{"id":107,"date":"2016-07-22T14:32:12","date_gmt":"2016-07-25T10:50:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.wayup.com\/guide\/?p=107"},"modified":"2018-06-29T14:09:19","modified_gmt":"2018-06-29T14:09:19","slug":"answer-tell-time-went-beyond-requirements-project","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wayupstudent.wpengine.com\/answer-tell-time-went-beyond-requirements-project\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Answer: Tell Me About a Time You Went Above and Beyond the Requirements for a Project"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"arve alignleft\" data-mode=\"normal\" data-provider=\"iframe\" id=\"arve-iframe-httpswwwyoutubecomembedmk-bqw3lj-alistplbbvnbohoqpvjknurwtaeebla9eyckucj\" style=\"max-width:400px;\">\n<div class=\"arve-inner\">\n<div class=\"arve-embed arve-embed--has-aspect-ratio\">\n<span class=\"arve-ar\" style=\"padding-top:56.250000%\"><\/span><iframe credentialless referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer\" allow=\"accelerometer &#039;none&#039;;ambient-light-sensor &#039;none&#039;;autoplay &#039;none&#039;;battery &#039;none&#039;;bluetooth &#039;none&#039;;browsing-topics &#039;none&#039;;camera &#039;none&#039;;ch-ua &#039;none&#039;;clipboard-read &#039;none&#039;;clipboard-write;display-capture &#039;none&#039;;document-domain &#039;none&#039;;domain-agent &#039;none&#039;;encrypted-media &#039;none&#039;;execution-while-not-rendered &#039;none&#039;;execution-while-out-of-viewport &#039;none&#039;;gamepad &#039;none&#039;;geolocation &#039;none&#039;;gyroscope &#039;none&#039;;hid &#039;none&#039;;identity-credentials-get &#039;none&#039;;idle-detection &#039;none&#039;;keyboard-map &#039;none&#039;;local-fonts &#039;none&#039;;magnetometer &#039;none&#039;;microphone &#039;none&#039;;midi &#039;none&#039;;navigation-override &#039;none&#039;;otp-credentials &#039;none&#039;;payment &#039;none&#039;;picture-in-picture;publickey-credentials-create &#039;none&#039;;publickey-credentials-get &#039;none&#039;;screen-wake-lock &#039;none&#039;;serial &#039;none&#039;;speaker-selection;sync-xhr &#039;none&#039;;usb &#039;none&#039;;web-share;window-management &#039;none&#039;;xr-spatial-tracking &#039;none&#039;;\" allowfullscreen class=\"arve-iframe fitvidsignore\" data-arve=\"arve-iframe-httpswwwyoutubecomembedmk-bqw3lj-alistplbbvnbohoqpvjknurwtaeebla9eyckucj\" data-src-no-ap=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Mk-bQw3Lj-A?list=PLBBVnbOhOQpVjKnURwtAeEbla9EyckUCj\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"225\" name sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-presentation allow-popups allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox\" scrolling=\"no\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Mk-bQw3Lj-A?list=PLBBVnbOhOQpVjKnURwtAeEbla9EyckUCj\" width=\"400\" title loading=\"lazy\"><\/iframe>\n\n<\/div>\n\n<\/div>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\">{\"@context\":\"http:\\\/\\\/schema.org\\\/\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/wayupstudent.wpengine.com\\\/answer-tell-time-went-beyond-requirements-project\\\/#arve-iframe-httpswwwyoutubecomembedmk-bqw3lj-alistplbbvnbohoqpvjknurwtaeebla9eyckucj\",\"type\":\"VideoObject\",\"embedURL\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.youtube.com\\\/embed\\\/Mk-bQw3Lj-A?list=PLBBVnbOhOQpVjKnURwtAeEbla9EyckUCj\"}<\/script>\n<\/div>\n One of the more common interview questions you\u2019ll get during an interview for an internship or entry-level job is: \u201cTell me about a time when you went above and beyond.\u201d This interview question is industry and role-agnostic and the purpose of it is to understand whether you are the type of person to overachieve and reach for the stars, or whether you are the type of person who does exactly as they\u2019re told, without ever questioning what you can do better.<\/p>\n<p>Luckily, you can practice your answer to this question ahead of time, so here are some things to think about as you formulate your answer:<\/p>\n<h4><strong>Think about a project where your original goal had been very clear.<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p>Now explain the original goal in a clear and concise way. It\u2019s important that you give an example where the interviewer can understand what was expected of you, before you try to \u2018wow\u2019 him with your story.<\/p>\n<h4><b>Discuss the opportunity you observed that made you think that going \u201cabove and beyond\u201d would be beneficial.<\/b><\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For example, if you were given a goal to \u201ceat a pie of pizza\u201d, then eating two pizzas would not be beneficial toward accomplishing your goal. However, if you were given a goal to interview 3 people who ate pizza, but instead interviewed an entire restaurant, then you have a larger sample size, which can help you evaluate the survey outcomes more accurately.