Give me an example of when you took a risk to achieve a goal. What was the outcome?
This is a behavioral question that an interviewer will ask to determine whether you act conservatively or are a risk-taker. As a computer systems analyst, it is best to maintain a balance between both extremes. While you need to be innovative and adapt to new technologies to resolve the challenges you encounter, you also need to maintain the stability and security of the computer systems you manage. Your answer to this question should reflect your ability to do this.
"In one of my previous roles, I encountered a situation in which there was a potential security threat to one of our systems. The threat was new and something we had not seen before. To resolve the issue, I needed to employ a new and untested technology solution. I decided to utilize the technology since the risk involved was less than what was posed by the security threat. My team and I implemented the solution after having backed up the system. This resulted in the system being secured and the organization adopting the new technology as a standard fix for this type of issue."
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
I'm a big believer in risk-adjusted returns. For example, during my time at ***, I was leading the project of implementing the new version of the learning platform. I was asked to release 2 months prior to the initial agreed-upon go-live date. I was recommended to skip the testing phase. My options were whether to implement late and get into trouble with management or implement with no testing and suffer the potential consequences of buggy software. Given the stakes, I decided to negotiate with management moving from a full deployment as initially requested to a phased approach. I selected a relatively inconsequential academic division to start my phased approach. This allowed us to meet management's demand while affording the time to perfect the system before total adoption. In this manner saving the institution from a potentially catastrophic situation.
Amanda's Feedback
This is a wonderful example! It illustrates your ability to analyze the situation, collaborate to reach an agreement, and mitigate a level of risk that could be detrimental, while still taking enough risk to drive digital transformation.
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