Describe a difficult problem and how you approached it.

"While attending university, I was assigned a group project with a group of less-than-motivated individuals. My grades and performance were crucial to me, so I approached the group with a leadership and mentorship mentality. I uncovered what motivated everyone on the team and took the initiative where others would not. Communication skills were critical in this situation, and I was able to effectively reach out to each team member to discuss the objectives, goals and responsibilities so that we could achieve the common goal."

"I took a customer call with a history of poor customer experiences with the organization. One after another, the customer was left frustrated by our banking processes and voiced their concerns in an unpleasant manner. I took the initiative to listen and understand their frustrations, then partnered with the different departments in the company to resolve the concerns and save the customer relationship."

"I once took a leadership position with a company that had a lot of turnover in the role, so the team was naturally frustrated by yet another new leader. My first responsibility was to assess my new team. As a new leader, I kept in perspective that it can be an overwhelming and challenging time for employees. In my first week, I had a team meeting to introduce myself and meet everyone; then, I set up initial one-on-ones and reoccurring meetings as well. In the first few meetings, I sought to understand their past work experience, what they felt was going well, what they felt were obstacles or barriers, their career goals, projects they had worked on, etc. I spent the next few weeks assessing their personality, collaboration, and technical skills before I read their past performance reviews; that way, I didn't have any biased or preconceived ideas before I got to know them. I also sought feedback from the team in these one-on-one meetings. For example, I might ask, "who on the team do you go to when you need help" so I could further identify who the team viewed as mentors or leaders. This approach helped the employees feel more comfortable and allowed me to build relationships quickly."

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