Tell me about a time when you reached a goal within a tight deadline. What did you learn from this situation that you can bring to our team at Boeing?

Question

Karrie Day · Accepted Answer

"I currently work for a medium-sized company as an assistant in their finance department. I had never worked in finance previously during budget planning, and I worked on the team that helped each department finalize their budget for the next year. Our CFO wanted everything buttoned up by the end of November, and we were very close to the deadline.

Several groups submitted budgets with requests that were unclear and missing information necessary to prove they were justified. I was asked to work with the financial analysts on my team to compile a collective list of issues and then schedule the meetings to discuss them with the department heads. I had a week to ensure that all of the analysts submitted their lists and schedule the meetings. Several of them waited to submit their piece until the last minute, but I stayed late and completed my part on time.

I learned several things from my time on that initiative that applies to the open financial analyst position at Boeing. First, I learned to anticipate that budgetary requests will lack proper analysis, and I can add value by proactively working with any departments I partner with to ensure they understand the standard required for budgetary approval. Secondly, I learned that frequent communication about the next steps and downstream expectations for any set of deliverables helps all of the members of a team coordinate properly and support each other in meeting tight deadlines."

Karrie Day · Answer

Imagine yourself racing to complete a project or task at Boeing with only six hours left to reach the finish line. Whether you have experienced this type of pressure in school or the workplace, you understand the intensity. Boeing wants to hear that you are determined and motivated to get these projects done. They also want to hear how you navigated the obstacles along the way.

Karrie Day · Answer

Prior to your interview, be sure to think about the steps you took to make a short-notice project happen in your past. Provide your interviewer with context, describe your actions, and then describe the results of the work you put in to ensure success under a tight deadline. If you are applying for a leadership role, be sure to describe any actions you took to help your team stay calm and focused while working under stressful conditions.

Rachelle Enns · Answer

"Last year, my current director came to me with a short notice design that a customer was requesting and they were wanting this within two weeks. Knowing that a typical new design from scratch could take four to six weeks, I immediately started by shifting around my current workload to accommodate and make this project a top priority. The key to success in this design was being organized with my full workload and having the ability to prioritize my work. I ended up delivering the finished design in just 8 working days and my director and the customer were thoroughly impressed. If hired at Boeing, I would bring this same ability to meet tight deadlines while staying focused on my entire workload."

Karrie Day · Answer

"The company I currently work for went through a significant round of layoffs last spring. As a senior manager, I was made aware that I would be losing 30% of my staff the week before the layoffs. We had several critical projects in flight and I knew I would need a plan to help the members of my group absorb the shock of the loss of some of their teammates while encouraging them to do their best to meet our production commitments.

I took a day to process the news and lay out my thoughts for a strategic plan. I first identified the projects that could be slowed down without a critical business impact. Next, I identified the most important work my teams had on their roadmaps.

After the news of the layoffs, I met with our program managers to review my analysis and hear their thoughts on how we could shift assignments around and meet as many deadlines as possible. It wasn't easy, but we came up with a solid action plan. I met with all of their teams to listen to employee concerns an reiterate the importance of meeting our deadlines.

The people I have the privilege to lead did an incredible job of stepping up and maintaining our production schedule given the unfortunate circumstances. I even jumped in and took on several project tasks along the way. In the end, we were able to ensure that all of the business critical work was completed on time.

I learned that it is helpful for senior leaders to utilize information they are given in advance of a situation like this to the fullest, even if the news is difficult to process. It helped my team a lot to see how engaged I was and how willing I was to step into the details and figure out a plan that could work for everyone. I would apply the same approach here at Boeing in the event my teams were ever in a tough spot. I would provide direction, offer support, and jump in and help in any way that I could."

Karrie Day · Answer

"The executive stakeholder for my last major project called me shortly before we were scheduled to deliver a major release and asked me to include a new feature. He had socialized the test version of the solution with his peers and manager, and they offered unexpected feedback that turned into an emergency request for my team.

Everyone on my team had been working hard to prepare for the release and I knew that news of a last minute request was going to be difficult to hear. I asked my stakeholder to outline the benefits of the new feature as well as the risk of not including it so that I could clearly explain the need to my team.

