Tell me about a time you overcommitted yourself, or your organization, to a customer?
"At the cafe, I had a customer call in a big order for the following morning. I called the owner of the cafe to inform them of what to expect the next morning, but our manager informed me that would clear out our display counter and leave nothing for our customers for the rest of our day. They said as things stood, we could not fulfill the order. They recommended I call the client back and inform them there was no way we could fulfill the order. But as I prepared to call the customer back, I felt like it was my integrity that was on the line. So I determined I had no choice but to work overtime and get to baking. So I called the owner and told them what I thought was the right thing to do, and they split the difference with me. They said if I handled making the dough and all the prep work, they'd handle baking it all the next morning. So I spent the next four hours preparing the order. Before that point, I didn't have strong time management skills. But boy oh boy, did I learn fast."
They are curious if you took responsibility for your own actions, and how you navigated this situation. This will inform them about how you'd fit into their work culture and if you could be trusted with their clients.
Detail how the situation unfolded, be careful not to choose a circumstance where you committed untrustworthy or poor judgment. Describe what you did to cope with the stress of the situation, how you proceeded, what you prioritized, and whether you recruited help in trying to deliver on your promises. Then move towards how it resolved, what you delivered, whether items were delayed or if you asked for a deadline extension, and what perks you offered for the inconvenience. Focus on the client's takeaway, and how you made it right. Avoid examples where you canceled on the client or where the result did not satisfy expectations. You want to come across as an asset, not a liability.
Accenture considers itself a 'client partner,' and a core value of theirs is "Integrity - Emphasising a commitment to ethical and honest behavior, and taking responsibility for its actions." It's not necessarily an egregious error to over-commit to a client. However, being able to live up to your promises comes down to integrity. When you're unable to meet your commitments, how you handle it is the character test in question.
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