Describe a time when you had to quickly adapt to a change at work. How will you be adaptable to change here at Boeing?

Question

Karrie Day · Accepted Answer

"Other than my internship, this will be my first official professional role if I am selected for the position. However, I am comfortable adapting to change as needed. For example, my family moved unexpectedly during my senior year in high school. It turned out that I was behind in several subjects at the new school, and I felt lost while in class when I first arrived.

It was a bit of a shock, but I jumped right in and did the work necessary to catch up to the other students. It required a lot of reading and dedication, but I was able to maintain my grades and enroll in the college I wanted to attend. I feel I would be able to do the same here at Boeing. I will jump in and do the work necessary to be successful in whatever I am asked to take on even if it requires extra effort."

Karrie Day · Answer

The exact motivation for this question varies depending on the role you are interviewing for at Boeing. For example, many of the development teams at Boeing follow agile methodologies including Scrum and SAFe. In the case of a software engineer, the interviewer wants assurance that you can work iteratively and shift priorities as backlog priorities change. They want to know you will embrace new technologies and take advantage of unexpected opportunities to improve the solutions you develop.

In the case of an equipment engineer, the interviewer may seek proof you know how to think creatively and adapt when presented with an engineering roadblock. An analyst interviewer is likely to test for creative thinking and problem solving skills, but along a different line.

Karrie Day · Answer

Walk your interviewer through a scenario from your professional past in which you clearly demonstrated adaptability. The STAR Method works really well for any question that asks you to walk your interviewer through a specific example of behavior or accomplishment and should help you develop a well-crafted response. The scenario you choose should:
- Show that you can remain calm in the face of change
- Clearly understood your role and how to shift accordingly
- Demonstrate how you added value by adapting
- If possible, demonstrate adaptability in alignment with your target role at Boeing Once you've walked your interviewer through your example, apply what you shared and provide an example of how your adaptable behaviors align with the work you expect to do if hired at Boeing. With this question, it is important that you understand that Boeing is continuously adapting and innovating in everything that they do. Any way you answer, make sure to reiterate that you are flexible and adaptable!

Rachelle Enns · Answer

"Last year our company was sold to a competitor, and a lot of our management team changed hands. It was a great deal of change to handle in a short time, especially being unsure of who to report to ahead of others. I am resilient, though, and have made the big changes work by keeping my head down and delivering great work, no matter who it goes to in the end. In this particular situation, communication was key and I never hesitate to overcommunicate to colleagues and leadership."

Karrie Day · Answer

"As a senior aviation engineer, I have learned to be continually open to change. There are new innovations in this field constantly, and it is important to make sure my skills are up-to-date. For example, one of the junior engineers I worked with asked me about a new technology I was not familiar with. He had recently graduated with his Ph.D. in physics from a top university and had interned with another company. They were using a new technique that allowed for advanced systems cooling. I asked him to walk me through what he knew about it and then I researched on my own.

We were able to collaborate and quickly develop a proposal for how we could integrate the new technology into our current control systems. I feel I would be able to demonstrate the same level of open-mindedness and adaptability to change here at Boeing."

Karrie Day · Answer

"In my current role as a business systems analyst, I am the lead analyst for a product with stakeholders across several verticals. We have a steering committee and the projects I am assigned to are ultimately owned by a senior-level sponsor from our operations group. I invested a lot of time and energy in creating cohesion amongst my stakeholders and understanding the vision and goals of our sponsor. However, the sponsor was promoted and moved to another division within the company.

A new sponsor was assigned and his vision for the products we were working on was quite different than the original sponsor's. Our steering committee meetings were chaotic and several members were frustrated and fearful our plans for development of the features they previously agreed to would change. I took action and scheduled a meeting with the new sponsor to walk him through the current plans and discuss the value the stakeholders were expecting. He brought me up to speed on the business goal changes he wanted to implement.

I took back what I had learned in the meeting and did the analysis to understand the impact of his visionary level changes. I was able to demonstrate that several of the changes he requested would allow us to generate more value than the previous plan. I then worked with my program manager to estimate a new budget and timeline.

We presented the revised plan to the steering committee. They were able to see that the proposed changes added value and that the essence of their original needs was maintained in the revised plan. I feel my quick response and resulting analysis helped the committee avoid unnecessary conflict by focusing on the business value of the changes.

I would respond to change here at Boeing similarly. I would assess changes analytically and do the work to inform intelligent and data-driven strategies for adaptation."

Karrie Day · Answer

"Last year I was informed that a major project my team was working on was cancelled. Our company had recently been purchased and the senior-level managers decided the project we were assigned to represented an unnecessary redundancy.

My team and my stakeholders were shocked as they felt the alternative system they were being told to now use would not fulfill their needs. I worked with the analysts on my team to quickly identify the most relevant gaps so that we could present them for consideration. Ultimately, the senior managers understood that the gaps were significant and we worked out a plan to ensure that the needs of my stakeholders were met by revising the original project scope to include important systems integration features.

I feel the quick action that my team and I took helped to clarify the needs of our stakeholders and ensure that they had the features necessary to properly support their operations. I remained calm and focused on gathering the information needed to make the best decision possible. I feel confident I would respond to change similarly at Boeing."

Karrie Day · Answer

"I am comfortable with change as a software engineer. Technology changes quickly and plans constantly evolve in an agile development environment.

In my current role as a software engineer, I was assigned to work with an analyst to set up a quick web solution for one of our customers. I originally architected the solution using XML and one of our lead engineers encouraged me to use JSON instead. At first, I was unclear about the benefits of JSON and why it would be a better fit in this particular case. I did some research and was able to see he was right, and that it would be a much cleaner approach given the requirements. I updated my design plans, and the solution turned out great in the end.

