Page 80 - You're Hired! Interview Answers

3 Better answer: taSk-BaSed QueStionS examPLe inteRview anSweRS

“Yes, I think the key part of having the right controls is understanding the

pressure points in the system and making sure that the monitoring system
lets you anticipate problems. Let me use an example from my last job; we
had a dispatch department that was consistently overloaded because of
unpredictable production. They would be quiet for several hours, then working
like crazy because production had released several batches at the same
time. I got the dispatch supervisors to monitor throughput for a month to see
if there was any way of predicting the workflow, and sure enough there was.
I then implemented a system where dispatch could monitor orders coming
in; I worked out that the lead time for particular products was predictable. In
the short term this was more work for the supervisors – using the order book
to predict workload 2 weeks in advance – but in the longer term it smoothed
out the peaks and troughs and made everyone’s life easier. It also meant that
dispatch was much more efficient and that customers got their orders on

average a whole day earlier.”

While there is scope for adding more detail to this answer, it does follow the
CaR principles.

n Circumstances: ‘we had a dispatch department that was consistently
overloaded’.

n action: ‘I implemented a system where dispatch could monitor orders
coming in’.

n Result: ‘dispatch was much more efficient’.

The interviewer can tell what the issue was, what the person did and what
the result was. Overall, the answer gives the interviewer relevant information
to assess whether this person understands the competency ‘monitoring and
controlling’.

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