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Rachelle Enns
Rachelle is a job search expert, career coach, and headhunter who helps everyone from students to fortune 500 executives find success in their career.
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1.
Tell me about a time when you undertook a project that demanded a lot of initiative.
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OUR COACH SAYS
This interview question allows you to demonstrate your ability to be a self-starter. Show the interviewer that you are a motivated individual by telling the interviewer about a specific time that you took the lead on a demanding project. Include details of your project timeline, which you led, or what you had to teach yourself for the project to be successful. Be sure to complete your answer by telling the interview what the outcome was.
Example #1
"We recently had a major inventory count requested of us by the corporate head office. At the time, our manager was away on holiday. No one quite knew where to start or who should take the lead. I took the initiative to lead my co-workers through the inventory project. I taught myself the tracking software in a short amount of time and created a schedule for the inventory counts, so everyone knew the expectations. We completed the project three days ahead of schedule! It was a great success."
Example #2
"I was recently tasked with changing our health benefits provider. Completing this project was crucial to our employees and our bottom line. I made a lot of calls and RFQs, and spent a lot of time hearing proposals to make the best choice before enrollment time."
Example #3
"We recently switched over our entire leadership team. During the process, corporate decided to change our medical benefit plans. I took the initiative to manage the culture during this time by reaching out to all associates individually to gain their feedback on what changes they would like to see. I explained some possible options and gained their feedback for the new leadership team. With the day to day responsibilities of being an HR manager demanded strong time management and initiative. However, I am proud to have led the associates through a seamless benefits transition while gaining strong feedback on leadership changes."
Example #4
"The first time I was awarded lead marketer on a big client project, comes to mind. I had to lead the initial intake calls, be sure to ask the right questions, and correctly relay the information to my marketing team. If anything went wrong, it fell on my shoulders so, for that reason, I worked double time, and triple checked everything before it went out to our client."
Example #5
"Last year, corporate was renovating my store to match the new ones across the country. As soon as it came up that they'd need team leads for each department, I asked for the job. I was chosen to spearhead making their vision a reality, give store #21 its unique twist on that vision, and manage a group of 12 in the department. The nine months spent in transition was a blur of to-do lists, meetings, and collaboration. I am very proud of my team and the role I played in creating and executing that vision."
Example #6
"I was responsible for rolling out an entirely new sales territory from scratch. We had zero name recognition and no clients in that region to point to as references. It was a daunting task. I developed a plan of attack by reading what other high-growth tech startups had successfully done in a B2C model. Next, I identified the notable names in the area that would make us an influencer in the space if we partnered. Finally, I began digging in, calling everyone and anyone who would sit down and talk with me. It took a lot of legwork, overcoming objections, but it ultimately proved effective, and that territory is now one of the top producing markets for the organization."
Example #7
"While on the curriculum team, I volunteered to lead the entire rewrite of third, fourth, and fifth grade Spanish lessons. We had previously agreed upon targets that we wanted to keep, to stay in line with the goals of the middle and high school teachers, but beyond that, I was responsible for creating the key lessons that all teachers would use and with connecting them to the state standards. This project was a huge undertaking, and I recruited a few fellow teachers to help. I delegated the work, choosing the teacher's workload based on their strengths and favored tasks, and then took on the rest for myself, along with overseeing and compiling all of the collaborative work. While it took the entirety of the summer, when it was finally complete, we had an incredible meeting going over it all, talking about the upcoming year, and everyone was excited. What was even more rewarding was seeing the plans in action, both in my classroom, and hearing about the successes other teachers were having as a result of their own."
Example #8
"Yes, I have been overloaded with work before. When I first began my teaching career I did take on too much. I wasn't as experienced as I am now when it comes to time management. I worked many late nights and weekends. I do feel that it is par for the course in this line of work when you are starting out. Now, I seldom feel overloaded or overwhelmed since I have more experience."
Example #9
"If I feel overloaded at work I talk with my co-workers to see if they can help me out. I've developed a great working relationship with them so we never feel that we are putting each other out."
