eGigHow to answer “Describe a challenge you overcame at work”
This shows how you solve problems under pressure. Interviewers want a specific situation, what you personally did and the result.
How to answer
- Situation: set the scene in one or two sentences.
- Task: what you needed to achieve.
- Action: the steps you took, using “I”, not “we”.
- Result: what happened, with a number if possible.
Sample answers
Use these as a starting point. Swap in your own experience and numbers, and practise saying your answer out loud.
During my internship, our team had to send 2,000 customer letters but the address list was full of errors. I was given the task of cleaning it in three days. I sorted the list, used Excel formulas to flag duplicates and missing postcodes, and called the branches to fix the worst cases. We sent the letters on time, and returns dropped by about 80% compared with the last mailing.
When our warehouse lead resigned during the festive rush, I was asked to keep dispatch running. Orders were piling up at 1,200 a day. I split the team into picking and packing shifts, set hourly targets on a whiteboard and handled supplier calls myself. Within a week we were clearing the daily orders, and we finished the season with on-time dispatch above 97%.
A regular customer complained that we had lost her order twice. I took ownership, tracked down both orders, delivered the replacement myself that evening and set up a check on her future orders. She has since referred three new customers to us.
Mistakes to avoid
- A vague story with no result.
- Taking credit for the whole team’s work.
- A challenge that was caused by your own carelessness, unless you say so.
Practise for your job
Mock interviews with the questions employers ask for each job, a 2-minute timer and model answers.