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  • Hi there everybody, and welcome to this video tutorial which is about the interview question:

  • "Describe a time when you have solved a difficult problem?"

  • Now, this is a tough interview question to answer.

  • In this tutorial, I am going to give you some fantastic tips and some sample answers you

  • can use during your interview.

  • So, a very quick welcome.

  • Welcome to this tutorial.

  • That's me there on the right-hand side. My name is Richard McMunn and I have been helping

  • people like you for about 20 years now to pass interviews.

  • I have been very successful at it, so please take the time to watch this video.

  • I am also going to give you the slides to this tutorial so you can download them for

  • free and then you can use them during your preparation for your interview.

  • So, like I say, we are going to focus specifically on the interview question:"Describe a time

  • when you have solved a difficult problem or a difficult sitution?"

  • So, I am going to give you the slides to download as I say.

  • All you need to do...

  • I would very much appreciate it if you SUBSCRIBE to the channel because then you'll get notified

  • as soon as I create other videos and also if you like the content please give the video

  • a thumbs up because that will motivate me to do more.

  • OK, let me give you a couple of tips before we get into the sample responses.

  • 4 really important tips for answering this particular interview question, Describe a

  • time when you solved a difficult problem?

  • Number 1 - make sure you are specific in your response!

  • What I mean by that, is many people will tell the interview panel what they would do if

  • this situation occurred.

  • But you have to tell the panel what you have done.

  • You have to give them an actual situation, and I am going to give you two suggestions

  • that you can use during your interview.

  • Now, when responding use the STAR technique - I am going to explain quickly what that

  • is in a second.

  • But this will make sure you're specific in your response and that you cover all of the

  • angles required to get the TOP MARKS necessary.

  • Make the situation pressurized.

  • So, what I mean by that, when you are giving them a specific response to this question,

  • add some kind of pressure to it.

  • Now it might be a time factor, it might be an aggravating factor.

  • I will give you a couple of examples in a second of what Imean by this.

  • But, that basically puts pressure on you, and you manage to solve the problem.

  • Also, demonstrate in your response and your answer, that you are capable of working on

  • your own.

  • So, this question is designed to find people who can solve problems themselves.

  • That they don't have to go and find their boss or their manager to ask them what to

  • do.

  • OK, so the STAR technique that you're going to use when responding to this question - first

  • of all, SITUATION.

  • So, it's SITUATION, TASK, ACTION, RESULT.

  • What was the situation?

  • Explain to the panel what the situation was, then move on and tell the TASK.

  • So, this means you need to explain what the task was, actually what needed to be done.

  • Then, explain what ACTION you took and then tell the interview panel what the result was.

  • So, you explain to them what the result was following your action and here is a good tip:

  • make sure the RESULT, the end result, is positive.

  • So, always remember that when answering this kind of interview question.

  • It's a situational or behavioural types interview question.

  • So, follow the situation, task action, result and you won't go far wrong.

  • OK, sample answer number 1to the interview question: Describe a time when you solved

  • a difficult problem?

  • This is the first one of two, and like Isay, you are going to get these slides to download

  • very soon.

  • Here we go: "In my current job I work as a customer service assistant in a builder’s

  • merchants store and part of my role is to take payments for customers using our online

  • payment facility.

  • One busy Friday afternoon, I was working in the store alone as my manager had taken a

  • late lunch break.

  • All of a sudden, the in-store payment system went down whilst I had a queue of five people

  • waiting to pay for their goods.

  • It was clear they all needed to pay for their goods in order to get their jobs completed

  • before the weekend.

  • I decided to remain calm and use my initiative to solve the problem.

  • To begin with, I communicated with all of the customers the issue I was experiencing,

  • and I reassured them I would resolve the issue as soon as possible.

  • To begin with, I asked if anyone had cash they could use to pay for their goods.

  • Two people were willing to pay by cash, so this then reduced the other three customers

  • waiting time.

  • I then decided to telephone the online payment system provider to make sure they were actually

  • aware of the issue.

  • As it transpired, they had a serious problem their end and they informed me it would be

  • at least an hour before the system was back up and running.

  • I then relayed this information to the customers.

  • In order to resolve the issue, I quickly set up company credit accounts for the rest of

  • the customers which would mean they would get invoiced the following week.

  • They could then either settle their bills online or come into the store once the payment

  • system was back up and running.

  • By remaining calm and using my initiative, I was able to solve the issue without calling

  • my manager for assistance.

  • I feel strongly that I can be relied upon to resolve problems on my own whenever they

  • arise.”

  • So, that's a detailed, in-depth response and it follows Situation, Task, Action and Result.

  • Now you can use that kind of situation; I've mentioned Builder's Merchants but you can

  • apply that to kind of situation if you are working for someone where you have to take

  • payments either over the phone, or in-store.

  • OK, sample answer number 2 to the interview question: Describe a time when you solved

  • a difficult problem?

  • Here we go: “Whilst at work, it became apparent that two work colleagues were not getting

  • on.

  • I could overhear them being disrespectful towards each other and rumours in the office

  • were rife of a brewing confrontation.

  • I felt someone needed to work towards resolving this issue, as the situation could have a

  • negative impact on the team and the organisation as a whole.

  • I decided to speak to each person individually, in private, to first of all express my concerns,

  • but also secondly, to suggest a way forward in order to resolve the situation amicably.

  • I suggested that all three of us should meet collectively in a calm manner to discuss the

  • issues and resolve the situationboth of them agreed to my suggested resolution.

  • We met up on a Friday afternoon at 4pm in a quiet office location at work.

  • I started off by mediating the meeting and asked each person to speak whilst the other

  • one listened.

  • Once each person had spoken, I made a number of suggestions that were designed to resolve

  • the situation.

  • It soon became apparent that the whole situation and animosity had resulted in a simple miscommunication.

  • I suggested both of them get together outside of work in a friendly, social setting with

  • a view to building up a friendship that would, in turn, help improve their working relationship

  • whilst at work.

  • They both agreed to try this, and I am happy to say, some three months later they are now

  • great work colleagues who have a positive relationship.”

  • So, you've got two really strong responses there.

  • You can choose each one - again, this second one is applicable to virtually any kind of

  • work situation.

  • So, to get these slides, they are free of charge, simply click the link below the video.

  • You might have to click the SHOW MORE link, erm, and then it will take you to SLIDESHARE

  • which is owned by LinkedIn.

  • You can even connect with me there on LinkedIn and if you want you can see my LinkedIn profile.

  • You can also get access to my FREE online interview course by going to the website www.PassMyInterview.com.

  • So you can start learning more - I've got about 54 different training video training

  • modules on there - like Isay, please do SUBSCRIBE, I would also appreciate if you LIKED the video

  • as well - yeah, good luck guys for passing your interview.

  • You will also notice in the comments section below, sorry, in the description I have put

  • a link to another free training video here on YouTube where I give you 7 further sample

  • answers to interview questions.

  • Thank you very much for watching and listening.

  • Yeah, hit me up in the comments section below, say hi, and also if you have an interview

  • coming up and you'd like me to give you some suggested questions to prepare for, please

  • tell me what the interview is and I will come on each day and answer them.

  • Thank you for watching and GOOD LUCK in passing your interview!

Hi there everybody, and welcome to this video tutorial which is about the interview question:

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