Tell me about a time when you had to make a decision without all the information you needed.
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The interviewer wants to hear more about your decision making and critical thinking skills. Keep your answer career-based and discuss a decision you made where you may not have had all of the pertinent information.
Behavioral-based interview questions that begin with 'Tell me about a time...' are best answered 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.
The interviewer would like to see that you can use logic to make a sound decision. Show that you are capable and confident when it comes to independent thinking and decision making.
Behavioral-based interview questions that begin with 'Tell me about a time...' are best answered 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.
The interviewer would like to see that you can use logic to make a sound decision. Show that you are capable and confident when it comes to independent thinking and decision making.
Example #1
"(Situation) In my current role, I am responsible for creating the weekly schedule for 56 staff members. (Task) When I first took on the responsibility of scheduling, I did not have any data regarding our busiest times of the week and day. (Action) I worked hard to 'guesstimate' our customer traffic while remaining under the staffing budget and, at the same time, not understaffing. I used my logic and critical thinking skills to fill in the blanks for the data that I did not have. (Result) This scheduling approach worked out quite well for me. Now I fully understand our customer traffic flow, which has made staff scheduling a breeze."
Example #2
"(Situation) In my position, ambiguity is a large part of my daily reality. (Task) As an Executive Assistant, I often find myself making decisions wishing I had just a little bit more data. (Action) Just last week, the executive who I support sent me a rough outline of her preferred travel itinerary. I knew that some of her requests would work, and some would not align with pre-booked meetings. In this case, I looked at everything I had scheduled for her up to that point, created what-if scenarios for several variables, and selected the best possible option. (Result) I always do my best for this executive, and she appreciates my hard work and critical thinking."
Example #3
"(Situation) Before my company had an HR department, I had to lead all of the hiring efforts. (Task) I was often missing information critical to job offers, such as details on the company's health benefits plan. As a new manager, I was afraid of looking green and unorganized. (Action) I connected with our benefits account rep, and they agreed to come to my office and walk me through the details of our benefits package. (Result) After this meeting, I had a clearer understanding and was able to answer most candidate questions with ease."
Example #4
"(Situation) Often, our agency's clients are vague about their needs or the vision for their project. (Task) As a Creative Director, I know this vague approach occurs because they don't fully know themselves what they seek. I have had to fill in the blanks many times. (Action) To do this, I bring forward a few tools such as questionnaires, brand sprints, and discovery sessions. (Result) By using these tools, I can get to know my clients well. Also, it helps me to be more comfortable in making executive decisions on projects."
Example #5
"(Situation) Often when a customer dispute arises, I am missing pieces of the story. One particular example that comes to mind occurred just last week when a customer stormed in and demanded a refund. (Task) As the Retail Manager, whether I had the full story or not, I was instantly pulled into making a customer service decision. (Action) I quickly assessed what category the problem seemed to fall in, whether that was a service, product, or pricing issue. Once I determined that it was a product issue, I knew I would go ahead and offer a product replacement. (Result) All in all, this customer dispute lasted under five minutes, and I was able to avoid any other potential damage to our store's reputation."
Example #6
"(Situation) I recently had a customer seeking a particular piece of inventory that was hard to source. (Task) As a seasoned Account Rep, I knew my products very well. I also knew that nationwide, there were only two products that met his criteria. (Action) These products were seemingly identical, but I had to choose which one to purchase on his behalf. With a price tag of $5k+, it was a significant decision to make. I leveraged my industry knowledge and my understanding of the customer. (Result) By using context and prior knowledge, as well as a bit of instinct, I made the right choice, and my customer was thrilled."
Example #7
"(Situation) For years, my department didn't have a consistent or reliable way to quantify the effectiveness of our teaching methods. (Task) As a teacher, this presents a challenge when it comes time to tweaking curriculum or even gaining accurate feedback. (Action) Two years ago, I proposed that we set up four tests throughout the year to test cumulative knowledge. My department head agreed, and we have been using these tests ever since. (Result) Now we shape most of our teaching decisions off of actual data, making for much clearer feedback."
Example #8
"As a temporary staffing recruiter, ambiguity is a large part of my daily reality. I always do the best with the information I have to keep things moving. I often find myself making decisions wishing I had just a little bit more data. In these cases, I look at everything I have, create what-if scenarios for several variables and select the best possible option."
Example #9
"As an executive recruiter, ambiguity is a large part of my daily reality. I always do the best with the information I have to keep projects moving. I often find myself making decisions wishing I had just a little bit more data. In these cases, I look at everything I have, create what-if scenarios for several variables and select the best possible option."
Example #10
"I make small decisions quickly every day. For example, deciding what outfit to wear, what breakfast cereal I want to eat, or what time I want to leave my house each morning. Other decisions take a few minutes of thought such as putting my to-do list into a logical order for the day. I need to take into account project deadlines and how long the project will take to complete. And, some decisions take a few days, weeks, or months to make. For example, if I am tasked with selecting a new training software, I will need time to review demos, talk to other customers of the product, and analyze our budget before making a decision. It just depends on how large the decision is!"
