The sure thing you expect when going for a job interview is being asked, “What’s a challenge that you have recently overcome?” This is one of the most common interview questions because it gives the interviewer an idea of your problem-solving skills and resilience as well as your capability to deal with hard-core issues. A perfect response to such a question can really make a difference by setting you apart from others as it will clearly show that you can cope with any challenge that the role which you’re applying for entails.
In this article, we are going to walk you through 10 tips you absolutely need to know when discussing the challenge you just overcame-how to answer this question with confidence and effectiveness.
Table of Contents
What Does the Question Actually Mean?
Before we dive into the tips, it’s first crucial to understand why interviewers ask you about challenges you overcame. Employers are looking into your problem-solving ability and resilience. They want to know how you will deal with a tough situation, wriggle out, and whether you can stay cool in a tough situation.
Why Do Interviewers Ask About Challenges?
Interviewers ask about challenges to gauge your:
- Problem-solving skills: Are you able to identify a problem and come up with a solution?
- Resilience: Can you deal with failure or setbacks and recover?
- Ability to learn: What do you learn from bad situations?
- Self-awareness: Do you critically analyze what you are doing and its consequences?
10 Tips for Answering “Whats a Challenge You Recently Overcame?
1. Choose an Appropriate and Current Example
When you are selecting an example, make sure it is current and relevant to the job you are applying for. That way, you can ensure that your experience is current and directly relevant to the role. Avoid discussing issues that are more personal than professional or which don’t have any relevance to the job.
Example: If it is a project management position you are interviewing for, talk about the challenge of leading the way in a complex project, but not about a problem that has nothing to do with the workplace scenario.
2. Emphasize Successfully Solved Problems
Share challenges on which you find a successful solution. It shows how good you are in mastering the tough situation. Whenever possible quantify your success to make your answer more impactful.
For example, “I was assigned a key project team lead responsibility on a high-stakes project with an aggressively compressed deadline. I planned the project to detail, kept the team well-informed throughout, and delivered the project two days early. This achievement resulted in client-satisfaction improving by 15%.”
3. Use STAR to Format Your Answer
Popular structured frameworks for answers in interviews are the STAR framework: Situation, Task, Action, and Result. Such a framework allows a sharp, concise, and effective answer to be delivered.
- Situation: Describe context and challenge.
- Task: What do I need to do?
- Action: Describe steps taken to overcome the challenge.
- Result: Share outcome and what was learned.
Example:
Situation: “At XYZ Company, we faced a major software problem that affected our delivery to clients.
“Task: “I needed to find out why it was happening and made sure that client deadlines were respected.
“Action: “I put together a cross-functional team and scheduled everyday check-ins and created a temporary solution to mitigate the issue while finding a permanent solution.
Result: “We completed all our projects within the deadline, and I was identified as one of the award winners for outstanding leadership during the crisis.”
4. Sharpen Problem-Solving Ability and Flexibility
Show your ability to think on your feet and adapt to changing circumstances at work. The majority of the employers will like to hire candidates who can make their way through unplanned challenges without getting derailed.
Example: “When a key team member quit the company without warning, I was able to adjust the entire team immediately and redistribute work responsibilities in order to keep our project on track. My flexibility ensured that we were in a position to deliver right on time, following all of that.
5. Demonstrate Self-Awareness and Personal Growth
One way you can make your response even stronger is by detailing how the experience served as a catalyst for personal or professional learning. Employers tend to prefer workers who have learned from their experiences.
Example: “I learned patience and effective communication in handling a difficult client. Following that, I have managed clients with great success, maintaining positive relationships even in trying times.”
6. Avoid Clichés and Familiar Examples Everyone’s Heard About
It’s tempting to draw on universal problems like “work-life balance” or “tight deadlines,” but choose an extremely unusual example that illuminates something new, because that is partly what will make you stand out over there at the interview table.
For instance: Instead of saying, “I managed a heavy workload,” you could say, “I came up with a new workflow that reduces our processing time by 20% thus letting me keep my present workload under better control.”
7. Keep It Professional and Job-Related
Only remain professional in the challenges that have a direct relation to the nature of the job you are applying for. Personal challenges should only be narrated if they affect your professional life in a relevant manner.
For example, if you’re interviewing for a customer service position, explain how you handled that especially difficult customer to salvage the situation instead of sharing a personal health issue.
