Page 74 - You're Hired! Interview Answers

3 Better answer: taSk-BaSed QueStionS examPLe inteRview anSweRS

“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. At the start of the year I asked all the committee members
for their predictions for expenditure and for their spending priorities. I matched
these to the budget and then made an allowance for unexpected repair bills
– the previous secretary told me that about 20% of the budget was a sensible
contingency fund. I then made a prediction for our quarterly spend so that I
could keep tabs on the budget throughout the year. In fact we had very few

unexpected repairs that year so we finished with a small surplus.”

Here the CaR format is much more clearly followed:

n Circumstance – managing the budget for minor repairs
n Action – predicting spend, checking spend
n Result – a small budget surplus showing that the spend had been

effectively controlled
At the same time this answer shows that a systematic approach has been
taken to measuring, monitoring and thus controlling the relevant resource – in
this case money. The interviewer will be reassured that this person is diligent
in ensuring that they have the right processes and the right information to
manage (or control) the outcome.

interviewer: Can you give me an example of a time
when you had to deliver something to a tight deadline?

7 Poor answer:

“In my first job I had a role in a small marketing department. We were under

a lot of pressure because of three exhibitions that were coming up over the
next 3 months. We decided that we had to make some decisions in terms of
priorities otherwise we would risk failing to have all the stands ready in time.
The key to hitting the deadlines was recognising that we had to outsource
some of the design work so that we could concentrate on the Excom exhibition,
which was by far the most important. I was never convinced that the other two

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