Have you ever shown initiative and taken responsibility for a situation?

Interviewers often find this a tough question to answer and it can be difficult to shine in an interview without practice.

If you want your interview to go well, and get a job offer, practice makes perfect! Here are awesome sample answers to the STAR interview questions like this.

I was assigned to be the team leader for a project that was due in two weeks.

S - I was working in a [position] for [company name]. I was assigned to be the team leader for a project that was due in two weeks.

T - The project involved creating a new product for [company name], and we needed to come up with ideas and make prototypes.

A - I realized that our team was not doing well with the task at hand, so I took action. I gathered everyone together, explained the importance of their roles in the project, and assigned them specific tasks so they could each contribute to the project in their own way. Afterward, we discussed how we were going to make sure everything went smoothly and what would happen if there were any issues or problems along the way.

R - The result of my actions was that everyone worked hard on their part of the project, which led to us finishing early and having time left over before our deadline.

I was working on a project that required me to figure out how to solve a problem

S - I was working on a project that required me to figure out how to solve a problem. The project involved gathering data from a number of different sources, documenting the process of collecting it, and then using that data to create a report.

T - I took initiative and asked my supervisor if there was any way we could automate some of our data collection processes. This way, we would have more time available for other parts of the project. My supervisor was excited about this idea and agreed to let me take it on as an independent project.

A - I worked with another member of our team who had some experience with machine learning algorithms and artificial intelligence programming languages. Together, we were able to create an algorithm that could predict when certain events were likely to occur based on historical data collected from previous years' events.

R - This allowed us to predict which events would occur during certain periods of time so that we could plan ahead and make sure that we had enough resources available for those events when they came up. This significantly reduced our workloads during those periods because we didn't have as many tasks left over at the end of each day or week because all these predictions had been made automatically by our algorithm!

I noticed that our new system was not working properly

S - When I was working in the customer service department at [company name], I noticed that our new system was not working properly.

T - The company had recently changed to a new website design and this would mean that some of our employees would have to learn how to use it.

A - I noticed that a couple of my colleagues were struggling with this, so I offered to help them out by teaching them how to use the new system.

R - This not only helped them get up and running faster, but it also made me look good in front of my manager who appreciated the extra effort I put in.

My manager asked me to do a presentation

S - A situation where I showed initiative and took charge of a situation was when my manager asked me to do a presentation on [topic] for a group of clients.

T - I was given the task of researching and preparing for this presentation, which included writing an outline and creating slides.

A - I completed all of these tasks ahead of time and prepared myself to present as soon as possible. I did not want to burden my manager by asking him to help me with every little thing, so I did everything on my own—even though it was difficult at times. When I presented, I went through everything step-by-step, including all necessary visuals. I also added some personal notes that were not on our original outline because they were things that came up during my research process.

R - My manager was very pleased with how well-prepared and confident I was during the presentation and he even gave me a bonus for going above and beyond what was expected from me!

The project was failing and we did not know how to proceed with it

S - I remember a situation where I had to take charge of a situation. We had been working on a project for over 4 months, but the client was still not satisfied with the result. The project was failing and we did not know how to proceed with it. Our manager asked me to talk to our client and see if there was anything he could do to help us finish the work faster than expected or even start something new.

T - I spoke with the client about our progress so far and what we planned to do next. He explained that he was worried about meeting his deadline because we were not delivering on time. He also said that he needed more information from us before we could finish this project.

A - I understood why he was frustrated, so I took action by contacting an expert in our team who could provide him with all the data he needed regarding our progress and other projects that were similar in nature. The expert helped me convince him that we were doing everything possible to complete this project correctly and on time.

R - After talking to him, he agreed to give us more time so we could deliver his project successfully without compromising any quality standards.

The task was to increase the number of followers on all platforms by 20% in one month

S - One situation I can think of is when I was working as a remote team member for a company that needed someone to manage their social media accounts.

T - The task was to increase the number of followers on all platforms by 20% in one month, which seemed like a daunting task at the time.

A - I decided to use Reddit to attract new followers because it's where many people go to find new things online. I created an account and posted the content that might interest people who would be interested in what we're offering. The content wasn't just about our brand but also about general topics like dogs or travel.

R - This strategy proved successful and we reached our goal in only two weeks!

The task was to finish a project that had been started by another coworker

S - The first time I showed initiative was when I had to take over for a coworker who wasn't able to make it to work.

T - The task was to finish a project that had been started by another coworker, but since that person was away, it fell on me to finish it.

A - The action I took was to get the information from my coworker so that I could finish the project, which included sending emails out to clients.

R - The result of my actions was that the project was finished successfully and on time.