10 SITUATIONAL Inter

In this video, the speaker shares 10 common situational interview questions and answers. They explain the STAR interview method, which stands for Situation, Task, Action, and Result. Situational questions relate to specific scenarios, while behavioral questions focus on behaviors. The speaker provides example answers for questions such as "Tell me about a time when you failed" and "Describe a time when you worked in a team." They emphasize the importance of addressing failures and showing teamwork and empathy in your answers. The STAR method is used to structure the answers. In this video, I'll share 10 of the most common situational interview questions and answers. So for each question here, I'm going to share a watertight effective example answer. And I'm going to show you how you can use the key elements in your interview. I'm Anne-Marie Celeste, an HR recruitment specialist and a career coach with over nine years hiring experience. I'll also show you how these answers fit into the STAR interview method, sometimes called the STAR interview technique. Let me briefly explain what is the STAR method. STAR stands for Situation, Task, Action and Result. This is a structured technique or framework that interviewers use to make sure that they're getting a rounded and full response when they're asking you questions where they want you to describe a scenario or a situation. It's also a brilliant framework for you to use because it makes sure that your answer covers every area of the question. So next, what is a situational interview question? A situational question is a question that relates to a specific situation. And you would need to explain what happened and how you handled it or how you reacted. In some cases, there'll be follow up questions such as what did you learn or what might you change if you could. But that's the core of it. They typically start with, can you tell me about a time when? Describe a time when? Give me an example of or something similar. What is the difference between a situational and behavioural interview question? So situational questions are very similar to the behavioural interview questions, but behavioural questions are slightly different because they're more closely focused on your behaviours. So a behavioural question might be something like, what would you do if your manager asked you to complete a task that went against your personal values? So they want to assess your behaviour and how you handled it. However, if they were to then ask you about a situation where this occurred, then it could become a situational interview question. But there are many occasions where both types of questions actually are interchangeable and fit into the same category. So let's get on with the answers to some of these tough interview questions. And after each one, I'll explain why it's a good answer and how you can use it and the key elements and the structure in your own interview. So question one is, tell me about a time when you failed. This is a difficult question because no one wants to appear as a failure in an interview. But do not say that you can't think of a time because you don't make mistakes. It makes you appear disingenuous. If you can't think of anything straight away, then take a pause because you don't need to answer immediately. And just try to think of a time when you were late or promises were broken or things didn't go as planned and how it affected people. An example answer is, as an administrator, part of my job is to arrange weekly meetings for senior directors and organise the logistics of that. So that includes arranging the meeting space, securing rooms and checking dietary requirements for lunches. One week, I'd forgotten to check this detail beforehand. And one of the directors was lactose intolerant and another was vegetarian due to religious requirements. And the lunches that arrived were options of either beef or chicken, which annoyed one of the directors. I was really embarrassed and worried that I might have offended them. And I needed to ensure that they could have lunch in their break and return to their meeting. So the first thing that I did is I offered an apology and was completely honest about what had occurred. It had slipped my mind. However, I reassured them that I would make sure that they had their lunches before they were due back in their meeting. As I had an hour to correct the mistake. And once I explained, they were quite understanding and they knew that it was an honest mistake. I asked them what they would like to eat and pulled up a nearby restaurant with an urgent request for their meals. I drove down to collect the lunches and they managed to have a hot lunch they could enjoy before they returned to their meeting. So how does this fit the STAR method? So the situation here is arranging the weekly meeting. The task is to check dietary requirements for lunches, which was a failure. And it resulted in two of the directors not being able to eat the lunches. Then the action was an apology and an honest explanation of what happened. Plus finding a place to collect the lunches. The result was that both directors got lunches that fit their dietary requirements. So why is this a good answer and how can I use it? This is a simple, straightforward answer that not only shows the failure, but how the issue was resolved, which is important to do when you're answering this question. Make sure you include how you address or solve the failure because it shows up other skills, which I'll explain. So this answer is also strong because it includes an apology, which is important to include in your answer if anyone was affected by whatever the failure was. Also, honesty here, which is key. When talking about your situation, be upfront about whatever your mistake was. Never blame outside factors or people. Take accountability