What would you describe as the biggest challenge you've faced in your career?
Your interviewer needs to get a sense of the person behind the resume and CV. With this question, they aim to assess your emotional intelligence and level of experience. They'll do this by evaluating what you interpret as a challenge. Being challenged professionally isn't always a negative thing. For most career-minded professionals, it is a positive. Setting up or seeking out new challenges promotes one's professional development and furthers one's career goals.
"The most challenging problem that I encountered in my career was when I was entrusted with an incredibly important project with a major client whose contract contributed greatly to our annual budget. I was very excited and eager to embark upon this, but it was also a lot to adjust to and manage with my other responsibilities. After some initial difficulties getting off the ground, I was able to get a good pace going. The client was challenging to work with. They were rarely available, due to extensive international travel. So, for the 6 months of the project, I made my work hours more flexible to better coordinate with their time zone. Making this adjustment allowed us to communicate via Skype daily. It was a sacrifice and meant late night and early morning calls, which was challenging. I'm not at my best at either the beginning of my shift, or when I am winding down at quitting hour, but I rose to the challenge of being on at those times. The outcome was more successful than I imagined."
On their website, Teck Resources Limited advertises they aim to recruit those who have leadership potential, and they encourage professional development with all of their employees. "Our approach to leadership development is primarily focused on four programs: Leading for the Future, Leading for Excellence, Leading Together and Emerging Leaders. Teck also provides employees with access to unlimited online training through an external provider, encouraging upgrading of skills and knowledge for their current or future roles."
Avoid offering any examples where you describe difficulties working with challenging individuals or anything negative about the work environment or leadership. This will simply portray that you prefer the status quo over being challenged, and have difficulty establishing interpersonal relationships.
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
The most challenging problem in my career was the Alberta oil sand. Through consistency, teamwork, and patience, it turned out to be a wonderful experience
Jaymie's Feedback
If you can, spend some more time and detail when responding to these types of questions. These types of questions provide you with an opportunity to really showcase and highlight your skills. Provide a clear understanding of what the challenge was, why it was a challenge, and the skills that you used to come up with solutions or ways to overcome obstacles. Then, be sure to speak about the outcome and impact you had.
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