Employers want to see how you handle competing priorities, understand the implications of missing deadlines, and can stay cool under pressure.
I was asked at the last minute to help with a major project. The deadline was just a few days away and the project had gotten derailed.
As I was working on this first urgent project, I was approached by two different clients with pressing requests as well. These conflicting priorities overwhelmed me at first.
Then I came up with a plan to prioritize the tasks I was given based on their level of importance. I determined which clients were the most critical to our business and who needed deliverables with the quickest turnaround.
I ranked the assignments and figured out how long it would take me to finish them. Then I checked in with my coworkers, clients, and manager to see if the timeline made sense to them. We added an additional team member, stayed in the office late for a few nights, and aligned with the clients on the new timeline.
In the end, I was able to complete everything on time. Each client, manager and co-worker was satisfied with my work and were happy that I communicated my revised timeline so there weren’t any surprises at the end of the project.
Why this answer worked well:
- She explained the many conflicts happening in this particular week at work.
- She described how she tackled the process and showed what steps she took to get everyone on board with the new timeline.
- She ranked the assignments based on who the clients were and what they expected. The outcome was positive and the clients were happy.
By Business Development Manager Professional
As part of my role in Business Development, I managed multiple programs. Due to changes in business needs, I had to update the training for the sales team for one program, while working on launching a new capability within the other. Both were high priority and time sensitive, and required major time and effort on my end.
To ensure that deadlines were met, I met with the respective internal and external partners to set expectations and key milestones. I also identified which teams would be responsible for the various aspects of each deliverable.
Once we established parameters, I stayed in regular communication with all stakeholders. Every time we hit or missed a milestone, we went back to the plan to adjust and realign. The constant open communication kept us all on the same page and working towards the collective goal.
We were able to successfully deploy the new capability for one of the programs, which was a big success. Due to factors beyond our control, we missed the deadline for the other program — but our transparent and communicative working model eased conversations with partners and leadership, and allowed us to pivot quickly.
Why this answer worked well:
- The candidate demonstrated the ability to manage expectations across stakeholders while ensuring alignment throughout multiple projects.
- The answer highlighted strong communication and project management skills, and the ability to ease challenging conversations.
By Procurement Manager Professional
During my role as Manager of Transportation Procurement, I was tasked with creating reports for procurement and presenting them to our Business Intelligence department. I was selected for the project because of my engineering experience.
After creating the reports, the BI team told me that they were backlogged for at least 6 months — which was an unacceptable timeline for my manager. I was hesitant to break protocol, but explained that I could actually design and implement the entire project myself within 6 weeks.
To get it done, I logged extra hours each day of the week. I created a power template with all the SQL connection, necessary queries and joins, as well as all the DAX calculations needed. I replicated the template for each report needed and built a dashboard as a web interface for users to access the reports.
When I shared this with my boss, I was asked to present it in an upcoming meeting. To my surprise, both the President and VP of the division attended. My hard work was very well received. The next week, I was given a promotion and assigned full responsibility for Business Intelligence.
Why this answer worked well:
- The candidate showed a willingness to take on additional responsibilities to accommodate an aggressive timeline.
- The process and tools used to complete the project reflect deep experience and expertise.
- The candidate’s promotion provided proof of success and the ability to win the trust of leadership.
By Regional Sales Manager Professional
When I worked for a technology company in the 3D printing space, their org had me reporting directly to a VP of North American Sales, as well the global VP of Sales based in Tel Aviv. This dotted line structure led to inherent priority conflict, as I was taking direction from 2 different department heads with very different expectations.
I was not able to perform my role effectively with multiple managers, and it caused much undue stress. I approached my direct manager of our North American operation and asked that he contact the VP of our corporate location in Israel to request a change in reporting structure. Fortunately, I had already established myself as a valuable, contributing team member. This allowed me to approach this escalation with confidence, as my manager knew I was committed to excellence in my role.
It turned out that this was a much larger, company-wide issue, and by bringing my situation to the attention of leadership, a larger conversation about reporting structure began. Ultimately, the company made the decision to phase out the dotted line reporting matrix globally.
Why this answer worked well:
- The answer clearly explained the situation and source of conflict.
- The candidate had established themselves as a valuable contributor and felt comfortable addressing the issue directly.
- The resolution had positive implications for the entire company.
How to approach past experience questions
By Linda Raynier CPA, CA, Career Strategist
Respond to this kind of question with a compelling story that uses the "SAR" framework: situation, action, and results.
Describe the situation. Talk about the initial events that occurred. What were the problems that you were experiencing? What needed to be solved and what resources did you have--or not have? This is a really key part of the story, so it should be about three to four sentences long.
Get into the action. Speak about the key milestones that you went through. Tell them what you did to turn the situation around. Don't go into too much detail though. It should only be about two to three sentences, and try to use active verbs, things like “I implemented” or “I persuaded”.
Show the results. Let them know how well things turned out, how the problems were solved and what you may have learned along the way. Try to include a clincher at the end, like dollars saved or improved profitability. It drives home that you did a great thing.
- Talk about the most important priority and then share additional priorities and how they conflicted.
- Describe the steps you took to get the top priority done.
- Discuss the impact this had on the company or team.