Page 73 - You're Hired! Interview Answers

taSk-BaSed QueStionS examPLe inteRview anSweRS n Make your own role clear: ‘I took on the job’ does not make it clear whether
you were being proactive or were responding to someone else’s request.

n Timing: over what period did this all happen – hours, days? Putting in some
of this detail makes the example more vivid and convincing.

interviewer: tell me about your experience of managing or
monitoring expenditure against a budget – give me an exam-
ple if you can.

7 Poor answer:

“Well, when I was secretary of the sports and leisure committee I was

responsible for looking after the amenities budget – basically the budget for
any minor repairs or refurbishments that were needed to the sports hall and
changing facilities. It was really a matter of checking that we could afford any
proposed repairs, that we got the cheapest quote and that the trades people

got paid at the end of the work.”

Why is this a poor response?

As well as missing out the C a R structure, the example described does not
give the interviewer any clear evidence about your approach to monitoring and
controlling and this is probably what they are after. The intent behind this task
based question is likely to be as follows:

n Can this person control things?
n Does this person monitor what is going on so that they can control things?
n How does this person monitor what is going on so that they can control

things?
n Does this person measure and check the right things to ensure that the

flow (be it money, time, electricity or project days) is predictable and that
the resource won’t run out unexpectedly?

The answer above does not cover any of these points.

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