Adaptability Mock Interview
Practice 15 Adaptability interview questions covering change management, learning agility, and resilience.
Question 14 of 15
When planning, how often do you create alternative scenarios to help you adjust to changing situations?
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Teacher
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Rachelle Enns is an interview coach and job search expert. She works with candidates to perform their best in employment, medical, and post-secondary admission interviews.
"I love having contingency plans. It's important for a marketing team to understand that ideally, we are going to do 'X,' but if that fails, we need to be ready to hop on and make sure that 'Y' happens. It takes out the uncertainty, and is sure to prepare everyone to adapt if a problem should arise."
Rachelle Enns is an interview coach and job search expert. She works with candidates to perform their best in employment, medical, and post-secondary admission interviews.
"Nothing is a guarantee in sales, that is one thing I know for sure. I always create 'what-ifs' because I know that plans change quickly, especially where there are multiple decision makers between myself and closing the deal. Plan B is always ready to go."
Rachelle Enns is an interview coach and job search expert. She works with candidates to perform their best in employment, medical, and post-secondary admission interviews.
"As an administrative professional, it's essentially my biggest job requirement to be ready to adapt at all times. I always have a Plan B and C ready to go. This level of preparedness is part of what makes me so valuable in my current role."
Rachelle Enns is an interview coach and job search expert. She works with candidates to perform their best in employment, medical, and post-secondary admission interviews.
"Alternate scenarios are great to have, but I prefer to stay focused on my desired outcome. So long as my team is on board with the goals we have yet to achieve, I am confident that we will always reach Plan A."
Rachelle Enns is an interview coach and job search expert. She works with candidates to perform their best in employment, medical, and post-secondary admission interviews.
"As a teacher, if you do not have alternate scenarios planned, you will quickly be railroaded! Students are unpredictable, so it's best to have a backup plan for anything. One example is when it's field trip day, it's pouring, and your activity is to take place outdoors. These types of scenarios happen all the time, and a great teacher will always be ready."
Rachelle Enns is an interview coach and job search expert. She works with candidates to perform their best in employment, medical, and post-secondary admission interviews.
"Any customer facing role can be unpredictable and requires a great amount of adaptability. Recently we had a huge recall of a popular gaming product. We had customers lining up outside in the morning to make returns. I quickly made a plan for the returns, along with a potential upsell, so that we could still benefit from the error."
Rachelle Enns is an interview coach and job search expert. She works with candidates to perform their best in employment, medical, and post-secondary admission interviews.
Being able to problem solve and think outside the box when it comes to changing situations is a valuable skill set. Talk to the interviewer about your ability to create a variety of potential scenarios. You may never need to take on these scenarios; however, it's great for the interviewer to know that you can adapt your plan on the fly.
Rachelle Enns is an interview coach and job search expert. She works with candidates to perform their best in employment, medical, and post-secondary admission interviews.
"I feel that it is essential to create alternative scenarios in all situations. One cannot guess what will happen in the end, so it is great to prepare for all possible outcomes."
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Anonymous Answer
I always like to have two or three options in the wings just in case all else fails. It helps to minimize any potential disasters by having a secondary option at the ready.
Rachelle's Feedback
This response is exactly what the interviewer is looking for. If you have an example of a time you had to move to plan B, or even plan C, feel free to add in a brief story.
Anonymous Answer
I always look at situations from multiple perspectives, so I have a well-rounded view of the challenge ahead. I always consider possible consequences and then minimize risks. Attention to detail is very important here.
Cindy's Feedback
Good! An example would be a really effective way to answer the question. Can you think of a situation that you resolved positively, thanks to your habit of thinking them through from multiple perspectives?
Anonymous Answer
Alternate scenarios are great to have, but I prefer to stay focused on my desired outcome. As long as my team is on board with the goals we have yet to achieve, I am confident that we will always reach Plan A.
Marcie's Feedback
It's great that you like to stay focused and that you tend to feel confident in your original plan, but the interviewer will likely want to hear that you're also open to adjusting your plan as needed. Has there ever been a time when your initial plan didn't work out and you had to switch to an alternate idea? Consider talking about this to show that you can be successful changing on the fly if needed (while still mentioning that you do prefer to stick with the plan you feel is best). Good job!
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