You're faced with a job interview. How can you demonstrate your problem-solving skills effectively?

Use the STAR Method: When asked about a problem you’ve solved, structure your response using the Situation, Task, Action, and Result framework. Situation: Briefly describe the context or challenge you faced. Task: Explain your specific role and what needed to be done. Action: Detail the steps you took to solve the problem. Result: Highlight the positive outcomes, such as improved efficiency, revenue growth, or project success.

It is easy to jump right in giving a case that you think can best showcase your critical thinking. However, to best leverage your experience, you need to think of an efficient approach that cover the background/situation, action, solution of the case. There are many different approaches for this. 1 of the most commonly used by big organizations such as Google/Meta/Amazon was the S(ituation)-T(ask)-A(ction)-R(esults). This model helps to structurize your thinking & make it much more focused for the listener too.

Take the interviewer through the process of one of the problems you solved and beware to not disclose any confidential information. How you solved the problem is what matters. Contrast it with what you learned from a problem you were unable to solve, without pointing fingers to anyone.

Begin with understanding the values of the company/brand I`m interviewing with. Once you understand that, you can pick 2 - 3 different examples of complex problems you`ve solved in a way that reflects similar values. When you describe the steps towards the solution, do share how you made the effort to understand the problem, if you understood the reasons behind the issue, what you did to chart out options to solve the problem and then how you executed. Do share if you collaborated effectively with others to solve the issue.

One thing I’ve learned is that knowing your superpowers is key. Mine happen to be thinking, talking, and drawing. I use my ability to think things through to analyze problems deeply, talk with the right people to gain insights, and often use drawing to map ideas and simplify complex solutions. It’s a combination that helps me stay focused, prioritize important issues, and create effective solutions. Also, I’m a bit like the Chicken Hawk from the old Foghorn Leghorn cartoons—I’m always asking questions! I never stop digging to understand the whole picture. For example, in an interview, I’d probably ask, "What challenges is the team facing right now?" to start figuring out how I can help.

Any seasoned professional has had their share of challenges. Demonstrate your problem-solving skills by sharing real-life stories of both successes and failures from your industry experience. Structure your examples using the STAR method (Situation, Task, Action, Result). For successes, describe the key aspects that led to the positive outcome, and for failures, focus on what you learned and how you adapted. This approach highlights your critical thinking, resilience, and ability to learn from challenges, showing a well-rounded problem-solving ability.

To effectively demonstrate your problem-solving skills in a job interview, use the STAR method (Situation, Task, Action, Result) to articulate specific examples from your experience. Highlight a challenging situation, outline the tasks you undertook, describe the actions you implemented, and conclude with the positive outcomes achieved. This structured approach not only showcases your analytical thinking but also reflects your ability to deliver results under pressure.

In a job interview, the best way to demonstrate your problem-solving skills is by presenting concrete examples. Share stories of challenges you’ve faced and how you used creativity to solve them. Explain how you broke down the problem, tested ideas, and quickly adjusted until you found an effective solution. Highlight your approach to rapid prototyping, showing that you prefer to take action and learn from the process. Additionally, emphasize your ability to collaborate, involving the team to reach creative solutions. Finally, be proactive: ask questions and show that you’re already thinking about solutions for the company. This way, you demonstrate that you know how to solve problems in a creative, practical, and collaborative manner.

Having interviewed candidates and giving interviews myself, below are some quick pointers to remember. 1. Be clear, concise, and objective. Add a bit of drama to explain the situation. Everyone loves drama! 2. Choose a nuanced example. 3. I use a simple method called SAIL, which eventually sails my boat. :P 4. The full form for SAIL is - Situation, Action, Impact, & Learning. - Situation: What’s the background? What problem needed to be solved? - Action: What was your role? What actions did you take? - Impact: What were the results? What impact did it have? - Learning: What did you take away from this experience? 5. Highlight XFN partnership and your ability to manoeuvre internal & external partners. 6. Showcase strategy and pivots.

If you're struggling to find connections, I always found this process helpful: 1) What was the problem? 2) Why the solution? 3) Who did this affect? 4) How did you execute? 5) What were the results? It's simple but effective for any project. Always remember the results even if it failed. Learning experiences show growth and employers love transparency.

