In this next post, I’m going to teach you how to answer the really difficult interview question. Tell me about a time when you took a risk at work. Wow, this is a very difficult interview question to answer correctly. However, if you have a job interview coming up for any role or any organization, make sure you stay tuned because I will give you two brilliant example answers.
Let’s jump straight into the presentation. So to help you pass your job interview, I will cover three things during this tutorial.
- Number one, I will explain why the interviewer is asking you the question. Tell me about a time when you took a risk at work.
- Number two, I will give you three really important tips for answering this question, and I will also tell you the one word you have to use in your response.
- And then number three, I will give you several brilliant example answers.
Number one
So to begin with, let me explain why the interviewer is asking you the question. Tell me about a time when you took a risk at work.
- Reason number one. Now, when a hiring manager asks you this interview question, they want to employ someone who is more likely to take a risk at work. And by taking the right risks, the business is more likely to achieve success and ultimately beat its competitors.
- And the second reason why the interviewer is asking you this interview question is because they want to assess your approach to taking risks. How you take on a risk at work is going to be vital to your success in this role.
Number two
Now, before I give you out several brilliant example answers, let me give you three really important tips for answering the interview question.
- Tip number one. Make sure you use the star technique to structure your answer. So you start off and you tell the interviewer the situation you were in. You then move on and outline the task that needed doing. You then give specific in-depth details about the action you took before finishing off with the results of your actions.
- Tip number two. When answering this difficult interview question, make sure you use the word calculated in your response. Now, any risk that you take at work should be a calculated one, so taking a calculated risk means you weigh up the pros and cons of the risk, and you also act in a way that is going to be of benefit to their organization.
- And tip number three at the end of your answer, tell the interviewer that whilst you are someone who will take calculated risks, you will never do anything to put the organization in danger.
Number three
Let me now give you two brilliant example answers to the difficult interview question.
Answer option number one
- In my previous job, I was working on an important project over the weekend. Unfortunately, my company laptop developed a fault, which meant I could no longer work on the project now to buy a new laptop.
- I needed permission from my manager, who I knew was away on holiday for two weeks. I had to decide whether to buy a new laptop without my manager’s permission so I could continue to work on the project.
- Now, after carefully considering my options and after analyzing the risk to the company of me not being able to finish the project over the weekend, I decided to go ahead and buy the laptop. Now, when my manager returned to work, she agreed I had made the right decision.
- Whenever I take calculated risks, I will always put the needs of the company first and I will never do anything that puts the business in danger.
Answer option number two
Let me now give you the second example answer to that interview question. Here we go.
- The situation came about in my previous role where I had to take a calculated risk. My manager was off on annual leave and they were not going to be back for several weeks now.
- A supplier was due to send us some products and we needed these products urgently because our customers had already ordered them and paid for them so these products were due to go out. However, the supplier called me at the last minute and they said that they were not going to be able to deliver these products.
- Now I had to make a decision. My manager was not contactable, so I had to decide whether to contact all of the customers apologize and if issue the refunds and there were about 20 customers, or did I try and find an alternative supplier without the permission of my manager and pay upfront for some new products.
- I decided after weighing up the pros and cons to find an alternative supplier to pay them so that I could deliver the products for our customers.
- And the reason why I took that risk was because I felt it was really important to meet our customers demands what they had paid for and expected, because if I would have had to apologize and refund to them, this could have resulted in numerous online negative reviews which could have had a far greater negative impact on the organization.
That is two brilliant example answers to help you pass your interview. Tell me in the comments section below the article, which answer option number one or two you think is the strongest.
Now the next thing to do is head through to my website and you can find full set of interview questions and top scoring answers, including the ones I’ve worked through together today so make sure you go through to the website because I’ve also placed more questions on there that I recommend you prepare for. There’s also some really important additional tips that will help you to polish your interview. Make sure you check those out.
I hope you’ve learned how to answer tell me about a time when you took a risk. As I said at the start, it’s really important because I can then help you not just pass every job interview, but I can help you to negotiate a salary, get a pay rise and also get a promotion and make sure you share your feedback on the comments section. That’s all I ask that motivates me to create more articles for you. It’s really good to connect with like minded professionals such as yourself. Thank you so much for reading, and I wish you all the best for passing your interview. Have a brilliant day!