According to a study by the Project Management Institute (PMI), women make up just 24% of project management roles globally. Handling a difficult decision or situation, Handling a difficult decision example interview questions. Think of the interview questions as a fantastic opportunity to demonstrate why youre the right person for the job. The key to this is bringing to life when you had to deliver through others that are not direct reports, explains Maria Mawby, human resources business partner at Volkswagen Group. Set goals, and devise plans to achieve them. Teamworking is a highly regarded competency in a variety of work contexts, so you need to show that you are an active and cooperative team member. The interviewer wants to hear that you are determined and able to problem solve. Does pressure get to you, do you or thrive under it? To answer this question well, relate it to the job youre applying for. Which change of job did you find the most difficult to make? Whats the most challenging workplace problem youve encountered? Reducing overheads like office rental, power usage or telecommunications packages. Wrong! What was your role in accomplishing the action steps needed to complete the project. Its important you can demonstrate strength of character at work, and composure in the face of adversity. To work in the Civil Service you will need determination, adaptability, flexibility, enthusiasm and a commitment to very high standards. Most candidates dont take the time to prepare well. Using a form of technology to increase speed and/or accuracy in an existing process. From improving your workplace wellbeing to building colleague relationships, explore practical advice to get the best of working life. If the last post-holder upset a lot of people, emphasise your diplomatic skills. This competency question looks at how you adapt your behaviour as an individual, but also how you flex your style in a group of people to ensure the best outcome. Not just something to think about if you get asked for an interview, competency questions are increasingly being included in the initial written application too. (The BEST ANSWER!) Whether youre communicating by writing, speaking or listening, think carefully about the communication skills that will impress an employer, says Andrew Fennell, founder ofStandOut CV. She advises: Companies want to know you want to work for them, and why. Regardless of the role you take in a team, in the interview you need to show clearly what you contributed to the groups success. Make well-informed, effective, and timely decisions, even when data is limited or solutions produce unpleasant consequences. Your ability to keep calm under pressure will also be assessed.In most roles you will be working on a number of different tasks or projects, each with their own timescales and standards. Give us an example of a situation where you knew that a project or task would place you under great pressure. Influencing people: provide examples of how you convinced a client or one of your reports to try a new approach. The key to handling such situations is keeping a cool head but also solving the problem to everyones satisfaction. Adapt their communication style to different situations and audiences. Emphasize quality and steadiness. They also want to know why youre good at it. All the tips you need to write a CV personal statement that makes you stand out from the crowd. Women bring home 13% less in their pay packs than men for an equal job. 10. As part of your interview preparation you should scrutinise the job description, says Kim Whitfield, head of resourcing atM&S. Feeling tired or drained? Make sure you share bits of your personal experience so the employer can evaluate whether your experience will be right for the job, says Katherine Burik, founder of the Interview Doctor. Give me an example of when you had to make a change in your work area. Tell us about a time when you had to convince a senior colleague that change was necessary. Which recent project or situation has caused you the most stress? Discover how to layout your CV, and what info to include in your CV, Everything you need to know write a great cover letter, Free cover letter template for any job application Pick a scenario that shows youre not afraid of tackling difficult tasks, and that you can act tactfully, he adds. Everything you need to know before accepting a job offer. They are looking for effective communicators and sensitive listeners. When did you get a team to improve its performance? How did you achieve this? Self-managers who manage their own time to meet goals are rare. Tell us about a time that called for your creative and original input. Make sure you understand what they do. Tell us how one of your projects suffered a setback due to an unexpected change in circumstances. Taking control competency what are employers looking for? Be Grateful. For example, you could say: I had daily and long-term to-do lists, which I used to track the progress of multiple projects simultaneously. Describe a time where you needed to choose between a number of ideas. Makes tough decisions, such as closing a facility, reducing staff, accepting or rejecting a high-stakes deal. Say what the result was and what you learned from it. Changing something aesthetically, for example rearranging a shop window display to encourage more customers or redesigning a part of a website. Employers want people who can persuade a customer to buy. How did you respond? Always try and link it back to the bottom line if possible, adds Mayby. Tell us about a time when you had to sacrifice quality in order to speed up a project. Delivering at pace is about how you manage your work, and how you balance multiple priorities at the same time. Examples of stakeholder management skills include: See also2. Whatever the situation, an employer will be looking for team leaders who focus on the task, delegate where they can, bring people together and motivate them to get the job done. Tell us about a time when you had to deal with a conflict within your team. If you do, youll stand out in the best possible way. Talk about an unpopular decision that you made recently. So, employers will be looking for people with excellent leadership and communication skills. What was the biggest change that you have had to deal with? Whitfield says the more you research the company, the more precise your answer for this competency will be. When we talk about team players, most people mean those who are naturally extrovert and who display leadership characteristics, but there are many different roles in successful teams. Adaptation questions fish for past relationship difficulties, says John Lees, author of Knockout Interview. You may also have faced decisions that are hard to make, such as telling someone their role is redundant. What problems has one of your staff or colleagues brought to you recently? You need to show the employer that you have good self-awareness skills, as well as project and time-management abilities. Consider how you worked to enable a