8. Have Several Examples Ready
You will likely be asked to provide more than one example of how you overcame a challenge based on the course of the interview. Having several examples ready will allow you to naturally segue into the interview.
Tip: Be prepared to give at least two examples—one about technical skills and one about soft skills, like teamwork or leadership.
9. Rehearse Your Answer
As with any interview question, preparing your response can make it that much easier to deliver on the day of the interview. Practice in front of a mirror or with a friend, paying attention to being clear and confident.
Tip: Record your answer to this question and then listen to the recording to find areas for improvement. Pay attention to your tone, speed, and body language.
10. Be Honest and Authentic
Lastly, honesty in your response is very important. Do not exaggerate or make up stories. Authenticity always resonates well with interviewers and builds their trust.
Example: “It wasn’t easy, but I am proud of how I handled the situation by keeping cool and focused on finding a solution that benefited everybody.”
How Would You Answer: “Tell Me About a Time When You Overcame a Challenge in the Workplace”
This type of question is about your experience at work. Key emphasis when approaching this kind of question is to give an example of how the challenge impacted the workplace and what you did that actually brought about a good outcome.
Step-by-Step Approach to Answering:
- Identify a Workplace Challenge: Select a challenge which had the greatest impact on your team or organization.
- Explain Impact: Describe how the challenge impacted the workplace and reasons why this challenge needed to be overcome.
- Detail Your Approach: Describe the specific actions you took and why you selected that approach.
- Highlight the Outcome: Share the results of your actions and recognition you received for your efforts.
Example Answer: At my previous job, there was a sudden system outage that tended to delay the entire production. Knowing the situation was grave, I promptly called a team together to troubleshoot it. The communication is clear for all parties pertinent involved and follow-up communications were provided frequently. In a few hours, we were able to deal with the problem, hence keeping downtime at its minimal as well as avoiding major delays.
FAQs
How to Answer to “Tell Me About a Challenge That You Overcame?”
To answer this effectively, use the STAR framework in your response. Start with an appropriate challenging situation and underline your skill of solving problems and the successful outcome it reached.
What Was the Example of Your Challenging Situation You Overcame?
For example, it was a major company change, like putting in a new software system, where you especially made a difference in training staff not to impact the day-to-day flow of business.
What’s the Greatest Challenge You Overcame?
Mostly, the greatest challenges you faced would be big hurdles in your career, such as recovery after major failure or being accountable for bringing in a high-stakes project on time and on budget against all odds.
What Obstacles Did You Overcome?
Describe challenges showing that you were resilient and could solve problems. For instance, you might describe how you overcame limited resources in a previous job by thinking outside the box to come up with a solution.
How Would I Overcome My Challenge?
It takes one’s ability to stay calm, think critically about the situation, and break down the problem into small bits or parts. Focus on identifying actionable solutions while learning from the experience.
What’s the biggest challenge in your life?
You can make this question more personal, but your answer should be professional. You may discuss a major career challenge that made you learn something new or change your approach to solving problems.
What Was the Toughest Challenge You’ve Faced Sample Answer?
A sample answer might reflect a situation in which you have led others through a crisis, like handling a conflict between conflicting deadlines in a project or need to adjust your company strategy overnight.
What’s a Challenge You Recently Overcame? Quora?
The answers to Quora vary, but a great one might be about the time you overcame a challenge at work, such as resolving a conflict within a team or put in place a new process that would make things more efficient.
How to Respond Describe a Challenge You Faced and How You Overcame It?
Use the STAR method below to structure your response, where you detail the actions you took in response to the challenge encountered and the positive outcome achieved.
Tell Us About a Time You Overcame a Challenge Examples?
For example, you may have a project with little or no budget and, as a result, create priorities for the tasks you have, delegate responsibility, and successfully complete the project both within the time line and your budget.
Write about a Challenge You Experienced and How You Overcame It Student Examples?
For a student, it may be when you balance academics with other things like extracurricular activities, you become efficient in time management so that you achieve your objectives in both fields.
Examples of How You Have Solved Problems at Work?
There are examples in managing a difficult customer, coaching a team through change, or designing new processes that had improved.
Related Topic:
What are 7 McDonalds Crew Member Job Description Entail?
How Chief Marketing Officer ThreatLocker Solves 3 Major Issues
Top 7 Skills Every USA Logistics Coordinator Needs
