How do you answer interview question Describe a situation in which you have used a creative solution to solve a problem?

Answer 1

The question, "Describe a situation in which you have used a creative solution to solve a problem", is commonly asked in interviews for jobs or entrance into higher institutions of education.

Most of us feel challenged to come up with a fantastic answer! How did I alone save the world? But, employers and educators don't want the most fantastic story; instead, they want to hear (1) how you think about problems (2) how you initiate solutions to problems and (3) your skills with implementing the solution you came up with. It doesn't matter if your solution worked-- it's more about the process involved!

Some very simple examples:

1. Customers in a convenience store were always leaving their original documents in the ten-cent-for-fee copying machine. Customers would come back to get their originals, only to find another customer removed the papers from the copying area, or had thrown them away. SOLUTION: When each customer came to the cashier to pay, the cashier counted the originals AND the copies, before charging for the copies. The cashier could then politely say, "It seems all of your originals are here; please check through them before leaving the store. SOLUTION 2: An employee made a sign with bright lettering, "Remove your originals when finished. Originals left behind will be shredded in 24 hours."
2. An employee at a grocery store noted that many people read magazines while waiting at the front desk, but never bought the copy. He suggested to the owner to move the magazines for purchase to a different area, and to keep several out-of-date, previously-read, magazines near the counter for use while waiting in line.
3. An office kept printer ink on a high shelf. The boxes of copier paper sat in front of the shelves. Although ink wasn't needed that often, a couple times the solution spilled on the opened copier paper box, wasting the ink and ruining the paper. SOLUTION: The secretary suggested moving the copier paper to the opposite side of the copier, and closer to where it is loaded. She also suggested that the copier ink containers be moved to a waist-high shelf to avoid having to reach above the head. There were no more spills and no more ruined ink.
4. At home, a mom dropped her ring down the drain and thought it was gone. But her son knew that it could be caught in the "trap" in the pipe. He told his mom not to run the water. When dad got home, he took the pipe apart and the ring was found in the trap.

A "problem" does not need to be a critical problem. It can be an ordinary, every day problem that occurs. The solution does not need to be complex. It needs to be logical, creative, or thinking.