more harmonious and effective working environment. How do you manage your time and prioritise tasks? However, you can take things further by picking an example where you went above and beyond the call of duty and the customer became even more loyal than before.. In a managerial position, this is a sought-after skill but its also important in all team-based working. As well as being aware of whats going on locally, nationally or internationally, you should show you can: Tom Laws, careers advisor at the National Careers Service, says employers also want people who: Explain how youre not only focused on your role within the company, but also understand the local and national issues that affect the employers sector. How do you ensure that every member of the team is allowed to participate? This guide doesnt provide stock answers. Tell us about a piece of work you produced where accuracy was essential. Delivering at pace Making effective decisions Collaborating and partnering Leading and communicating Building capability for all Good customer service Strategic thinking (seeing the bigger picture) Teamwork Changing and improving Organisational skills Working under pressure Attention to detail Handling a difficult decision or situation Adaptability Follow our interview tips and techniques and youll greatly increase your chances of landing the job. Give us an example where you had to do this. This will ensure you hit the delivering at pace bit. You have a new job, youre taking a career break or you just couldnt work in a job you didnt like anymore. Pick a story that required you to be sensitive to the needs of fellow co-workers. Lower-level personnel may deal with daily pressures and deadlines; higher management looks to longer-range projects and deadlines. What was the outcome of the situation, and how might that have differed if you hadnt communicated in the way you did?. Instead, talk about how you productively manage a full workload. If you can talk about a particular style of leadership youve had to adopt, or times when youve been out of your comfort zone and still managed to achieve results, the employer will be impressed, says Duffin. Method? In all businesses, its important to build trust by keeping your promises, sticking to the rules and behaving honestly and ethically. Statistics help to demonstrate the value of your cooperation skills. For example, say: I was working on an exhibition stand when a customer came up to me and ranted about being overcharged. Planning and being organised can help people to cope well under pressure. Dont forget that employers will want you to be self-motivated, too. Resilience, the ability to bounce back after setbacks, is important in many roles, says Alan Andrews, HR manager at KIS Finance. Youre in the right place if youre wondering. Employers want people who can deal with pressure at work, and stay strong in the face of difficult situations. Be able to help colleagues or members of the public understand complex information and ideas. Were seeing the cost of living spike with no end in sight, but were not seeing the same patterns in salaries. Provide an example. Emphasise the success of the conflict resolution in your answer. What did you do to contribute to it? Employers like people who take responsibility because they typically possess a strong work ethic and strive for excellence. Or, perhaps you were awarded Employee of the Year for your excellent and speedy customer service. Examples of interview questions that employers will ask when trying to determine if you posses the competency. Tell us about a situation when you failed to communicate appropriately. So explaining what I learned is probably the most important part of the response. Integrity competency what are employers looking for? Before you choose a scenario to talk about, try to find out about your potential employers recent history and use it to your advantage. Unfortunately, a lot of candidates deliver poorly constructed or unclear answers, he adds. Attention to detail competency what are employers looking for? Adapting your style within a group to get the best outcome. Building capability for all competency what are employers looking for? Child support is a tax-free benefit that you can claim if you have children, and both employed and unemployed people can claim it. The examples below show how you can convey PACE in your response. Which response you use will depend on the context and the See also1. You dont always need previous experience or qualifications and there are loads of opportunities to train on the job and learn new skills. Tell us about a time where this did not result in the answer you anticipated and how you handled that. What did you do? Your answer can be linked to saving resource, efficiency and process and future strategy and focus.. Influence and persuade stakeholders and decision makers. Enjoy watching and do please subscribe when you get a moment. Weve all been in the situation of looking at someone elses job and wishing ours was half as interesting. During your most recent team project, how did you participate in its planning? Delivering at Pace - Here make sure you showcase your ownership in taking responsibility for delivering timely and high-quality results. Now youve changed your mind. What made you think that your new approach would be better suited? After all, you are unique, and your experiences and skills are, too. All the tips you need for negotiating a salary increase or pay raise. Employers want people who motivate teams to deliver the best, high quality outcomes on time. Talk about a situation where you were asked to do something that you had never attempted previously. Delivering at Pace Always work with focus and pace to get the job done on time and to a high standard. Exceeding sales targets: can you explain what the target was, how you managed the process and to what extent you delivered? Big tech companies do this because they know that having a neurodiverse workforce gives them a competitive edge. Changing and improving interview answers, Planning and organisation example interview questions. Communication skillsand28. Youve quit! Describe an example where you got people to work together. Remember, choosing a Delivering at Pace example which is recent, relevant and sufficiently complex for the role is vital to scoring well. Make sure you describe push leadership skills, such as driving people towards goals, and pull leadership skills like drawing out the best from people, says John Lees, author of Knockout Interview. Examples are given concerning how the work is accomplished and the result of the strength, which is meeting deadlines. Katherine Burik, founder of the Interview Doctor, adds that you should select stories relevant to the job youre applying for. Give us an example of when you took responsibility for delivering expected outcomes, giving credit to other teams and individuals where appropriate. Conflicts and disagreements happen. What did you do to help resolve the situation? Collaborating and partnering competency what are