Question: Describe a time when you were challenged with a difficult problem but found a creative solution to resolve it.

Alternative Question Phrasing:

Describe a challenge you’ve faced and your creative approach to finding a solution.

Follow-up questions:

Why did you choose this approach to be better when compared to others?
How has this solution helped your team/organization?

Question Details:

Question Type:

Behavioral

Skills:

Basic – Critical Thinking,Complex Problem Solving,Systems Evaluation

Abilities:

Cognitive – Fluency of Ideas (Idea Generation Frequency),Cognitive – Visualisation

Other Factors:

Direct Job Experience,Personality-Job Fit,Personality-Organization Fit,Self-Awareness

Work Activity (Task):

Mental Processes – Developing Objectives and Strategies,Mental Processes – Making Decisions and Solving Problems,Mental Processes – Thinking Creatively (Creativity)

Work Style (Person-Job Fit):

Achievement/Effort (Action/Result Orientation),Analytical Thinking,Attention to Detail

Question Frequency

Question Difficulty

What to look for in an answer:

If the candidate has weighed the other options before jumping into action.
If the candidate’s solution led to innovation that had a significant impact on a major area of concern for the company.

Red Flags to Watch For:

If the candidate talks about out of the office example.
If the candidate directly compares their creativity example to those of current or former co-workers, by doing this they want to portray themselves better at the expense of others.

Sample Answer:

N/A

Question Source: https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/marketing-interview-questions