Page 73 - Boost Your Hiring

The Manager’s Hiring IQ Test 59

INTERVIEWER’S QUESTION
26. Tell me about a time when you solved a problem by think-
ing creatively.
Which of these responses actually answers the question? Which
answer should you be wary of? Are there any red flags?

(A) “That would be my experience with branding. We hired some
star athletes to brand our product. We sold the brand name,
and everything we did pushed the name. We bought mailing
lists and sent out thousands of ads through the mail. We spent
a fair share of our budget pushing the brand. Every activity re-
volved around this brand we were trying to establish. Every-
one in the company bought into the concept. It was a huge
success, and we all celebrated our accomplishment.”
(B) “When I started at my last company, there was a lack of cus-
tomer retention. I worked with my staff and members of other
relevant departments. The first thing I did was to form teams
that went out and interviewed customers. I reviewed the data
collected and compiled a spread sheet that I presented to the
marketing department. I worked closely with the marketing
team to develop a plan of action. We ended up with a success-
ful strategy to ‘ask customers first, sending information only
upon request.’ The key to the success of this program was get-
ting buy-in from my team and giving my 100 percent support
to the campaign from the very beginning.”

(C) “I usually keep up with what’s going on in the general market,
and I sometimes have to act fast to get market share. We were
trying to get attention in a fast-paced environment. I usually
spend a great deal of work around budget, attempting to max-
imize leverage. I’ve been known to buy some premium adver-
tising to get the word out. I’ve led some pretty successful
campaigns, even when market conditions have not been in our
favor.”

I think the strongest answer is ____.