Practice 20 Scenario Based interview questions covering problem-solving, decision-making, and real-world situations.
Question 2 of 20
The Goal
Example Answer
Retail
Sales
Teacher
Admin
Manager
Marketing
What to Avoid
Pro Tip
How to Answer
Community Answers

Rachelle Enns is an interview coach and job search expert. She works with candidates to perform their best in employment, medical, and post-secondary admission interviews.
The interviewer wants to know how you handle the pressure of making crucial decisions. The goal of your response is to describe your decision-making approach and highlight your confidence level when making important choices.

Rachelle Enns is an interview coach and job search expert. She works with candidates to perform their best in employment, medical, and post-secondary admission interviews.
"(Situation) While working for Company XYZ as a customer service associate, I was tasked with addressing an angry customer who had called into the office. (Task) Typically, my manager would handle all escalated customer issues; however, they were away for the day for leadership training. I could have asked this customer to call back to speak with our manager the next day, but they were agitated. I felt that if I asked her to call back tomorrow, she would feel like we didn't care. I also believed the situation would escalate if it sat for another day. (Action) As a representative of my company, I made the calculated risk to handle the situation myself, using my managers' approach as a guideline. Since we messed up on the product we sent her, I decided to take full responsibility for the situation. I spoke with her about her concerns in full and gave three options for how I could fix the situation. (Result) I ended up issuing a refund, and at the end of the call, she thanked me for listening. She said that I provided one of the best experiences she had ever had with a service associate in the company."

Rachelle Enns is an interview coach and job search expert. She works with candidates to perform their best in employment, medical, and post-secondary admission interviews.
"(Situation) Many of the decisions I make as a retail associate for Store XYZ are surrounding accepting basic returns and helping customers with straightforward questions. (Task) However, because we do not always have a manager on the floor, I sometimes have to make crucial decisions when more complex customer issues arise. Last month, I decided to take back an opened electronic item even though that is against our store's return policy. The customer complained that their earbuds were making a buzzing sound. I was aware that there had been rumors about a potential product recall, and the grievance the customer described lined up with concerns I had heard from other customers and on a few online forums. (Action) Despite our no returns policy on opened items, I felt confident in serving the customer and giving them the requested refund. I told the customer that I would return the product directly to the manufacturer from our store. I believed I could leverage our vendor relationship or find a solution by reading the warranty fine print. (Result) The customer was relieved that their request went smoothly. Later, I approached my manager and explained my reasoning. Thankfully they agreed with my approach. My actions even resulted in the customer leaving a great Google review for the store, which made me feel proud."

Rachelle Enns is an interview coach and job search expert. She works with candidates to perform their best in employment, medical, and post-secondary admission interviews.
"(Situation) In my most recent territory sales manager role, the CFO asked me to make budget cuts. (Task) My task was to reduce my departments' spending on human resources by 25%. (Action) I carefully analyzed what changes would make the biggest impact. I ran scenarios and numbers for a few days while researching territory management solutions from sales leaders in my industry. In the end, I decided to release three of my eleven sales team members. These terminations meant expanding the territory given to the remaining eight sales reps. I carefully reviewed which team members had the best performance over a 15-month period. I also looked at customer survey results. Based on a range of employee performance metrics, I chose who I would need to release from my team. Then, I mapped out new territories for each of the remaining eight sales reps and divided the unassigned clients accordingly. I ensured the changes were as balanced as possible and handled the three employee terminations with care. (Result) As anticipated, I received pushback and a few complaints, but I also supported my decision by sharing compelling metrics and data with the team. I showed my remaining team members that their expanded territory meant a significant increase in profit potential, which meant additional commissions. In addition to leaning out my team and helping my top performers to boost their earnings, I showed the CFO that I could make difficult decisions while remaining a thoughtful leader."

Rachelle Enns is an interview coach and job search expert. She works with candidates to perform their best in employment, medical, and post-secondary admission interviews.
"(Situation) Last year, I decided to work with an IEP student during my lunch break three days a week. The student was previously removed from my Spanish class due to disruptive behavioral issues. (Task) Although this student was disruptive, I knew that it wasn't in his best interest to feel isolated from other students. If I could get his learning back on track and build trust with him, I was sure that his behavior would improve, and he would be permitted in my class again. (Action) We did these lunchtime lessons together for three months. (Result) After this time, the student asked the school's learning leader if he could participate in Spanish class again- an approved request. He became a star student in Spanish, and his behavior remained positive and focused. Attending classes regularly turned out to be a significant incentive for this student, and I am thrilled that I chose to spend my lunch hours investing in his learning."

