8 Tenacity Interview

Questions? (With
Sample Answers)
CREATED BY – ATUL KUMAR (LINKEDIN)

1. Describe an instance where you failed. How did you

overcome that situation?
2. What's been the biggest challenge you've
experienced in your professional career?
3. Have you ever dealt with a disagreeable colleague?
If not, how would you approach that situation?
4. Tell me about a time you let your intuition guide
you.
5. How do you turn your career aspirations into
reality?
6. Have you ever taken on a leadership role at work? If
so, how was that experience for you?
7. How do you respond to unexpected or short-notice
assignments?
8. What inspires you to succeed in your career?

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1. Describe an instance where you failed. How did you overcome that situation?

An interview may ask this type of question to understand how you respond to failure.
Employers typically want to hire people that can learn from their shortcomings and
overcome them to earn success. When answering this type of question, try to share
a story in which you're able to learn an important lesson from your failure to show
your tenacity.

Example: "I experienced failure at my first full-time job as assistant manager at the
clothing store, Rush. They had just promoted me to a management position, which I
was so excited about. Unfortunately, a week into my new job we had a string of
shoplifters come in. Our company policy at the time was to not approach suspected
thieves, but corporate also expected us to watch and monitor the floor at all times to
discourage stealing.

I took the blame for the increase in shoplifting, even though I had to complete most
of my work duties from the back office and rarely had time to monitor the floor. After
that, I became much more aware of the customer activity on the floor by always
having a live video from the security cameras pulled up at my desk as I completed
my administrative duties. After that, I could actually identify three of the same
shoplifters who attempted to steal once again only a month later, which was very
rewarding for me."

2. What's been the biggest challenge you've experienced in your professional

career?

An employer may ask you to describe your biggest career challenge to determine
how you respond to challenging scenarios. When answering a question like this,
consider sharing an anecdote where you experienced a genuine challenge at work
and how you overcame it to show your professionalism and resilience.

Example: "By far the biggest career challenge I've ever faced was when corporate
dissolved my department at a previous job. I was working as a marketing consultant
for a clothing manufacturer and had been in that position for nine months when my
colleagues and I received an email informing us of our department's closure.
Corporate had decided that there was no need for both an advertising and
marketing team and combined the departments together.

While I was certainly grateful to still have a job and stable income, working with an
almost entirely new group of people in a different office with new projects and
responsibilities was very hard to get used to. My closest teammates from marketing
were now working on different assignments than me, and I lost confidence in my
marketing abilities. Fortunately, after two months of adjusting to my new position, I

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grew close with my new teammates and our group's proposal ended up becoming
the newest campaign for our company."

3. Have you ever dealt with a disagreeable colleague? If not, how would you
approach that situation?

Interviewers ask this question to determine your abilities to handle conflict in the
workplace. Try to give an answer that strays away from negativity, but shows your
ability to respond to unexpected or difficult situations with coworkers.

Example: "My first part-time job was at a local pizza restaurant in my town and I
worked mainly with other high school students. One of my coworkers was
undergoing a stressful time, as she was trying to save up money for college while
attending school and being a member of the varsity soccer team, which had practice
nearly every day. She began calling off almost every shift, which we knew was due
to her other responsibilities, and the rest of us would usually try to cover for her as
much as possible.

After about three months of this, we were tired of having to pick up extra shifts
constantly to meet the needs of the restaurant. When we approached our coworker,
she was very defensive and accused us of not having empathy for her situation, but
after we pointed out all the extra shifts we'd taken for her, she broke down and
thanked us for our help. She ultimately cut down her shifts at the restaurant to only
twice a week and the rest of us got a little more rest time in between shifts. I think
we as a collective handled that situation well by calmly approaching her and having
valid reasons to support our claims."

4. Tell me about a time you let your intuition guide you.

You may encounter this question if an interview wants to understand how you use
your intuition to make life decisions. To demonstrate tenacity, try to answer this
question with an engaging story that shows your strong common sense and
confidence in your abilities.

