4 examples of CAR interview questions and sample answers
Here are four examples of interview questions with sample answers that follow the CAR method:
1. What's your proudest achievement?
Challenge: 'In my previous role as a customer service worker, I often handled customers that were
unhappy with their products or services. While working with these customers, I felt that my conflict
resolution skills didn't allow me to handle their issues effectively. While I tried to resolve their problems, I
wasn't sure how to listen to their issues and provide support while they showed feelings of anger and
confusion.'
Action: 'To strengthen my conflict resolution skills, I researched professional development courses. I
found a course that taught students strategies to resolve conflicts, enhance their problem-solving skills
and provide support to dissatisfied customers.'
Response: 'After completing the course, I was able to work with customers to identify the cause of their
issues and handle conflict. Management noticed my increased work performance and promoted me to a
management role, where I provided training on conflict resolution and problem-solving. Because of this,
our workplace's customer service department received 25% higher customer satisfaction rates.'
Related: How To Answer 'What Is Your Greatest Achievement?' Interview Question
2. Describe a time when you resolved an issue in the workplace.
Challenge: 'While working for a software development company as an engineer, my team and I often felt
that the software testing process was too lengthy, which often caused our team to miss project
deadlines. Our testing process involved older software that often required troubleshooting, rebooting
and network repairs.'
Action: 'After reviewing the software's architecture, my team realised that we could adjust the
architecture to enhance its usability, functions and performance speeds. We devoted an entire workday
to enhancing the software, inputting new technology and securing the network's data.'
Result: 'Once we finished improving the software, we tested the performance speed and usability. It
allowed us to lower our project completion time by 30%. Because of this, we were able to produce
deliverables by the deadline.'
3. What's your greatest weakness?
Challenge: 'In my last position in a small company, my office often had issues retaining employees, which
caused us to be understaffed frequently. Because of this, my team often had to multitask to perform the
business operations and meet deadlines. While handling several responsibilities at once, I had difficulty
asking for help from my coworkers since I knew they also had several tasks to complete.'
Action: 'When we were nearing our fiscal year-end, our workload was steadily increasing. Before I would
begin falling behind, I took the initiative to ask my manager for additional help in each department. I
explained that I often have issues asking for help and that I want to grow my teamwork skills.'
Result: 'After sharing my struggles, my manager lightened the workload for each member of our team.
They also conducted team-building activities to help our team enhance our collaboration skills. This
helped to ease the stress for the entire company and allowed some team members to rely on one
another frequently.'
Related: Examples of Weaknesses: Top 7 Things to Share in a Job Interview
4. Describe a time when you used leadership skills in the workplace.
Challenge: 'While working as a cashier at a grocery store, there were new staff members joining our
team frequently. They were often students that had little to no work experience. Occasionally, customers
would grow impatient with them as they were developing their customer service skills and food service
knowledge.'
Action: 'I asked management if I could provide a brief training course to the new employees to provide
them with tips, strategies and methods to handle customers effectively. I developed handouts that
explained various food-handling techniques and demonstrated how to perform conflict resolution.'
Result: 'Management provided a copy of the handout to each new employee. A few weeks after the
training, our team reduced the number of customer complaints by 50% and created a positive work
environment. This experience taught me that it's important to take initiative and help others succeed in
their roles.'
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