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  • Hi there, everybody. My name is Richard McMunn, from the career guidance company How2Become.com,

  • and in this next training video, I'm going to give you a whole load of situational interview

  • questions and answers to help you pass your interview. So, a very warm welcome to this

  • tutorial. My name is Richard McMunn. That's me on the right-hand side, and in this video,

  • we are gonna focus entirely on situational interview questions. Please do not forget

  • to subscribe to the channel so you don't miss out on the videos that I'm creating weekly,

  • and also, if you do like this content, please give it a thumbs up. I would very, very much

  • appreciate that; it motivates me to do more for you. And also, in return for that, if

  • you tell me the name of your interview in the comments section below the video, I will

  • give you a list of situational interview questions to prepare for. Okay, let's get straight into

  • it. Situational interview question number one. "Tell me about a situation when you went

  • above and beyond what was required for work." So, what they're looking for here...let's

  • have a look at a couple of tips. So, the question is, "Tell me about a situation when you went

  • above and beyond what was required for work." Two tips. So, adding extra value to your role

  • will impress the interview panel. So, what I mean by that is it is generally rare nowadays

  • for an employee to do work above and beyond what is required, so this is your opportunity

  • to shine, and it's a great situational interview question. So, here is my suggested answer

  • to question number one: "In a previous job, we went through some significant changes and

  • the company managing director asked for a volunteer to carry out additional duties whilst

  • he recruited a new member of staff. I volunteered to take on the work because I knew how important

  • it was for the company to still function and deliver a quality service. I worked the extra

  • hours and duties for no additional pay. This, in turn, took the pressure off my managing

  • director whilst he recruited the new member of staff. After four weeks, my director managed

  • to find a new member of the team, and when they arrived, I helped them to integrate into

  • the team by showing them what their role involved. If required, I would always help out the business,

  • as I understand my job is dependent on the company performing well. Now, that's a great

  • answer because it shows you will go above and beyond what's required, and anybody interviewing

  • you for the role would look at that positively because they want people who are flexible

  • and who will help out when required. Question number two. "Tell me about a situation when

  • you made a mistake at work." Now, this is a really common situational interview question,

  • and it's a tricky one to answer, but let me give you a couple of tips about how you can

  • pass this question. Three tips. Number one, be open and honest and tell the interview

  • panel actually about a mistake you did make; don't say, "Oh, I never, ever make mistakes

  • at work. I never have done." Everybody does, so they're assessing your honesty here. Tip

  • number two, make sure you do not give an example that is a key requirement of the role. So

  • what I mean by that, let's say you were a car mechanic and you kept losing your tools

  • all the time. That's no good, because that would be a key requirement of the role. Tip

  • number three. Tell the panel what you learned from the mistake you made - that's important

  • - and what you did to improve. So, let's take a look at a sample response to the situational

  • interview question, "Tell me about a situation when you made a mistake at work." Here we

  • go. "I have only made one silly mistake whilst at work, and this was down to me simply being

  • complacent. I had the responsibility of packaging and dispatching customers' orders in a previous

  • job, and I felt I could do the job with my eyes closed, simply because of the number

  • of orders I had previously worked on. Now, this complacency led to me not concentrating

  • sufficiently one day, and I sent out the wrong order to the wrong customer, and the knock-on

  • effect was that a further three customers also received incorrect goods. Now, as soon

  • as I realized how I'd made a mistake, I informed my line manager before contacting each of

  • the customers to explain the issue, apologize, and then take the necessary steps to resolve

  • the situation as soon as possible. I apologized unreservedly to my manager and took the appropriate

  • steps to make sure it never happened again." So, this is a mistake where you're just being

  • complacent, and it does happen, but the important thing is that the latter part of that response

  • is that you have took responsibility for your mistake and improved. That's the important

  • thing. Whatever sample you give, make sure you take risk responsibility. Okay, here we

  • go. Question number three. "Tell me about a difficult challenge you faced at work. How

  • did you solve it?" Again, this situational interview question is very common. "Tell me

  • about a difficult challenge you faced at work. How did you solve it?" Three tips, first of

  • all, before the answer. Tip number one, make sure you use a specific response. So, don't

  • say what you would do in this kind of situation, but say what you have done. Tip number two,

  • be the one who volunteers to solve the problem. All managers and company directors love people

  • who volunteer to sort things out. Tip three, show that you care and are capable of solving

  • problems yourself. Here we go. So "Tell me about a difficult challenge you faced at work.

