Tips For Answering Interview Question "What is your ability to work without Supervision?"

An Overview:

Quite often, such a question is asked while applying for jobs that require leadership qualities in the right candidate. Although, it appears to redundant probe into one’s psyche but it quite helpful for an interviewer to judge and ascertain the key traits which he may be looking for in an interviewee.
Perhaps, by prompting on such a question, he intends to find out if you have:
◆ The ability to work without supervision.
◆ If yes, then have you demonstrated such traits in any previous job or task worth considering?
◆ Have you worked or do you possess the ability to work independently – autonomously?
◆ Can you work in a team environment yet manage to lead it to desired results without  external help?
Having discussed the importance of the question and its key attributes, it is more vital to understand the crux of it.

Understand With The Help Of An Example

Interviewer:

So, can you work without supervision?

Interviewee 1:

Yes, of course. In fact, I work the best when I am all alone. Since, I am all by myself I can take decisions and execute plans which I feel are better in achieving targets.

Interviewee 2:

Absolutely. I have worked in these two work environment and produced great results. For example – I can tell that I have worked in close knitted team and produced dynamic results by ideating new business concepts and implementing appropriate strategies to achieve desired results. In the last job, I was heading a sales team of 10 people at a renowned retail store. In order to achieve higher sales figures, I came up with a plan of clubbing discounted ‘slow-moving consumer goods’ along with ‘fast-moving consumer goods’. This way, I was not only able to generate higher sales targets but also clear the inventory. Of late, I have learnt that this process has been adopted by other teams in the retail stores as well.
Clearly, interviewee 2 happens to stand out in the lot.
But, what makes interviewee -2 outshine interviewee -1? Well, interviewee 1 was too quick to assume that the interviewer intended to select a person who could work all by himself. However, he mistook it for a pre-requisite rather than an added ability to perform. Interviewee 1 completely overlooked the fact that working in a team is absolutely essential to any organization. On the other hand, interviewee 2 was quick to grasp this. He stated his experience and ability in performing and delivering results while leading a team. Further, he illustrated an instance wherein he utilized his ability and delivered quantitative results.

Important Attributes

Two important attributes which an interviewer would like an interviewee to touch-base upon:
1)  Problem Solver: An ideal candidate should be able to ascertain the situation and gauge the problem issues at the right time.
2)  An initiator: An ideal candidate should be an initiator. He should be able to come up with solutions, design appropriate strategies and implement the strategies too. Further, he should be able to monitor results as well.