Question: Give me an example of a time you found it necessary to make an exception to the rules in order to get something done.

Alternative Question Phrasing:

Follow-up questions:

What was the outcome?

Question Details:

Question Type:

Behavioral

Skills:

Basic – Critical Thinking,Basic – Monitoring (Making observations of self and environment)

Abilities:

Cognitive – Category Flexibility (Mental Flexibility)

Other Factors:

Personality-Job Fit

Work Activity (Task):

Mental Processes – Judging the Value of Things, Services, or People,Mental Processes – Making Decisions and Solving Problems

Work Style (Person-Job Fit):

Adaptability/Flexibility,Analytical Thinking,Initiative

Question Frequency

Question Difficulty

What to look for in an answer:

The candidate’s decision-making skills.
The candidate’s critical thinking skills.
The candidate’s professionalism in handling difficult situations.

Red Flags to Watch For:

The candidate’s poor decision-making skills.
The candidate’s unprofessionalism.

Sample Answer:

Once we encountered an emergency but my boss was not around and cannot be reached. I had to approve the reassignment of tasks because the executives wanted a report that only our boss knew about.

Question Source: Unknown