I plan to lean on the same behaviors here at Boeing. I am excited about the possibility of working for such an innovative company that constantly adapts to take advantage of the latest developments in technology."

Anonymous User · Answer

"At a previous company, redundancies were prominent. I had to adapt to the change of atmosphere and ensure my tasks were completed with the same drive on positivity."

Anonymous User · Answer

"Most of my 20 years exp has been as a contractor, have to dip in and out of companies within the space of a few months and quickly assess a way forward, affect change - produce results. Also, stress often has to adapt to late design changes, typically quite bad at responding to, however it is getting better with software and dynamic analysis, where inputs and geometric changes can be handled fairly easily, but it has to be planned that way and may need investment to expect those changes further down the line."

Anonymous User · Answer

"I would have to go back to when I was informed I would be doing both Payroll and Health and Safety jobs with two different bosses. I had to learn a whole new job while still keeping up with my Health and Safety work. I really just dug in, learned my new job and pushed myself to succeed."

Anonymous User · Answer

"In a previous job, I was working for a company that had six different funding provisions. I originally started in the engineering division covering Marine, Motor, and engineering. That was relatively simple as the basis for all three were along the same generic lines. I was then promoted to look at all six provisions, which included the Service section and Business section. I had three weeks to get up to speed on all the different frameworks available and the funding implications."

Anonymous User · Answer

"When I worked in technical support, our company was bought out, and all the employees had to move to a different building with different supporting equipment. It was a significant change, and at first, I was concerned about being able to adapt to a fast-paced environment. What I learned was the new equipment was better and provided me to work more efficiently. After that experience, I embrace change and find ways I can use it to improve myself."

Anonymous User · Answer

"When the system I had been working on for 11 years had to be rewritten. I went from being involved in change requests and regular maintenance of the application to being the subject matter expert. My willingness to share my knowledge helped the team succeed. We were able to achieve a successful implementation of the system."

Anonymous User · Answer

"There was a book change on a class that I was teaching during the first week of school. The task was to revise the syllabus and get familiar with the new text before the next class. I had to spend long hours revising the syllabus and notes to ensure a smooth transition.

Everything was up and running as expected."

Anonymous User · Answer

"When the pandemic hit, massive changes also applied in the hospital where I am currently working. The management reinforced stricter protocols such as social distancing, wearing masks at all times, and a limited number of people in every room. It was quite hard to follow these rules at first especially when we were cleaning as masks limited my breathing. However, I was able to be more adaptable and still learned to work efficiently with it. Now, I don't find wearing masks limiting me from working at all. In fact, I realized that masks are necessary to protect not only myself but also those people around me from spreading the virus."

Anonymous User · Answer

"During Covid as the operations manager consumers were coming in faster than we could maintain product and had to make quick decisions from the distributor on receiving any kind of product to keep up with demand. whether that be full pallets of a product such as shelf-stable, frozen, or refrigerator. I had to make quick calls on storage and keep communications open with my depart managers and CEO. Forecasting was another way to keep up on product information that was becoming scarce at larger institutions, I could determine what we needed to focus on for the foreseeable weeks."

Anonymous User · Answer

"When I was working as a teacher, it was a small school, with one teacher per grade, one teacher for each subject except math which we all taught at different levels. There were several times when things changed unexpectedly, for example, a teacher calling in sick at the last minute with no available substitutes. When that happened, my fellow middle-grade teachers and I would divide up the students into our classes and be responsible for the subject of the absent teacher during our usual planning period. I would utilize anytime I had before the students arrived to look through my coworker's plans and organize any material I would need for the missing subject. Because of this, we were able to keep the day as normal as possible for the students to focus despite the sudden change.I will bring that same will to adapt to Boeing, using my time wisely and changing my plans accordingly."

Anonymous User · Answer

"Adapting to a new way of working during the pandemic was a kinda a new normal that I had to adapt to swiftly and make sure that the business objectives are met."

Anonymous User · Answer

"When I went from Team lead to Interim Manager I had to take on new responsibilities. I needed to come up with the plan for the day, Take attendance and attend Tier 2 Meetings where I would get in contact with my Senior Manager and support organizations and communicate any help needs and any constraints I had. I also began doing EPIS audits on Tool control and FOD Control. I was able to maintain the Team's momentum and stay on schedule without any issues."

Anonymous User · Answer

"When beginning my role as a supply chain promotion planner the department was still in the early stages of development and clear cut day to day roles and responsibilities had not yet been fully defined. During this time I continually adjusted to changing schedules and short-term goals. I worked closely with my team supporting them whenever possible, even going so far as to develop an excel file to automate some of our new day-to-day routines. In the end, we were able to manage through the short-term needs of the department and help to establish a basis to accomplish its long-term goals. At Boeing, I would bring the same goal, team, and problem-solving mindset to support the needs of the company."

Anonymous User · Answer

"When I was working at Hexcel, there were times when the shipping schedule advanced to the next day. It was a great deal to handle in a short time. I am a planned and organized person. I had to set the plan to work with the priority first. As a result, the plan has worked and the materials can ship just in time. Therefore, I can adapt to the same behavior at Boeing."

Anonymous User · Answer

"Situation: when I was an asset manager working at _____ Genetics. The company decided to use Service Now to keep track of software inventory instead of spreadsheets and files. Task: I was in charge of transferring inventory data from spreadsheets to a new system. Action: I would reach out to the Service Now rep, SME, to make sure data was able to transfer to the system accurately. I would know how to use the new system.Result: I was able to learn the new system and keep track of inventory for the company."

Describe a time when you had to quickly adapt to a change at work. How will you be adaptable to change here at Boeing?

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