Do you have experience working with a team of colleagues across multiple locations, sites and maybe even countries? What were the challenges to working in this environment?
Boston Scientific operates in locations all across the United States and all across the world and if you are hired for this position, you will likely be working with individuals that work in different locations, time zones, or even different countries than you are in. For this question, your interviewer will be looking to see if you have any experience working in this type of environment. If you do have this experience, describe your team in detail and how you functioned effectively. As well, expand upon any roadblocks that you were able to overcome. If you don't have experience in this environment, talk about the skills you have that would make you successful in working in this environment from the start.
"In my current as a Manufacturing Engineer, my company has several manufacturing facilities throughout the United States as well as in Mexico. My team works great together, even though we may sit hours away from each other, and we do this through great communication. When we work together, we always use technology to our advantage. If a phone call or video call is warranted one on one, I never hesitate to do so. For larger group meetings, we usually take advantage of video conferencing and it works great. Prior to some of the new video and audio technology, we definitely had our issues but we worked through it with phone or email communication."
"As you can see from my resume, my Accountant experience since I graduated three years ago is with a small manufacturing organization where we only have one location. If hired for this position, my biggest challenge would be getting to know the colleagues that I would potentially work with in other locations. I am a relationship builder and would go about this through communication via phone, email, or even video if possible. Once I get to know my colleagues and work with them side by side, even virtually, I have no doubts that we will work great together as part of a team."
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
I used to have to contact different foreman's on different sites to see if I could organize people to pick up spare materials on sites that they weren't using as there was not enough to go around and we wouldn't get our work done without them.
Stephanie's Feedback
This is a good start, but I suggest developing this response more. What tools do you use to collaborate? What challenges did you overcome? What was the outcome?
Anonymous Answer
As operations manager, my work team is based in Costa Rica, however, all of our suppliers are international. With them, we always try to use technology in our favor by speaking by mail, zoom, or if the provider agrees via WhatsApp. There will always be challenges, especially with time zones or national holidays, however, we have always tried our best to keep constant communication and let anyone know if we are not going to be available.
Marcie's Feedback
Great! It sounds like you have solid experience in working with colleagues from other countries which the interviewer will be pleased to hear. You clearly list some challenges but also discuss how you overcome them. It's also good that you mention some of the tools you use to effectively communicate with each other. Great job!
Anonymous Answer
I was working on a usability research team in which half the members were in Eastern Time, and half were in Central Time. Despite specifying time zones, we ran into multiple problems with meeting times getting mixed up and in trying to use technology for remote meetings. We ended up making a couple of adjustments to accommodate this. For the issue of time zones, we made sure to use explicit language and always list the time for a meeting in both time zones. For technical issues, we made it a point to schedule an extra 15 minutes for any meetings to problem shoot, and for larger remote events we would execute a test run within 24 hours before to make sure everyone was comfortable using the technology required to run the event. Explicit and content communication became our key to success, and I believe our team worked just as well with the distance as teams in the same room.
Stephanie's Feedback
You do a great job of walking your interviewer through a situation where you were required to adjust for different time zones and working environments, Since Eastern and Central are only one hour off, I suggest addressing how you would navigate more significant time differences, even if it's just to state how adaptable you'd be (example: if you're based in ET and your team is in Europe, you may need to log in early in the morning.) Showing that you understand this need and are willing to accommodate, even if you haven't exactly navigated this yet in your career is crucial.
Unlock all 30 Boston Scientific questions
Prepare for technical and behavioral questions unique to medical device interviews.
Get Started