Describe a situation in which you supervised a large group of individuals. What specific steps did you take to ensure that all individuals in your group completed scheduled activities?

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Community Answers

The interviewer would like to know more about your leadership skills and ability to manage a large group of people. How you answer this question could determine whether or not you are viewed as a correction officer who could grow into a leadership role. Talk about a time you were given the opportunity to lead. Be sure to highlight the successes.

Focus on describing the steps you take to ensure all individuals in your group complete scheduled activities. The interviewer wants to hear how you motivate and inspire others to achieve a common goal.

Avoid saying that you do not have leadership skills or have never led a group. Even if you have never worked in corrections, you can use an example from another job, church, volunteer assignment, or school in your response.

"Although I have not yet led a group of people in my role as a correction officer, I am a leader in my church and volunteer community. We hold multiple fundraisers annually, and I have led those initiatives for the past five years. The specifics necessary for a group project include clear communication, consistency, and a strong leader. I provide all of these things and look forward to working my way into a leadership position at your facility."

"My supervisor recently asked me to lead the team while he was on vacation. It was my job to manage 15 junior correction officers and ensure they were ready for their shift each day. I spoke to them as a group and to each of them individually every day. I would also speak with them directly about my concerns if anyone fell behind. All-in-all, it was a successful experience, and my supervisor thanked me for a job well done when he returned."

"In my previous role, I managed a team of 25 new correction officers. I led this team by showing respect, setting high but reasonable expectations, and encouraging a collaborative environment where all ideas are welcome. This method worked well, and I had no issues with their performance. The beauty of being a true leader is that you don't need to be in a position of management to exude leadership qualities."

Anonymous Answer

"Starting from the bottom in my current job to now being in a lead position has put me in a situation to lead a bunch of guys to complete tasks while building homes. I make sure each guy understands the job I set for them and how to do it. I will also check on them if a certain task is taking longer than it should, to make sure everything is OK and see if they need an extra hand to get it done."

Rachelle's Feedback

Just a few tweaks with sentence structure and removing pronouns, then you're good to go!

"In my current job I started at the bottom, and now lead a group of eight construction workers. I guide the team on things such as meeting building codes, health & safety, as well as techniques with tools to make their job easier. I check in every hour on the teams' progress and make sure everyone has the help they need to achieve the day's goals."

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Anonymous Answer

"My Motor Sergeant was promoted out of my unit while being in the army, and I was automatically put in his place. Although I wasn't confident about what I needed to do or how to be a leader, I operated just as he had until I became comfortable enough to start making changes."

Rachelle's Feedback

This answer is an excellent example of approaching a challenge and making the best of it! When answering these behavioral-based questions, it's essential also to include a result. So, in the end, how did your unit respond to you? If you made changes - what were they, and how did they improve things for you and your unit?

Anonymous Answer

"I was recently involved in helping to pack all of my Grandma's belongings in a cramped moving truck with a tight timeline. My family was inexperienced with the situation and they were not organized. Fortunately, I had experience moving under the same circumstances so I took control of the effort and instructed my family about how to pack boxes and furniture into spots that fit perfectly inside the moving truck to ensure everything fit. We finished on time with extra time to spare."

Kevin's Feedback

It sounds like you saved the day in this situation! Good for you, taking control of this situation, especially considering it may be difficult to instruct and lead family members. But try to go a little deeper as to how this situation could translate to this role.

"There have been a few instances where I’ve led a group on a project. But none so difficult as managing my family. We recently had to pack all of my Grandma’s belongings in a cramped moving truck with a tight timeline. Very little packing had yet been done. My family is inexperienced and disorganized when it comes to project management of any kind. I anticipated this, and knowing how difficult they can be to manage, and how they question every single decision I make, turning it into a debate on how to perform one task, it could take hours just to start packing one box. Did I mention we had a tight turn around time to pack and load the truck and return the truck? Well, I meditated on how I could not only manage this project but also successfully manage my family as well. Unlike a subordinate, they have no interest in listening to me, despite my experience. So, I picked up all the boxes and made sure we had mostly the same size boxes so we could easily stack them and transport them swiftly on and off the truck with a handtruck. Once I had the boxes, I labeled them all in advance. My handwriting is neat, and I labeled every side of every box to make it intuitive as to what everyone was supposed to pack and where it goes. In an organized fashion, we finished the project on time, and everyone was proud of their work, not fully appreciating the work I’d put in to make their jobs easier to perform in the right way. Everyone was proud of themselves, and there was little management required once they got started. We finished on time with extra time to spare."