Interview Question 51 – Give an example of how a situation or project that had a positive outcome depended on the work of people from a wide range of backgrounds and ideas.
in Careers Advice, Interviews

Interview Question 51 – Give an example of how a situation or project that had a positive outcome depended on the work of people from a wide range of backgrounds and ideas.

Advice

This question can be answered by just about anyone who has attended university, been a member of a sports club or held down a job. Thinking of a project or a situation involving people with a wide range of background and ideas is hinting at a project where implementation has involved the full workforce and not just at management level. Similarly in an academic situation this would be a project involving students from a wide range of backgrounds and abilities. Do not forget to use the STAR approach with this particular question because of its complexity. Think of the Situation first, consider what the Task was arising out of the situation, state what Action you took and what the Result was. In this case the answer needs to be geared towards team work as this is the aim of the question.

Example Answer

“When I was teaching at John Smith’s Infants School in Durham the Government set us a new target in relation to school attendance in the under eight category. In order to achieve this target we had to get cooperation from the full membership of staff as well as the parents. The Head Teacher set up a task force for which I was the Chair and we identified four key principles that needed to be applied across the school with the cooperation of the parents and the rest of the staff. My work was to involve the parents in the decision making process and by doing this we achieved a 20% reduction in absences from school”.

Jonathan Fagan

Jonathan Fagan LLM FIRP is Managing Director of Ten-Percent Legal Recruitment. He has been recruiting solicitors and legal support staff for law firms and in house legal departments for over 20 years and handles roles from junior fee earners through to partners and law firm sales/purchases. A non-practising solicitor on the Roll since 2000, he is also the author of a number of legal career books, which are available at www.ten-percent.uk. You can contact Jonathan at cv@ten-percent.co.uk