of our team was unable to attend most meetings.
This not only harmed him, but also the rest of the group, as we all needed to contribute and help each
other in order to succeed. As a group with a missing member, we had a meeting in which it was decided
that I should have a quiet word with him to discuss his absence. It transpired that he was going through
a very tough time in his personal life, with a member of his family being seriously ill. He was overstrained
and trying his best, but his work was suffering. I suggested that we take up this matter with the
professor as I felt that he should be allowed some dispensation regarding this assignment, and it wasn't
my personal call to make.

We managed to arrange this meeting, at which time we explained the problem both with regard to his
personal issues but also to our group work as a whole. This was because the workload was too great for
a team of four being reduced to three. The professor decided that he would get a dispensation from this
project that could be made up at a later date and that we, as a group, would get a week’s extension in
order to complete the work. We managed to do this, and due to the fact that through this crisis we had
grown stronger as a group, we were able to produce the required results on time. In fact, as a group we
did well on this project.”

“What do you do when you disagree with someone at work?”

S- “At company X, my managers decided to consolidate our three products into one, while still trying to
sell to three target customer segments. Because I knew the needs of our three segments well, I believed
that we needed to keep three separate products to meet customers’ needs, but the managers did not
follow my recommendation.”

T-“I was responsible for gathering insights into our customer segments and redesigning the marketing of
the one product to generate more leads and drive sales.”

A-“While marketing the generic product to specific customer segments was a challenge, I spent extra
time on market research and enlisted the help of other teams within the company to gather fresh
insights. I then split-tested ad campaigns to find the most effective versions of the ads.”
R- “Sales initially suffered after the product change, then rose while the ad campaigns took effect. Then,
sales leveled off for several months and the managers decided to reinstate the three separate products
and even add new, unique features that were better than the original. Within three months, sales
quadrupled, as a result of better customer segmentation and product placement.”

Describe a time when the requirements of a project changed in the middle of it. How did you handle
this situation?”

S-“While working for company Y, my team was responsible for deploying a new software program for
our customers’ users. Halfway through, the customer requested very specific changes that would extend
the deployment by two months.”

T-“My role was to monitor the deployment to our test servers and keep the customer abreast of those
results leading up to the live deployment with the goal of accommodating their mid-point requests and
beating the extended two-month deadline.”

A-“Building from prior deployments, I implemented a method of communicating weekly updates to the
customer and requesting their feedback using a Google form.”

R-“We experienced minimal interruptions during the live deployment and beat our extended deadline by
two weeks. The customer was very happy and contracted our team for another project.”