Rachelle Enns is an interview coach and job search expert. She works with candidates to perform their best in employment, medical, and post-secondary admission interviews.
"(Situation & Task) In my last administrative role at Company XYZ, I was tasked with finding three new vendors. One for our office supplies, one for our coffee produces, and one for our recycling services. The owner wanted to save money, so I was asked to initiate the research with 12,000 in annual savings as the goal. (Action) I did a great deal of research while prioritizing cost savings and each vendors' business reputation. I made a spreadsheet with vendor names, pricing options, and each vendor's bonus incentives. Then, I presented my findings to the owner, highlighting my recommendations. (Result) To my surprise, the owner gave me the responsibility to make the final decision and lead price negotiations with the potential new vendors. Once I made the changes, I tracked our company's savings for three months. Again, I presented those savings to the owner. Overall, my decisions saved us 25,000 over 12 months. At first, it felt intimidating to be in charge of an important decision like this. Still, I learned that with the proper research and a keen eye, I'm good at making calculated decisions and negotiating terms with vendors."

Rachelle Enns is an interview coach and job search expert. She works with candidates to perform their best in employment, medical, and post-secondary admission interviews.
"(Situation) When I first joined Company XYZ as the human resources manager, one of the biggest pain points was the high level of turnover with employees within their first six months. (Task) After observing the hiring and onboarding processes for 30 days, interviewing existing team members, and reading a few case studies on employee turnover, I decided to change the onboarding process entirely. (Action) I implemented job shadowing for each territory sales person's first month, along with regular manager ride alongs and frequent client survey requests for the first three months. (Result) The changes dramatically increased the success of our new sales professionals and also increased employee retention by 15%, saving us thousands of dollars in rehires."

Rachelle Enns is an interview coach and job search expert. She works with candidates to perform their best in employment, medical, and post-secondary admission interviews.
"(Situation & Task) When I first joined Company XYZ as the marketing manager, I knew I would have to make a strong case for investing in social and digital marketing efforts. The company was nearly 50 years old and relied on traditional advertising methods like print and radio. Any changes would be risky since the default attitude internally was to resist new ideas. (Action) I spent two weeks creating a proposal for the leadership team. I researched case studies of companies that shifted some of their advertising budgets away from traditional marketing toward social and digital advertising. In my proposal, I initially asked for 10% of the marketing budget to be moved to social and digital efforts. Then, once a particular goal was reached, the budget would increase to 20%. I tiered the budget request so that after 12 months of positive results, my department would have access to 60% of the company's marketing budget. I knew it was important that my request remain conservative while the results I delivered needed to be exceptional. (Result) The leadership team agreed to my approach and after the first year, my changes accounted for an additional 500K in revenue brought in from advertising efforts."

Rachelle Enns is an interview coach and job search expert. She works with candidates to perform their best in employment, medical, and post-secondary admission interviews.
Avoid giving an example of a trivial decision or a decision that failed to impact your work. Also, avoid making it sound like you 'go with your gut' when facing a decision. Instead, be prepared to show that you are methodical in your decision-making approach.

Rachelle Enns is an interview coach and job search expert. She works with candidates to perform their best in employment, medical, and post-secondary admission interviews.
If you have held a managerial position or higher, this question may be easier to answer since your role likely requires frequent decision-making responsibilities. If you are newer to your career, think about when you were left to make a choice, and you felt a bit in over your head. Be prepared to talk about how you came to your decision and the positive result.
Some examples of crucial decision making in the workplace include:
- Replacing broken or low-performing machinery or tools
- Choosing a successful vendor from a pile of proposals
- Deciding who to interview and hire for a new position
- Triaging your clients' needs by order of urgency
- Deciding where to hold the next company conference or client appreciation party
- Choosing which actions to take to get a task back on track
- Overriding company policy to do the right thing for a customer

