Behavioral Interview Questions
Master 31 behavioral interview questions covering past experiences, conflict resolution, and decision-making.
Question 31 of 31
Describe a time when you showed initiative at work.
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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.
The interviewer wants evidence that you are the type of person to take the initiative in the workplace. The goal of your response is to show that you are interested in succeeding, growing, and taking on responsibilities beyond your typical work scope.
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.
"(Situation) Last month, I realized that many of our staff training manuals had outdated information. Most notably, the company recently changed from Zoho CRM to Salesforce CRM. This change meant that the entire team had obsolete instructions on inputting important customer data into the system. (Task) As the Administrative Lead, it wasn't my responsibility to ensure this update was complete; however, I knew that the Administrative Manager was already overwhelmed with other deadlines. (Action) So, I decided to draft the training manual update myself. The update took me about one week since I worked on it between other high-priority tasks. Once I finished the draft, I asked the Admin Manager to review and approve the changes. (Result) They were very impressed that I noticed the issue and took the initiative to make updates. The sales and customer service teams were also thrilled that I cared and took the time to streamline their work."
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.
Taking the initiative could mean that you take on responsibilities independently without being asked or continually coached by your manager. It could also mean that you are the type of person who jumps in and assumes the lead before others do or before being asked. Answer this question by telling the interviewer about a specific time when you showed initiative at work. Outline the situation, describe the task, and explain the actions you took to take the initiative. Give as much detail as you can regarding the positive results of your actions. At the end of your response, be sure to describe your high level of initiative and how this characteristic will benefit the company when they choose to hire you.
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.
Behavioral-based interview questions like this, where the interviewer is looking for a story example, are best answered using the STAR method. STAR is an acronym for Situation, Task, Action, Result. Organizing your response using this framework helps you provide an effective story-based response.
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.
Avoid giving a general answer regarding your initiative. Stay away from vague statements like, 'I always take the initiative in life; it's just who I am.'
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Anonymous Answer
I can talk about one such situation, this is when the team was still small with 2 devs, 1 QA, and 1 product manager, and the project was critical with the deal line to move the project into production. This is when I pitched in and offered to help with client meetings, client debug session and on the side, I was also able to work on the actual tasks that were assigned to me. Made sure that I had a plan in place so the current project that I was working on did not have any issues.
Marcie's Feedback
Great! It definitely sounds like you stepped up and helped the company and your team by taking on additional responsibilities outside of your regular scope of work. This will indicate to the interviewer that you are adaptable, well-rounded, and a quick learner. Most importantly, it also shows that you are proactive and not afraid to take the initiative when needed. Good job!
Anonymous Answer
When I started to work for my prior employer after going into the employee resources drive I realized that the company never offered any sexual harassment courses for their current or past employees. I informed the manager of this as it is required in NYS for employers to have a certificate for each employee. My manager asked me to email her the link to the training and she would then send out a mass email for all employees. My manager was thrilled that I cared and took the time to help implement this.
Stephanie's Feedback
Another wonderful example of how you've shown drive and initiative at work!
Anonymous Answer
We use some preformatted templates for some of our clinical recommendations on our software when it comes to writing to MDs. I have realized that many of the templates that were created were outdated and antiquated in their clinical guideline references. I have since then started to make my own templates and send them out to my team so they can utilize them as well.
Amanda's Feedback
This is a good example of an initiative in that you can give more impact. Consider talking about why you communicate with MDs and how the inclusion of outdated clinical guidelines impacts your interactions or relationships with outside physicians. You can also briefly explain how you updated or developed your own templates and share the positive outcome. Are you engaging with MDs in a more productive manner? Have your team members expressed appreciation for the updates?
Anonymous Answer
I was assigned a task that was supposed to take around 2 weeks but I completed it in one day. I was motivated because I love appreciation from my boss and coworkers. Also, the best way to show leadership is to show that you can finish the tasks quickly. In the end, my boss congratulated me on a public slack channel.
Amanda's Feedback
This sounds like a strong example that you can build on. Tell the interviewer more about the task you were assigned and how you were able to complete it so quickly. Because you completed it so much faster than expected, confirm that you were still able to finish it with a high level of accuracy and quality. Understanding the scope of the task and that it was done well even though it was done quickly illustrates that you not only took the initiative to work quickly, but also produced high-quality work.
Anonymous Answer
At my current position, I noticed that the storage room was a mess, and everything was unorganized, and there were a lot of items on the floor. I came on a Saturday, organized the shelves, had labels, and made sure that everything was off the floor. I made sure to email the office to let them know and to try to keep it organized.
Marcie's Feedback
Nice! Why did it matter that the storage room was a mess? Who did this impact and who did it help after it was all cleaned up? Be sure to make it clear to the interviewer why this was an initiative that was of importance and why you took it upon yourself to do something about it. Good job!
Anonymous Answer
I have a good example, sometimes when the HQ outside Brazil didn't send enough money to pay the employees and we had due time by law. I was just entering in the company (like 6 months ago) and had received the money from my 13th salary and vacations. I suggested to HQ to pay from my account the rest and they committed to reimburse me within 3 days. We avoided some fines from labor law and employees didn't become upset.
Jaymie's Feedback
Wow! This is a strong example that shows you can identify a problem and immediately jump in with a solution, even if that comes at a cost or risk to you. This example will make a strong impact. Great job!
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