To help in answering competency-based interview questions, use the STAR method to structure your answers. Here’s an example question with suggested responses:
How might you respond to a fellow team member feeling overwhelmed with their workload?
Situation
Suggested response: My current role as a team member (along with other team members) is to respond to customer email queries within 24 hours. About two months ago, we were asked by the management, in addition to our customer service work, to compile a survey on the types and timings of queries in a particular one-week period.
Task
What was the situation you were confronted with?
Suggested response: Some team members receive more queries than others. One team member was extremely busy with questions and was overwhelmed with this additional task.
Action
Explain what you did and how and why you did it.
Suggested response: The team member and I discussed her situation and suggested she talk with our supervisor. Also, I suggested that 20% of her calls were diverted through to me and one other colleague for that one week.
Result
Describe the outcome of your actions.
Suggested response: The team member, myself, and another colleague met with our supervisor and a management team member. It was agreed that 20% of the overwhelmed team member’s emails would be temporarily diverted to another colleague and myself for that week. The outcome was that a less stressful team member with fewer queries for the week could complete her part of the survey, which she efficiently did.