Expert: Tracey Drake - 7/28/2006

Question
The person in this position (parks maintenance worker) needs to be innovative and proactive.  Please describe an activity or action you have taken to demonstrate these qualities in solving this problem?

Answer
Good morning - With this type of question, they are looking for your ability to solve problems in a creative manner. They are also gauging your ability to work independently and your ability to contibute to a work team. You need to describe a problem that occured in your last (or current job) that you took the initiative to fix or make the work process better.  

For example, you might say something like:

When I joined ABC Landscaping in 2001, many of the duties being performed in the city made poor use of time and the crew sometimes went back to the same contract location two or three times during the same week, when it appeared the work could have been performed on one day. I convinced my boss to let me develop a workflow calendar which would save time in completing jobs, decrease gas consumption on Company vehicles; therefore saving the company time and money.

This type of example can work on many levels. Depending upon the jobs you have held in the past, this question can also be answered using other examples that are less impactful on the company overall. You might have seen a problem at a site where rain was not draining properly and was causing large puddles of water to accumulate in the childrens play area; so you proposed that a series of small drain pipes were buried that carried the water to the end of the play area and drained into the grassy fields. Or perhaps you introduced a landscape team to a new tool that would be easier on the body and the company bought a few because they were more ergonomically friendly.

Essentially, you need to think about your past jobs (and even your education if you accomplished something proactively in college) and make a list of your duties. Once you start writing things down, examples will present themselves that you have not have considered.

Just remember for a KSA it is important to use action words and take a proactive approach in your writing, using as many specific examples as possible.

Good luck with your application,
Tracey Drake