Example #10
"Last month my relief zookeeper fell very ill and she went on short term disability. This increased my workload significantly even though my employer tried their best to have others fill in. I handled it all in stride, knowing that this wasn't a permanent situation. I did take breaks to avoid over-exhaustion and was able to get all of the required work done. My supervisor was very thankful and gave me a small bonus at the end of the month to show her appreciation."
Example #11
"I am a naturally organized individual. Without proper organization, a workload can get out of hand quite quickly. I was recently involved with a project that required 30 hours of my time in two weeks while I was also in the middle of several other projects. I was able to stay on track with visual reminders, mid-day check-ins, and robust support processes in place. I ended up working some overtime, but that is par for the course in administration!"
Example #12
"Just last year I paid for the Oren Klaff pitch mastery program called Pitch Anything. The program was worth every penny because what I learned dramatically increased my ability to write compelling sales copy and pitches. The basics of that course taught me how to set the frame, tell the story, reveal the intrigue, offer the prize, nail the hook point, and get the deal."
Example #13
"I have been overloaded with work a few times in my career but that doesn't happen too often. When I am overloaded with work, I take time to ensure that I am delegating more junior tasks where I can. Usually that helps with the feeling of being overloaded."
Example #14
"Not too long ago, I was reading an article on voice-enabled technology and how some logistics companies were significantly reducing costs with this tech. Some of the improved areas included shipping, returns, inventory control, and increased employee productivity. I approached my supervisor on this, and he agreed to do some research to help me come up with a presentation to our head office next month."
Example #15
"Working as an underwriter means that there will be times when there might be a lot of work on your hands. But if you are good at your job and keep things organized and plan well in advance then you can avoid situations where things might go out of your hands because of the overload.
Being a part of the industry even I have been overloaded with work once or twice. This happened when I had just joined and was a trainee working under a senior underwriter. I used to work on small assignments and for some reason used to spend more than required time on each assignment just trying to be extra careful with everything I did. As a result I was overloaded with work in no time. At first I got panicked but then I got hold of myself in some time and decided to sort it all out. I arranged all the cases according to the level of importance, the deadlines and also on the kind of cases they referred to and then started working on them. I did have to put in a few extra hours of work to sort this all out but eventually I was able to finish it all. I did miss a deadline or two but was excused as I was still a beginner.
It was on that day that I learnt that in order to avoid such situations planning is the best tool. Since then I devote the first 15 minutes of my work day in organizing my day and arranging my tasks based on the priority. My supervisors always praise me for I never miss on deadlines."
Being a part of the industry even I have been overloaded with work once or twice. This happened when I had just joined and was a trainee working under a senior underwriter. I used to work on small assignments and for some reason used to spend more than required time on each assignment just trying to be extra careful with everything I did. As a result I was overloaded with work in no time. At first I got panicked but then I got hold of myself in some time and decided to sort it all out. I arranged all the cases according to the level of importance, the deadlines and also on the kind of cases they referred to and then started working on them. I did have to put in a few extra hours of work to sort this all out but eventually I was able to finish it all. I did miss a deadline or two but was excused as I was still a beginner.
It was on that day that I learnt that in order to avoid such situations planning is the best tool. Since then I devote the first 15 minutes of my work day in organizing my day and arranging my tasks based on the priority. My supervisors always praise me for I never miss on deadlines."
Anonymous Answer
"My company had set up a mail-order pharmacy service that made it easier for patients to get their medications delivered to their front door with a quick turnaround. The problem was that this pharmacy was several states away, and as we grew and got busier, this stopped making sense logistically. I took the initiative to identify local pharmacies that my customers already had good relationships with that would be willing to carry my product. This greatly benefited our business."
Rachelle's Reply
Fantastic approach to a pending problem. Good answer!
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Anonymous Answer
"When I worked on my Green Belt certification, I had to complete online video training and tests besides the project for becoming certified. This took up a lot of personal time and initiative to be able to finish the video modules & tests to get certified as a Green Belt."
Kristine's Reply
Great answer! Your interviewer will understand the certification required a lot of initiative from you. To enhance your response, specify how much personal time this project demanded.
