When it comes to a job interview, most people prepare for the questions a Hiring Manager is guaranteed to ask: those about your demonstrated skills, knowledge and work history. The questions that are often more challenging to prepare for however, and are therefore often neglected, are situational interview questions. 

Essentially, these questions mirror common situations or challenges that can arise in the workplace, and are intended to gauge how the interviewee would respond in such circumstances. These types of questions allow employers to predict your future work performance and evaluate your problem-solving, self-management, leadership and communication skills, which are characteristics most Hiring Managers will be assessing in an interview. 

Here we explore how you can prepare for and answer situational-based interview questions, plus provide eight situational questions you should be familiar with when going into your next job interview. 

They expect your answers to highlight your professional experience and – most importantly – your ability to overcome challenges and ultimately meet company goals. 

Research the company

No matter which questions you’re anticipating in a job interview, researching the company should always be part of your preparation. However, such research can be particularly helpful when responding to situational questions, as a deeper understanding of the company will allow you to articulate an answer that positions you as an ideal candidate for that specific employer. 

Have a look at your prospective employer’s website and social media platforms to better understand the company culture. Try to identify the character traits they value and the ways in which their team operates. For example, how do they solve problems: through collaboration, innovation or investigation? Learn as much about the company as you can and use this to help formulate your answer. 

Identify your previous experience

While you can’t necessarily predict exactly what situational questions you’ll be asked, there are a few common ones that will likely appear at some stage during your job hunt. You can find some of these examples listed below. 



Before heading into an interview, make sure you have a few key examples of situations when you’ve demonstrated particular skills or behaviours that would likely be favourable within the role you’re applying for. When you’re nervous in an interview and feel under pressure, it can be difficult to conjure such moments to mind quickly, so make sure you have a few up your sleeve. 

Understand your process

Situational-based questions are designed to probe and solicit well-composed responses. The questions are crafted to measure scope, complexity and behaviours within answers. As such, your response should be well structured and clear. A common structure to follow for situational questions is: 

• Explain the situation. 
• Explain your assessment of the situation and your decisions making process that ultimately helped you decide how to respond. 
• The behaviours and competencies you leveraged. 
• The final outcome and impact of your decisions and actions for the individuals involved and the company. 

Just remember, the most important part to focus on is the skills you leveraged and the impact of your decisions and actions. A lot of the time interviewees spend too much time setting up the story and gloss over their response to the situation. 

Be a great storyteller

The adage says that “practice makes perfect”, but you also don’t want to sound over-rehearsed or mechanical. Instead, think of your response like a career story, and use the “challenge, action and result” approach focus on delivering well-rounded, engaging stories instead of stiff, flat responses. 

Interviewers are likely to retain content that is easy to relate to and engaging. But remember, above all you want to highlight the skills that will be desirable in that role and workplace, while also directly answering the question. Aim for a 2-3 minute response for each situational question and anticipate that there may be some follow up questions from the interviewer. 

Examples of common situational questions

• Describe a time you experienced conflict in the workplace and what you did to overcome this. 
• Tell me about a time when you had competing deadlines or tight timeframes. How did you deal with this? 
• How would you handle a situation in which you had to do something you weren’t familiar with? 
• Discuss a time when you received negative feedback from a client or manager and how you dealt with that. 
• What professional accomplishment are you most proud of, and how did you achieve it? 
• Tell me about a time you had to collaborate with a co-worker who was tricky to work with or you had conflicting ideas with. 
• Describe a time when you had too many to do items on your list. How did you solve the problem? 
• Tell me about a situation when your job went through big changes. How did you adjust? 

Check out our Ultimate Interview Guide for further advice.