I wasn't sure how the team would respond, but everyone seemed to understand the importance of the request. We met to determine a strategy to finish the release prep work while developing and testing the new feature. I asked my stakeholder if he would provide a subject matter expert from his area to help answer questions on demand, and we partnered to drive out the requirements as soon as possible. The engineering team ran with the design and assigned a senior engineer to develop it. Everyone helped with the new feature and regression testing, and we were able to get it all done before our release date. The new feature led to a sales increase, and our team received recognition from senior leaders for our agility and hard work.

I learned that it is important to fully understand the value of last minute requests. Sometimes, they are critical and it is worth putting in the time to get them done. I would apply the same knowledge here at Boeing. I would ensure that I have a clear understanding of the expected benefits of a request as well as the cost of delay. I would use this information to make informed decisions on behalf of my stakeholders and my teams."

Karrie Day · Answer

"Our organization has a 'use it or lose it' budget policy that can result in unplanned project requests popping up at the end of the year when department leaders review their actuals at the end of the 3rd quarter. Last year one of the departments I manage projects for had enough left in their budget to redesign a portion of their facilities. The project was medium-sized, but it can be difficult to secure contractors during the holiday season.

I reached out to all of my contacts and quickly put together a plan and hired resources for the job. We were able to add several new offices, and a much needed employee lounge area to their space. It had been a tough year for that group, and making changes to their work environment seemed to give them a boost in morale.

I have learned to anticipate end of the year project requests during my five years in project management. I do my very best to accommodate them because every project has the potential to make a positive impact for the client, a business group, an end user, or for an employee. It is always important to do your best as a project manager to find creative ways to deliver upon the needs of your clients. I would apply the same understanding to my project work here at Boeing."

Karrie Day · Answer

"Projects with tight deadlines are normal in software engineering. The teams I work on use an agile methodology and we work in three week sprints. While it is acceptable to miss a deadline and carry work over sprint to sprint, it is a best practice to take on a reasonable scope that can be completed within the time allotted.

I noticed that my team was carrying feature work over frequently and it was causing a number of problems. We were having trouble keeping track of exactly which tasks were complete, which features were fully tested, and which were ready to be released. It felt like we were never finished, and I wanted to find a better way forward.

I worked with our product owner and scrum master to tighten up a number of internal processes. We spoke with the team and made it a clear goal to finish our scope for the sprint a day early to ensure there was enough time to test and complete everything prior to the start of the next sprint. We paid close attention to everyone's stand up reports and we made sure that we addressed setbacks or roadblocks more aggressively than we had in the past. We ended up finishing on time and it made a huge difference in our process. We were able to cleanly tie everything up and give our full attention to the next sprint the following week. Several teammates commented on how much better it felt to only be working on one set of features at a time. Ultimately, we reduced our carryover percentage by 46% by making a few minor process and expectation adjustments.

I learned that it is important to speak up on a team when you notice an internal process improvement opportunity. I look forward to working with the teams here at Boeing and reflecting regularly on our work to identify and implement process improvement opportunities."

Anonymous User · Answer

"I am constantly making goals for myself to encourage my workflow. I try to perform one inspection per day, so I am continually writing investigative reports, and they are due every two weeks. If I do not stay organized, everything will fall apart. Creating smaller goals to produce quality reports helps my state agency overall."

Anonymous User · Answer

"I was responsible for getting the necessary paperwork, training, observations, plans, and procedures for a safety audit we had so we could get to work in a refinery in another state. I had two weeks to get all the paperwork in. I got it all in on time and was just informed yesterday that we were approved to work in the refinery. I also have to provide a Primavera schedule, schedule of values and estimated billing every first and last week of the month. I have not missed this deadline yet."

Anonymous User · Answer

"We started on implementing a new saw; suddenly, the supplier indicated that they had to deliver early. We had to work extra hours to ensure that the area needed was cleared two days earlier than planned. That meant increasing the workforce allocated to this task from 1 to 4 so that the job could be done in 2 days instead of 4 days."

Anonymous User · Answer

"When I worked for a printer, we had four offices, and one job came in for a Government department that HAD to be completed within four days. The sheer volume meant that we would have all copiers /printers working 20 hours a day in all four offices to get the job done. We worked in shifts throughout the day and night. As I had taken the original order, I was responsible for coordinating the work, and I enjoyed the teamwork it took to get the job done, and it was delivered 2 hours early."

