The interviewer wants to know about a situation where you used good judgment to solve a work problem. The goal of your response is to assure the interviewer that you approach issues with care and logic. The interviewer should envision you using good judgment in the workplace.
Give a work-related story example that showcases your logic and reasoning abilities. Share a brief overview of the problem you faced, discuss the pros and cons of each decision you could have made, and tell the interviewer why the solution you chose was the best. Be sure to include details of the positive impact you generated for your employer by using strong judgment.
Behavioral-based interview questions that begin with 'Tell me about a time. ' are best answered using the STAR method. STAR is an acronym for Situation, Task, Action, Result. Organizing your response using this framework will ensure that you provide the interviewer with the right amount of information and detail to form a compelling answer.
Avoid giving a vague response like, 'I use good judgment and strong logic all the time! Rest assured, if you hire me, I will make decisions that are good for the company.' Although the interviewer will be happy to hear that you plan to make wise decisions, this type of response fails to give a measurable example of your logic in action.
"(Situation) Just yesterday I had a customer who was upset because our sales associate would not refund a garment that the customer had already worn. She was outside of the 14 days return policy as well. (Task) I am the assistant manager, so I stepped in to alleviate the situation. (Action) By showing the customer that I could meet her in the middle, she was able to calm down and reason with me. (Result) I did not refund her the price of the garment; however, I offered her a $25 in-store credit. I know this will cost my company money, but, in the end, I had a happy customer."
"(Situation) In my current role, I face a multitude of scheduling problems every day. (Task) As an administrative assistant, I must use logic every day. (Action) For instance, I use logic to figure out how to arrange my executive's work and travel schedule through the path of least resistance. If a scheduling hiccup occurs, I will first call the most flexible appointments to reschedule and work my way down the list from there. (Result) By following this logic, I can solve many problems very quickly."
"(Situation) When I take on a new client, I always ask them what their most significant pain point is. (Task) Understanding the customers' issues and their logic is a considerable part of my creative process. (Action) Using the logic and the thought process of my customer, I can dive into an impactful marketing strategy. (Result) I have utilized this approach for many years. It's always resulted in a clear project vision from the start and a happy client in the end!"
"(Situation) With Company X, I had a customer who was unhappy with his purchase. (Task) Since the item in question cost over $20,000, I needed to involve my support team. (Action) Although my support team advised that I escalate the issue to our Director of Operations for resolution, I knew that I could lose this account over a one-time issue. I was not about to let that happen. (Action) By stepping in and mediating a resolution call, I was able to assure the client that we would work together to not only solve the issue but address the arbitration process in the future. (Result) I was able to turn a disgruntled customer who threatened to never purchase from us again into a top account for the company."
"(Situation) As a Manager in retail, decision-making often means weighing the potential of being blasted or praised on social media. (Task) One example that comes to mind was when I handled the termination of an employee. It was clear that this person was not going to work out, despite my best efforts at coaching and mentoring. (Action) Throughout three shifts, I worked with her, coached her, and gently allowed her to realize on her own that this position was a poor fit. By the end of the third shift of coaching out, she let me know that she was putting in her notice. (Result) By taking a different approach, we avoided the disgruntled exit of an employee. She now comes into the store as a friendly customer, so it did turn out well for all parties."
"(Situation) My fourth-grade class was recently working on a project for our family unit, and one of the students was quiet and unengaged. (Task) This student was usually a bubbly, active participant, which signaled to me that something was wrong. (Action) I found a moment when I could quietly speak with him. He didn't know what to put as his mom's picture since she passed away when he was a baby. I was brokenhearted for him, but we had a moment to talk about how we can be sad but still remember our loved ones and how they're always a part of our family. (Result) By being in tune with my class, I was able to tackle an issue that resulted in a happy, smiling student."
"(Situation) With Company X, we had a serious space issue in our warehouse. (Task) As the Warehouse Manager, it was up to me to find a creative and affordable solution. (Action) I rearranged our shipping lanes to allow for smaller customers to be contained in one area. Next, I arranged for large customers to have a dedicated shipping area. (Result) This change made locating shipments and loading trucks much easier. My team of operators was thrilled with the change."
