Tell me about a time you completely failed. How did you bounce back from it?
A behavioral question like this is a perfect example of when to apply the STAR method to respond. The interviewer will be listening for your level of honesty, integrity, resilience, and creativity.
Early on in my career, I was selected as one of the three tech liaisons to work with HR for a confidential layoff that was occurring within the IT and finance divisions of the company. Part of the management team conducting the layoffs was overseas, which required confidential transmission of information and documents. This was before cloud-sharing, so our communication was primarily by email.
We were up against a tight deadline to provide the proper severance communication documents, and I was responsible for submitting the documents to the team. I inadvertently sent the documentation to a name on the severance list instead of the hiring manager of that individual. Obviously, that was a huge fail considering the confidential nature of the communication, the fact that the individual was on the layoff list — it would be a huge blow for him to receive the communication ahead of time and by email.
Fortunately, I immediately realized what I had done as soon as I hit the “send” button, and I contacted my manager and the HR lead for the severance program. We were able to work with our IT network lead to retrieve the communication before the individual opened the email.
However, it was still a huge failure on my part, and I had to do the work to gain the trust of my team again. I took my time and practiced becoming more attentive from that point forward, and I did not make that mistake again. Eventually, I worked my way up and became a team lead for the IT department after a few years.
Tell me about a time you disagreed with your manager. How did you handle it? What was the outcome?
Your answer to this question can highlight your level of professionalism, conflict resolution skills, and creativity.
I was working with my manager to select a new supply chain vendor for transporting our goods to and from our warehouses. We had narrowed our options down to three possible providers. My manager was largely focused on cost-cutting due to the pressure she was receiving from her manager. Thus, the lowest-priced vendor was her top pick.
The vendor was a reputable vendor, but they had slower delivery times and a lower reliability rating compared to the other two vendors. My choice was to go with the vendor that had the fastest delivery times and highest reliability rating, though it was the most costly vendor when considering up-front costs.
Based on delivery times and reliability, I worked up some numbers that highlighted how reliability and shorter delivery times actually increased our bottom line over a 24-month period when compared to slower delivery times. The higher reliability-rating also meant a lower risk of disgruntled or lost customers due to issues with timing and lost orders.
My manager reviewed the data I had collected and decided to meet me in the middle. We went with the third vendor option, which was both of our second-ranked choices. It allowed for up-front cost-savings, as well as long-term savings due to shorter delivery times and increased customer satisfaction with their decent reliability rating. The company was still using that same vendor four years later, at the time I decided to move on from the organization.
Apple Interview Questions and Example Answers
During your Apple interview, you can expect to be assessed on a series of core competencies. They are also known for assessing candidates on how they have handled prior experiences and challenges throughout their careers. For that reason, you should also be prepared to respond to various behavioral questions.Â
At Carrus, we recommend using the STAR method to respond to behavioral questions. If you are unfamiliar with this framework, it is an acronym for the suggested response format.Â
S – Situation: provide context on the situation
T – Task: Explain the task at hand
A – Action: What actions did you take to complete the task?
R – Results: What was the outcome of your action.