Competency questions (tell me about a time) Flashcards
Tell me about a time when You worked in a team.
S:In my current role, we regularly host community events for the local area. During these events, each team member is given responsibility for a different stand.
T: During a recent event, I noticed one of my colleagues who seemed to be struggling with her workload, having a large amount of customers at her table which she could not seem to manage by herself.
A: My stand was quieter and therefore had fewer customers so I took the initiative to go and help her, prioritising a collaborative effort to meet the demand. We therefore created a system in which I would take payment from each customer and she would oversee product distribution and supply.
R: As a result of this, we managed to cope with demand, increase customer satisfaction and end up being the first stand to sell out of our 80 units. I returned to my station afterwards and my colleague had the opportunity to take on a different role during the event. My colleague personally thanked me and even noted my help to our supervisor, who praised my performance. From this experience, I learnt the importance of being a team player and supporting other colleagues towards a mutual goal as well as adapting to the demands of a situation in order to achieve the highest outcomes possible.
Tell ne about a time when You worked under pressure to meet a deadline
S: In Year 13, I was a member of my school’s invite-only literature society. As part of this role, we are required to present seminars on significant pieces of literature throughout the English canon and are challenged on our research by our peers and a retired English professor.
T: One instance, my teacher asked me if I could produce the final seminar of the course on short notice due to the previously assigned student leaving unexpectedly. The issue I came across however was the fact that I also had a coursework deadline and an essay to complete within the same week.
A: Although I knew it would be challenging to juggle many close deadlines, I agreed to do the presentation. To complete my tasks effectively, I decided to write my essay first as the easiest task to tick off and left the coursework till last as this wasn’t urgent. Therefore I had enough time to search and produce my seminar whilst being able to give full attention to my coursework afterwards.
R: As a result of my time management, I managed to complete all 3 tasks to a high standard, receiving praise from my teachers and my final coursework product achieving full marks.
Tell me about a time when You had to motivate or inspire others
S: In my role as school Sports Captain, I represent and coordinate all student sporting projects across the school with a small team.
T: For the end of year sport award ceremony, I was set the task of giving a motivational speech, reflecting across the sporting achievement across the year and my experience within the role to an audience of over 200 people, including senior members of staff and a guest speaker.
A: To create an effective speech, I really wanted my focus to be on my authentic experiences with sport and most particularly on how not being ‘the best’ at something, which you can see extremely clearly during a race or a match, develops one’s character, discipline and drive which can therefore be transferred to other aspects of life.
R: Thankfully, the speech went well but there were two pieces of feedback that really struck me from that instance. The first of which came from the guest speaker Siobhan Fitzpatrick who is a paralympic basketballer referring to my speech during her own as a springboard to highlight that resilience is important for success. The second of which came from a young student who I had never met before telling me that I was inspirational to her as someone who was learning to swim, which really struck me and reminded me that just because you think you don’t have any significant achievements, it doesn’t mean that they aren’t significant entirely and sharing your experiences is truly the best way to connect and motivate others.
Tell me about a time when You acted on your own initiative?
S: As part of my current role, a key element is handling booking enquiries for the centre facilities.
T: Early on in my role, I received a customer enquiry via the phone to book a party. However, I had not been fully trained yet in this procedure and my supervisor had left to go on their break so I could not contact them.
A: Instead of asking the customer to call back later, I remembered that my supervisor had mentioned there was a file including all company procedures in the staff room. After politely asking the client to please wait a few minutes, I located the file and asked all questions accordingly. For any elements that I was unsure of or that I did not know how to work on the system, I wrote this down on a piece of paper to ask my supervisor and also requested the client’s email in order to contact them later. Once my supervisor returned after her break, we went through what I had discussed with the client and sent an email with any gaps I had missed.
R: As a result of this, I managed to maintain customer satisfaction and continued business standards. From this, I particularly learnt that in the workplace you must be able to step up and complete things you have never done before without supervision, which is important for a solicitor apprentice who must deal with clients in a team whilst maintaining company standards.
Tell me about a time when You handled a difficult relationship?
S: During Year 13, I was working on a group presentation with another student who worked very differently to me. We often disagreed on the approach and distribution of tasks, which created tension and affected our collaboration.
T: My task was to ensure we worked productively, since the project relied on our aligned expertise to complete the presentation on time.
A: To address the issue directly, I decided to have an open conversation with my coworker, expressing my concerns and how we needed to change our approach since our joint effort would be far more successful if we improved our communication. After I allowed the other student to voice their concerns as well, we laid out new expectations for each other and agreed to distribute tasks more clearly, which we would review with each other regularly.
