Page 72 - You're Hired! Interview Answers

Why is this a poor response? taSk-BaSed QueStionS examPLe inteRview anSweRS

Mainly because the interviewer is going to have to ask a lot of follow-up
questions to find out what actually went on. The circumstances have been
partially described, but not in enough detail; the action taken is very woolly – ‘I
had a chat with the team’ – and the outcome or result is not covered at all.
The clue is in the question: the interviewer wants to know how you organise, so
explain the process that you went through.

3 Better answer:

“Yes, well, when I was working in the supermarket at Christmas we had a

staffing problem because so many people were off sick. I took on the job
of redoing the work roster because it was clear that we were going to be
understaffed if nothing was done. I checked availability with all the existing
staff, matched this with the staffing requirement and then built in an allowance
for temps in case anyone else should fall sick. I showed the new roster to the
team and got them to agree where they were willing to put in extra hours.
Everyone was very cooperative and the end result was that we kept to full

staffing for the whole period.”

This is still a relatively short answer, but it does cover the CaR format:

n Circumstances are covered: ‘it was Christmas and we had a staffing
problem’.

n action is explained: ‘I checked availability and matched it with the staff
requirement’.

n Result is described: ‘we kept to full staffing for the whole period’.

This answer is likely to tell the interviewer that you are purposeful and
structured in tackling this kind of challenge.

Can you think of any ways in which this answer could have been still stronger?
Here are some suggestions:

n A little more detail would have made the answer richer, for example, how
many staff were involved, how big was the shortfall, how did you identify
the problem?

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