Tell me about your experience in training and coaching others.
You don't have to be in a formal leadership role to mentor or help train a new employee, so this question may come up at any level of position you've applied for. The interviewer wants to get a feel for what experience you have training and mentoring others and if it's something you have an interest in or passion for. Think about how you may have helped onboard or guide a new employee in a past role and if you don't have experience in the workplace, think about a time you may have mentored someone in a volunteer setting. Share how you were selected to do so and what you enjoyed about the experience.
"I have always enjoyed the opportunity to teach or mentor my colleagues. For example, last month our company introduced a new module in our SAP system, and I could see that one of our team members was having some trouble with the new module. I was familiar with it already, so I offered to help him. We spent his lunch hour for the next three days working on it. He eventually perfected his interaction with the module, and he's now teaching others."
"Absolutely. In each of my two previous roles, I have been tasked with leading a small team. I have worked on everything from appointment-setting and overcoming objections to price negotiations with those respective teams. What's more, I always look for an opportunity to connect with new team members. I try to always invite them out for coffee so they not only have a friendly face in the office, but also know that I can be a resource for them. I was promoted from their role, so I am always happy to share how I did it on such a fast timeline and what I've found effective that can help them be a change-maker in the company, too."
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 was tasked with leading a small team to a news program when I worked in the TV station. There were both senior members and new members of the team. To run the team in collaboration, I started the program by communicating to all members that everyone can give ideas or comments for the program. Senior members were armed with their opinions but new members kept a bit silent. I invited them to have some private conversation so that I can learn about how things went in their mind. Some of them were worried about being criticized and others may be inexperienced with the program production. I offered my personal encouragement and suggestions to them and also invited the senior member to give them individualized training. In that way, the team became bonded closely and the new members grew up fast. Our news programs were successfully published by many media channels.
Chad's Feedback
Great! It sounds like your approach to leading this team was highly successful, and you were able to effectively work with both senior staff and new employees. The interviewer will trust in your ability to teach and share your knowledge and skills with other staff. Consider including concrete results (i.e. how many media channels published the news program?) to conclude your example, to ensure the interview is provided with the full scope of your success.
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