When have you had to think outside of the box to solve a problem?
"Recently we needed to create a mentorship program for a client. By my suggestion, we decided to engage local thought leaders as well as aspiring leaders. This approach benefited the community as a whole, and our client was delighted with the result."
"I once had to deal with a space issue in our warehouse. We arranged and re-arranged several times and could not make it work. I thought outside the box and rented some outside pod storage until we were back to normal inventory levels."
"In retail, a customer will approach you with odd requests from time to time. Recently, I had a customer insist on making a return that wasn't even from our store. They were furious that I would not take the return! It turns out; we were running a promotion where if you spent 50, you received a 25 in-store gift card. I suggested to the customer that they purchase the product, from us, that they initially wanted. They would then receive the 25 in-store gift card, and they could still return the original product to the first store. I turned an angry return to a paying customer!"
"As a teacher, I often have to think of alternate ways to teach a lesson when some kids aren't picking up the content. I will always have multi-media resources available for my students to support their learning such as educational computer games and interactive online worksheets."
"In sales, if you cannot think outside the box, and on the fly, you will not succeed. Recently I had a client who wanted a digital service option thrown in that we did not yet have. It was still in development. To offset his disappointment, I asked him if I could give him three months of the service for free on a trial basis, to help us work out the kinks, would he then be happy. He was thrilled, and we had a real-life test subject."
"Last week my computer crashed, and it took IT three hours to recover everything. Feeling lost, I said to myself 'Well, what did they do before computers?' To make the best of my time, I took to the file room and started organizing the physical files."
Talk to the interviewer about a time you had to solve a problem creatively. Your answer doesn't have to be an invention or a tremendous break-through you made in your previous role. Any unexpected decision you made will most likely count as a creative solution. Pick a scenario where you were pleased with the outcome.
"In my current position we saw a decrease in clients due to a local economic downturn. I recommended to our head office that we begin to generate business outside of our region for the first time in many years. They agreed, and the idea turned things around for us that fiscal year."
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
Recently the VA in northern Indiana changed the rules on # of shoes to one pair per year. It caused a drop in # of patients in the clinic. I thought it would be beneficial to try to do some marketing to pain doctors, ER doctors, and other clinicians working in CBOCs. And that caused the # of orthotics patients to increase.
Mary's Feedback
This response shows initiative in attracting new customers- something important to businesses. See edits for clarity.
Recently, the VA in northern Indiana saw a drop in the number of clinic patients because of a change in policy that allowed only one pair of shoes to be provided (a decrease from the prior policy). I saw the need to increase marketing, so worked to connect with local pain doctors, ER doctors and other clinicians working in CBOC's. As a result of this marketing, we saw the patient numbers increased.