Example #11
"In short, debugging is an important part of determining why an operating system, application or program is behaving abnormally. When I do debugging, there are many things that I take into account during this process. For larger lines of code, I conduct unit testing and pair programming which helps me identify bugs at an earlier stage. I also use the stand alone debugger tool to further identify bugs. I've always been conscious of my work, and only want to put out top quality work. To further understand where bugs may reside, I also look at the module to see if the problem avails itself. If not, I set up a 'breakpoint' and run a program to see it run its course. After performing debugging and testing, I do come across errors which I address and correct immediately. Some examples are...Syntax errors, Runtime errors, Logic errors, Semantic errors, etc."
Example #12
"Last month during a standard procedure we had a very important piece of equipment fail. I asked permission to leave the OR and quickly located another machine. The Doctor was happy that, rather than panicking or trying to make the faulty equipment work, I sprung into action to create an immediate resolution."
Anonymous Answer
"We have a big customer that had a critical issue with their alarm system software that we develop where it was not working. I didn't have all the information, but I went ahead and escalated the issue to our development team because of the critical nature of the problem. They found a bug in the software, resolved it pretty quickly, and the customer was satisfied in the end."
Kristine's Reply
Excellent response! The interviewer will be glad to know your reasoning behind your decision to escalate the issue.
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Anonymous Answer
"In my current role, I am responsible for creating a weekly schedule. I didn't have any data regarding our busiest times of the week so I had to guess and still remain under staffing budget but at the same time avoid understaffing. I used my logic and past experience at other pharmacies to make decisions on staff scheduling."
Rachelle's Reply
I reworded this just a touch, to help with the flow. Otherwise, good response.
Rachelle's Reply
"In my current role, I am responsible for creating the weekly schedule. I don't have access to data regarding our busiest times of the week, so I had to figure out the schedule to ensure I remained under the staffing budget, while at the same time having enough coverage. I used my logic and experience at other pharmacies to make decisions on staff scheduling."
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Anonymous Answer
"I was tasked with providing a large customer with a cost-effective project that yielded a 2 year ROI. With the current structure of how we purchase our equipment put the project immediately at 3.5 years. Through navigating and understanding the back end of how our business purchased equipment from our manufacturing facility, I was able to do away with the distributors cost associated with each item purchased. This, in turn, allowed me to focus on the savings for the project from a value-driven perspective to which the customer agreed and signed the proposal."
Rachelle's Reply
It sounds as though you took on a lot of initiative to learn what you needed to make the deal happen. Great example!
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Anonymous Answer
"When customers discuss use cases or feature requests, they are often vague about their needs or the vision for their project. As a PM, I know customers are vague because they don't fully know what they seek. As a result, I have had to fill in the blanks many times. To do this, I use a few tools such as questionnaires or discovery sessions. By using these tools, I can get to know my customers well and become comfortable making executive product decisions."
Rachelle's Reply
It's great to see you using the STAR framework! For this 'Tell me about a time...' question, the interviewer wants you to carve out a specific situation when you needed to decide on something without all of the information. As it stands, your answer addresses your work in general. Feel free to revise, and I can return with further feedback :)
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Anonymous Answer
"Once, I had a customer who ordered a specialty drug from me every month, challenging me that I was charging him too much. All he said was, "I can get this for $200 cheaper." I handled this by asking him for proof of that price, he could not give it to me and said: "I haven't bought it from them yet, but I will, and I'll show you, and you'll lose the business." I used my industry knowledge and understanding of all the different price points we have on not only this particular drug but all the drugs in that family. I told him I had to hold at my price, and he ended up buying it from me anyway. He was trying me to get to lower my cost."
Rachelle's Reply
Wow, this sounds like a difficult client to please, but you did it! This was a very smart approach that any company should appreciate.
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Anonymous Answer
"I would often have to create orders for new accounts without knowing what was going to sell in that particular store. I made guesses based on store location, what sold in other stores locally, what our best sellers were, were there schools locally and what my experience told me."
Rachelle's Reply
Perfect way to show the interviewer that you are able to look at past data to make educated decisions! I reworded this as the end of your response fell slightly.
Rachelle's Reply
"When working for , I would often have to create orders for new accounts without knowing what was going to sell in that particular store. I made educated guesses based on store location, what sold in other stores locally, what our best sellers were, and what I have learned from previous experience."
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Anonymous Answer
"In my current role, sometimes we can end up having data that we don't have much information on. I had to guesstimate what the other group wanted with their data and how to analyze it. So, I used my logic and critical thinking skills to fill in the blanks for the data for which I did not have much information. It worked out quite well for me. Now I fully understand their needs."
Rachelle's Reply
Your answer is well laid out and highlights a strong ability to collect information to problem solve. Well done.
