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Creative Thinking Mock Interview

To help you prepare for your next job interview, here are 15 interview questions focused on your creative thinking and problem-solving skills.

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Question 13 of 15

When did you come up with an innovative solution to a challenge your company, class, or organization was facing?

With this question, the interviewer is looking at your thought process and your level of logic. Begin by discussing the problem you were trying to solve. Next, consider the data set you used to analyze the problem. Lastly, talk about the recommendation you gave, and the positive outcome of your suggestion.

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How to Answer: When did you come up with an innovative solution to a challenge your company, class, or organization was facing?

  • 13. When did you come up with an innovative solution to a challenge your company, class, or organization was facing?

      How to Answer

      With this question, the interviewer is looking at your thought process and your level of logic. Begin by discussing the problem you were trying to solve. Next, consider the data set you used to analyze the problem. Lastly, talk about the recommendation you gave, and the positive outcome of your suggestion.

      Answer Example

      "I was asked to assess which available project management applications were best for our business. My boss wanted me to narrow it down to three potential purchases, using parameters such as cost, ease of user interface, and customer reviews. I was able to narrow things down for him within two days' time and presented my findings. He went with my #1 recommendation which felt great."

      Admin

      "Our company was not communicating important information effectively to our second and third shift operations. I obtained approval to hang televisions in various places which we connected to a secure computer where I could input all announcements for everyone to see."

      Manager

      "I recently wrapped up an organizational effectiveness survey with my team. I analyzed the results by leader, location, and department then came up with recommendations of how the company can improve trouble areas."

      Marketing

      "Bounce rates for our website were at 65%, meaning visitors would visit the blog, but 65% of them would only stay on the page they landed on. I had to analyze their behavior. I found that 80% of visitors never scrolled down to view the rest of the content on the homepage. By analyzing that data, I knew a problem existed at the top of the page. I made a recommendation to the web design team to remove 50% of the graphics and text. This change enticed our visitors to scroll down to view the rest of the content. By removing the clutter, our bounce rate dropped by 15 percent."

      Retail

      "As simple as it sounds, I figured out a better way to distribute breaks across the department. Somehow it had become that the newest hire had to go last, or whenever the more seasoned employees hadn't called "dibs," which is unfair and silly. Now, breaks are on a sliding scale of sales in the previous week. Whoever has the highest % to quota, gets first dibs for the week of when they take their break. This method not only makes it fair for all, but it improves productivity as well."

      Sales

      "Our sales development managers were having a high no-show rate of about 65% for their appointments set across the board. I developed copy for an email template that was sent the day before the meeting. This email was a meeting reminder, but more importantly, it included the "why" of it. Why did they agree to the meeting in the first place? How would we make their life easier? And what was the upside for them? After a month of using the templates, the no-show rate dropped to 42%."

      Teacher

      "I bought myself a cart to travel from class to class. Sounds silly and rudimentary, but it's super effective. When the school population grew, they needed my classroom for a core subject, so I've been running from class to class teaching lessons all over the school. The cart has been great. I load up what I need for that grade and zip between classrooms. Other teachers that have lost their classrooms have also started using this method."

      Anonymous Interview Answers with Professional Feedback

      Anonymous Answer

      "I had a review on one of the segmentation models and by default, my boss expected me to run the same basic and advise her that the model is fine and free from bias. However, I looked at the data and noticed some significant differences between what she wants and what the data has been telling me. I went ahead and shared my findings and suggestions on what we can do with the current segmentation model."

      Jaymie's Feedback

      You're off to a great start! Organizing your response using the STAR method (Situation, Task, Action, Result) can help make it more structured and easier to follow. Can you go into more detail about the challenges you faced, the model itself, and the innovative solution you proposed? Lastly, while you mention sharing your findings and suggestions, you could emphasize the positive impact of your innovative solution. What were the outcomes of your proposal? How did it benefit your company or team?