employers looking for? Strategic thinking (seeing the bigger picture), Handling a difficult decision or situation, Adapting your style within a group to get the best outcome, Dealing with a difficult customer (customer service), STAR in our How to handle competency-based interview questions. For sales-specific roles, the employer will be looking at your entire interview presentation as an example of your sales technique. For example, Delivering at Pace has 7 Strengths associated with it: Adaptable Disciplined Catalyst Focused Organiser Resilient If you are being assessed on Strengths, then reading the Civil Service Strength Directory will help you understand the definitions behind each Strength. Employers are looking for people who work in a professional way with all kinds of people, and proactively build positive relationships to achieve great results. Diagnoses of neurodiversity among adults have risen sharply in recent years and while there has been progress regarding awareness and understanding of neurodivergent conditions, there is still room for improvement in the workplace. Additionally you can think about the learnings from the example and how you have improved your work due to learning from the challenges. Butterflies in the stomach? Problem solving competency what are employers looking for? Adaptability competency what are employers looking for? Describe a situation when you showed integrity and professionalism. Please provide an example of when you delivered excellent customer service. He adds that these examples shouldnt necessarily be the ones you talk about. Analyse evidence and evaluate options before arriving at well reasoned justifiable decisions. One that shows you continually push yourself, and others, to build skills and knowledge. Tell a story that includes progress or improvement. And when compared to those male colleagues, theyre effectively working without wages from 15 November onwards (known as Equal Pay Day in Europe). Maybe your manager asked you to complete a task towards the end of the day and you had to change plans? Have you achieved an important objective or hit a vital goal? Collaborating and partnering. What employers want to know is how you would resolve such situations constructively. In an interview, you need to show you earn the trust of your colleagues and are willing to place your trust in them. Weve all been there. How do you ensure that you maintain good working relationships with your colleagues? Can you give an example of how you engaged your team in discussions about changes taking place in your unit, business area or department? How did you deal with it? Describe an example to the employer which shows you arent stubborn and can adapt to new information. Copyright & database rights Totaljobs Group Ltd2023, https://www.totaljobs.com/advice/most-common-competency-based-interview-questions, Over 10,000 companies are looking for new employees on Totaljobs help them find you, How to handle competency-based interview questions, Managing a quality service example interview questions. You may be burnt out and youre not alone. How does your current role fit into the departments overall objectives? Each job profile tells you: Big job interview coming up? Because of my ability to organize and plan out my work schedule, I always complete my work ahead of time. Employers want to find employees who are thorough and accurate when dealing with a task. Be kind. Are open with other team members about their concerns. Your answer could focus on how you solved a problem, resolved conflict or motivated an employee through your communication skills. Tell us about an unpopular decision that you made recently. Think of a good example of working in a team, and talk about your experience of working in a team. They dont want people who simply shut other peoples views down. Working with colleagues or contractors towards a common goal, such as a project or sale. Find out if a support worker job role is for you, with expert advice on how much you could earn, what types of support worker jobs are available and how you can progress your career. Browse over 200 job description examples. Even better if you can show that it was additional to your ongoing tasks. Have you encountered a major obstacle when delivering a project, something that you ultimately overcame? And have you taken ownership of problems in your area or team and resolved them successfully? As a manager did you identify a risk in a project delivery? Question: Give a specific example of how you have demonstrated your ability to handle multiple priorities and deliver results Response: S: In my present role, I am an accounts manager and have an existing case load of clients, but have new clients coming in all of the time. When asking about this competency, an employer wants to know if you can deal with confrontational situations calmly, and that you have the skills to turn a negative customer experience into a positive one. Tell us about an idea that you managed to sell to your superior. You will also learn about Delivering at Pace examples you can use and you get Delivering at Pace interview questions. Takes charge of a group when its necessary to facilitate change or overcome a deadlock. Practically, all of us would benefit from possessing them, and, in turn, every employer seeks them in their candidates. Describe a time when you had to win over a reluctant or unresponsive person. Stakeholder management competencies what are employers looking for? Theyre also able to secure consensus between different teams and departments. Strategic thinking (seeing the bigger picture), Strategic thinking example interview questions. How did you measure its success? Identify times you initiated projects yourself or managed one given to you by someone else. Lydia Fairman, HR and resourcing specialist, says its not enough to read the companys website. Our expert guides detail the benefits you may be entitled to, as well as your fair pay rights and handy money management tips. Go for an example where things looked dire and explain how you took control and remedied the situation.. For each situation, usethe STAR technique: Situation, Task, Action you took and the Result you achieved. How did you handle this situation? The competency delivering at pace is about: Delivering to cost, quality and time. So, to give you some food for thought, weve pulled together 10 of the most weird and wonderful jobs from around the world to give you some food for thought. Read the job description closely and look for hints like "adaptability," "ability to think on your feet," "deadline-driven," or good old "fast-paced work environment.". Communicate the overall vision to their team. Luckily, Delivering at Pace examples can be displayed in many forms. By showing that you personally picked up the ball and made something of a situation, youre demonstrating a level of practical creativity which had measurable value.. How big is the company?. Choosing the right example As regards the right structure we have looked at using the STAR technique above.