What decisions did you routinely make in your last position?
The interviewer would like to know more about the types of decisions you are accustomed to making in the workplace. The way you answer this question will give them a good idea of your level of experience, seniority, and ability to handle the decision-making requirements in the role you are interviewing for.
If the job you are interviewing for requires you to be decisive and quick on your feet, you will need to be able to provide examples of how you have done these things in the past. If you worked in tech support, you faced problems that you needed to find solutions for on a regular basis. If you worked as a sales rep, you might have required knowing how to negotiate and make decisions on prices and benefits you can give your customers.
You may have faced decisions that became so routine you didn't think twice! Refer to these types of decisions and highlight how your decision-making skills will transfer nicely to this role.
"In my previous position, I was often required to make decisions on staff scheduling, hiring, and terminating. That role prepared me well for a position like this one. I have well-honed decision-making skills, and my intuition when it comes to hiring has been elevated."
"In my last position, the higher-level decisions I made were regarding the hiring and assignment of new hires. I also had a large influence on employee terminations. I feel these two sets of responsibilities have positioned me well for this role, and I look forward to continuing to leverage my experience while learning from the more seasoned staff members."
Community answers are written by other candidates practicing this set. Reading how others frame the same question is one of the fastest ways to sharpen your own.
Anonymous Answer
At my current position, I have a high level of independence. If something is not working, for example, a package or an approach to the problem, I change it and see if it brings better results. I had to make a decision of changing a project's scope when I realized it was not possible in the given time. I always report this to my supervising team.
Rachelle's Feedback
Your overview is strong and will allow the interviewer to picture you taking some autonomy with comfort. If you have more detail to add to your story example of changing the projects' scope, there is room to expand.
Anonymous Answer
I decide on the approach to use for the all Workshops that I do.
I also make a number of decisions during solution design.
In client training sessions, the client decides topics "” I decide the setup of the training sessions.
When training recruits "” I decide on setup and topics.
Last but not least, for sales demos "” I interpret the client's demands, and decide how to set up the system.
My decisions have helped to win my company two contracts.
Rachelle's Feedback
Terrific answer! You sound confident in your ability to make smart decisions. I like that you qualified yourself further by mentioning the two contracts you helped your company to win. If you have more details that you can share, for instance, the contracts' approximate value - that information will make the statement even more compelling.
Anonymous Answer
In my current position, I have a high level of independence, which allows me to routinely help other team members finalize architecture or solution design with a high level of confidence and trust from supervising team.
I have also been involved in sign-off decisions on production releases from federated development teams since I have been part of the COE team for the last 6 years and federated teams have to comply with the COE development standards and best practices which I helped develop.
Marcie's Feedback
Great! It sounds like you make a lot of contributions and decisions in your current position. Can you talk about one time in particular when you signed off on a production release? Give details to make your answer truly memorable. Nice job!
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