"I always consider the worst possibility except for my hope everything would be fine. Mainly when we deal with dangerous equipment such as boiling machine, I checked it habitually and thoroughly. It makes it easier to distinguish potential risk in the workplace. When I worked at a cafe, I observed the cake fridge regularly, but the temperature looked going up steadily. I suggested calling the mechanic, and he found out that the fan had broken."
The first sentence is a bit confusing so I have tweaked the response just a bit. I also added in a bit about the consequences that could have occurred without your keen judgement. These are good examples, though!
"When dealing with dangerous equipment such as a boiling machine, which I check thoroughly and habitually, always considering what could go wrong. This mindset makes it easier to distinguish potential risk in the workplace, allowing me to make educated and logical decisions. When I worked at
"A patient had reported to one of my doctors that several of her doses in one package misfired, and she didn't get her medication. Both the patient and doctor were upset because she missed quite a bit of doses. I asked the doctor for the packaging so I could report the lot numbers and discovered that there was a batch of products that needed to be recalled."
Your quick thinking probably saved many patients and doctors from difficult situations. This is a great example of your good judgment.
"One time I bought stock from a competitor and sold it to a customer rather than allowing the customer to go to the competitor!"
"It was very basic judgment, a co-technician was testing a wcm module, It was not working, then they called engineers, still didn't work. I looked at the test scripts and changed the sim position, and then the modules passed. I think that is by far good judgment and logic I used to solve a problem."
"When a co-technician was testing a WCM module, and it was not working, they called the engineers to help. It still did not work. I looked at the test scrips and changed the SIM position, and the modules passed. I used good judgment and logic to solve that problem."
"This seems similar to another question I've answered on this site: "Tell me about a time when you had to make a decision without all the information you needed."
In the interview, if I were to get 2 similar questions, is it okay to refer to the same story? Or discuss how the questions are similar?"
Good question! You could potentially use the same example if needed but tailor it specifically to each question; however, to be on the safe side it's probably best to have more than one example at the ready so you can provide different answers for each question. Don't worry too much about it - just have a bunch of stories in mind and go into the interview with a positive attitude and confidence. If you do this, you'll definitely be able to answer the questions you get without any trouble. And if something does cause you to falter, just brush it off, tell the interviewer you lost your train of thought due to nerves, and move on. The interviewer won't expect perfection; they just want to see that you're passionate about this specific role and that you have the experience and skillset to excel in it.
"In my job as an accountant, the system was recently implemented, I was posting an invoice that had different VAT rates, after creating all the lines with their corresponding VAT rate and post it, I realized that the total of the invoice was not matching with the amount in the document. After checking number by number, I realized that the calculation of the VAT was wrong. I raised a query to the consulters to check it and solve the problem."
Good. The step-by-step process of checking for errors and determining their origins applies to the job your seeking and is important for your interviewer to hear.
"As a charge nurse, I had to deal with all types of problems every now and then at work. One of the major issues that I had to deal with almost all the time was staff assignments. One method that worked for me in solving these problems was to explain to the team member the reason why the assignment was done the way it was done. After explaining to them, I would ask them for their input to tell me what they thought could be done better, and they would give their input. We didn't have to deal with the issue of assignment anymore after multiple responses to team members' concerns."
Good response! You do a good job of illustrating exactly how you worked through this problem and came up with a solid solution.
"We had a situation where faculty were on call on Saturdays to help students install work in our galleries so the shows could "open" Mondays. It got to the point that every Saturday one of us was answering a tearful phone call and heading to campus to assist. Students had unreasonable expectations of faculty time, and faculty resented staying late for openings later in the week, given they had already been there. This was a culture that needed to change - I met with the faculty to see what made the most sense, and as a group, we determined we could shift the schedule. Students could install during class under faculty supervision. This gave ample opportunities for students to learn from each other (since they weren't on campus alone on a Saturday), and faculty were more likely to attend students' openings."
