Todays employers are always looking for employees who can adapt to changing circumstances and unexpected challenges, so find out how to answer adaptability interview questions
Many of todays job seekers can no longer rely on their hard skills and experience to land a job. The workplace has been evolving for some time now, as companies have been forced to adapt to remain competitive in an ever-changing economy. As a result, companies are more focused than ever before on acquiring talented individuals who can effectively adapt to change. Of course, its not enough to be adaptable; you will also need to be able to showcase that skill in your job interview. Are you prepared to answer common adaptability interview questions?
Fortunately, we have you covered! In this post, well explore ten of the most common adaptability interview questions and explain why interviewers ask them. Well also provide examples, showing how you can answer those questions in a way that leaves a positive impression on your audience.
Rethink your process. Are you asking the right interview questions?
Because every job presents different challenges, it is important to have employees who can adapt to a wide variety of situations. To achieve this, you need to sort out your potential candidates by asking a series of adaptability questions that gauge flexibility.
We’ve listed ten questions that can help you determine which candidates will be best suited for change when it arrives.
Why the interviewer is asking adaptability questions
Adaptability is one of the most important skills that employees should possess. People who are adaptable easier accept new ways of working and changing team environments. Also, when uncertain situations occur, they can come up with effective solutions to work towards their goals. Furthermore, people who are adaptable are more likely to stay calm under pressure and work their way through dynamic work environments.
Interviewers ask certain questions to assess your adaptability skills. Through these interview questions, they want to find out how you react in unpredictable work situations but also if and how you adjust to changing environments at work. For instance, when a new system, software, or other technology is introduced. Furthermore, interviewers want to know how you take on new tasks even if these are not part of your job description. By asking certain behavioral questions, interviewers try to assess which candidates are more qualified than others.
Behavioral interview questions about adaptability are, as said, quite typical in a job interview. These type of interview questions focuses on your past behavior in professional work settings. The reason for asking behavioral job interview questions instead of just asking traditional ones is that the most accurate predictor of future performance is your past performance in similar situations.
During your job interview, the interviewer wants to discuss previous work situations and wants you to elaborate on them. This is also the reason that you should prepare your examples before the interview. Ensure that you provide the interviewer with the situation you were in, your task in that situation, the action you took, and the specific results that can come out of those actions. In short, this is called the STAR method of providing an answer. The STAR method is discussed in more detail later on in this article.
What do you do when you are assigned a task and feel like you don’t have the right information or resources?
This question can help the interviewer to assess your thinking process to better understand how you deal with unexpected challenges. Your answer should demonstrate your ability to handle challenging circumstances by providing an example of a time when you overcame a similar obstacle. For example:
“Unfortunately, situations like that occur more often than most of us would prefer. For me, though, the important thing is to ensure that I immediately communicate with my superiors to ensure that we are on the same page. I remember an instance where I was put in charge of a website project but almost immediately realized that we had been given the wrong client information, thanks to someone mixing up the files. I informed management of potential delays and contacted the client to secure the data we needed. They were grateful to me for identifying the error and, as the issue was rapidly resolved, the delay was very minor and made up later in the project”