  • How did you solve it?" "In my previous job, I had to work in a team where it became clear

  • a number of team members disliked each other. Now, the impact on the business was concerning

  • me, simply because I did not feel we could operate successfully unless the team worked

  • in harmony, so I decided to try and resolve the issue. I held an informal meeting to raise

  • my concerns, and I encouraged everyone in the team to talk openly about how they felt.

  • Now, it quickly became apparent that some members of the team felt other people were

  • not pulling their weight or contributing positively to team projects, and the end result was a

  • breakdown in communications. Now, after lengthy discussions, and with me facilitating the

  • talks, we all agreed to hold weekly meetings so we could discuss any problems openly and

  • honestly, with a view to moving forward positively. The end results were very promising. The team

  • now works extremely well together, and the open communication has not just improved the

  • atmosphere in the office, but the output of the team has increased significantly." Brilliant

  • response. Question number four. "Tell me about a long-running project you worked on." So

  • this kind of situational interview question assesses your ability to work on projects,

  • but also that you persevere for things and get them finished; you see things through

  • to the end. So here's two tips for answering this question. Tip number one, demonstrate

  • your ability to work as part of a team, which you would generally do when working on a project.

  • Tip number two, show you are capable of seeing things through to the end successfully, so

  • you would be a completer, finisher, somebody who gets things finished. Here we go. Here's

  • my sample response for you. "In my previous job, I worked on a 12-month internal project

  • with 5 other members of staff. The project required us all to work together on creating

  • and installing a new customer payment gateway through the company website. Now, my role

  • within the team was to act as the main point of contact between the external outsourcing

  • companies who were involved in the project and the senior heads of department. I was

  • required to make sure everything went smoothly, communicate effectively with everyone involved,

  • and also keep the organization updated on our progress. The project was challenging,

  • but by remaining focused on the end goal, being resilient during the difficult periods

  • of the project, and by using effective communication skills, the team managed to deliver the project

  • well ahead of time and on budget. Question number five, "Tell me about a time you had

  • to persuade someone to see your point of view." This is a tough situational interview question,

  • but if you think about getting asked that during your interview, could you answer it?

  • So here's my help for you. Two tips. Tip number one, this question assesses your ability to

  • persuade others but it also assesses confidence levels. Do you have the confidence to persuade

  • somebody in your business or organization, at work, to improve the company? Tip number

  • two, be clever in your response to this interview question. Try and tie in your answer with

  • a benefit to the company. So, this is what I mean by that. Here's my sample response

  • for you. "Whilst at work, I had what I thought was a great idea to help the business move

  • forward and generate more sales. Now, the idea involved engaging more with our customers

  • to try and make them feel more valued, because in my opinion, if a customer feels more valued,

  • they will return to the business time and time again. Now, unfortunately, the other

  • members of my team, including my line manager, did not feel my idea was worth the effort.

  • Instead of giving up, I decided to conduct some research in my own time and also provide

  • clear evidence of how my idea would work positively for the business. After giving a quick 20-minute

  • presentation to my line manager and the team members, they agreed to give it a try. The

  • end result is that our repeat customer sales are now up by 18%." Great answer. Question

  • number six, "Tell me about a time when your job went through significant change. How did

  • you adjust?" A couple of tips here for you. Tip number one. Now, change is very important

  • in any organization, and how you embrace it says a lot about you as an employee. Now,

  • nobody, any hiring manager, wants to take on people unless they are willing to change

  • and adapt. I promise you, that's very important. Tip number two. Be someone who enjoys change

  • and sees the benefit of it. Don't be someone who goes, "Oh, what's the point? We're just

  • changing for change's sake." That's not good. You need to be someone who embraces change.

