Hello there, my name is Richard McMunn from the interview training company, PassMyInterview.com.
And in this tutorial, I am going to teach you how to answer decision-making interview
questions! So, it does not matter which organization or role you are being interviewed for, there
is a strong possibility you will have to answer interview questions that assess your ability
to MAKE EFFECTIVE DECISIONS, and to help you succeed, this is what I'm going to cover.
I am going to give you a list of decision-making interview questions that I strongly advise
you prepare for. I am going to give you brilliant, unique answers to tough decision-making interview
questions. I will give you some tips on how you can stand out during your interview. And
I will also tell you about further videos and resources you can get access to. To help
you pass your interview! Let me give you some examples of decision-making interview questions
that are likely to come up during your interview and I will then give you some example answers.
So, the first type of question is: How do you make important decisions? And this question
assesses your decision-making process. The next question. Tell me a time when you had
to make a difficult decision. The next question. Tell me a time when you made an important
decision with limited information. And another question: Provide an example of a bad decision
you made and explain what made a poor decision. So, there's four examples there of decision-making
interview questions. And let me quickly give you two VERY IMPORTANT TIPS for answering
decision-making interview questions. Tip number one, whenever you are talking about making
decisions in your answers to interview questions, use the following 4-step process. step one.
Tell the interviewer that you always start out by DETERMINING THE END GOAL. You think
to yourself, what is it that I want to achieve? Step two, you tell them that you make sure
you always GATHER ALL INFORMATION that is available to you. Step number three, you tell
them that you will always ANALYZE CAREFULLY the information that is available, before
step number four, tell them that you DETERMINE THE OPTIONS that are available to you and
then you follow through with your decision. So, let me give you an example of that four-step
process in practice when answering the common interview question, how do you make important
decisions? Here's my example answer. “Whenever I need to make an important decision, I always
use a 4-step process. Step one, I determine the objective or the end goal. What do I want
to achieve? Step two, I gather all information that is available to me. Steps three and four,
I will analyze the information before producing a list of options that I can choose from.
I will then make my decision based on facts and evidence and one that’s in the best
interests of the organization or my team.” That is a brilliant answer that shows you
are using logic and a four-step process for making effective decisions. Let's take a look
at tip number two before I give you some more answers to common competency-based decision-making
interview questions. My advice is to always use the STAR technique when answering competency-based
decision-making interview questions. You start off and tell the interviewer the SITUATION
that you were in. You then move on and explain the TASK that you needed to do. You then move
on and go into detail with the ACTION you took to complete the task. And you always
finish off and you describe the RESULTS of your actions. And it's important to make sure
the result is positive! So, let's now use the STAR technique when answering the interview
question: Tell me a time when you had to make a difficult decision. Make sure you use a
specific example where you had the confidence to make an important and difficult decision.
Number two, make sure you use the STAR technique to structure your answer. Situation. Task.
Action result. Number three, explain how you weighed up all available options before making
your decision. So, here is my suggested answer to this tough decision-making interview question.
Tell me a time when you had to make a difficult decision? “In a previous role, we had been
using a local supplier for many years. They had always been cost effective and reliable.
However, a new supplier came into the market who was offering more favorable terms that
our usual supplier could not match. It was my responsibility to weigh up the advantages
and disadvantages of using the new supplier as opposed to our tried and tested local one.
I assessed the new supplier's proposal, and more importantly, their track record with
other companies and the quality of their product. After they had agreed to supply to us for
the same price for a minimum of three years, I agreed to move over to them. When I informed
our local supplier of my decision, they were understandably disappointed. However, it was
important that I put the needs of the business first and we managed to make significant savings
by moving suppliers.” So that answer shows that you are confident in your decision-making
process. You weigh everything up and you are not afraid to make important, difficult decisions
that are in the best interests of your team or the organization. Let's have a look at
another difficult decision-making interview question. And this one is, provide an example
of a bad decision you made and explain what made it a poor decision? Now, my tip is here…
Make sure you actually give an example. Don't do what a lot of people do is, and they say,
“Oh, I never make poor decisions!” We all do. Number 2. Use the STAR technique to
structure your answer. And finally, number three, explain what you did wrong and also
what you learned from the situation. That's really important because we want to show the
hiring manager that we are open to continuous improvement and development. Here is my suggested
answer to this interview question: Provide an example of a bad decision you made and
explain what made it a poor decision? “When I first started work in my last role, my manager
asked me to book a conference room for an important meeting he had with stakeholders.
It was my responsibility to check that the hotel had all the facilities needed and that
it was in the right location to meet my manager’s needs. Unfortunately, after I had booked the
conference room, I realized there was no parking, and I could not get a refund. This meant the
meeting attendees had to park a 5-minute walk away from the venue. This was a bad decision
on my part because I had failed to thoroughly check the conference facilities had everything
we needed. I apologized to my manager and I assured him I would never make the same
mistake again. As a result of that situation, I created a definite check list that I always
used moving forward whenever I was required to book meeting rooms or conference facilities.”
That's a great answer! It shows that you are honest. You are human. You've made a mistake,
but you have learned from it. And more importantly, you put your hand up. You say sorry, and then
you learn from the situation and you are putting something in place there to make sure that
it never happens again. And that's by way of a checklist! That's a great answer. Now,
if you would like a copy of these slides and more importantly, more competency-based behavioral
interview questions, CLICK THAT LINK in the top right-hand corner of the video. It will
take you through to my website, PassMyInterview.com, and you can download my full set of 20 behavioral
interview questions and top-scoring answers, including these slides. I hope you've enjoyed
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and it's worthwhile be creating more for you. Thank you very much for watching and I wish
you all the best for passing your job interview. Have a brilliant day.