Have you ever worked in a situation where the rules and guidelines were not clear? How did you cope?
The goal of your response is to show the interviewer that you can thrive even in ambiguous situations. The interviewer should clearly understand how you approach your work when you lack explicit instructions. You should also highlight your dependence on your strong moral compass when company rules or guidelines are unclear.
"(Situation) One of my earlier positions was for a family-run furniture company with very few guidelines or rules of engagement when it came to sales, service, and protocols. (Task) As an experienced salesperson, I found this situation to be pure chaos. (Action) I did my best by following what I intuitively felt was the best decision on a case-by-case basis. I also created new processes and guidelines for my team along the way. (Result) By showing this initiative, I ended up being the top-performing salesperson and earned a promotion to manager."
"(Situation) I worked for a small family-owned agency a few years ago. (Task) As the new Admin Assistant, I quickly noticed that most processes were not formally written down or included in my onboarding training. (Action) I made it my project to create 'what-if' scenarios, collect answers from my superiors, and compile a troubleshooting list for future reference. (Result) When I presented the documents to my leaders, they were thrilled with the initiative that I took and gave me a small raise."
"(Situation) While working for an online marketing start-up company, I noticed there were many situations where rules and guidelines were not clear. (Task) I took it upon myself to address the need since my team and I needed direction. (Action) I drafted the rules and guidelines and came up with a system for others to contribute. (Result) Together, we created the internal structure that the company operates with today!"
"(Situation) In my previous role, I quickly learned that within startups, hard-set rules are difficult to find. (Task) As the new Business Development Director of a startup, I was to sell and hit my metrics, but it was a 99% 'figure-it-out-yourself' situation. (Action) I decided that the situation could be an excellent opportunity to pilot my business development ideas and sales tactics. I was confident in my work and comfortable with taking some creative license. I took the opportunity to create a set of approaches and processes for new client development. (Result) In the first 12 months, I secured 154% of my original sales goal, which allowed the startup to flourish."
"(Situation) In the past, I worked for a retail company that did not have clear guidelines or procedures. (Task) Being new to my career in retail sales, I found this situation to be tricky to navigate. (Action) I decided to educate myself through workplace manuals and any other internal guides I could find. (Result) Ultimately, I found a comfortable middle ground that kept me productive."
"(Situation) During a transition period in my school district, we had no department chair, and guidelines were unclear. In particular, nobody was mandating teacher meetings. (Task) A few more seasoned teachers knew that it was beneficial to us as teachers, and the department as a whole, to continue with our usual scheduling. (Action) We took turns leading the meetings and acting as though each of us was the supervisor, passing the baton to the next teacher for the next meeting. (Result) This approach allowed us to continue growing, learning, and collaborating during the transition."
"(Situation) When I first took on my current management role, my team did not have many guidelines or processes to follow. (Task) As a seasoned manager, I understood the need for clear instructions and expectations. It concerned me that our team did not have a playbook to follow. (Action) I don't like to enforce rules explicitly; instead, I hope that my team will use their training, knowledge, and intuition to make the best decisions. For that reason, I asked the group to collaborate with me to create this playbook of sorts. (Result) We finished this internal guide in a couple of weeks, and everyone seemed proud of their involvement."
Answer this question by telling the interviewer about a specific situation you faced where you were unclear about the guidelines or rules. Outline the situation, describe what your responsibility or goal was, and explain how you chose to approach the situation. Be sure to tell the interviewer that even though you were not entirely clear about the guidelines or rules, you still took great care in your approach, leaning on your knowledge base. Give as much detail as you can regarding how you coped in the face of ambiguity. If your process generated positive results, be sure to provide those details.
'Have you ever...' means that the interviewer is looking for a story-based example for this behavioral-based interview question. This style means forming a response using the STAR method. STAR is an acronym for Situation, Task, Action, Result. Organizing your response using this framework will ensure that you provide the interviewer with the right amount of information and detail to form a compelling answer.
Avoid saying, 'No, I have never encountered this type of situation in the workplace.' The interviewer wants a specific example. Rather than saying you don't have one, dig deeper and think about an ambiguous situation you have faced at work, school, volunteer, or even your extra-curricular activities.
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
When I first started with my current employer, I was sitting in the main reception for front line customer service. However, there were little written guidelines for the main desk which made the work quite difficult for me as I had to ask for help from my co-worker constantly in the first few weeks. I approached my team leader that I wanted to start to gather the information and create a contact index as well as general rules and responsibilities for the main reception area. This was actually a good opportunity for me that I could meet with the colleagues and gain knowledge on the courses and related procedures. After that, I felt more confident in dealing with student and visitor queries.
