Inter­view Answer: A Decision With Incomplete Information

You may be asked about a decision you made without all the information. This guide is about one real past decision, not a hypothetical one. It helps you separate what you knew then, what you assumed then and what you learned later, and say honestly who had authority, what you checked and what you still do not know. It is for everyday work decisions, and it does not cover safety-critical, clinical or legal ones. If the question is hypothetical or asks you to produce a number, see our guide to estimating with missing information instead.

The practice suggestions here are optional. Honesty and confidentiality are not optional. All examples are fictional and are not for you to copy as your own experience.

Choose one real decision

Choose one decision you actually made, or took part in. Say exactly what was decided, and whether it was yours to decide. A decision you recommended and someone else made is a different story, so say which it was. If you cannot recall the details, choose another decision.

Separate three things

• Known then: the facts you had at the time, and how you knew them.
• Assumed then: what you took for granted because you did not know. Call assumptions assumptions.
• Learned later: what you found out afterwards. Do not describe it as something you knew at the time.

Hindsight can make a decision look obvious or careless. Describe what was in front of you then.

Say what the options were

Name the options you really had, including waiting or asking someone. Say which you chose and why. If you did not consider alternatives, say so. Do not invent them afterwards.

Say who had authority and what you checked

Who could decide? What did you check, and whom did you ask, before deciding? If you escalated, say to whom and why. If you did not check or escalate, say so. If you are not sure whether the decision was yours to make, say that too.

Describe the result honestly

Say what happened and what you do not know. A good outcome does not by itself prove the decision was sound, and a poor one does not by itself prove it was careless, because other things may have affected the result and you may not know how the other options would have gone. National Careers Service advice on the STAR method defines result as what happened and what you learned, and recommends preparing for follow-up questions. Answer from what really happened.

Protect confidential detail

Describe the decision in general terms, and leave out names, customer details and figures you may not share. If the example is too sensitive, choose another.

Fictional examples

Each example below is invented. Do not present either as your own experience.

Fictional example, escalating: "I coordinated a volunteer training session. Two days before, the guest speaker had not confirmed, although the room was booked and the invitations were out. What I knew: the room was booked, the date was scheduled and the speaker had agreed in principle some weeks earlier. What I assumed: that they were busy, not unavailable. What I did not know: whether they could come. The organiser could change the date, and I could not, so I explained the situation and asked what they wanted to do. The options were to wait, to ask for the date to be moved or to prepare a backup activity. The organiser kept the date, and I prepared a short backup activity. Later I learned the speaker had been away and replied the day before. The session went ahead as planned. I don't know whether moving the date would have been better, and I can't say the backup activity made any difference."

Fictional example, an unchecked assumption: "The club treasurer asked me to choose between two quotes for club T-shirts, so the choice was mine to make. I didn't know whether the cheaper quote included printing, and I assumed it did. I did not ask, because the supplier's office was closed, and I did not tell the treasurer about my assumption. I chose the cheaper quote. Later I learned that printing was extra. Looking back, I can see that I neither checked nor mentioned my assumption. I can't say whether waiting until the office reopened would have changed the cost, and I don't know whether the other quote would have been cheaper overall."

Practice, then run a last check

Say your answer aloud if you wish. If you practice with another person, agree with them before recording and before sharing any recording. In a real interview or assessment, do not use any tool to generate answers unless the organiser has explicitly allowed it.

Then read your answer sentence by sentence. For each statement about the decision, ask whether you knew it then, assumed it then or learned it later. If a sentence is about something you learned later, check that it comes after the decision in your answer, not before. If you cannot tell which it was, say that you are not sure.

This guide is published by Muqabala. You can visit our interview practice page for your next practice session. Do not paste confidential employer, client or personal information into any practice tool.