Rachelle Enns is an interview coach and job search expert. She works with candidates to perform their best in employment, medical, and post-secondary admission interviews.
Since the interviewer is measuring your critical thinking and decision-making skills, it's best to talk about a time when you made a decision with certainty and positively impacted your employer. Using the STAR method (Situation, Task, Action, Result), share the story of one crucial decision you made. Offer details about how you came to your final decision - perhaps through research, data gathering, or asking for advice from a senior leader. Then, show that you were aware of the result or consequence that your decision might create. This detailed approach should highlight your self-awareness and alertness to the cause and effect of your actions. These components will show the interviewer that you are a strategic thinker who makes well-considered decisions.
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Anonymous Answer
An important decision I made was to leave my most recent position at the hospital during the covid19 pandemic. I had to choose between keeping my family safe, because I have members of my household with high risk issues, and continue working and possibly bringing the virus home. Although I would lose income, I decided it would be best to leave. If the position was a career based job, it would've made staying easier, because I would have the financial stability to stay out of my family's home and keep them away from the virus. I don't regret that decision, because it has made me strive for a career based position in law enforcement and not settle.

Rachelle's Feedback
Very well said! You articulate this difficult decision very well, while also showing immense strength in character.
Anonymous Answer
I had a patient call to schedule an appointment due to her having some current issue. She talked with her nurse prior. I researched her chart to check for any notes. The patient's note stated to get her in as soon as possible. I didn't want to overbook on the wrong date, but I knew I had to get her in as soon as possible. I wasn't able to get in touch with the doctor, scheduler, or nurse to see where I should schedule the patient. I explain to the patient that I will have to work her in and also let her know that I was not sure if this was going to be an ok date for the doctor. I asked her if it will be ok for me to call her back to confirm that appointment or if I have to reschedule it. The patient was fine with that. I took it upon myself, but documented it in the chart and sent a message over to the nurse to let her know what I have done. After hearing from the nurse it was ok for the patient to keep that appointment. I confirmed with the patient and she was very pleased and thanked me for helping her.
Marcie's Feedback
Glad to hear that you made the right decision in the end.
Anonymous Answer
I had a ticket that was pretty straightforward forward and the information needed to be updated within a certain timeframe. Our system would be locked down during this time for an upgrade. I spoke to the requester to see if it would be possible to update the information early before our system would be locked down so that she would have what she needed to finish her work for month-end.

Amanda's Feedback
You've done well using a relevant example. You're almost there! You can make this response stronger by sharing the outcome. Did the customer agree? Was she pleased with your proactive and thoughtful service?
Anonymous Answer
Over the years I have worked on several data engineering projects. If our solution works for one customer, we generally apply the same solution to the rest of our customers as well. In that process, we have relied on certain tools and applications that we use everywhere. One thing I observed over time was, that we spent a significant number of hours in the initial project setup, and these tasks were repetitive and needed a lot of manual intervention. I figured we could automate most of this process. With my experience, I estimated we were spending anywhere from 300-400 hours on this initial setup, and if we build a tool that could automate this task, I assumed a single person can handle the initial setup in under 80 hours. I took this idea to my bosses, backed up my proposal with my estimates, and told them we could be saving a significant amount of time and money per project. They trusted my judgment and approved the development of this tool. Over the next 2 months, we worked on developing this tool and completed it. To my surprise, my estimate was wrong, not in 80 hours, but a single person could accomplish the task in under 50 hours. This is one crucial decision I made that had an immense impact and saved hundreds of thousands of dollars from the team.
Marcie's Feedback
Amazing! Your response here is excellent as your example clearly shows that by taking the initiative and bringing this proposal to your bosses, you saved the company lots of time and money - exactly what an interviewer wants to hear! Also, including the quantitative stats makes your answer even more powerful. Great job!
Anonymous Answer
In my last semester, I had a group project where we had to make a movie based on a novel we learned in class. While other groups have five members, our group was assigned with only four members. In the first two weeks, one of our members insisted that she was supposed to be in another group even though I contacted the professor and got his confirmation about that member. My other group members were frustrated and asked to ignore that member and move on with assigning the roles for the project. I was the only one who suggested two plans just in case that girl got back to our group because I knew that the project would be too difficult for only three people. While working on the project, I contacted that girl to have her back and we four worked together effectively to produce a successful movie project. We hung out sometimes and became close after that class.
Marcie's Feedback
Nice! Can you talk more about how exactly you proposed preparing two plans? What tone of voice did you use? What facts did you cite to support your idea? How did the other group members respond?
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Written by Rachelle Enns
20 Questions & Answers • Scenario Based

By Rachelle

By Rachelle