R: As a result, our working relationship improved significantly, meeting our deadlines and delivering a successful presentation, which was well received by our teacher and peers. Our communication became much smoother and we even decided to work with each other for the next group project.
Tell me about a time when You had to organise a team to meet a deadline
S: A key achievement that I am proud of is my integral contributions within the organisation of my school’s first Culture Day Showcase. As an event involving over 200 students, I wanted it to be a pupil-led initiative as a celebration of culture and diversity within my school.
T: As part of the overall event, my task was organising a group of 20 students to plan a presentation and performance based on our background which is from the Philippines. However, it soon became clear that the group was undecided on what we wanted to present, leading to tension as the performance deadline became closer.
A: Therefore, as the team leader, I decided to cast a vote, ensuring each person voiced what they wanted as the final result. Seeing that there were 2 clear popular choices, one being a traditional dance and the other being a band wanting to perform a song in the Filipino language, I then split the team into 2 groups, creating a group chat for each as a point of information for planning and rehearsal times. Whilst I took the lead of the musical performance group, I designated leadership to another student for the dance group, ensuring our efforts were utilised most efficiently and rehearsal scheduling was clearer.
R: As a result of this, all members were satisfied and collaborated effectively, leading to our group being the opening performance of the evening and being well-received from fellow students and faculty alike.
Tell me about a time when You overcame a challenge
S: A significant challenge that I have faced and overcame was my A-level maths performance.
T: After completing my mocks, despite placing a lot of effort into the subject, I received a grade that was below my expectations and below what I needed for university and applications.
A: With the real upcoming exams ahead, I decided to use my bad grade as motivation for the final exam. Since I had already placed 110% effort, I decided that I instead needed to change my approach to the work instead of my effort load. Therefore, using the recent assessment, I honed in specifically on my worst and the largest topics to revise. After identifying these, I used Youtube videos to completely break these topics down into the basics before slowly building up to exam style questions. I enlisted myself and consistently went to after-school classes for maths support (to which sometimes I was the only pupil), always spent my free periods in the maths building to ask my teachers for help and even paid for a tutor to help me with the most complex topics.
R: As a result of my efforts, I went up by 2 grades and was also recognised as the only pupil in my year to receive an award for going ‘above and beyond’ in maths.
Tell me about a time when You went the extra mile to perform on a task
S: Working in leisure and hospitality, I always aim to go above and beyond in my role, in order to make sure customers have the best service and leave feeling happy rather than merely satisfied. An example of when I have done this was during a children’s party booking, in which the child’s mother was feeling very stressed and anxious.
T: Although my tasks are clearly defined, I understood that the client needed some extra support in order for the event to run smoothly.
A: Therefore, taking initiative, I aided and checked up on the client whenever I could. Before the event, I helped her take things into the facilities from her car and set up decorations and also ensured to provide extra amenities such as free water and a knife to cut the cake when asked.
R: As a result of this, the customer left very grateful and happy from my work, even mentioning my name in the feedback form that we ask each client to complete at the end of their booking. She even left some food for me and my colleague and has booked with us again since.
Tell me about a time when You made a mistake at university or in a job. What did you do and what was the result?
S: A clear example of when I have made a mistake in a professional environment was in my current role as a cafe worker. Within this role, the small business I work for has a contract with the local nursery and therefore a significant part of my job revolves around catering for the 40+ children that attend.
T: In order to complete this task, I must ensure that all dietary requirements and preferences are met. However, one instance where I had sent out all the food, I realised that I had forgotten to prepare a meal that was specific to one child that was neither the main or alternative vegetarian or allergy-friendly meal given to the rest of the children.
A: Upon learning this, I immediately apologised and informed the nursery staff, setting out a clear expectation of a maximum 15 minute wait time for the baby’s meal. Afterwards, I re-prioritised my current tasks, making an immediate start on the food before continuing to prep for the dessert for the rest of the children, making sure to balance both tasks to meet client expectations. Once the meal was finished, I took it out with the dessert tray and apologised once again to the staff for the inconvenience.
R: Despite having to work quickly under pressure due to a mistake, I successfully managed to complete all tasks in good time. A crucial point that I learnt was balancing the pressure of time over the quality of work, particularly as if I didn’t leave enough time to cook the food, it would not be safe for the child to eat. Therefore, using critical thinking to mitigate risk whilst also being able to recover and perform to a high level after mistake is a paramount skill to learn, particularly as a solicitor apprentice where you must constantly meet deadlines and expectations whilst also being human.
