03 Aug
‘Give me some examples of doing more than required in your job.’
Why are recruiters asking this?
Everyone has had difficult moments at work and at home. Handling disagreements or challenging situations is just a part of life. Recruiters may press you on “dedication” questions which are all a normal part of a behavioral interview. Behavioral questions feature your real experiences and provide insights into how you might handle similar situations in the future.
So when you’re challenged on “how dedicated you are to your job”, how should you respond? Follow the STAR method – situation, task, action, result – be professional and avoid stories which may be perceived as petty. Avoid giving too many details, being too negative, or focusing too much on other people’s opinions.
Prepare your answer in advance using Mockmate so it goes smoothly.
Checklist for a great answer
- Select a professional situation
- STAR method
- Less than 3 minutes, keep it brief
- Be realistic, no one is a superhero
Examples
In my role as account manager, I was responsible for managing relationships with 5 large clients. One time, a client was upset and asked my boss about my work on an email marketing campaign.
My boss held a meeting to discuss with me, shared the feedback from the client, and criticized my work on the campaign. I disagreed, because I thought I had done everything according to our procedures and protocols, and I spent a lot of time researching data to drive the approach.
I explained why I executed the campaign the way I did, and advocated for myself.
It was hard to be approached this way by my boss, so I took a second to think and slow down. I remained calm and explained my reasoning. My approach also helped my boss to understand and de-escalated the situation. Although my boss understood, he still didn’t agree completely. As someone that holds themself to high standards, this was hard for me to hear, especially since I had taken a lot of care and time with that campaign. After listening to what my boss had to say, I became aware of some improvements I needed to make, particularly to ensure the continuity of the client relationship.
I apologized to the client, and made plans to correct the campaign in line with their expectations.
I learned that even though I did the research and followed our internal procedures, I need to also communicate directly and openly with my boss internally, and with the client. In the end, I found that the most important thing was ensuring the happiness of the client, and the key to achieving this was putting my ego to the side in order to accomplish the goal.
Other similar questions
- Tell me about a time when you disagreed with your boss
- Tell me how you handled a difficult situation.
- How have you dealt with an angry or upset customer?
- Talk about a time when a co-worker was not doing their share on a project. How did you handle it?
How do I get better at these questions?
PRACTICE! PRACTICE! PRACTICE!
The illustrious economist and statistician EF Schumacher once said: “An ounce of practice is generally worth more than a ton of theory.” We at Mockmate strongly believe in exactly this, which is why we created our AI-powered job interview simulator. Now is the time to stop reading blog posts and watching YouTube videos, and begin to perfect your interview skills by actually doing it! Get started here!