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Anonymous Answer
"I worked the swing shift schedule. My immediate coworkers (same shift) accused the morning shift of not doing their job. I commented that they had to do their work; no one is going to just sit around all day! Even without knowing for sure what the problem was, I had the other crews back. Later finding out they had a training session and we would soon undergo the same training."
Rachelle's Reply
It's so great that you can see the full picture and remain open-minded when conflict arises. It seems you have an excellent attitude at work!
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Anonymous Answer
"In as much as I strive to attain all the information I require, there are at times I have drafted Letters of Interest to the tentative Landlords without having all the commercials that would make the letter of offer more attractive. I, however, use the letter as a means of initiating discussions especially when there is competition to acquire the property by our direct competitors and communication of interest is urgently required."
Rachelle's Reply
Good response! This answer shows that you are not afraid to start without all the info, but are aware and open to changes as your projects unfold.
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Anonymous Answer
"When I was new to the role of the secretary for the faculty academic committee, I was responsible for scheduling the committee meeting dates at the beginning of the year. I did not have all information ready for me to use. I used my logic, research, and good judgment skills that scheduled the dates to better suit the academic board agenda closing date, as well as our committee members' teaching schedule. It worked quite well for me, and now with more knowledge in my role, it has become much easier for me."
Rachelle's Reply
It's great that you refer to your logic, research, and good judgement. This is exactly what the interviewer would be looking for.
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Anonymous Answer
"They asked me to help find an EMR system for our practice. Basically, with no direction, I took the initiative to ask all the doctors what they've had experience with first and get their opinions than with the help of a doctor I work with regularly we sat through a few presentations before making our decision. We now have created and perfected an EMR system that we work with regularly."
Rachelle's Reply
Your answer shows that you have excellent research skills and the willingness to explore carefully before making a decision. Nicely done!
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Anonymous Answer
"It was my first day at work, and I had to get a patient to bed. I was not trained, but I was put in charge of patients because we were short-staffed. I had to chart for the patient but hadn't been trained. I ended up figuring out the basics and charted for simple things like bath, food intake, and vitals, as well as a few other things which I later showed my supervisor. After that, I was taught how to chart."
Rachelle's Reply
This situation sounds like a challenging one, indeed! It seems you are pretty closely following the STAR framework for answering behavioral-based interview questions, which is fantastic. If you'd like some help streamlining the approach a touch further, I have a guide that you may find helpful: https://www.mockquestions.com/articles/Master Behavioral-Based Interviews Using The Star Method/
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Anonymous Answer
"At my last job, I had a customer come in and tell us that she was shorted on her medication after she tried to fill it, and it came up early refill. Back then, our inventory management was not as good as it was later, and our on-hands were not always accurate.
Since it was for a non-controlled substance diabetic medication, I provided enough medication to make it until the next fill date per the computer. I also documented it as an incident report as a quantity refill error.
Since it was a generic medication and not too expensive, I decided to take the patient at her word and provided her with enough medication until her next refill date."
Rachelle's Reply
Excellent display of problem solving skills!
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Anonymous Answer
"In my last role, I had to review quarterly value-add tax reports which were unfamiliar to me. Neither I nor my manager was familiar with this report. This report was completed by a local audit firm. Before working on the report, I discussed the purpose of the report which provided me with context. Then, I compiled this report by utilizing my knowledge of value-add tax and financial statements, so I could complete it without tutoring or sample reports."
Rachelle's Reply
It sounds as though you worked very hard to gather the pertinent information, and did not succumb to stress or give up! Try using the STAR framework to ensure that your story hits all points when it comes to the situation, your task, the actions that you took, and the final result. This response is a strong start, but more detail could be provided.
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Anonymous Answer
"There were instances throughout my time being a QA engineer when I had to make decisions not having all the required information. I believe it happens often, as our field is so vast and there might be a lack of tech knowledge or not enough domain knowledge. When I’m in this situation I try to gather as much information as I can, I meet with the product owner, I talk to people from other parts of the team, I learn new tools and frameworks to gain the required knowledge. And even if there are still some missing pieces, I try to rely on my own experiences, observations made on the project, and logic to make the best decision.
Situation:
There was a time I had a story assigned to me and put in a backlog. I was supposed to start working on it the next sprint. Before the sprint planning, I arranged a meeting with the product owner to get a better understanding about the condition of satisfaction for this story (expected outcome of the story).
Task:
Although I still had some uncertainties about the task I had to start working on it.
Action:
I talked to our QA lead engineer who had worked longer on the project to get more information about the technical side of the story. But still, I had to make some of the decisions on my own.
Result:
I relied on my own experiences, observations made on the project, and logic. I was thinking about the team members who were going to use my changes in their work, and it helped me to make the best decision."
Rachelle's Reply
Situations like this can often arise, for sure! *Great use of STAR for approaching your story example. Your answer is nice and clear and your actions/initiative really shines :)
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