Anonymous User · Answer

"At the end of my last internship, I was assigned to give a presentation about what I had learned. With only a few days in advance, I was concerned about being able to explain all the projects I had worked on thoroughly. I decided to go through the shop and take pictures of the testing equipment and data acquisition sensors I used. Connecting the photos with the work reports helped me explain myself thoroughly during the presentation."

Anonymous User · Answer

"Multiple times I had to help the accountants with month-end closing when they were experiencing issues with a difficult situation. All their tasks had to be completed by noon the third business day of the month. I always worked as long as needed to provide a resolution to their problems. To this day, I still hear about how the users are missing me and my dedication to their goals. I always found a way!"

Anonymous User · Answer

"While deployed to Iraq due to unscheduled maintenance, we fell from 8 to 1 flight worthy helicopter, eliminating our capability to hold alert status. I drove the repair of one helicopter immediately to return to alert status and developed a road path to restore our fleet's health. I ensured six combat capable aircraft within four days."

Anonymous User · Answer

"My C# professor gave my team a 7-day deadline to implement the initial user interface for a software project I was working on. I was supposed to test the user interface and add some validation code for any user's data entry input. I worked 5 hours each day and was able to get the program running by the due date."

Anonymous User · Answer

"My manager let me know at the start of my shift that a shipment of 20 skids was coming in and had to be put into inventory by the end of the day. I had to unload the trailer, stage the pallets in the area they were to be put away and scan each box into location. One thing about myself, I'm ultra-competitiveTypically I can put away 2 skids per hour. I knew with proper planning and pushing myself; I could do 2 and a half per hour. Cut my lunch to 30 mins and work thru my breaks, and I would definitely meet that deadline. I let my supervisor know what locations I wanted to use so she could have my location labels already printed out before the shipment came. And I also cleared the floor so I would have plenty of room to stage the pallets. I was able to finish in just over 7 and a half hours, and my manager commended me on my efforts."

Anonymous User · Answer

"Within the duration of finishing my degree, we were constantly under pressure as we have consecutive deadlines. I remember having to submit three massive reports for three different courses within a week weighing equal marks. I have to compromise some of my personal activities to wisely manage my time within that whole week as I was fully booked. I have set an equal amount of time for each report to make sure I don't go overtime. As a result, I was able to submit everything on time without rushing and of good quality."

Anonymous User · Answer

"Within the duration of finishing my degree, we were constantly under pressure as we have consecutive deadlines. I remember having to submit three massive reports for three different courses within a week weighing equal marks. I had to compromise some of my personal activities to wisely manage my time within that whole week as I was fully booked. I have set an equal amount of time for each report to make sure I don't go overtime. As a result, I was able to submit everything on time without rushing and of good quality."

Anonymous User · Answer

"Throughout two bachelor's degrees and my previous career in teaching, there have been many tight deadlines to navigate. The one that stands out the most is my last finals week at my first university. I am very good at structuring my time. However, the schedule that I made for myself was tight, and I had also been helping tutor a couple of peers in the same program as me. They were having trouble understanding the expectations of some of the final assignments, so I suddenly had multiple project reviews on top of my packed schedule. I had to put in extra hours of work I had not anticipated to complete my projects and assist my peers. So, I worked out a system. I concisely explained the expectations for one section of an assignment then worked at the same time they were working, comparing results and repeating for the next section. Through that experience, I found out that I can hyper-focus during extreme deadlines since I did manage to get more done in the windows of time between tutoring than I would have at the pace planned out in my original schedule. I also learned how to shift my schedule to sudden changes, and it felt fulfilling to complete it all while also helping my peers. All of which would be helpful at Boeing where collaboration is constant and sudden changes are frequent."

Anonymous User · Answer

"In my previous role as a software asset manager, the company decided to use a new system to keep track of software and inventory. I was given the task of transferring all assets and inventory to the new system and knowing its functions and capabilities in a 2-week time frame.
I learned from that experience to utilize my resources, starting from asking questions to the subject matter expert and reaching out to colleagues who have used the system."

Tell me about a time when you reached a goal within a tight deadline. What did you learn from this situation that you can bring to our team at Boeing?

How to Answer: Tell me about a time when you reached a goal within a tight deadline. What did you learn from this situation that you can bring to our team at Boeing?

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11. Tell me about a time when you reached a goal within a tight deadline. What did you learn from this situation that you can bring to our team at Boeing?

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