Tell us about a time when you faced an unexpected change in the workplace. How did you adapt?
Change is prevalent in the workplace, and the hiring managers at Progressive want to know that you can embrace change. The goal of your response should be to help the decision-makers feel confident in your ability to adapt to unexpected changes in a workplace setting.
Avoid focusing on a time when you encountered negative change. For example, 'When my company hired a new manager with a horrible temper, my entire work environment changed.'
Also, avoid examples that sound like you are blaming others. For example, 'I recently had to do an entire project by myself because my co-worker quit unexpectedly.'
Behavioral-based interview questions that begin with 'Tell us about a time when...' are best answered using the STAR method (Situation, Task, Action, Result). Organizing your response using this framework will ensure that you provide the hiring managers with the right amount of information and detail.
Pick an example of a time you faced a change in the workplace, and your response was constructive. Explain how the change directly impacted your job and talk about how you maintained a positive approach during the transition. Perhaps your job duties shifted, there was a significant revision in policy, you had to welcome a new manager, or your company was acquired. These situations make excellent examples to draw on when you form your story-based response.
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, my company shuffled around a lot of our team members with no notice. (Task) This shuffle meant that, overnight, the team of 40 that I was leading became a team of 60. (Action) I had a great rapport with the current 40 and needed to develop a fast strategy for connecting with the additional 20. I chose to throw a team-wide after-work event so that everyone could get to know each other and make meaningful connections. (Result) My idea worked like a charm, and everyone clicked right away, making the best of an abrupt situation."
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 worked for 9 months primarily as the Lead Estimator on a large foreclosure renovation account with Wells Fargo. My schedule was taxing but I always met my deadlines. During a staff meeting, I was informed another Adjuster would be taking my position and they were relocating me to another office. I had no idea this change was coming so it was a shock. I went to the supervisor after the meeting because I was concerned they felt I was no longer fit for the position. She expressed that they were simply rotating the Adjuster and that it was not a reflection on my work. I had to make a few adjustments but was accepting of the change.
Marcie's Feedback
This definitely sounds like a big and unexpected change. You do a good job using the STAR method here to describe the situation, your task/actions, and the end result. Since the question specifically asks how you adapted to the unexpected change, can you elaborate on the adjustments you had to make and how this made you feel? Emphasize that you learned and adapted quickly. Nice job!
Anonymous Answer
_______ Mortgage the company I worked for embraced change daily, monthly, and sometimes by the hour! I loved every min of it and particularly the second month of my team's promotion we changed some team members and even a whole new building. It taught me to adapt to my environment, surroundings, and new faces. I continued to exceed expectations and helped my teammates adapt to our new surroundings. My team leader praised my new leadership skills and admired my determination to succeed through the changes we faced daily.
Jaymie's Feedback
Good work!
Anonymous Answer
I was working part-time and loved the department I was in. I wanted more hours and the company was cross-training me in another department. Eventually, they moved me into the new department without asking me. I just took on a new role in the new department and was very successful. Eventually I was given a full-time position.
Jaymie's Feedback
This is a good start. Consider going into more detail about the hardship or stress that the move caused you and how you overcame them. Maybe it was meeting and working with new team members, talking to management, being patient and open-minded, etc. You did a great job using your last sentence at the end to share the outcome of the situation and how it benefited you.
Anonymous Answer
Change happens often in the photography business as a lot of times, the work is based on the weather, and children. Two things that are often unpredictable. One time, I planned on shooting 4 separate, 15-minute sessions, back to back, at a specific location that I had already sent to all of my clients. I arrived at the location early, only to see that it had begun to be under construction, so I could no longer use that location. I had to quickly problem solve and find a new location to use, as well as notify each of my clients in a timely manner in order to start everything on time. In the end, each of my clients found the location, arrived on time, and the rest of the job went smoothly.
Jaymie's Feedback
That would have been a stressful situation! Your response demonstrates your ability to think critically and quickly to meet the customer's needs, as well as your ability to communicate changes to others.
Anonymous Answer
Two attorneys were terminated from our firm. I was tasked with contacting all of the litigation clients and handling the transfer of their files. This was a huge change as I lost two colleagues and gained an extra 60 clients. With the added clients, I reviewed the files and contacted each client to introduce myself and discuss their case. With the extra clients/cases, I implemented additional organization strategies to help monitor all of my cases. This has allowed me to handle the heavier caseload without spreading myself too thin.
Jaymie's Feedback
Things happen beyond your control in the workplace, but interviewers want to know you can handle the stress and quickly adapt and overcome it. This example demonstrates that you have a can-do attitude and you're willing to jump in and support the team and clients when called up. Good job!
Anonymous Answer
Situation/Task: Prior to the pandemic the sales and marketing at my previous company was almost exclusively done face-to-face in schools. Obviously, that could not continue given the near-total shutdown.
Action: I put together a Marketing process utilizing more traditional for the industry, but foreign to our culture. The plan would walk our agents through every step of the marketing process. Training Call with detailed instructions of the process, Technical training, and a Q&A session.
I presented my plan to my Executive Leadership team and began a pilot of the program via Zoom.
Results: It was a little rocky at first, as we hit an unanticipated technical training deficit, but I brought in subject matter experts to provide additional training and got over that obstacle. Soon afterward we started seeing an increase in sales activity and expanded the program to a national level.
Jaymie's Feedback
The pandemic brought many challenges and unexpected changes to the workplace, so this is a great example to share of a time you faced something beyond your control but faced the problem head-on. Excellent job explaining the challenge and ways you found solutions to overcome the obstacle. To make your answer even more impactful, you may consider adding (if that data is available) specific numbers to help highlight the impact on sales or the number of states or salespeople that it grew to nationwide.
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