What is your approach to taking risks?
An inquiry regarding your approach to professional risk-taking aims to assess whether you would prove, as an employee, to be an asset or a liability. Your interviewer wants to know whether you take calculated risks as opposed to being a habitual risk-taker or gambler. However, your answer will also tell them what you even consider a risk and whether your approach aligns with theirs. For example, a calculated risk could be a credit risk, which TSB defines as "risks associated primarily with lending money to personal and business customers."
TSB defines their approach to risk-taking in the following statement: "We want to be a different kind of bank, so the way we manage risk should be different too. Risk doesn't have to be complicated. Our approach reflects our values and has the TSB mission at heart. For us, it's all about taking the right risks, learning from mistake, instilling confidence and keeping the bank safe."
Share your approach to taking calculated risks while protecting and safeguarding the interests of your company and their customers. Remember, a confident person's body language is open and relaxed. So avoid nonverbal cues of nervous or stressful behaviour, such as fidgeting, swaying, shifting your weight, rocking or tilting back in your chair, leaning to one side or the other, straightening and freezing your posture, cradling your neck with one or both hands, crossing your arms, cracking your knuckles or biting your nails.
"I would say that I am a cautiously informed risk taker. I have never been much of a gambler. As I have always said, the only bet I'll ever take is one that I am 100% sure I can win. So, if I don't have all the information on hand to make an informed decision, I will take the most reliable path forward and be willing to hold myself accountable if it is the wrong course of action."
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