because it's a really important character trait to demonstrate in your interview. Then at the end, explain how you fixed or addressed the failure and made a commitment to fixing that failure. Question two is describe a time when you worked in a team. This question has many variations, such as can you give me an example of teamwork or can you tell me about a time when you had to work as part of a team? But the interview is just looking for your understanding. They want you to highlight your understanding of teamwork and your ability to work in a team. So an example answer to this would be I currently work in a small team of four and there was a situation where one of our colleagues was on holiday and the other was unwell and couldn't come to work. So there were only two of us. I could see my colleague was struggling to manage and she had a number of things she wasn't able to do that day. So I offered to take over some of her duties, such as picking up direct calls and attending some of her meetings. Once I did this, she had a manageable workload and was able to complete tasks and take breaks. I feel that teamwork is a key element in a small or large team, and it's one of the reasons that I get along so well with my colleagues. So why is this a good answer and how can I use it? So this answer is short and sweet. It shows the awareness of what teamwork is, especially here where assistance was not expected but offered anyway. So the kind of example you can use is a situation where you did something you didn't have to do or took initiative or made a suggestion for an improvement that might help a team member or make tasks easier for the team. In your answer, include the actions you took and how they helped the team and why you feel teamwork is important, just like at the end of this answer. And we can see here how it fits into the STAR method. Here I've highlighted the situation, the task, the action and the result. So question three is describe a time when you help someone. So this is actually a tough interview question, not because you won't be able to think of a time when you help someone, but when it's put to you on the spot in an interview, it can be hard to think of a time that's impactful enough to use as an answer because the day-to-day things we do to help people are normally quite small, and you don't want to use something too simple like my colleague needed a pen and I helped them out. So I put together this example answer and we'll talk about why it's so effective after. In my current team, our team manager expects weekly reports from each team member. I have a co-worker who frequently submitted late reports and our team manager relied on these in order to submit reports to our company directors each month. So this was causing some friction. I offered to take my co-worker to lunch one day and asked them how they were finding the reports. They became quite upset and explained that they actually struggled to understand key areas of information they were expected to provide, which is why the reports always took so long, but they were too embarrassed to bring this up to our team manager or to the wider team. I offered to stay after work and go through the report in detail because I found the reports quite easy to do and to understand. So they were really grateful and found that they could understand things much clearer when someone went through it with them step by step in detail. After that, they submitted their reports on time each week, and I noticed their increased confidence and the positive change in atmosphere in the relationship between my manager and my co-worker each week when reports were required. So why is this a good answer and how can I use it? So this answer shows observational skills. There was friction between the manager and the co-worker, which was picked up on. And it also shows empathy here where the co-worker was taken to lunch and encouraged to share the problem in an informal setting that was less intimidating. When you're thinking about how to answer questions like these, it's important that you show how you observe that someone needed help and maybe a problem it was causing on the team. The types of examples you could give are maybe a colleague that was underperforming or getting low sales, helping with workload or helping to clarify or explain something. This answer also shows how the person benefited from the help. So they gained clearer understanding of what was required. They submitted the reports on time and the manager bond and atmosphere was improved. And likely the relationship with the co-worker was improved as well. When someone helps you in this way, you're more likely to have a stronger relationship with them after. And I've also highlighted here how it fits into the STAR method. Lots of people struggle with these questions. So if these are helping you, then please click like. It helps this video show up for more people on YouTube. And I would really appreciate it. Question four is tell me about a time you made a mistake. A good example answer to this is when I started in my current role, I was really eager to help improve to my team and manager that I was a team worker. And I offered to help with multiple tasks and join project teams. And I had committed to delivering a number of outcomes within just a few months. Within a short time, I became overwhelmed. And no matter how much I tried to organize or work overtime, I realized I had made a big mistake. By overpromising, I couldn't deliver what I had promised. I was also worried that I'd let down a number of people that were relying on me. I decided to completely review what I felt I could deliver and then arrange to have conversations with each colleague that I had made a commitment to. I explained to them that I was not able to deliver everything I initially thought I could due to workload. And