Something that I have always found very useful when structuring thoughts is the use of models. Within the context of interviews, I always use the STAR method and it has always worked for me. However, I place a key emphasis on MY contribution or value add to the solving of the problem (big or small). Is someone that works at the centre of cross-functional teams and on very big projects and campaigns, the STAR model and emphasis on my personal contributions ensures that I do oversell myself nor my contributions to the failure or success of the projects I do. It keeps me honest.

In the world of managing projects and products there are always problems to be solved. And you know what? Intuition and experience are the biggest tools there are. Hands on experience beats any frameworks to solve a problem. Yes SWOTs etc can be helpful but if someone has been through something one time, the next time they will have the experience to handle it better. And again, and again. Rinse and repeat.

Breaking down problems with structured methods like SWOT or the Five Whys highlights your strategic thinking and shows how you approach challenges systematically. I’ve found that combining these frameworks with real-world examples makes the process even more relatable to interviewers.

Walk them through your problem-solving approach step-by-step. Do you break issues into smaller parts? Do you brainstorm multiple solutions before zeroing in on the best one? This gives insight into how your mind works and reassures them that you have a thoughtful, methodical way of handling challenges.

Detalla cómo abordas un problema desde la identificación hasta la solución. 🔍 Explica cada paso que sigues: análisis, investigación, generación de opciones y ejecución. Así demostrarás tu enfoque estructurado. 🧑🔧⚙️

When explaining the process, it's important to not be too specific into the details that you lose sights of the top view or going away from the key issues. Since this is an interview context, preparing concise answers with impactful keywords are important. Hence, do work on yourself a list of keywords for key areas that you work on in your pocket & practice frequent usage of them.

Flexibility in problem-solving is crucial. To showcase this, share examples where you had to adjust due to unexpected circumstances. For instance, I once had to pivot a marketing campaign due to sudden changes in platform policies. By quickly adapting the strategy and collaborating with my team, we found a more effective approach that ultimately boosted results. This demonstrates adaptability and open-mindedness, qualities that are essential for navigating challenges and ensuring success in ever-changing environments.

Talk about a time when things didn't go as planned. How did you pivot? Show that you’re not married to just one solution and that you can adapt on the fly. Employers want to know that you can think on your feet when the situation changes, not just when everything goes perfectly.

Muestra cómo puedes adaptarte a cambios inesperados. 🌪️ Habla sobre ocasiones en las que tu plan inicial no funcionó y cómo ajustaste tu enfoque con creatividad. 🔄🤔

Remember to emphasize the business impact of your solutions, especially when it can directly connected to your scope of work or expertise. Even if the result of the project was not good, don't hesistate to share it. This could open up floor for you to elaborate further on what you think could have been done differently & could have changed the results. What important is to demonstrate a very clear thought process & clear example to demonstrate it.

Hit them with the numbers. Did your brilliant idea boost sales, save time, or make the process smoother? Paint a picture with facts and figures. This isn't a fairy tale it's a true story with a happy, quantifiable ending.

No olvides resaltar los resultados obtenidos. 🎯 Los entrevistadores buscan saber no solo cómo resolviste problemas, sino también el impacto positivo en los proyectos o la empresa. 📊✅

Even superheroes have origin stories, so talk about what you learned from each challenge. Whether it was a win or a whoops, show you didn’t just solve the problem you leveled up from the experience. It proves you're not just a problem-solver but a wisdom-gatherer, too

Explica cómo cada reto te ayudó a aprender y mejorar. 📚💡 Reflejar tu capacidad para aprender de los problemas demuestra tu crecimiento continuo y adaptabilidad. 🚀📘

flip the script and ask about their current headaches. It shows you're already thinking ahead about how you can swoop in and save the day. Plus, it positions you as a curious, proactive problem solver ready to dive into their world.

Formula preguntas sobre los retos que enfrenta la empresa. ❓ Esto muestra tu interés por el rol y te permite adaptar tus habilidades de resolución de problemas a las necesidades específicas del puesto. 🔗