Do you consider yourself to be direct and forthright with others?
The interviewer wants to know that you are straightforward yet genuine in your communication. The goal of your response is to show that you are thoughtful when you interact with others. Show the interviewer that you can be sincere and honest, even when facing potentially sensitive or delicate situations.
"Yes, I do consider myself to be direct with others. The most professional and respectful thing I can do is get to the point in a considerate way. I never sugarcoat a challenging situation; however, I approach conversations believing that everyone has the best intentions. One example of being direct is when one of my employees delivers a report with errors. I will approach them and say, 'There are errors in your report. I would appreciate you fixing these by the end of the day.' By doing so, I address the issue while being direct about the resubmission deadline."
"Part of being direct is sticking to the facts when discussing a situation. If there is a concern with my work, I appreciate my boss approaching me promptly and outlining what needs repair. As a recent university graduate, I had many opportunities to be direct and give feedback to fellow students during group projects. I would confidently bring up any potential issues or concerns and then openly brainstorm solutions with the group members to fix the issues collectively. I learned a lot about being a contributing team member and look forward to applying these skills in this role with Company ABC."
Avoid providing an answer that makes it seem like you are aggressive or combative in the workplace. For instance, instead of saying, 'I have no problem approaching someone directly when a problem arises,' consider saying, 'When I notice a concern or potential issue, I will approach the situation promptly and with care.'
Being a forthright person means you are honest, sincere, and direct. It means that you provide timely responses, offer helpful and prompt direction, and provide thoughtful feedback without hesitation. Rather than only discussing your personality traits, consider also providing an example of how you communicate in the workplace.
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
Yes, I believe that being direct and transparent is the only way to be. I help coach multiple sales reps at my company, and one time one of the reps came to me with a scenario in which they thought they had the perfect solution. They were excited about it, but I knew, based on my experience, that their solution would not work and had to tell them and let them know what their best option was.
Rachelle's Feedback
It's good that you were direct and took the opportunity to coach this person. Can you dive into the details of what you said/how you delivered the message?
Anonymous Answer
Yes, I am definitely direct with others but also considerate. I like to get my point across in a respectful manner and assume that people have the best intentions. Whilst mentoring a student nurse who I asked to monitor a few patients and report back to me on checking the patient's notes, I had seen that she had not completed the task in hand but told me she had. I pointed out the importance of this and asked that it be done within 2 hours and documented. I pointed out the issue and was transparent and direct with the deadline expected.
Rachelle's Feedback
Perfect example! You gave feedback, clear direction, and a measurable goal. Thinking of the outcome - did this student nurse meet your expectations in the end?
Anonymous Answer
Yes, currently I am the lead in a senior design project with four other team members. Our goal is to make a ground work station for field researchers and currently, we are in the design phase. During our brainstorming sessions, it is important for me to be completely honest about my opinion on others' ideas. It would waste a lot of time if I wasn't direct during these meetings.
Stephanie's Feedback
Great response; the specific example that you provided does an excellent job of showing how you exhibit directness. While being direct and forthright is an important quality, this company may also be looking for someone who can balance directness with strong interpersonal skills or quality customer service. You may wish to add an additional sentence to your response that shows your ability to connect with your colleagues and/or actively listen to them.
Anonymous Answer
Yes. It is crucial especially in business to make someone understand what is required especially when they are buying into a product or service. Being direct and honest about eg a service will only allow your customer to use it and be successful to use it again.
Cindy's Feedback
Great! An example of how you put this ethos into practice would be very helpful. Was there a time when you felt it was necessary to be direct with a customer?
Anonymous Answer
I am a direct person. As long as you are respectful, people will appreciate honesty. When my co-worker asked me to translate marketing material to Spanish, I let him know that I was very happy to get it done, but it would be important to ensure that a Certified Translation was required. Since the material was to be provided to patients, it needed to be a Certified Translation by a professional Translation service.
Stephanie's Feedback
This is an excellent specific example, which positively affects the impact of your response. My only suggestion s to add a closing sentence to round out your response. For example: "My ability to be direct with others, while maintaining strong working relationships, has allowed me to be successful in my current role."
Anonymous Answer
"Yes, I do consider myself to be direct with others. The most professional and respectful thing to do is to get to the point in a considerate way. I never sugarcoat a situation; however, I do assume that everyone had the best of intentions.
We tracked all actions in Tier 3 Daily management and each action is owned by the leadership team, one of the supplies which were impacting on customer delivery for more than 5 days. The Supply chain leader did not complete a root cause analysis to drive a solution. I approach him to post Daily Management meeting and seek his commitment to sharing the analysis and resolution date and help him in connecting with commodity and supplier quality team for their commitments.
Marcie's Feedback
It's great that you've included an example here to support your assertions. Nice job! This will make your answer more memorable to the interviewer. It's also positive that you do consider yourself to be direct and straightforward while still being considerate and respectful.
Anonymous Answer
I would say I am definitely direct and value good communication. In my industry people lose track of how many sessions they complete and it's my job to effectively communicate how many they've used in a way that doesn't make it all about the money. I've also negotiated several small and large purchases where it is important to give the facts and consistently follow up to make sure I received what was promised and things were completed in a timely manner. Luckily for me, I must have done all the above well because I still use a lot of the same people.
Stephanie's Feedback
You pitch your skills with direct, forthright communication in a very positive way! I suggest wrapping your response up with a concluding sentence that links back to the question itself. Example: "My direct, forthright communication is one of my greatest strengths, personally and professionally."
Anonymous Answer
I do consider myself to be forthright and direct. I don't like confrontation, but good direct communication is essential for any high-functioning team. I was a core team member on a project where another key player was challenging to work with. He was combative instead of collaborative and kept important information from the rest of the team. It started to impact our progress and so I invited him to lunch to talk through it. I indicated that he has a lot to offer the group, but felt like we're not capitalizing on it because of the communication, and his unwillingness to be open with the team. I asked what we can change to improve communication and then requested that he be more transparent and proactive in team interaction.
Stephanie's Feedback
This is a very thorough and well-rounded response. You do a great job of identifying a specific example of a time when you exhibited directness, along with the outcome that occurred as a result.
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