When have you worked independently before? What challenges do you find when working independently?

Why the Interviewer Asks This Question
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Answer Example
Experienced Example
Community Answers

The interviewer wants to be assured that you are comfortable and knowledgeable enough to work on your own. Can you work without supervision, prioritize your to-do list, complete paperwork and go home knowing nothing was left undone? If you can answer yes to these questions, then you know you can successfully work independently. Let the interviewer know when you have worked alone, if you identified challenges when working independently, and how you overcame the challenges.

"Since I am new to my career as an ABA therapist, the best example I can provide with independent work is during my post-secondary education. While attending university, I had many independent projects with tight deadlines. The biggest challenge with working independently lies in self-motivation. However, I have a strong amount of drive. With this drive, I am confident that I can be an effective therapist in both a one-on-one or group setting."

"My work experience for the past two years has been in a clinical setting with multiple medical professionals treating the same patients. I haven't had the opportunity to work independently too often, but I welcome the challenge."

"I have worked independently for the majority of my 12-year career in behavioral therapy. I have also taught new ABA therapists single therapy techniques. It's where I am most comfortable and do my best work."

Anonymous Answer

"I worked independently throughout my career and I do enjoy working alone at times but do prefer working with others as I find it's better to work at a team and bounce feedback and advice to one other. It's challenging to work alone as your depending on your own thoughts and ideas. You are also depending on your own judgment, and sometimes that other mind can provide you with a much better resolution to a problem."

Marcie's Feedback

Good answer! You do a good job of outlining some of the challenges of working independently. Perhaps consider providing more information around the types of jobs you held when you previously worked alone. The interviewer will likely be interested in hearing about that, and this will help you make an impression on the interviewer because they will learn more about you. You may also want to consider rephrasing your sentence(s) about "depending on your own thoughts and ideas" as the way it is currently stated makes it sound like you don't necessarily trust your own ideas and solutions to problems. Perhaps change that to something like this: "One of the challenges of working alone is that you don't have anyone else to bounce ideas and solutions off of unless you go searching for an external party. This can be a negative because, as the saying goes, sometimes two heads are better than one. I always appreciate hearing the thoughts and ideas of others. Collaborating together it's possible to come up with effective ideas and solutions."