The situational question is fairly common in job interviews and is similar to the behavioral question. Instead of asking you how you handled a certain situation in the past, the interviewer asks how you would handle the situation in the future. You can answer this kind of question with the same kind of story you would use to answer a behavioral question. Simply explain that this is the story of how you handled the situation previously, and you would expect to use the same skills and knowledge to handle the situation if you are hired for this job.

Occasionally an interviewer will ask a hypothetical question about what you would do if you were hired by the employer, such as what would be the first few things you would do in the job or what suggestions you have for improving the organization. Here, too, you have the option of responding to the question by telling a story from your past experience, but another option is to tell a future story. The future story is different from any other story discussed in this book because it’s essentially fiction; it hasn’t happened (yet). But you have the opportunity to describe a future scenario in which you would play a major role in meeting the employer’s needs and solving its problems. You can paint a vivid picture of what it would be like if you were hired.

Example[s]:

How would you organize the steps or methods you’d take to define/identify a vision for your team or your personal job function?

I believe a good team vision starts first with a strong understanding of the organization’s mission. So, my steps would be as follows. First, review my organization’s vision. Second, develop some rough ideas of how I would word a team vision statement in preparation for a team meeting to discuss the issue. Third, I would call a meeting of the team and have a discussion of what we do best, how what we do fits with the organization. Then I would discuss the organization’s vision and ask for ideas and suggestions for the team’s mission. If asked, I would mention some of my thoughts on our team vision. Fourth, following the meeting, I would craft a vision statement - perhaps with the help of one or two other team members - and then distribute it to the team and ask for feedback. Fifth, I would finalize the vision statement from the comments and feedback from the team… and then post our vision statement in places where all the team members could see it on a regular basis.

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Tell Me About Yourself: Storytelling that Propels Careers, Quintessential Careers Press, ISBN-10: 1-934689-00-9. Find out the ways you can own the entire book.