Interview questions › Spotting and solving problems

Tell me about a time you had to find the real cause of a recurring problem, not just the symptom.

Spotting and solving problems · commonly asked in engineering, analyst, operations, any

No account, no credit card for the first three questions.

How to answer it well

Two mistakes that cost you points

• Presenting the fix as obvious in hindsight.
• Not saying how you ruled out the first explanation.

What to do with this question today

1. Answer it out loud once, without stopping. Do not write it down first.
2. Read back exactly what you said. Mark the filler words, and the length of your longest pause.
3. Answer it again and change one thing — usually the opening line, or the number at the end.

This question is not in the free run yet — practise the same skill with a free run, or paste a job description and we build the set around that role.

More questions

• Tell me about a time you spotted a problem other people had missed, and came up with a fix. · Spotting and solving problems
• Tell me about a decision you made using data. What did you measure, and what did it change? · Spotting and solving problems
• Tell me about a difficult customer or client situation and how you resolved it. · Spotting and solving problems
• Tell me about a time you found a quality problem in your own work or your team's work. What did you do? · Spotting and solving problems
• In one minute, introduce yourself and explain why this role should consider you. · Communication
• Walk me through your resume. Tell me about the choices you made along the way. · Communication