Takings at the pizza parlour where I worked part-time as a waitress during my studies were down, so I chatted informally to fellow students who were potential customers to get some ideas for things we could do to attract more business. I approached my boss with a couple of ideas and she agreed to invest in flyers and advertisements in the student paper. We also introduced a suggestions box for new toppings and created a new pizza every week. Within a month profits were up by 10%.’
This answer highlights the candidate’s effectiveness, interpersonal skills, powers of persuasion and commercial awareness, as well as the ability to take a creative approach to problem solving.