Tell me about a difficult decision you had to make in one of your previous roles.

When answering this question, choose a situation in which you made a decision involving a personal sacrifice or two equally undesirable outcomes. Describe the choice you made, its rationale, and the outcome. Then briefly discuss what, if anything, you would have done differently based on the outcome.

"During a recent downturn in business, I was required to reduce my staff. Every member of the team was well qualified and valuable to the organization, so choosing who to let go was difficult. After a great deal of consideration, I decided to dismiss one of the more experienced workers, knowing that they could easily find another job within the industry with my recommendation. This allowed me to develop one of the junior staffers, increasing their skills and making them more valuable to the organization. I would make the same decision if presented with this situation again."