Interview: Have You Experienced Something (When You Haven't)

I had an interview when the interviewer asked me to describe an experience when I had direct influence in pushing an agenda in a release last minute for a role in release management.

I am paraphrasing the question as I cannot remember the exact wording of the question, and also that he repeated the question a couple more times with different words.

My Response

My response was on the line that I had never had to step-in to "force" a deliverable to be in a release. The reason I believe that I do not have these situations in my 8 years as release management is due to my ability to bring people together to re-evaluate the situation and re-prioritize the work. Development team can only do so much in 24 hour days, and there is a limit to how much can actually be done no matter how many people you throw into the issue within a short period of time (ie last minute). Both teams have had little issue with my methods. I manage the most applications on the release management team, so I handle a lot of different teams. I have had good reviews, and no one has complained of my methods.

I wish I responded that eloquently on the interview, but the bulk of the message is there.

My Reaction to the Questions

Oddly enough because the interviewer was really stressing this question, I was suspecting there was so underlying issue at the company especially in the release management role. I tried to address this concern (unsure if that really is the case). I mentioned that specific task really lies on the product or program owner. I am not shy on taking on other responsibilities or going beyond the traditional bounds of the release management role to get things done. 

My Personal Thought on Result

I do not think I passed the interview, unless the line of questions was to try to incite some reaction from me by asking the same question differently. At the end of the interview, the interviewer also did not seem interested in answering my questions. I do not believe that I answered his question.

Post-Interview Thoughts

I spent too much time rewording my initial answer to answer his follow up questions. I should have redirected the question so that he gave me a scenario and I would then describe to him how I would have handled it. Thinking back on it, I think that would have been the best method to clarify the concern or at least in some way to side-step the initial question.