Natalie Fisher shows how to answer the interview question about conflicting priorities using the SARI formula. She walks through an example where she managed a large event and space remodel by writing out priorities, consulting her boss, and asking for help. The key is proactive communication and involving your manager early.
Hi there! In this video, we will answer another situational interview question, and it goes like this: Tell me about a time you were faced with conflicting priorities. 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 answer this question, and a concrete example to get you thinking of your own story. So stay tuned. All right, so why do they ask this question? Why do they ask behavioral interview questions in the first place? Well, this question specifically is to determine how you handle stress. Basically, you could use the same story to answer questions like. Me about a time you were in a stressful situation, or tell me about a time you had to make a difficult decision. This question is just a bit more specific than that, but you can use any of those same stories, and you can use this very story in this video to answer any of those same questions, if that makes sense. So you'll want to start with telling your story and literally how you had to do 2 things at one time. But they were both equally important. How did you manage this? It seems like an impossible situation for one person to handle, and you're gonna talk them through it. So most people would handle this by getting stressed out, spinning their wheels, and ending up getting nothing done because they're in such a stressed-out state due to the situation. So what you want to talk about is how you didn't do that, and you'll walk them through it with a story. So we're going to give you an example, and we're going to use the SARI formula. So if you're not familiar with the SARI formula, it stands for situation, action, result, and interesting features. And it can come in many forms. You might have heard the term STAR interview formula or SAR And it's basically just the exact same thing, and it just helps you get a structure together for telling your own story instead of fumbling and not really knowing what to tell in what order. So you'll tell a powerful story that's going to tell— that's going to paint a good picture of the situation and how you rose to the challenge and how you were basically the hero and figured it all out. So step 1, situation. We're moving on right in with the example now. I was working on a large event and I had literally too many things to do at one time. My list was my arm long and more. And on top of this, not just was the event really important because things had deadlines, but we were also working on a space remodeling and there were deadlines to be met for that as well. So there were 2 very large projects happening at one time. So what is one person to do? So So that's the end of that phase where we've set the stage. So now we're moving on to step 2, which is the action that you took. So you can talk about 1 action, 2 actions, maximum 3 actions, but this is the meat of the story. So what did you do and what did your actions lead to? So for my example, we're going to go with this. From my experience, I couldn't go wrong with writing out the priorities and going to my boss to say, this is what I think I need to This is why these things are important. But I don't have the bandwidth for all of this. This is what I think I should do. Do you have a different idea in mind or are you in agreement? So by taking this action of thinking it out yourself strategically and then taking it to your boss, you have covered all your bases and you're ready to succeed. So result number 3, the result was that your boss received this very well. They were very happy that you came to them. And so the result was your boss was happy and they did, they agreed and they maybe gave you some pointers and said, hey, you know, maybe you can get Sally to help you with this, or maybe this can wait. And they basically helped you get things off your plate and helped you make the time and either get the help or the resources that you needed to get it all done. That's what bosses are for. So step 4, bonus interesting features. Highlight anything interesting about your story. So for example here, supportive bosses are there to help you juggle priorities. If you just try to do it alone and you fail, then it's going to be worse in the end for you stepping back in and asking for help when it's too late, which is what a lot of people do. So it's too late, they'll come to the boss and be like, I was supposed to do all this and I couldn't. And your boss will be like, well, why didn't you come to me sooner? And there you have it. Can you remember of a time when you had way too much on your plate and you couldn't handle it all? What did you do? In the end, something had to get done about it, right? Either you succeeded, prioritized with help from your boss, or you prioritized on your own, or you failed. So tell a story of how you came out successful on the other side of this. At least for this interview, you want to tell the story of how you were Thank you so much for watching. And remember, nailing the interview questions is great, but there is a lot more to it than that. In fact, if all you do is answer the questions, you've already lost. So you need to have a whole interview strategy in place, which is what I help you with, which is what I help you with in my programs and in my free videos. So do you have an interview strategy in place? If not, you can start right now with me by clicking below and you can grab my free guide. You'll get instant access to the free guide right away. It's called the Ultimate Situational Interviewing Guide, and what you're going to receive when you click to get the guide is you will— you'll get a breakdown of the STAR formula, exactly why it works, and an example to go with that. You will get the 10 most commonly asked situational behavioral interview questions, and you'll get the answers just like we did in this video, an example of a bunch of different ones. You'll get fill-in-the-blank templates for each question, and just in case you're still getting really stuck with this, you'll get 25 questions to prepare your own stories. So maybe you need to do a little bit of digging in the old brain of yours and come up with the situations that you've been through that make good interview stories. So click below right away to get that. It's also in a beautifully designed workbook that is designed to help you get prepared for your interview. So go ahead and grab that now. And thank you so much for watching. I'm Natalie Fisher. I help people with their careers, their interviews, their resumes, anything to do with moving forward In your career, making more money. That's my favorite. We all want more money. So click below to grab your free guide now and get started with me, and I will see you on the other side. Thanks so much for watching. End of video. Okay, so there we have it. That's the end of that video. I hope that you didn't hear my dog. She might have been a little bit loud. Sometimes she runs around on the floor. Say hi, Carly! Say hi! This is Carly, my dog. If you have a dog, let me know. We'll be besties. I'm a dog lover. Can you tell?
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