It’s impossible to know everything in the IT field because of rapidly changing technology, so recently when we were having troubles with our circuit emulation over our ATM network, I had to call in some engineers from North Carolina to come help me out. The nice thing about asking for help is that when you get the assistance, you can learn from what you are told and apply it to future situations.

During my time in the theater, I had one director with whom I absolutely did not work well. However, because of my track record, she would assign me as stage director or assistant director. I was usually involved in the day-to-day operations of the play and the details of how the play would be performed. I handled the operation for the play by directing scenes the best way I could and then showing them to her for approval. If she did not like the way a scene worked, I gave her my opinion as to why it should be my way. If we still could not compromise, I would follow her directions to the best of my ability. Understanding that people don’t usually have malicious intentions is key, and understanding that you will never be able to convince some people that your way is right is the best way to avoid conflict and still get the job done.

When I first began working at the credit union, I was the youngest member of the staff. An older woman really knew the ropes of the place. When I first got there she barely acknowledged my presence, and through word of mouth I discovered that she thought that I was too young to successfully fulfill my duties because I was so inexperienced. She assumed I was immature. I did my job and took every opportunity to make a good impression. I was a very diligent worker and behaved in a highly professional manner at all times, learning quickly the best way to do things. After about two weeks of the silent treatment from her, she came up to me and told me how impressed she was with me. She told me that I had done an excellent job and was the fastest learner that she had ever seen. She apologized to me for ignoring me and took me under her wing and shared what she knew with me.

When I worked at Home Depot as an assistant manager, I was always looking for way to boost my employees’ morale. Unloading trucks is a very routine and physical job and can become very boring and exhausting, so to improve the unloaders’ attitude toward their duties and make the best of the situation, I put a radio in the receiving dock. It worked; however, the district manager did not approve of the radio in the workplace even though it did not interfere with any set policy or company objectives. The radio was also out of any areas where customers would hear the music. I did not agree with my DM’s decision to remove the radio; however, I understood his point of view once he explained it to me and promptly complied with his request. The employees were not happy that their radio was gone, so I found an alternative method of reward and morale boosting by implementing a program in which we provided lunch for the unloaders from any restaurant of their choice if they unloaded the trucks faster than normal. This program succeeded by increasing their unloading time from 2 1/2 hours to only 1 1/2, a savings in payroll of 8 percent of sales for that shift.

As an administrative coordinator at a resort’s convention center, I had a staff of 27. Having such a large staff all working different shifts and having varying schedules meant that meetings could not be held with everyone at one time. I needed to communicate with everyone about important policies and information often, so I came up with the idea of designing a Web page for my staff with written announcements. Each desk assistant was required to check the Web page daily at the beginning of his or her shift. I also sent email communications via a distribution list that kept each desk assistant informed. The one situation that stands out in my mind is a last-minute group that decided to come in a day early with only one day’s notice. I had no staff scheduled to check in the group or to organize the keys. I posted an update to the Web page and sent an email. Within four hours, I had the following day completely staffed and desk assistants there to organize room keys for the group members that night.

This situation happens often in the IT industry, but one recent example was when we had a core backbone switch die. It died at the worst possible time - during a crunch production period - as they always seem to do, and I needed to get it back up and running quickly. I analyzed the logs and system status, and using my previous experience, I made some quick decisions that rectified the problem and got the equipment back up only minutes later.

I had a client come into the bank where I worked and request a $5,000 personal loan to “pay off some bills.” In the customary review process, I determined that what was really needed was a $25,000 debt-consolidation loan. Rather than giving the customer a “quick-fix” to the problem, I logically solved the problem in a way that was in the best interest of both the bank and the client.

When I was a resident assistant at my college, a student I did not know asked me if he could use my phone to call another room. Although I did not know the student, I allowed him into my room. He used the phone and in the course of his conversation, he stated that he had just come from a fraternity party and was high from taking some drugs. After this conversation, I had to enforce the student conduct code by writing him up. He became very hostile toward me and would not give me any identification or information. I stood in the doorway to prevent him from leaving. I noted the serial numbers on his keys, so when the situation got to the point where I felt unsafe, I allowed him to leave. I still performed my job without jeopardizing my or his physical welfare.

Recently my company asked for bids on a phone system for our new training center. Two companies came in very close with their bids, and most of my department wanted to go with a vendor that we have used in the past. After I looked over the proposals, it was clear that this was the wrong decision. So, I talked individually with each member of our staff and changed their minds. We got the best product, saved money, and provided the highest quality.