  • Tip three. In your answer, explain how you see change as a positive thing, and here's

  • my sample response for you. Here we go. "I am actually quite a fan of change, and I think

  • it keeps a job interesting and challenging. In my previous job, my manager was quite forward-thinking,

  • and she often liked to implement change to try and improve things. One particular time,

  • she implemented a new way of working for everyone in the team. The change meant we all had to

  • carry out another team member's duties one day a week to get to understand their role,

  • but to also be capable of performing their duties if and when the need came about. Now,

  • within two months of the change, I felt confident enough to carry out everyone else's job, albeit

  • to a basic level. One of the benefits of the change she implemented was some members of

  • the team suggested further ways of developing and improving other people's roles within

  • the team, which in turn helped increase company productivity levels and efficiency. So my

  • manager's proposed change to working practices actually had further benefits, which made

  • the initial change even more innovative." So, that shows that you are positive about

  • change, you recognize the importance of it, and also, you embrace it. Question number

  • seven. "Tell me about a situation when you had to collaborate with a coworker who was

  • difficult to work with." Okay, here's my advice for you for answering this question. Two tips.

  • Here we go. Go out of your way to make the situation work. Be the better person. You'll

  • come across more positive in the interview if you do that. Tip number two, at the end

  • of the situation, show how your determination to work with a coworker developed into a positive

  • working relationship. And here's how to answer the situational interview question, "Tell

  • me about a situation when you had to collaborate with a coworker who was difficult to work

  • with." Here we go. "I was working in a small team of people and I got on great with everyone

  • apart from one particular coworker. Now, despite my attempts to get to know him better, he

  • seemed quite cold towards me. Now, I wasn't fazed by this, because our relationship hadn't

  • had a negative impact on the team or business yet. Well, one day, my line manager asked

  • us both to work together on a project that would last for four weeks. I saw this as an

  • opportunity to try and get to know him better and to attempt to improve our relationship.

  • When we sat down to discuss how we would work together on the project, he made it quite

  • clear he wasn't happy about having to collaborate with me, so I asked him outright what the

  • problem was and what I could do to make things work. Now, once I asked him outright, his

  • entire tone changed and he started to open up, then, about some problems he was having

  • at home. I listened to him and offered to be someone he could chat to if he needed some

  • support or advice, and from that day on, we got on very well and our working relationship

  • improved dramatically. In fact, the project was such a success that our line manager suggested

  • he would give us both another project to collaborate on together in the near future." That's a

  • great answer. You come across as the better person, and you have resolved that situation

  • by being mature and wise. A couple more situational interview questions before I give you some

  • more free training resources to help you pass your interview: "What would you do if you

  • disagreed with the way your manager wanted to you to handle a situational problem?" "What

  • would you do if you worked hard on a solution to a problem, and then your solution was criticized

  • by your work colleagues?" "You are working on an important project that you can't complete

  • because you're waiting on work from a colleague or another person. What would you do?" "You

  • realize that an early mistake you made in a project is going to put you behind schedule.

  • What would you do?" "What would you do if you made a strong recommendation in a meeting,

  • but your colleagues decided against it?" "What would you do if we offered you the job, and

  • once you started, you and I didn't get on?" So, those are tough answers...sorry, tough

  • questions there. And if you want to know how to answer more of these, I've actually put

  • a link to more great situational interview questions and answers in the description below

  • this video for you to try, so have a look in the description and you can go straightaway

  • onto those YouTube videos. Also, if you want answers to those latter questions I've just

  • given you, please go to the website, passmyinterview.com, or click the link below the video and you

  • can get free access to my online interview training course. Don't forget, please do subscribe.

  • If you've enjoyed that video and you'd like me to create more for you, please give the

  • video a thumbs up. You can also connect with me on LinkedIn if you want to by clicking

  • the link in the description below the video. Don't forget to tell me what interview you've

  • got coming up and I'll give you a list of questions to prepare for, and finally, good

  • luck to you. I hope you pass your interview, genuinely, and thank you very much for watching.

Hi there, everybody. My name is Richard McMunn, from the career guidance company How2Become.com,

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