Describe a situation when you did not have enough time for something. You should say: what the situation was when did it happen what you were trying to do and explain how did you handle the situation. [You will have to talk about the topic for one to two minutes. You have one minute to think about what you are going to say. You can make some notes to help you if you wish. ] Model Answer 1: The feeling that “you are short on time” can be very frustrating, especially, in situations when you are about to finish something important – something which you have prepared for a long time, only, of course, to find out at the end that it wasn’t just enough to get what you wanted. Let me describe such a situation which took place about 2 years ago at my work.
Back then, I had just joined as a junior executive at a local company right after finishing my studies at university, and having spent only about 6 months there, I was in search for a better role and greater challenge. Suddenly, one day, as if God heard my wishes, my senior manager called me and asked me if I was interested in the position of a senior executive in another department. I responded “yes” without thinking for a second.
However, the “catch” was I needed to give a PowerPoint presentation in front of all the Senior Managers of my company, and I had only about 20 minutes to impress them. I was also told that it was going to be a tough presentation as the managers had the discretion to ask me any question while I was standing in front of them and delivering my talks. The presentation was scheduled to be held the following week. So, I started to prepare myself without wasting any time.
Finally, the day arrived, and I was fully ready to stand in front of my managers and deliver, or so at least I thought. I already had prepared the presentation materials as per the instruction, and the first 10 minutes was pretty much a smooth-going.
However, suddenly after that, I was asked to explain a very important aspect of our company strategies which, I thought, I didn’t know very well. I was about to panic, but then I ‘ordered’ myself not to panic at all. I tried my best to explain the strategy in as precise terms as possible without wasting too much time on it as I need to cover the rest of the presentation materials within the stipulated period of time. As I was nearing the end of the stipulated time, I realized that I just wouldn’t be able to finish my presentation on time. It was ‘panic time’ again. But then, I told myself not to worry too much about it as there was always a “next time” in life. So, instead of going details on them, I simply chose to talk about the most important points by remaining very confident. In fact, I just told to myself that there was nothing to be lost in life except a new executive role at a local company.
Finally, I did manage to finish my presentation but, needless to say, I wasn’t exactly very “thrilled and excited” about it since I couldn’t really cover all the presentation materials due to the lack of time. But, I was happy that I made an honest effort by having great confidence in my abilities. And that’s exactly what probably mattered the most in the end, as far as my senior managers were concerned, since after a couple of days, I was promoted to a senior executive position in another department.
Describe
a
situation
when you did not have
enough
time
for something. You should say: what the
situation
was when did it happen what you were trying to do
and
explain
how did you handle the
situation
. [You will
have to
talk about the topic for one to two minutes. You have one
minute
to
think
about what you are going to say. You can
make
some
notes to
help
you if you wish.
]
Model Answer 1: The feeling that “you are short on
time”
can be
very
frustrating,
especially
, in
situations
when you are about to finish something
important
–
something which you have prepared for a long
time
,
only
,
of course
, to find out at the
end
that it wasn’t
just
enough
to
get
what you wanted.
Let
me
describe
such a
situation
which took place about 2 years ago at my work.
Back then, I had
just
joined
as a junior
executive
at a local
company
right
after finishing my studies at university, and having spent
only
about 6 months there, I was in search for a better role and greater challenge.
Suddenly
, one day, as if God heard my wishes, my
senior
manager
called me and asked me if I
was interested
in the position of a
senior
executive
in another department. I responded “yes” without thinking for a second.
However
, the “catch” was I needed to give a PowerPoint
presentation
in front of all the
Senior
Managers
of my
company
, and I had
only
about 20 minutes to impress them. I was
also
told
that it was going to be a tough
presentation
as the
managers
had the discretion to ask me any question while I was standing in front of them and delivering my talks. The
presentation
was scheduled
to
be held
the following week.
So
, I
started
to prepare myself without wasting any time.
Finally
, the day arrived, and I was
fully
ready to stand in front of my
managers
and deliver, or
so
at least I
thought
. I already had prepared the
presentation
materials as per the instruction, and the
first
10 minutes was pretty much a smooth-going.
However
,
suddenly
after that, I
was asked
to
explain
a
very
important
aspect of our
company
strategies which, I
thought
, I didn’t know
very
well
. I was about to panic,
but
then I ‘ordered’ myself not to panic at all. I tried my best to
explain
the strategy in as precise terms as possible without wasting too much
time
on it as I need to cover the rest of the
presentation
materials within the stipulated period of
time
. As I was nearing the
end
of the stipulated
time
, I realized that I
just
wouldn’t be able to finish my
presentation
on
time
. It was ‘panic
time’
again.
But
then, I
told
myself not to worry too much about it as there was always a “
next
time”
in life.
So
,
instead
of going
details
on them, I
simply
chose to talk about the most
important
points by remaining
very
confident.
In fact, I
just
told
to myself
that there was nothing to
be lost
in life except a new
executive
role at a local
company
.
Finally
, I did manage to finish my
presentation
but
,
needless to say
, I wasn’t exactly
very
“thrilled and excited” about it since I couldn’t
really
cover all the
presentation
materials due to the lack of
time
.
But
, I was happy that I made an honest effort by having great confidence in my abilities. And that’s exactly what
probably
mattered the most in the
end
, as far as my
senior
managers
were concerned
, since after a couple of days, I
was promoted
to a
senior
executive
position in another department.