Example: "I let my intuition guide me after graduating college when I was on the
look for my first full-time job. After a month of searching with no responses from
employers, I became really discouraged, but felt deep down that the right
opportunity just hadn't come yet. Eventually, after three more weeks of searching, I
got three responses back from the top jobs I'd been excited about. I ended up
interviewing for all three and got offers from two, with the job I ultimately accepted
becoming an incredibly rewarding work experience."
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5. How do you turn your career aspirations into reality?

Tenacity involves overcoming obstacles to achieve success, and this is a key part of
turning your career aspirations into reality. When you answer a question like this, try
to emphasize your ability to self-motivate, as employers are often searching for
candidates that are confident and inspired to reach their goals.

Example: "I turn my dreams into reality by creating specific goals for myself until I
reach those ultimate targets. In my past job, I achieved my dream of working on a
large-scale project as an art director at a fashion magazine. I started aiming for this
goal by defining career milestones I wanted to reach before going for a promotion.
For example, I had the milestone of having one of my design pitches featured in an
actual campaign after four months in the position, and worked toward this by
constantly developing and pitching my ideas during our department meetings.

Another milestone was to improve my abilities as a stylist by working on smaller

design projects at the magazine, where I grew my portfolio and design knowledge.
My method of creating smaller milestones until reaching my final goal has proven
successful for me, as I was able to work as a featured art director on our editorial
spread after a year and a half with the magazine."

6. Have you ever taken on a leadership role at work? If so, how was that experience
for you?

An employer may ask this question to identify your potential for taking on higher-
responsibility roles in the workplace. Answer this question honestly, and if you're
interested in eventually working in a management position, emphasize your
leadership skills.

Example: "Yes, I received a promotion for a supervisor position while working at my

previous employer. I found that to be an incredible experience, as I've always felt
that I possessed natural leadership abilities, but never had much of an opportunity
to showcase them. As a supervisor, I was in charge of ensuring everyone in my
department clocked in on time, stayed on task and met their work quotas.

I really enjoyed being able to come up with different activities and incentives to
motivate my department to stay productive and reach their targets. It was rewarding
to watch as my colleagues got excited over our monthly challenges and prizes, and
even better to see our profits increase along with our productivity."

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7. How do you respond to unexpected or short-notice assignments?

Like many of the other tenacity-related questions, interviewers ask this to

understand how you respond to situations with little to no prior notice. When
answering a question like this, try to emphasize your ability to complete tasks with
little direction and your enthusiasm for taking on challenges in the workplace.

Example: "I would say that I am very open to unexpected assignments, as my

background in journalism required met to work with quick turnaround times. I feel
very comfortable conducting research, interviews and writing articles with little prior
notice, as these are the typical processes of an investigative journalist. I would
respond to a short-notice assignment by outlining my duties, scheduling time slots in
which I'll complete different components of the project before ultimately turning it in
on time.

One of the main reasons I pursued this career was my love for the unexpected. I
find the bustle of journalism to be very rewarding, especially when your hard work
pays off with a successful and informative story."

8. What inspires you to succeed in your career?

You're likely to encounter this question if the interview is curious about your
motivations for succeeding while working for their company or organization. Try to
offer a response that showcases your passion for your profession and identifies your
ultimate career goals and personal definition of success.

Example: "There are several elements that inspire me to achieve success in my

professional life. I'm inspired by my parents, who worked hard their entire lives to
give me these educational and career opportunities. Being able to work alongside
individuals that have met their career goals is also very inspiring for me and is the
reason I've worked at a law office since I was in high school. I'm also inspired by
myself, as I value my abilities as a professional and have confidence that I can
achieve my goal of working as a partner at a law firm."

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10 additional tenacity interview questions
Here are 10 additional tenacity-related interview
questions you may encounter when searching for your
next job:
1. What are your ultimate career goals?
2. How do you keep yourself engaged while working on long-term
assignments?
3. What's your response to constructive criticism? Do you think it's
necessary?
4. What's been your proudest accomplishment in your career?
5. Have you ever had management assign you a task you had little
experience with? How did you handle it?
6. How do you manage stress?
7. What's one thing you would change about yourself if you could?
8. Describe an instance when someone questioned your expertise and
how you responded.
9. Where do you see yourself in 10 years?
10. Have you ever questioned your own abilities? How did you
overcome that?

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