Rachelle's Feedback
Your reply shows organization and a lot of foresight which is excellent. Well done!
Anonymous Answer
I worked in sales for years and a lot of the job was trying different things to see what works. Using your initiative. If you're going to break the mold in terms of big successes you need to think laterally, take chances, try new things, take risks. Working in a startup I was free to try different things to see if we could we gain more traction.
Rachelle's Feedback
Excellent example and well explained! I reworded slightly so it sounded more personal (using 'I' rather than 'you' etc).
"For years I worked in a sales job at a startup where it was all about trying different things to see what works. I used my initiative and would break the mold. I took chances, tried new things, and took risks. Working in a startup, I was free to try many things to gain traction, which I learned to enjoy."
Anonymous Answer
When I joined the department I did not have set policies and rules to refer to when handling legal issues. With the aid of various departmental heads, I developed policies and guidelines; Competition Policy, Anti-bribery, different contract checklists, Health & Safety policy, Vehicle management, etc. This has aided in my team and other departments in having a clear reference point as they use their knowledge and experience in making their decisions.
Rachelle's Feedback
Wow, these guidelines must be so helpful to your team! This is an excellent example of taking initiative and acting as a leader. Well done!
Anonymous Answer
Yes, when I was at Journeys. It was a brand new franchise, and my team was new to working together. So, it was trial and error. I like rules, so it was a little bit of a challenge for me. However, after a short while, when we exhausted several options of ways of doing things, I looked at it as an opportunity to organize and help grow the business. We set clear cut expectations and worked together to make the office successful.
Alexandra's Feedback
Good example! My only recommendation is to elaborate on how you determined the expectations & what role you had in deciding them.
Anonymous Answer
One time, I was assigned to clean and organize a storage room. Nobody gave me parameters about how long the project should take, and nobody suggested a method to apply to clean the room; consequently, I took extra time to ensure that everything was put back into the room in a clean and organized fashion and my superiors were so pleased with the result that they were not dissatisfied with going over the deadline date.
Kristine's Feedback
Good start. It seems like the example you shared was a situation where your responsibilities were not clear. There's a subtle but important difference between responsibilities and rules and guidelines. With this question, you should describe a situation where guidelines or rules were lacking. Was there a time where you were unsure about what the rules or guidelines were? Did you ask your boss what they were? Did you check the employee handbook? Was there a time you didn't know what was the "right" or "moral" way to handle something, and couldn't find an answer in the company policies? How did you handle that?
Anonymous Answer
Yes, I have faced many such situations, I once audited a unit financial control, during the audit, we noted software were depreciated using the straight-line method. Same method as a fixed asset.
Kristine's Feedback
Good start. The interviewer will appreciate more details in your answer, so try to explain what rule and guidelines were not clear and the action you took despite lacking them.
Anonymous Answer
Related to this question, there was a facility that I went to that had different PPE (Personal Protection Equipment) requirements for different parts of the plant but one part of the plant the PPE requirements seemed to change with every safety person you came across, so I decided to wear all my PPE whether I needed it or not to avoid getting stopped.
Rachelle's Feedback
It seems like you made the right decision, and the safest one!
Anonymous Answer
Not having clear guidelines and expectations is a universal stressor. I worked at a start-up that was in continuous expansion for the first two years, and as a result, there was a lot of chaos. I coped by having weekly conference calls with the various matrix departments so that I could be clear on the expectations. Medical Sales is a highly regulated industry with little room for errors, and I found that these regular meetings gave me the confidence to know I was ethically meeting expectations.
Kevin's Feedback
This sounds like a stressful work environment, yet you came out on top! Well done. However, when in an interview there are several components an interviewer will be on the constant lookout for, namely your communication skills and your attention to detail. The detail missed in your answer was a specific situation, whereas your example covers a period of time rather than a specific situation.
Not having clear guidelines and expectations is a universal stressor. I worked at a Medical Sales start-up that was in continuous expansion for the first two years. As a result, there was a lot of chaos, and the communication was messy. The first time I coped with this, I addressed the situation by getting on a conference call with the various matrix departments so that I could be clear about the expectations. As a result, we got everyone on the same page so that there was no confusion or back and forth. I wasn't interested in performing any rework, and wanted this done right, right from the start. Medical Sales is a highly regulated industry with little room for errors. Soon these meetings ended up being a weekly occurrence, and I found that these regular meetings gave me, and everyone elses, the confidence to know we were ethically meeting expectations.
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