How to Answer "Delivering at Pace" Interview Questions
How to Answer Delivering at Pace Interview Questions
Gauging your ability to deliver at pace is a very common competency-based interview question, designed to establish your time management and quality assurance capabilities.
In this blog, we’ll cover how to answer ‘delivering at pace’ interview questions and provide interview answer examples.
What does delivering at pace mean?
‘Delivering at pace’ means meeting the objectives of your role in a timely manner.
When you’re asked about delivering at pace at interview, the interviewee will be looking for confirmation of your ability to perform tasks to a high standard while meeting deadlines.
Delivering at pace interview questions
This question could be asked in a number of ways.
For example:
- Name a time when you had to manage competing deadlines
- How do you prioritise your workload?
- How do you make sure your work is of a high standard when things get busy?
- How do you make sure your work gets done on time?
- What’s more important: meeting a deadline or delivering quality work?
- How do you perform under pressure?
- Name a time when you struggled to meet a deadline. How did you navigate the situation?
- Have you ever missed a deadline? What learnings did you take from it?
Delivering at pace example answers
When it comes to answering 'delivering at pace' questions, be human! None of us are perfect, and so inserting a bit of humility into your answer is always welcome.
When someone makes claims that they’ve never struggled to deliver at pace, it’s very hard to believe. Acknowledging the difficulties of delivering at pace, and how you navigate this task despite the challenges, is a much more human answer, and will be a lot more endearing to an interviewer.
Here’s how you might answer a delivering at pace interview question. Note: our interview responses are in the STAR format (Situation / Task / Action / Result).
#1: Competing deadlines
Situation:
I was working on a very important project when another priority project came up at the last minute. Both were due at the same time.
Task:
There was no way I was going to be able to deliver both of these tasks at once, but I needed to somehow work out a way of meeting both deadlines while making sure that my work was of a high standard.
Action:
I got in contact with several members of my team and explained my workload problem. I asked who had some time they could devote to supporting the projects.
A colleague was available to support with the second project. I explained the requirements carefully while making sure I wasn’t using up too much of my colleague’s time.
This allowed me to focus on delivering the first project - I was then able to assess the secondary project and make minor refinements.
Result:
Both projects were delivered on time and I’m pleased to say they were of a high standard.
#2: Have you ever missed a deadline? What did you learn from it?
Situation:
Yes, I have missed a deadline. Early in my career as a marketing assistant, I was tasked with writing a number of articles for publication in a print magazine.
Task:
I needed to deliver six 1000-word articles within the space of a week. I also had several other projects I was working on at the time.
Action:
Although I was struggling, I didn’t feel confident enough to speak up. I kept my problem to myself and just kept on pushing through in the hope that somehow I would meet the deadline. Of course, I didn’t, and I only managed to send four of the six articles, meaning two didn’t make it to print. This was a really disappointing result for me, but it was definitely a learning moment.
Result:
I am now much more realistic about my ability to work to deadlines. If I feel a deadline is unrealistic, I speak up and try to find ways to share work or gauge which deadlines are more pressing, so that I can prioritise my workload effectively. This has made me a much more effective worker and means I can deliver a high quality of work on time consistently.
#3: Performance under pressure
Situation:
I was asked to deliver a presentation to the leadership board. This would be the first time I would do this, and I felt a great deal of pressure to give a good impression while also delivering a valuable presentation.
Task:
I needed to give a good and useful presentation while still meeting the objectives of my full-time role.
Action:
I spent time preparing for the presentation and reflecting on what information could be helpful to the board.
However, as I still had other work to deliver, I made sure that I didn’t spend too much time overthinking and only spent as much time as was necessary on the preparation.
Result:
I delivered a successful presentation. While there were things I would change about my delivery, overall I felt I did a good job. I received positive feedback from several board members and have been asked to deliver further presentations in future.
Delivering at pace: Final thoughts
Delivering at pace interview questions are all about showing how you deliver good quality work at a pace that meets the requirements of your role.
What do you think? Do you now feel better equipped to answer interview questions about delivering at pace?
Next steps
Remember, when you apply for a job through Eden Scott, we’ll help you prepare if you’re invited to interview.