When I was working as a data-entry examiner in claims, I was asked to participate on a team to help create a manual to document the process for data entry of claims. At the time, documents and training material were scattered across several resource files, but nothing straightforward, simple, and comprehensive had been designed for the insurance company’s largest client, the state of Nevada. From the start, I knew this would be a complex project because when we began mapping the decision trees and process, the map grew exponentially, and we found ourselves overwhelmed by the amount of research needed. To handle the project, I broke it down into four main categories and assigned them to individuals to research. I also selected one person to be the master editor and to keep us motivated and on track. I set deadlines so we could pace ourselves over the next few weeks to produce a value-added deliverable. We also rotated the work assignments when completed so we could check each other’s work for consistency and hammer out any policy differences and interpretations as they came up. In the end, we finished the 200+ page manual in about three months. All of us were extremely proud of the document we created. If I could do one thing over again, I would have probably have made the manual a Web-based document so it could be searched and browsed.

I had to give a marketing presentation while attending community college. The project was about Anheuser-Busch. We were assigned to report on key management personnel (CEO, Chairman of the Board, President, key VPs), divisions and subsidiaries, major products/brands/services, key financials for the most recent year (sales revenue, expenses, total income, net income, sales growth or loss for the last year), market share, key competitors, mission statement, product positioning, and number of employees. The steps I took included visiting the company’s Miami branch to interview employees and gather visual aids for the project. I spent considerable time organizing and writing the presentation. Then I spent time reviewing my speech over a period of several days. As a result I was calm while giving the presentation and earned an A for the project. The one additional step I perhaps wish I’d taken would have been to talk to some consumers and storeowners about the product.

My senior research was my most complex assignment. It took two semesters to complete and was made up of many components including gathering significant amounts of primary and secondary research. I had to make many critical decisions along the way that would affect the outcome of my research. I made these decisions independently with minimal influence from my professor. I was very successful and happy with my final product, an 80-page comprehensive report.

Can you give me an example of your team-leadership skills?

Designing the staffing plan for my company is an excellent example of my team-leadership skills. I needed the input of corporate leadership and front-line employees to design a model aligned with the company goals and culture. I’m very proud of this project because I brought front-line workers into the brainstorming process when the initial discussion with department heads suggested this would never happen. I met initially with the executive committee for input and to learn their key priorities, then met several times individually with each department head to discuss the process and what would best serve their departments. I routed preliminary and final drafts through the executive committee and led consultation through several other committees. Before the deadline, I submitted an excellent plan that is consistent with the company’s needs and culture. The plan contributed to an inclusive environment, as demonstrated by the fact that front-line employees have become more involved in decision-making, and morale is at an all-time high.

As a store manager, I had to convince 150 associates during a meeting that to get a bonus, they would have to improve their safety record. Over the next six weeks, we talked about this issue daily, and I communicated my expectation with my management team. After the six-week period, our accident reduction was more than 100 percent, which solidified the associates’ bonuses of several hundred dollars each.

I inherited a long-term poor performing sales rep who would not follow through on the plan of action we discussed during our field ride-along. He was also a poor listener who would always try to turn situations around and blame others for his failures. I found that communicating with him in writing left the ball in his court, and he could refer back to my written communications when needed. Putting things in writing also left a paper trail to show the rep’s progress. The experience taught me that you have to treat each rep individually and find out the best way to communicate with each.

I had a very difficult employee who constantly challenged my authority. I took the time to understand this employee in meetings, as well as by gathering information from clients and coworkers. I conducted regular meetings with her and brought to her attention some of her greatest strengths and my expectations. I opened the lines of communication with this employee and found that her greatest strength was to help people. I accepted her for her uniqueness and constantly praised her for her great accomplishments. I brought to her attention areas she needed to improve. In the end, it’s a great success story. She has earned my trust, and I trust her ability to represent the organization in a very professional manner. She now takes the lead in team meetings and helps others see their full potential. She is now one of our best team players.

Two years ago, my brother committed suicide. I am a call-center representative, and people call with all sorts of problems that seemed very trivial to me in the state of mind I was in after my brother’s death. It was very hard to separate my pain and sadness from my professional life. I would mentally prep myself each day knowing that the people I was talking to did not know what happened. I had to detach myself so I could provide excellent customer service. I sought out special projects to complete for my manager until I was ready to return to the high pressures of my demanding job.

Arriving at the language school I was attending in Costa Rica in the middle of the night with very minimal Spanish-language skills, I found my way to a very small town with no street addresses or names and found my temporary residence. I was scared, but I handled the situation very well, very calmly. In very stressful situations, I am always the one in the group to stay calm and focused. My friends, family, and professors have always said that I am an oasis of calm in a storm.

When I was a bureau chief and reporter, my editor wanted an in-depth interview with the family of a young girl who’d fallen through the ice at a nearby lake and was in a coma with brain damage. We clashed on the morality and sensitivity of doing such a story for the sake of headlines, and I ultimately convinced the editor that shining a spotlight on a family so obviously grief-stricken was not a good course of action. We held the stories until after the girl recovered and was no longer in critical condition.

