When you need to describe a challenge you overcame, there are many options that you can apply. This kind of interview question is very sensitive and you should answer it in the right way. There are some things to avoid, and these are:
- Blaming others for some issues
- Providing too many details
- Telling a story with negative outcomes
All these bad things to avoid are very important because they can influence your interview outcomes.
Next time when an interviewer asks the question “How did you overcome a challenge?” you should answer in a concise and good manner. You can apply the popular STAR method in your answer.
It’s not easy to overcome challenges at work. How did you face it?
The STAR method consists of the following aspects:
S – Situation – Describe the situation and the relevant circumstances in a short format.
T – Task – Say what your task was and how this was a challenge for you.
A – Action – Tell the interviewer what action you took to solve the problem.
R – Result – End your story with a positive outcome and say more about the result that was good for you and the company.
When you know how to approach the “Tell us about a time you overcame a challenge” sentence, you will be in a situation to provide the best answer. In the following text, you will see some of the best overcoming challenges at work examples.
Describe a difficult situation and how you overcame it examples
These are some of the best described challenges you overcame with examples that you can use every time when you hear this request from an interviewer. Keep in mind that everyone has a different story and you can use these examples to simply have an idea of what you can answer in the interview.
Learn a new skill at work
When I was working as an HR specialist, we needed to learn new skills in order to keep our jobs. My work was based on Excel knowledge that I did not know completely. My manager gave me a deadline to learn new skills and keep the position at the company. I took online classes and learned many new skills that were based on Excel and MS Office knowledge. This way, I kept my job and showed my team that you can get new skills with some hard work.
Act as a liaison between two employees
At my previous job, the management asked me to act as a liaison between two workers who had personal issues. I had good cooperation with both of them, and I needed to resolve the issue between them in my personal way. I talked to each of them and tried to resolve the problem. After the conversations, they started talking again and had a good business collaboration again. This was a challenge for me because I was not a manager and I needed to use my communication skills to act as a liaison between them.
Being an ineffective manager
Although it is hard to admit, I was an ineffective manager of the retail store a few years ago. My business views were outdated and I had no respect from my employees. This affected the whole company and our sales went bad. However, I was asked by upper management to improve my skills and get more modern business views and actions. As a result, I got more respect from the employees and I was able to keep my job at the company.
All of these overcoming challenges at work examples are effective in a job interview. These examples can serve you as a starting point for your own story. No matter how similar or dissimilar your story can be, you can use these examples to answer the question “How did you overcome a challenge?”