Describe a difficult project and how you overcame it.
This is a common interview question. How you react to a difficult project gives the recruiter valuable insight into your problem-solving abilities and your ability to move forward from a challenging situation without letting it drag you down. Every job has difficult tasks and situations. Good employees don't avoid these situations; they power through them.
Prepare a well-prepared, heartfelt, and meaningful story to tell the interviewer. Take a challenging experience and use it to show your emotional intelligence and work experience. Choose a real work-related situation, provide enough detail, and be concise. Show your thought process and ability to problem-solve and make sure the story has a positive outcome.
"In my recent job as a project manager, a new hire consistently provided incomplete environmental impact reports. They were asked multiple times to include all required information, but the reports continued to lack important data and had to be redone for others to do their jobs. I wondered if the new employee was getting clear information, so I created a sample report for the new hire showing all the required data. I also asked other supervisors to review this with their reports and to post a chart of when the reports were due. As a result, the quality of everyone's reports improved, not just those of the new employee. I learned that it's important to listen and communicate expectations to get the desired results."