<\/span><\/p>\n<h4><b>Describe exactly how you went above and beyond the requirements. <\/b><\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It\u2019s important to make sure that you\u2019re using an example that shows YOU as the driver of ambition, and that you weren\u2019t just following someone else\u2019s over-achieving ways. <\/span><\/p>\n<h4><b>Explain the outcome. <\/b><\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Finally, explain the outcome, and why going \u2018above and beyond\u2019 was the right thing to do.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Extra points if you\u2019re able to include a humble comment along the lines of: \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.wayup.com\/guide\/community\/how-to-find-your-career-passion\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">When I\u2019m passionate about something<\/a>, I tend to be the type of person who goes above and beyond to get something done.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong><i>Say something like: <\/i><\/strong><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cIn my summer internship in the strategy department at Pizzeria Dos, I was asked to find out what customers thought of our new white tablecloths (we had just switched from red tablecloths). I was told to ask 10 customers in total by stopping them on their way out of the restaurant. Instead, with my boss\u2019s permission, I decided to add a small questionnaire to the checks of every customer who came in for the next 2 days. This way, I could reach more people in a scalable way, without bothering those who were in a hurry to get out. I printed the questionnaires on small pieces of paper, so the entire study cost no more than $10 in supplies. I then collected all 50 of the completed evaluations and learned that people hated the white tablecloths because they could see the stains from their dripping cheese too easily. I\u2019m happy that I could deliver 500% of the number of opinions my boss wanted, and that I was able to do it without bothering customers and still getting an unbiased opinion.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">By answering this question with a specific example, you\u2019ll be able to show the interviewer that you\u2019re ready to go above and beyond your assigned duties and to be a team player for the company. This is a great way to show how motivated you are, and to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wayup.com\/guide\/ups-520-sponsored-2-top-10-tips-resume-stand-out\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">stand out<\/a> among the pool of other candidates.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Next, get more career tips for internships and entry-level jobs such as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wayup.com\/guide\/7-phone-interview-tips-will-land-second-interview\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">7 Phone Interview Tips That Will Land You a Second Interview<\/a>\u00a0and find answers to common interview questions such as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wayup.com\/guide\/answer-motivates-2\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">What Motivates You?<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>One of the more common interview questions you\u2019ll get during an interview for an internship or entry-level job is: \u201cTell me about a time when you went above and beyond.\u201d This interview question is industry and role-agnostic and the purpose of it is to understand whether you are the type of person to overachieve and &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/wayupstudent.wpengine.com\/answer-tell-time-went-beyond-requirements-project\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;How to Answer: Tell Me About a Time You Went Above and Beyond the Requirements for a Project&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":250,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21,25],"tags":[46,48,76,77,78,197,198,199],"class_list":["post-107","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interviewing-101","category-top-culture-fit-questions","tag-interview","tag-interview-tips","tag-interview-questions","tag-common-interview-questions","tag-culture-fit-interview-questions","tag-underclassman","tag-postgrad","tag-senior"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>How to Answer: Tell Me About a Time You Went Above and Beyond the Requirements for a Project | Career Advice &amp; 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