Having a drive for results means that you have the traits and attributes to be counted on, and to exceed goals successfully. You are amongst the individuals who is constantly and consistently one of the top performers. You like to be action-oriented at work and ensure that your goals are achieved. Other traits here include being very bottom-line oriented and steadfastly pushing yourself and others for results.
The drive for results is a very important trait that the recruiters seek in managers or leaders. Without a drive for results, there is no game plan. Whatever your strategies or process systems are, they are directed towards getting results. So it is important you strive for achieving them within a particular time frame. Often, the drive for results also helps to achieve ambitious goals and overachieve.
Share with me the most difficult and complex situation in which you set clear, lofty goals for yourself (and others, if applicable), and then pursued those goals with enthusiasm and energy.
Most HR interviewers do ask the interviewee about a recent complex decision they had to face or describe a situation where they had set clear, lofty goals for yourself (and others, if applicable), and then pursued those goals with enthusiasm and energy, demonstrating drive for results. This would require a detailed overview on your behalf.
You should start off by describing the goals and what measures you implemented to sort it out. How you handled it should be the next part of your answer. Then, go on and discuss the required measures you undertook. Did you brainstorm solutions and evaluate possible outcomes for the problem. If yes, then provide a step-by-step overview on how you handled it.
If you were able to successfully pursue your goals, discuss the outcome with them. Were you able to successfully overcome the challenge or did it require help from others? If yes, don’t be wary of expressing this gratitude, or the fact that you needed help.
What the HR recruiter is looking for is your ability to solve issues and push the team to achieve your goals. It is possible that though the goal was achievable, it was the process of coordinating with multiple teams and departments that was more of a challenge for you.
Ensure that you lay emphasis on achieving these with enthusiasm. The idea is that while you may have the drive for results, being energetic is almost contagious, and this helps others to feel the same way too.
Think back to a complex and challenging time in which you anticipated obstacles and were prepared with a contingency plan so as not to impede the drive to the goal and, if applicable, kept others involved on track also.
All HR interviewers like to hire employees who are able to handle a good challenge, especially complex ones. They would like to know about a time when you had anticipated obstacles and tried to overcome hurdles, thereby clearly demonstrating drive for results.
Mention that through your career span, you have come across many situations where you have had to solve complex concepts and overcome obstacles. This was important to enhance your own performance or the performance of the organization. The interviewer would probably like to know if you possess the acumen to help drive innovation for their teams.
Try to talk about the performance of your team and organization. This shows that you are a team player who gives priority to overall growth rather than just your performance.
Then add how you prepared a contingency plan to deal with the situation so that the drive for the goal would not be stuck. Describe and elaborate how you communicated these ideas to your team members or seniors and helped them understand. You should also discuss the plan along with the tools or resources you used in this process to underline your technical skills.
You can also mention that you had the ability to integrate financial data or analysis along with other potential indicators into a strategic plan by driving the company’s goal and vision. Also discuss how you proactively sought solutions to overcome the challenges.
Tell them if you had actually anticipated some challenges when formulating the plan. It might have been something that you studied during your college years, or a current development in rules and regulations that you remembered.
Describe two situations that demonstrate your reputation for success and quality performance in the eyes of your peers and superiors.
As a team leader, you probably have the reputation for attaining success and your quality performance has always set an example for your peers and superiors too, along with junior team members. They may like to know about a couple of situations where you were able to deliver success and quality performance.
When talking about this situation, mention that problems are a part of every professional’s career. When describing the first situation, thinking of something that was more complicated and difficult. Did you juggle multiple, complex activities or projects simultaneously? During the course of the project, tell how you tried to ensure that you maximize your organizational skills and push towards the success of the project.
Mention that in spite of driving multiple tasks, you did not give up on the goal and ensured timely deliverables — thinking on the feet. Did you also have an alternate plan or backup?
The second situation can be something where your superiors or managers had given up hope on and thought that it is not achievable. Did you have to push the project forward and overcome challenges at the stay time? Were your seniors depending on you to ensure that the particular project or goal was achieved? Mention that you combined your analytical, organization and team leader skills to attain the same.
Do add that you had the support of the team while executing your contingency plan or system process. Try to cite two different projects so that the HR interviewer is able to see your versatility in handling these situations and clearly give them proof about your drive for results.
Share two instances that showcase your drive to be satisfied with concrete, stellar results.
During the HR interview round, it is likely that the HR interviewer would ask you about mentioning two incidents where you were able to get stellar results and achieve ambitious goals or even excel beyond the required target. The interviewer wants to see if you are an individual who has the drive to achieve things and push boundaries or are someone who likes to procrastinate.
While there is no harm in the latter, the avoidance of doing a task which should have been accomplished by a certain deadline, is not really a trait that describes you. Often, this means habitual or intentional delay — something that the interviewer wants to avoid.
Here, you can mention a couple of incidents where you were able to optimize your core competencies and overachieve. Try to describe a situation that was complex in terms of the roadmap. Though the goal was achievable, you believed that the strategy or project plan could have been modified to improve efficacy.
Discuss how you were driven to achieve the organization’s goal and formed a contingency plan that would achieve the same goal in a lesser period of time or at a lower cost. This would reflect on your ability to think innovatively, and out of the box, and also demonstrate drive for results.
The next situation can be a plan where the expected goal was much lower but with your abilities, you were able to overachieve. Mention and describe how you went about the planning stages. Did you push your team members to work over time? Conducting regular meetings, giving feedback, improvising on the go are some of the aspects that you may have laid emphasis on.
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