Describe a Difficult Work Situation - Project and How You Overcame It

Describe a difficult work situation project and how you overcame it” is the question where you will be proving the ability you have to approach, evaluate and resolve a problem. The way you answer this will show the employer that you are a great problem solver and someone who can be trusted with responsibility. It’s important not to use an example that is making a mountain out of a molehill, as the interviewer will also be looking to see what you consider to be difficult. The more you can show that you handled a situation that was hard, but not insurmountable, calmly and efficiently, the more the interviewer will love you!



Related: Describe a Time When Your Workload Was Heavy And How You Handled it

It is asked to see how you deal with situations and what you would do to make sure things end up a success even though they may have been very hard to tackle along the way. They want to know how you have dealt with things in the past under the thought process that whatever you did in the past you will do the same in the future.

Before your interview plan scenarios in your head that you can use for particular questions such as these but always end any negative with a positive to show you in a good light. It is always good to prepare beforehand so that you can real the scenarios off easily without having to sit and think about it too long whilst your interviewer looks on.

Remember that when answering this question you must only focus on work scenarios, try not to include people situations such as you didn’t get on with a particular Manager even if you managed to turn this around because you will sound very negative and this is not what they are looking to hear, focus only on a work type situation when giving a scenario.

Plan the scenario before your interview focusing on what the difficult work time was, when was it? What happened, who was involved and how did you overcome it? Make some bullet point notes when doing your research of these points so that you can remember them and clearly describe them in your interview.

Example Answer

“I was once tasked with finding a band to perform at the bar I worked in at short notice, and without much money with which to hire a professional band. We had an event on over a weekend with a few semi professional bands playing; leading up to a headline act, and one of the semi professional bands had broken up after we had paid in advance. The spot needed filling, and we didn’t have any budget left to hire another. I decided that the best thing to do would be to go on Myspace.com and try and find a local band who might be interested in playing, and offered them a “showcase” spot. The band I offered the place to were thrilled to be part of a large event with a well-known headline act, and all it cost the bar was the price of a few drinks for the players after their performance.”

Good luck.

Photo by: HansKristian