Discuss the most difficult constructive criticism or feedback you have received. How did you address it? What have you learned from it?
The above question brings to memory my early years of employment with ABC where I had been inducted as a customer service agent. In the preceding years, I had been working in web-based support and as a process trainer in, more or less, start-up environments. Prior to these employments, I had been running a small-scale transport business with seven transport vans – a traditional retail business requiring “field level” skills. ABC in contrast with my earlier employers and work, was a much larger and well-established organization. I had transitioned to a knowledge-driven service industry with multiple hierarchies and an innate culture of diplomacy. My supervisors at ABC were quickly impressed with my work ethic, ability to learn quickly and intelligence.
It had been more than six months at ABC when I was summoned for a performance review. I was expecting a very positive session since I had received very good feedback so far. My supervisors initially turned out to be quite optimistic about my future prospects and my potential. They then went on to add that I needed to (a) be more tactful (b) patient. And then came more..