I apologized for making the promise prematurely. I checked which tasks were the most important in order to complete the most important tasks by their deadlines. I asked for help from my team. However, in most cases, people were very understanding and were able to pick up work. I certainly gained a skill set in terms of assessing workload and prioritizing. And I learned about how my eagerness to please had affected others. I now make sure that I'm clear on my workload before I make offers to take on more work. Why is this a good answer and how can I use it? So with this answer, it shows a mistake that occurred as a result of overpromising and a desire to people please in an extreme way. If this is something that you've ever done, then try to think about how it affected people. This is actually just an inherent desire to help people. But in this case, it went too far. In this example, the person realized early what they had done and were able to check which tasks were most important before they were due. This is also a great skill set to demonstrate in your interview because it shows self-awareness after you've made a mistake and your ability to correct it. Two other reasons this is a strong answer are here. Honesty and communication. The willingness to have an awkward conversation and correct your mistake. The ability here to ask for help and your understanding of what skill sets you gained. Never try to justify your mistake or blame others. Always mention what you learned, what skills you gained and what you would do differently in the future, like in this answer. So the type of example that you could give might be a situation where you didn't pay attention to a detail that ended up being really important later down the line, or perhaps a time when you didn't act as quickly as you could have and what you learned in hindsight. Here I've shown how it fits into the STAR method. And guys, let me know what you're struggling with in your interviews or even with your job search. Just let me know in the comments and I will respond as quickly as I can with a solution if I have one. Question five is give me a time when you motivated others. So a great example answer to this is I've worked as a senior sales exec for the past two years and would like to move into a manager's position, which is one of the reasons I was attracted to this role for sales manager. Last year, two junior sales execs joined my team and struggled to meet their sales targets. This happened two months in a row, and they both became very disheartened and considered leaving. I had a meeting with them where I showed them my sales figures from when I worked as a junior exec for the first six months, and they realized my figures were lower than what they had achieved. I explained to them that I focused on giving value to my clients for the first six months, and eventually my sales figures started to increase drastically over time. And I'm now a senior sales exec. I also made some calls in front of them to give them some conversational sales strategies. They put these into practice and over the next three months, their motivation increased. Plus, both of their figures increased and one of the sales execs surpassed their sales target two months in a row. So why is this a good answer and how can I use it? So although this answer is for a sales position, it's easily transferable to a role at any level. So if, for example, you were in a junior position in a different industry, what's key here is the steps that you took, the multiple steps you took to motivate other colleagues. To answer this question, try to use a situation where a colleague was unhappy or underperforming. Maybe they had been in the company for a long time and started to lose interest in their role. It could be something as simple as befriending a colleague and talking about how it made them feel to come into work and contribute more, or maybe even choosing to stay at the company. Maybe if they were thinking about leaving, you helped to change their mind. And if you can, like with this answer, demonstrate multiple ways you motivated someone or people in one answer. But you don't want to go overboard, so stick to two or three key benefits or ways you motivated others. And I've highlighted the STAR method here for you again. I think you're getting the hang of using a method where you're thinking of the situation, task, action and result. This actually makes it easier to make sure that your interview answer covers everything. And you're not thinking, have I included everything? And then you just waffle on and try to cover as much as possible. The question six is tell me about a time that you had a conflict at work and share examples. In my current role, we take a lot of incoming calls and often cover and take messages for each other as we work shifts to cover the calls that come in 24 hours a day from customers in different countries. We had a new colleague join the team and I found that whenever I would take over from her, I had a high number of missed calls and no messages have been taken, which meant it was quite difficult to track queries or complaints. I thought there may have been a reason for this as my colleague was still in training. So I spoke to her and I mentioned the missed calls and I asked her if she needed any help understanding the process. She interpreted the question as passive aggressive and got quite angry and responded by explaining that she's not the secretary. Once I realized that my wording may have been wrong or misinterpreted, I asked her if we could speak privately. I remained calm and I explained to her that I wasn't upset with her or angry. I genuinely wanted to find out if she needed help because the process may have been new to her. I let her know that I really wanted to have a good relationship with her and my offer for help is still on