We had to lay people off a couple years ago, and the vice president asked me for my recommendations while I was out on vacation. Because I had been meeting regularly with the directors and had been leading a workforce planning effort, I had very clear data from them regarding those areas where reductions could be made with the least disruptions to key services. I took the time during my vacation to share that data with the VP. The result was that the decisions were made in a timely way and the impact on services was minimal.

Although I had already punched out, I stayed behind to help a colleague solve a problem. A customer was very angry, as he had waited a long time for his coffee. My colleague was new, and she was quite slow. I came out and explained things to the customer. Although he was very angry at first, I just listened to him and told him that we try to bring our best out to each customer who walks in to our store. After a one-hour discussion, he left with a happy face and was satisfied.

While working at a large retailer, I was one of three people to work in the electronics department. One day upon arriving at work, I was told the district manager was coming the next day to do a store inspection. The two other people who worked in electronics were both over 55. Neither could lift heavy objects, and one refused to work at all. As a result, the electronics department was usually left to me to keep in order and stocked with product. I had about five hours of work time to get the entire department in order. After the five hours passed, there was still a substantial amount of work to be done. I asked the store manager if I could stay and work after hours while the overnight stockers were there. He said that because of the employment budget, he could not let me. So I was faced with bringing the entire store’s rating down or not getting paid. I worked without pay, and three hours later, the department was in tip-top shape. The electronics department got a score of 95 out of 100.

I don’t believe in trying to get by with the least possible effort, and I am always willing to go beyond the call of duty to perform an assignment successfully. My anthropology class was given a group project in which each group had to teach a topic to the class for 50 minutes. I was a freshman and everyone in my group was either juniors or seniors, so I was very nervous and felt that I needed to prove myself. My topic was Botswana. I went online for hours, as well as to the library trying to find as much info as possible, but there just wasn’t enough to fill a 50-minute presentation. Instead of working with the little material that I had, I continued to search in other libraries. I ended up writing a very good paper. In addition, I taught myself how to use PowerPoint, and came up with a substantial slide show. I met with my group, and they were amazed at the work I had done. My team earned an A for the project.

The business team had a very tight deadline for getting FDA approval for a line extension of a newly marketed pharmaceutical product. The team wanted to do something very quickly, focusing only on efficacy and safety and not including any outcomes. I convinced the team to include some outcomes related to convenience, satisfaction, and sleep quality. I had to convince them that this information was critical for us to gain market access, especially related to managed-care formularies. The FDA approved the line extension.

Annually, a year-end tournament capped off lessons at my tennis club. However, students had started losing interest in the tournament. Three years ago, I figured out a way to motivate the kids to play in the tournament by making it much more age-friendly. I suggested to the head coach that we all pitch in to buy prizes for the students and trophies for the winners and have other games and exercises going on while the tournament took place. The result was a 40 percent increase in participants and a significant increase in the crowds of family and friends that came out to watch.

In one of my marketing classes, we had to read case studies of problematic business scenarios, evaluate them, and tell what changes we would make in the way the company was managed. The cases were very confusing, and students had a hard time separating issues. I went to my professor to suggest role-playing the characters in the cases and proceed as if it were real life - to give students a better understanding. At first she snubbed my idea and thought that students would not take it seriously. However, I was very persistent. I told her that since I am a very visual learner and knew that it would help me, I therefore felt the approach could make a difference in the class. She still refused. I then asked her to give me just one case to try my idea. I said that I would take one of the roles, and a volunteer could take another. I said that if the idea failed, I would never mention it again. She gave me my chance, and it worked! My idea grabbed the attention of the class. Instead of reading the boring cases and going around the room sharing our thoughts, I got the class involved and excited about the material that we were learning.

As an account executive, I persuade potential advertisers all the time. But I specifically remember persuading the owner of a tanning salon to advertise in the middle of the winter after he had already declined at the beginning. I used my personal experience as a sorority member to explain to him that winter is the best time to advertise tanning salons because sororities have formals, and members want to look tan in their dresses. He knew sororities were a huge part of his business and agreed to advertise for the rest of the school year as long as I kept him up to date on good times to run specials for sororities.

I was the leader of my macroeconomics group in college. As leader, I had to delegate parts of the assignment to other group members. Not only did I do a written section for each paper, but I also gathered all of the props we needed for our oral presentation, and I typed all of the five papers assigned. I was also taking four other classes at the time. By the fourth paper, I decided to persuade some of the other group members to edit and finalize it. I learned a lot about delegation and leadership when I discovered that they were happy to help out.