Interview Question: Tell me about a time you had to learn something quickly

This really is a difficult interview question to answer correctly. In this article, you will learn how to answer the difficult interview question, “Tell me about a time you had to learn something quickly.”

If you do have a job interview coming up for any role or any organization, make sure you read this post very well because it will give you the perfect top-scoring answer that’s going to help you be the standout candidate.

How do you answer Tell me about a time you had to learn something quickly?

To help you pass your interview, this article will cover the following three things:

• Reason Why the interviewer is asking you the question, “Tell me about a time you had to learn something quickly.” There is a specific reason why this interview question is being asked and you need to know it to answer it correctly.
• You will learn the best way to structure your answer to get the highest scores possible.
• The perfect top-scoring answer that’s going to help you pass your interview.

Reason Why is the interviewer asking you the question, “Tell me about a time you had to learn something quickly”

The interviewer expects you to get up to speed quickly in the role and they also want you to take on additional responsibilities that are perhaps outside of the job description.

If you are the type of person who takes a long time to learn things, or if you have trouble retaining lots of job specific information, you are less likely to get hired.

THE BEST WAY TO STRUCTURE YOUR ANSWER TO THE BEHAVIORAL INTERVIEW QUESTION, “TELL ME ABOUT A TIME YOU HAD TO LEARN SOMETHING QUICKLY”

This is a behavioral interview question where you must give a specific example of a previous situation you have been in where you learned something quickly. Therefore the best way to answer it is to use what is called the STAR technique.

The STAR technique stands for:

– SITUATION.

– TASK.

– ACTION.

– RESULT.

(i) When answering this behavioral interview question, start off and tell the interviewer the SITUATION you were faced with.

(ii) Then move on and explain the TASK you had to complete.

(iii) Then go into detail specific details about the ACTION you took to complete the task.

(iv) Before finishing off and explaining the RESULTS following your actions.

Let now look at the brilliant top scoring answer that utilizes the STAR technique to the question, “Tell me about a time when you have to learn something quickly.”

HOW TO ANSWER “TELL ME ABOUT A TIME YOU HAD TO LEARN SOMETHING QUICKLY” INTERVIEW QUESTION

Question: Tell me about a time you had to learn something quickly.

Answer:

SITUATION:

“In my previous job, my manager asked for a volunteer to cover the responsibilities of a co-worker who was going to be offsite for several weeks. I volunteered to be that person.

TASK:

It was my task to quickly learn their duties whilst at the same time making sure my own responsibilities were fulfilled.

ACTION:

So I started out by reading their job description before deciding which tasks I could easily do and which ones I would need to learn. For the ones I needed to learn, I read the company operational manual when I got home from work that evening and I consulted with a co-worker to get some tips on how to complete each task to the required standard.

RESULT:

By prioritizing which tasks I needed to learn, and by dedicating the right amount of time to each one, I was able to learn all of my co-workers duties within 24 hours.

There’s a brilliant top scoring answer to that difficult behavioral interview question, “Tell me about a time you have to learn something quickly.”

Thank you so much for reading and for paying attention, and I wish you all the best for passing your interview.