How would you answer this interview question? Tell me about a time when you had to choose between doing what was right and doing what was popular or convenient.
I’ve had situations where it would’ve been easier to ignore something, but I chose to step in because it was the right thing to do. I’m someone who doesn’t avoid difficult or uncomfortable situations. I take responsibility and handle things when they need to be addressed, even if it’s not convenient. That’s something I carry into my work—I show up, take initiative, and do what’s right.”
I made a mistake at a past job. No one would know any better if I didn't do the truthful thing and report on myself. Now thats honesty at its finest!
I always do what’s right. It’s not my money to lose or mishandle. It is also my self respect to always lead. And to never follow for popularity.
It is always a hard task to choose what is correct for the team, when it involves terminating a team member.
this happened 4 years ago, i work in property maintenance and it was my job to oversee contractors , we had an ice storm that came through the property and did 1.1 million in damages to a stack of condominiums, one of the water mitigation companies came onto and was hired by the HOA in times past was put on property by the property management company to do the mitigation of a stack of 3 units in the condos i worked for, anyways , they came in stripped the ceiling in the top floor demolished the floor of the second floor and wanted immediate access to the lower floor units , after the mess of dragging their contaminated debris from the 2 upper units through the hallways down the stairs , down the sidewalks culminating in the parking lot where that tracked back and fourth each time when i go to the property i asked them for their hazmat findings on asbestos and whether any of the units were tested , they said they didn't have that available, i told them to pack their gear up that they were done on the property, and don't come back until they followed state and city codes , they did so and in turn filed for a paycheck of $40,000 for their man power and the work they did on property, the HOA non of which dealt with the contractors were instructed by the Property management company to pay the bill, i said hold on a minute is that the way things work here, their response was were bound by what the property management company directs us to do, i said no your not your bound to your residents first and for most, the property management could care less for your living they are only interested in their bottom dollar they can suck out of you, long story short the HOA were about to send them $40,000 on top of the initial $15,000 initial down payment, i said no i cant sign off on the mitigations crew and the work they provided, and they the mitigation crew didn't want to talk to me, so they hired an attorney to press the HOA for payment and that's when i got the call from the Ex president of the HOA who hired me in the first place and had actual 40+ years on property with state and local laws come to me asking if i knew anything about the hold up of the money transfer to the mitigation crew as it hit the open fundings reports to the tenants , and that is when i filled him in, you see i wasn't hired by property management, i was 3rd party hired by the HOA and property to work independently of the property management company to oversee their work and to work for the best interests of the property and the homeowners directly to take the heat off the HOA directly, so back to the ex president asking about the bill i , explained everything to him and how the mitigation company screwed up their job on our property , he said i did my job by the book putting the property first, when he found out the current HOA were just going to spend the money and not follow up with city ordinances that when he blew a headgasket, long story short both him and i called the attorney, the hoa, and the mitigation crew owner to the property and i showed them pictures of the residents videos sent to me , we walked the units, i showed them the exterior of the property and the mess they created, the lack of asbestos testing and the reports, and that is when the attorney turned to the owner of the company and said he can no longer represent him in their interests as everything i claimed painted the picture that we were in the right to not pay for the services offered and received. the owner of the company was paid the initial $15,000 and received no further payments, 6 months later the HOU turned my contract over to the property management company, and 4 weeks after that i was terminated from employment from the company...so i saved them a $40,000 payment and was summarily discharged shortly there after.
Always always do what is right you will never regret it. Our team was a mixed bag of personalities and very competitive with each other plus straight commission can bring out the sharks!! When our customers would come in to see a certain sales person they would ask for him or her. If we were off and they made a sale on that customer it was a split. Caught a few saying no name was mentioned, which could happen once in a while but this is like stealing and really bad ! Eventually it will catch up with the sales associate lying and much worse for a stable work environment! Always do the right thing!!
Once while building a data center the crew had gotten behind in production so the crew leader decided to skip procedures and leave out some materials that we had been waiting on to save time after voicing my opinion to the crew leader informing him I was not comfortable with his decision, I was given my walking papers standing on principles will test you every day
Yes I'm available and very very interested and thank you so much for your time
For my self that is only one answer,it is ro do what is right. Period. There is no way popularity will get you through an honest day of work.
A time that stands out to me is when I was working in a fast-paced environment where it was common for team members to take shortcuts to save time. One day, I noticed that a task wasn’t being completed properly, even though others were marking it as done to keep up with the pace. It would have been easy—and more convenient—for me to do the same, but I knew that could lead to mistakes and affect the overall quality of our work.
Instead, I chose to take the extra time to complete the task the right way and also brought it up respectfully to my team. I focused on the importance of accuracy and how doing things correctly the first time would actually save time in the long run. While it wasn’t the most popular choice in the moment, it helped prevent potential issues and showed that I value integrity and accountability.
That experience reinforced for me that doing the right thing isn’t always the easiest option, but it builds trust and leads to better results for the team overall.