Talk about a time when you received critical feedback from a leader or peer.
It can feel challenging to receive criticism in the workplace, especially from your leader, who you want to impress. The decision-makers at Progressive want to know how you react in the face of criticism. The goal of your response is to show that you can hear criticism, respond professionally, learn from the feedback, and willingly take action to make improvements.
In order to succeed at Progressive, it's essential that you're ready to receive feedback from your direct managers, team members, clients, and others. Constructive feedback will help you grow, learn, and develop the emotional intelligence required to succeed in a large company like Progressive.
The way you receive and respond to feedback is critical to Progressive. Show the hiring managers that you react to constructive feedback with an open mind vs. becoming defensive or engaging in conflict.
Avoid discussing a time when you received criticism about your character. Instead, consider providing an example where you received feedback on your skill level and were able to make noticeable improvements. Also, avoid discussing criticism around skills that are a must-have for the role.
This question is another way for the hiring managers at Progressive to ask about your most significant weaknesses. For this reason, be sure to give a clear example of a time when you received critical feedback on an important skill.
Using the STAR method, clearly outline the scenario and how you worked hard to improve. Be sure to highlight what you learned from the situation and spotlight how this criticism helped you improve your quality of work. Your response should end on a positive note about a lesson learned and how this lesson has boosted your career or work performance, benefiting Progressive when they choose to hire you.
The average HireVue interview takes approximately 30 minutes to complete. This one-way video interview typically includes 3-5 questions. Depending on the HireVue parameters set by Progressive, the asynchronous interview platform will generally give you 30 seconds to prepare a response and up to 2 minutes to answer each question. It's important to note that HireVue stops recording as soon as your time limit is up, so it's better to run under time than overtime.
"(Situation) Last year, while working as the Research Analyst for Company XYZ, my director sat me down during my performance review and asked that I submit my weekly documentation faster than I had been. I agreed with his feedback. I knew that I preferred working on other tasks and less on typing up reports. (Task) I understood that timely reporting was critical to the success of our projects. (Action) I started to time block my calendar, giving myself three 20-minute time slots every day to complete my documentation. I set the time and did the work with no excuses. (Result) Eventually, the documentation became a natural part of my workflow. Now, my documentation is detailed, and my reporting is consistently on time."
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
While working for my last employer, a situation emerged where I was criticized for a mistake. At the time of the criticism, I felt disappointed in my own performance but knew it was important to learn from my mistake and improve for next time. I understand that not everybody is perfect, and when we make mistakes, it is the ability to move on and improve for the next time. I spoke with my supervisor after the mistake was made, apologized, and made certain I improved my performance in that particular area. Now I always take criticism as a learning experience.
Marcie's Feedback
On the surface your answer seems perfect, but, in actuality, it's just too vague. Giving specifics will make your response so much more powerful. What was the situation that emerged? What mistake did you make? What lessons did you learn? How did you improve your performance?
Anonymous Answer
I had provided my estimate from a loss which included a roofing replacement and severe interior damage. My manager reviewed the estimate and did not agree with my choices in cost or repairs. I was required to rewrite the estimate in the format and scope he preferred. I did not agree, but he is the Manager and I respected his expertise and knowledge.
Marcie's Feedback
This example can work, but it's important that you emphasize any lessons you learned from your manager's feedback. If you didn't learn anything from his input and only made the required changes to satisfy him, you might want to pick another example to discuss here. Emphasize to the interviewer that you view feedback as a learning opportunity. Good job!
Anonymous Answer
When I was a childcare provider out of my home, my supervisor would often times stop by and inspect my home at random to make sure that everything was up to standard. Everything had to be set up correctly, and safely, and provide everything needed for the children in care. She would go through a checklist and make sure all of the things were done and I remember during my first inspection, she found quite a few things that weren't done the best and gave me some critical feedback about the way I had things set up. I took the feedback and changed the way my daycare was set up so I could then provide better care.
Jaymie's Feedback
Great answer! It's always impactful to demonstrate that you can accept feedback and take action. To take it a step further, if you had a high rating or perfect inspections thereafter, be sure to speak to that as well.
Anonymous Answer
Early on in my career, my supervisor told me that I had an issue with delegating tasks and that I needed to learn how to delegate. I realized that in order to put trust in my assistants and delegate tasks, I need to build a relationship with them and set standards for my expectations. I worked with them one-on-one with each of the tasks I would be having them work on until I made sure that they could perform the tasks to my standards. As a result, I was able to place more trust in my assistants and open myself up to focus on more important tasks.
Jaymie's Feedback
Interviewers want to know that candidates can be open and receptive to feedback. You gave a great example that shows you were able to receive and digest the feedback, then put it into action. You did a great job walking the interviewer through how you overcame this area of development and the positive outcome you experienced from it.
Anonymous Answer
One time I received feedback on prescription issues for a client. The owner of the Practice was informed by the parent how pleased she was that I spent so much time trying to find a medication for both her daughters that is in a nationwide shortage. I called every area Pharmacy to locate this medication for her family. I successfully found it and made a customer very happy.
Jaymie's Feedback
When interviewers ask situational questions about critical feedback, they are typically looking for a time you received constructive feedback or even negative feedback. The interviewer wants to know that you can take feedback (good and bad) and use that feedback to self-reflect, learn and grow and make necessary changes to improve performance or meet expectations. Your example is a good one to share, but perhaps in a "tell me about a time you went above and beyond for a customer" type question.
Anonymous Answer
Situation: Onboarding salespeople at my last job was challenging and was hindering their ability to sell effectively until several weeks after they started. They lacked equipment, authority, business cards, etc…
Task: It was a well-known problem, so I discussed some ideas with my supervisor and she gave me approval to build a plan.
Action: I created an Onboarding Checklist, and a prepackaged Onboarding Kit to order when the employment offer was signed, and moved some home office education processes around. All minor but logical changes.
Result: Salespeople can now onboard 2 weeks faster than before, and are ready to sell on day one.
Jaymie's Feedback
With this question, interviewers are often looking for an example of a time when you received critical feedback in more the sense of critiques or suggestions. Can you think of an example where a leader or peer critiqued your performance or suggested you did something different in the workplace? The interviewer wants to hear that you can be open-minded when being provided feedback and that you're willing to accept that feedback and make improvements or learn from it. They are looking for candidates who can remain positive in this situation, and who don't take feedback personally, but rather use it as learning and growth opportunities.
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