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144 COMPETENCY-BASED QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

Customer” initiatives. I always took the extra step to ask follow-up questions
when a statement the client made didn’t mesh with earlier comments or with
completed paperwork.

Result: The paperwork I submitted was virtually error-free, and it was

rare that a member of the quality assurance team returned any forms to me
for missing information.

Question 143. Everyone’s professional career is peppered with suc-

cesses and failures. Describe a time when you learned from a mistake you
had made.

Situation: I assigned a project to a team of employees. Once I out-

lined the expectations of the project, I left the team to their own devices as to
carrying out the plan.

Action: When I requested an update, I was informed that the team

members were at a standstill. In fact, they did not know how to get started.

Result: I called an emergency meeting to describe the steps they

needed to take. The next time I assigned a team project, I provided guidance
from the onset, to avoid uncertainty on the part of the staff.

Question 144. Describe a time when you were creative in cutting costs.

Situation: The real estate industry is tradition-bound. To generate

interest in properties, agents usually run advertisements in newspapers,
host open houses, and participate in multiple listing services. Although these
are effective strategies, I wanted to use technology to reach buyers and
renters.

Action: To expand my reach while cutting costs, I used new initiatives

such as e-mailing existing and potential customers the promotional materials
for open listings.

Result: I was successful in coordinating fifty finished leases, plus up

to seven new appointments per week with clients to discuss housing needs
and expectations.

Question 145. Give an example of a time when you had a positive ef-

fect on a chronic problem.

American Management Association
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