Page 88 - You're Hired! Interview Answers

time communication as well – I saw this done badly when I was at XYZ Ltd and taSk-BaSed QueStionS examPLe inteRview anSweRS

I learned the lesson! ”
interviewer: what did you do in practice, how did you see
your role?

3 Better answer:

“My job was to keep everyone focused on the target and to provide the

support and resources they needed. For example, by working with the two
heads I had appointed, the weekly project meetings were a forum where we
could anticipate any obstacles and take action to tackle them. There was
one point where there was an issue to do with redrafting all the employment
contracts to bring them into line. The coordination head pointed this out and
I took it on myself to get our legal department to focus on this, bringing them
into the project plan and giving them clear timescales for delivering the work.
They had their own priorities to worry about, but I made it clear that I wouldn’t
allow the contracts issue to slow everything down and that other matters they

were working on would have to be reprioritised.”

Once again, this answer makes the interviewee sound structured, clear about
what they did and, just as importantly, attentive to the questioner’s need for
detail – that’s why they asked the follow-up question.

None of the examples given above is perfect, nor are they meant to be ‘model
answers’ that you can paraphrase or memorise. What they do illustrate is the
kind of answer that is most likely to impress if you follow the tips we have
given.

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