Can You Give an Example of a Time You Showed Initiative

How to answer this question

• 1Pick an example where you identified something that needed doing before it was your job.
• 2Show the specific action you took, not just that you noticed the problem.
• 3Quantify the impact wherever possible.
• 4Make clear no one asked you to do this — that is what makes it initiative.
• 5Keep the example recent and relevant to the type of role you are applying for.

Example answer

I noticed our onboarding process for new technicians had a three-week gap where people were essentially sitting idle waiting for system access. Nobody owned fixing it. I mapped the process, identified the three bottlenecks, and brought a proposed fix to my manager with a timeline and the estimated cost in lost productivity. She approved it in a week. We cut idle time to three days and reduced first-90-day turnover by 18 percent.