Behavioural Interview Question - Tell me About a Time You Showed Initiative (With an Example Answer)

Hi, in this video we are going to talk about the situational interview question, tell me about a time you showed initiative. So what we're going to cover in this video: a sneak peek into the mind of the interviewer and why they ask this question, What to say when you're answering the question, and a concrete example of my own experience to get you thinking. So stay tuned! Okay, so what's the point of this question? Why are they asking this? It's actually to see what initiative means to you as a potential employee. Where did you see something that wasn't working? And you made it work. Something that needed improving, and so you improved upon it. Something that wasn't getting done, and so you did it. No one asked you to, no one told you about it, but you saw something that was missing and you took action on it yourself. That's initiative. So the reason they ask this is to see how you have done it in the past because They think that'll give them a good reflection of how you will behave in the future. The opposite of initiative is doing nothing, saying things like, that's not my job. This question is a great opportunity to tell a story that shows off a time when you took initiative and it was a success. So we're going to answer using the SARI formula as normal. So situation, action, results, interesting features, also known as STAR— situation, task, action, result— or just SAR. So using this formula helps you break it down into the beginning, middle, and end and makes sure that you make it a fun story to tell. You want the story to be powerful and impactful, and you want it to paint a good picture of the situation you were in, how you rose to the challenge, and you want to And explain clearly how it ended. So let's dive right into an example. Step 1, situation. So this is where you set the stage. So this is the example I'm going to use. I was working at a tech company and we had a VP of engineering and he was my boss and he was the best boss ever. He was supportive, he was always relaxed, he never got angry if someone made a mistake. He just dealt with things accordingly, and he was good at making unpopular decisions too. Yet he was able to maintain that coolness factor of being a good guy and truly thought that he cared about everybody. So I'd been working there for 2 years, and we were having a big company event coming up with an awards dinner. Now there were several employees who were going to be winning awards, yet as he was in management, He wasn't allowed to win an official award. So I wanted to do something because I thought he deserved something. So I got everybody together to see if they would pitch in for an award for him. So this is an example of seeing someone that I thought deserved recognition and making it possible. And then the second step, I explained the actions I took to do it. The first step of this story is observing. So it's becoming aware of something without anyone having told me or anything like that. It was just my own initiative, something that came from the heart or something that comes out of a need. In this case, it was from the heart. So step 2, what were the actions that I took and what outcome did they lead to? So for example, the action, step number 2, was I first pitched the idea to my CEO. And he fully supported me. He said that he would even be happy to help out by paying for the VP's wife to fly over to where the event was being held and surprise him by presenting the award to him. So with the support of the CEO, I collected money from everyone in the department and I purchased the award for him. So those are my actions. Step 3. Result. So the result was that on the night of the awards, he was the one presenting the awards. And as he was wrapping up the ceremony, he thought he was all done and he said, okay, that's it everyone. Eat, drink, and be merry. When the CEO came up and said, wait, wait, wait, there's one more thing. And we did the presentation of his award with his wife coming in. So the result was wonderful. Step 3. Step 4, bonus interesting features. So highlighting anything that was interesting here. There were too many interesting features to name about this particular story, but I went with this one. I said, I think he may have shed a tear or two, he was so moved, although he wouldn't ever want to admit that. That really paints a picture of the impact that the actions had on him. And there we have it. Can you think of a time when you observed something that no one else saw and you took action on it and did something? How did you feel about it afterwards and how did it turn out? Thank you so much for watching. And remember, nailing the interview questions is great, but there is a lot more to interviewing than just answering the questions. In fact, if all you do is answer the questions, you've already lost. There is an entire interview strategy at play, and if you'd like to learn more, you can get started now by clicking the link below and grabbing my free guide. When you sign up, you will get instant access to the Ultimate Situational Interviewing Guide, and in the guide you will get a step-by-step breakdown of the SARI formula and why it works so well. You will get 10 concrete examples of the most commonly asked interview questions. You will get fill-in-the-blank templates, so all you have to do is fill in your own stories. And in case you are still getting stuck, you will get the 25 questions to come up with your own stories. So the quality of your interview is the quality of the questions that you ask yourself before you go into the interview, and that's what these questions are going to help you with. So getting started now is really easy. All you have to do is click the link below, and I will see you on the other side. Thank you so much for watching. Yeah, there's a picture of my dog. No, he would not want me to show you. He's very shy. They call him a reluctant leader.