Problem Solving skills
“Give me an example of a time when your efforts solved a problem.”
- “I headed up a project that involved customer service personnel
and technicians. I organized a meeting to get everyone’s buy-in
on a new project that would increase sales opportunities. I
held a meeting to brainstorm and get input. One of the problems
was that there were technical and nontechnical people involved,
and they had different ideas of how the project should run.
I drew up a plan, taking the best ideas from both groups and
then organized teams, balancing the mixture of technical and
nontechnical people. We had a deadline to meet, and I did periodic
checks with the teams. After three weeks, we were exceeding
expectations, and the team members had a new respect for each
other’s contributions.”
- “One of the most challenging problems I faced as a supervisor
was in creating a strategic alliance with a provider of chemicals
to use its specialized blending equipment and delivery network.
The provider was not interested in a sale because it was such
specialty equipment. What I came up with was an exchange. My
team would provide marketing, billing, and technical assistance
for the use of the equipment. The provider jumped at the opportunity.
I convinced my team that this was a win-win situation, and the
project moved forward without a hitch.”
- n “In my last position I faced a challenge of some kind
almost every day. One day that stands out was when we had a
‘sick out’ day when several of the team members called in sick
as a protest against an unpopular decision to change their benefit
plan. We were short several key people who were necessary to
keep the plant running. I appealed to management for help, and
much to my surprise, they volunteered to come forth themselves
to run the plant for the day. Some of them had come up through
the ranks so it was a bit like ‘coming home.’ It was a very
trying day with so many bosses in one place, but we managed
to pull it off. Fortunately the protest only lasted one day.”
阅读导航 Part four Final Preparations