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Anonymous Answer
"I had to manage moving our office and warehouse to a new location. This required organizing a team, delegating responsibility, taking on contractors to move stock, fitting our office, installing a new phone system, moving servers and PCs, and ordering and fitting new racking for the warehouse. There was a lot to take on in areas I didn't have experience. We survived the move!"
Rachelle's Reply
Awesome! You have some great examples with a lot of variety - the interviewer will appreciate this :)
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Anonymous Answer
"I was tasked with overseeing the implementation of a new EMR system. I was in charge of setting up all the training throughout all the Centers via conference calls for the Doctors, Technicians, and admin's that were going to use the system. One of the initiatives I took was asking about a clinic in our surrounding area that already used the system. I then got in touch with that clinic and set up a time to observe how they had implemented and used the system to help get some insight on how I was going to use it in our particular clinics."
Rachelle's Reply
This example is an excellent way to showcase your ability to look outside the box and go to outside sources for help. This was a very clever approach. Well done.
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Anonymous Answer
"Drafting key organization policies, presenting the policies to the board and making sure the board understands the importance of the policies and finally implementation of the policies. This demanded a lot of initiative. Constant training of the senior management and monitoring the information waterfall down to cashiers and shop attendants. I believe changing organization culture takes time but I believe drafting the policies, training employees and changing the attitude at the top management contributed positively to the change."
Rachelle's Reply
These are all excellent examples of difficult changes and initiatives. Well crafted response.
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Anonymous Answer
"I recently took over the entire northeast sales at my current company. It required a lot of initiative because it is a brand new territory, and no rep has been in it before. I needed to be a self-starter as most of my day consists of cold calls. Through my initiative, I had a lot of positive feedback from my managers for my hard work, and our business is growing."
Rachelle's Reply
This would be a lot of work and initiative, for sure. It sounds like you are approaching this project with excitement, which is great!
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Anonymous Answer
"When I was in high school house construction class, I took the lead on the heating and cooling system. I didn’t know much about it but by the end of school, I had learned to install a home heating and cooling system."
Rachelle's Reply
Wow - that is quite a feat for a high school student! Very good! If you recall, try to add in details regarding group work and if you had any leadership responsibilities within the group.
Rachelle's Reply
"In high school house construction class, I took the lead on the heating and cooling system. I didn’t know much about it, but by the end of school, I had learned to install a home heating and cooling system. I led my group of 6 other students through this project, helping to divide the work and guide others that were having trouble understanding the concepts."
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Anonymous Answer
"I was recently tasked with identifying students who were a "no-show", through our newly setup "X" system. completing this project was crucial to our management for budget planning. I spent a lot of time running related reports, sorting the data, identifying the discrepancies, meeting with different teams to provide a clear report for the management."
Rachelle's Reply
Good answer. Be sure to speak about your successes in the end!
Rachelle's Reply
"I was recently tasked with identifying students who were a "no-show," through a new system called SEATs. The completion of this project was crucial for our management team for budget planning purposes. I spent a lot of time running reports, sorting data, identifying discrepancies, and meeting with different teams to provide a clear report for the management team. In the end, the project unrolled seamlessly, and I am now the go-to person for questions and needs related to the project."
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Anonymous Answer
"Our hotel needed more Business Travel guest rooms. I took a satellite aerial photo of the hotel and the surrounding area within a 2-mile radius and enlarged it on several posterboards. I then methodically went building-by-building, marking those companies in each building. I then formed a marketing campaign for different types of businesses. To this day, our hotel still reaps the benefits of that project."
Rachelle's Reply
Wonderful response! This answer shows excellent initiative and a willingness to go above expectations while thinking creatively.
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Anonymous Answer
"In my previous role as a Senior Accountant, I was the contact person with the financial institution we banked with. A year into my role in the company, I’ve noticed deteriorating levels of service and high bank fees from our central bank. Therefore, I reached out to my manager and asked for permission to look into other banks and compare services/prices. I met with two different banks, learned about the services they offered, and convinced my manager to open new payroll accounts with a competitor. This new bank processed our payroll payments promptly, charged fewer fees, and provided a better customer experience."
Rachelle's Reply
Wow, this is an incredible amount of initiative and steps that your employer must have greatly appreciated. Especially so early into your role!
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