Give me an example of a challenge you overcame in your last position.
"When starting my last role, there were 35 critical leadership openings in the business. It was causing a huge challenge for the businesses to function and meet their key initiatives. I worked closely partnering with talent acquisition to accomplish the successful hiring and training of all roles."
"My last challenge was to complete product testing within a deadline that was very tight. I was able to keep the test cells running 24 hours a day by monitoring their status from my laptop at home and by asking team members on later shifts to stop by and make sure they could hear it running."
"I would say the biggest challenge I overcame in my previous position was my lack of outside sales experience. I had inside sales and account management but had never done a cold pitch. At first, it was uncomfortable, but as I became more confident in the company and my knowledge of the industry, I learned what an asset I could be in outside sales. By meeting prospects face-to-face, I could assess not only their sincerity and level of interest but also connect on a personal level. What's ironic is the thing that gave me the greatest pause about taking the position became my favorite part of the job. It's something I look forward to continuing to do daily with your organization, should I be offered the position."
"The district was running a referendum to pass what would get cut from the budget and had a list of proposed cuts; elementary Spanish was at the top of the list. Being told that, purely for budgetary reasons, my job and department would be gone was quite a challenge. We saved the program, in large part due to the support of my current and former students and their families."
"In my last position, I was tasked with fixing a very broken website. So, I not only learned WordPress, but shopped other providers and learned that WooCommerce was not the best fit for our needs, and migrated the site over to Shopify. I had to teach myself some basic code, as I had minimal resources or support within my organization. In any event, I got the site up and running and working better than ever!"
"When I first arrived in my position, the inventory management in our store was out of control. Clothing was stashed in the back room, in every nook and cranny imaginable. I decided to take hold of that project immediately, setting a new standard for the floor sales staff."
Demonstrate your positive approach to problem-solving. Show that you are proactive and competent when it comes to challenging workplace situations. Perhaps you went over and above to meet a tight deadline while taking over the responsibilities of a co-worker who was out sick. Another example could be that you trained yourself on a new software that was difficult to understand.
In your answer, focus on the steps you took to overcome the challenge, rather than the challenge itself. The interviewer wants to hear that you are determined and able to problem solve.
"The biggest challenge that I overcame in my last position was that I was brand new to the industry. I had sales experience; however, I knew very little about the oil and energy industry. I took my evenings and weekends to study hard on industry background, and trends. It didn't take me long to feel comfortable and confident when speaking with potential clients. All it took was some time and dedication!"
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
It was the first week of my current job; I was working on the system test, getting trained for the test. One day the guy who was teaching me was sick, and he calls off. On the same day, Engineers have done some change in the configuration file of the testing SW, so we have to follow his procedures, his steps he writes it down in his language which was difficult for me to decode. But I try to make sense on his code with a google search and try to find meaning in his speech, and I asked for help and made sure that what I understand and what you mean is the same. Then I have done testing, and it works.
Kevin's Feedback
This is a good example; however, it's difficult to follow. I recommend organizing your thoughts, emphasizing how resourceful you were in your approach so-as to display outside-of-the-box thinking, and sticking with the facts. Please see below.
“The first week of my current job, the person training me on performing a system test called in sick one day. The same day, our engineers changed some configuration files that impacted our testing. The system test had to be performed that day, and barely trained the responsibility fell on my shoulders. The colleague training me wrote down the steps for me to follow, but it was in his language which was difficult for me to translate. So there I was, new to the position, barely aware of the resources at my disposal. But I was determined, so I utilized Google to translate and asked others for help. In the end, I performed the testing, and it worked out well.”
Anonymous Answer
In the international organization I was working in at that time (before my current job), I started as a team coordinator. All of a sudden, a task force was created within the team in order to better coordinate and supervise the massive project the team was working on at the time, and I was invited to join the task force, with an almost immediate start, as the project was running behind. At the very beginning, I read the job description and felt like I was matching it only for 60% of the requirements. Nonetheless, I felt grateful and empowered by the fact that my director believed in me so much to offer me the position, and I was sincerely excited about such a learning experience, so I accepted. I admit, there were a few tough weeks, when I had to hit the ground running, learn a few new software and get used with a new style of work, but, all my hard work paid off, my contract was extended, and I was offered to remain in the organization until the end of the project.
Rachelle's Feedback
This sounds like a challenge, indeed! It's great that you stepped up despite any hesitation or fears. Nice answer!
"At Company ABC, I started as a team coordinator. Suddenly, a task force was created within the team to better coordinate and supervise the massive project at hand. I was invited to join the task force, with an almost immediate start, as the project was running behind. At the very beginning, I read the job description and felt like I was only a 60% match for the requirements. Nonetheless, I felt grateful and empowered by the fact that my director believed in me so much to offer me the position. I was sincerely excited about such a learning experience, so I accepted it. I admit, there were a few tough weeks when I had to hit the ground running, learn new software, and get used to a unique style of work, but all my hard work paid off. My contract was extended until the end of the project."
Anonymous Answer
"S: At the start of lockdown last year, I was tutoring a student towards the 11. Lessons were moved online.
"T: I needed to find a way to keep him engaged whilst still learning effectively, over the computer.
"A: I used screen share and integrated more maths games into our lessons. I varied the topics and kept a record of how many he got right.
"R: He reacted very well, still learning and progressing as before.
Cindy's Feedback
Good, timely example. Nice!
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