the table. She realized that she had overreacted and apologized. She said she had simply been busy but would pick up the calls in future. I also invited her to lunch the next day to show that there was no animosity and that I wanted to build a good working relationship with her. So why is this a good answer and how can I use it? When you're thinking about how to answer a question like this one, the type of example that you can use is any scenario where there was a tension, disagreement or argument at work. So maybe you and a colleague disagreed on the best way to handle something or there was simply a personality clash. This answer shows that the approach was not to make an accusation or ask why the calls weren't taken in an accusing way. Extending an offer for help was the first action in this example. Then a conversation was had privately which is important to do to diffuse any conflict. People often respond better in a more private setting. And when you're describing your conflict, show that you remain calm like with this answer because you don't want to show that you'll be argumentative. Then show anything that you did to resolve it. So a nice touch with this answer is the offer to go to lunch because it would show that you are trying to build a working relationship by extending an offer to connect outside of that situation. And these here are the areas where it fits the STAR method. I regularly do videos on tough interview questions and answers. So if you're job hunting guys, please subscribe and tap the notification bell so that you'll know when a new video is ready for you. And if you're looking for something specific, let me know what example answers that you want to see. Just let me know in the comments below. Question seven is tell me about a situation where you have to solve a difficult problem with an example. A strong example answer to this is when I worked in a customer support team for a large retailer. One of our biggest clients had a severely delayed order and requested to cancel their contract. This client was highly valued and spent over 100K a month with us. So it was important to address the situation quickly. The first thing I did is I listened to their query to hear the full length of the issue. It turns out that they had tried to contact someone several times and were not able to get through to a customer support agent. I reassured them that I would be looking into this as a priority, and I told them I would update them by the end of the day. Next, I contacted someone in shipping to find out what had caused the delay and find out how quickly this could be resolved. When I communicated the urgency and the priority of the client, they were able to move things around to ensure the client received their shipment the next day. I immediately contacted the client to let them know and agreed that I would be their main contact going forward, so they have one point of contact for any future issues. They were pleased with the quick delivery and the personalized contact going forward, and the issue was resolved. So we can see how it fits into the STAR method here, and I've highlighted the situation, the task, the action and the result. So why is this a good answer and how can I use it? So this answer is about a minute long, and there are two reasons that it's a strong answer. One, the question is asking you to describe a difficult situation, so something that is not easily resolved and generally has a high impact if it's not solved. And this answer shows that this is one of the company's biggest customers. They spend over 100K a month with the company, so a cancelled contract would have a significant financial impact, and you want to include in your answer a situation that was difficult or had high stakes, maybe something relating to a long-term impact on the company or a colleague. Two, the great thing about this answer is that it's a specific example of an actual situation that occurred, and many candidates make the mistake of giving hypothetical answers or vague situations, such as, this is what I would do. So make sure that you can talk through the specific situation step by step, and this is 10 times easier if you use the STAR method. So many more things are demonstrated in this answer, like problem solving skills and communication, but overall it shows how a really difficult and potentially damaging situation for the company was resolved. Now, the key to answering these types of questions isn't just copying and pasting an answer. It's how you apply it to your situation and how you practice and prep for your interview. I covered interview prep in a lot more detail in my interview prep checklist video, because it's the most common reason that candidates are rejected for a job. So even if you nail these answers, if you haven't covered many of the other key areas of interview prep, you could still lose the opportunity for the job. So you can check out that video. There's a link to that in the description box below. So question eight is, tell me about a time when you went above and beyond. So an effective answer to this is, while working in my previous role as a customer service rep, I came across a customer who was very upset as he had been chasing a refund and had been passed around to different teams multiple times before he had the chance to explain the background of the situation. I reassured him I would look into the situation immediately to solve this problem. The first thing I did is listen to his query in full. It was a long issue. That was not his fault. By listening carefully and showing empathy, this not only calmed him down, but I identified that his payment details had changed since he originally made his purchase. I identified this by going step by step through the process to see where it fell down. I was able to go directly to the right team who processed his