When have you used an inventive method to stretch company resources beyond the norm?
This company aims to assess your innovation and commitment to your employer and whether you approach your work by sharing the values of the company you work for. How you answer could inform them of your work ethic and your sense of integrity. One of NAV CANADA'S Four Pillars says, "Innovation is key - We are passionate about modernizing Canada's air navigation system to deliver value to our customers." Talk to the interviewer about a time you were innovative and delivered value in the workplace.
"I have recently implemented a schedule that allows ride-sharing rewards, which has decreased our company's fuel expense by 9000 per month. I am quite proud of this initiative because it is not only financially responsible but also environmentally friendly."
"My current organization runs quite lean, so a big part of my job is to ensure that our resources are utilized as efficiently as possible. This year I wrote a new procedure manual dedicated strictly to cost savings efforts. The topics included energy efficiency and recycling. This was useful in ensuring everyone was consistently on the same page, which reduced waste and unnecessary expense."
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
It was not an inventive method, but the grease we use to lubricate the chassis being overused by co-employee, so I told him to use it responsibly, which makes savings in the lubricant cost.
Rachelle's Feedback
Very good example! Try using terms such as 'suggested' rather than 'told them.' One of the keys to a successful interview comes in how you word things, or frame your responses. I recommend that you get into the habit of using positive language versus negative language. This will help you immensely in your future interviews as well as future career growth. With positive language, you will always get better results.
"I noticed that the grease used to lubricate the chassis was being overused. I suggested to the team that we begin to use this responsibly which has saved the company money in lubricant costs, over time."
Anonymous Answer
There was a time when one of our locations wasn't as busy as the others, but during peak periods they would still require a certain amount of employees. If they were scheduled at that location all day however our labor would be over our target. I suggested splitting their shift between locations to maximize coverage and bring our labor down.
Marcie's Feedback
Smart! And what was the end result? Did your suggestion pan out? Don't forget to include the R in the STAR method (situation, task, actions, result). Great job!!
Anonymous Answer
At a previous company, we were growing really quickly and needed to hire and onboard a lot of new employees as quickly and efficiently as possible. I reviewed the current process and initiated a new hiring and onboarding process to ensure orientation and training were completed as efficiently as possible. We were able to successfully hire and onboard 30 employees.
Jaymie's Feedback
You're off to a good start. Can you go into more detail on what the initial company resources were for this project and how you stretched them to meet the goal? For example, were there only two people who could conduct orientation, and you both had to balance your regular workload with the onboarding process? Or did you typically only spend 4 hours per week on onboarding, but you had to work overtime to make sure all the new hires were onboarded on time?
Anonymous Answer
I recommended to my manager that we swap from plastic bags to paper bags. This saved money and we are also doing our part for the planet.
Marcie's Feedback
This was a great recommendation. Did it take a lot of persuading to get the company to make this change? How did it save them money? How did this change benefit the company and its customers?
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