refund that day and sent an email confirmation. So he had peace of mind. If you want to refer back to that answer, it's actually included in my 20 interview answers guide. There's a link to that in the description box below. And it actually covers really tough interview questions like why should we hire you? What is your greatest weakness and how do you handle pressure at work? So you can download that freebie below. So why is this a good answer and how can I use it? So first, it shows a different approach from other colleagues. So if you can show how you went above and beyond not only what was required, but what other colleagues have done, that would make it a really impactful answer. Use any scenario where you took the time to listen, understand and empathize with a customer or a client or colleague, just like in this answer. It also demonstrates patience and understanding because it was a long query. So listening skills are also demonstrated here, plus an analytical approach. The process was broken down step by step to see where it went wrong. Also making sure this person has peace of mind. The extra step of sending an email here. So in your answer, this could be something like a follow up phone call. So double checking in on whoever you helped and maybe staying late, doing extra work or just going beyond what was expected. So the key to using this type of answer is a structured example that also demonstrates your values, your behaviours, your personality and how you find solutions. And here is the STAR interview method framework. Question nine is tell me about a time when you disagreed with your boss. Another tough interview question. But the interviewer wants to see how you deal with your boss in a sensitive or tense situation. The example answer to this is my manager once asked me to issue a customer refund after we had received a complaint about one of our products. Knowing the history of this customer, I disagreed with this decision because the customer's account history showed they had an unusually high number of refunds requested for small reasons over a short period of time. I asked my manager if she had some time to speak privately, and I showed her the account history and the pattern of the refund request reasons from this customer. On viewing this, my manager concluded that she made the decision too quickly on this occasion and asked me not to process the refund in light of this new information, which I made a note of on the customer's file. Why is this a good answer and how can I use it? So one of the things I love about this answer is it's short and sweet, but it still ticks every box. And it actually shows the level of skill because you record the information about the customer's history. And another important highlight of this answer is asking to speak privately, which shows sensitivity and awareness of your manager's position and avoiding openly disagreeing. Now, if you're answering this question, always show how you reduce the possibility of a public disagreement by doing things like asking to speak privately, maybe flagging something by email instead of shouting across the room. And the types of answers you can give can be anything to do with disagreeing with a manager's position, maybe relating to a customer, a colleague or a client. This here is how it fits into the STAR method. Question 10 is tell me about a time that you handled a difficult situation. An example interview answer is when I was still in training for my current role as a retail advisor, I was left on the shop floor one day on my own when an angry customer came to the front of the queue and started shouting about a refund. He had been denied a refund on the phone and refused to let me serve any other customer until he received a refund. I stayed calm and let him know that I was still in training. And although I hadn't been trained on refunds yet, I would try to help him. I asked the customer behind him if she would mind waiting a couple of minutes and took him aside. I asked him who he spoke to on the phone, took the details and explained that I'm not authorized to issue refunds, but I will ask someone to look into this as soon as possible. I also took his details and listened to his query. I explained that a manager or a more senior person would be better placed to look into this for him as a priority. And he agreed. I made an announcement for a manager to come to the shop floor as soon as possible and continue to serve the next customer. Now that the annoyed customer had calmed down and agreed to wait. When the manager arrived, I explained the background so that the customer did not need to explain the query again. And the manager was able to speak to the customer directly and deal with the query. Why is this a good answer and how can I use it? This is a good answer because it highlights the multiple reasons that the situation was difficult. The customer was angry. He disrupted the queue. The person was still in training. So it demonstrates the ability to think on your feet, which is a strong character trait to demonstrate in an answer regarding a problem or an unexpected, difficult situation that has occurred. These two parts here show that the customer felt treated as a priority and agreed to speaking with a senior person. The problem was communicated to a manager, which minimized the need for the customer to repeat the query. Difficult situations vary, but try to use an answer where you have to think on your feet. Maybe due to something not going to plan. Or you could use an answer similar to this one if you've ever dealt with an angry customer. This is how it fits into the STAR method. If you watch this to the end. Thank you very much. I'd love to chat to you in the comments. Subscribe and like if you enjoyed this and also tap the notification bell so I can help you on your job hunting journey.