Tell us about a time you solved a problem...

[KingNothing]

What sort of answers do employers look for? How large of a scope?

Do they want to know about the time I orchestrated a re-structuring of my IEEE branch and tripled membership, or do they want to know about the time I put a PNP in backwards and my op-amp didn't work?

How long should I take to answer such a thing? Do they want technical problems, or "soft skills" type problems?

[berkeman]

What sort of answers do employers look for? How large of a scope?

Do they want to know about the time I orchestrated a re-structuring of my IEEE branch and tripled membership, or do they want to know about the time I put a PNP in backwards and my op-amp didn't work?

How long should I take to answer such a thing? Do they want technical problems, or "soft skills" type problems?

Great question, King. I did a similar thing with our IEEE student chapter in undergrad, and that is totally appropriate to put on your resume, but for problem solving skills, I think the better answer is different.

An ideal problem solving skill and situation would be where you saw that there was a profitable market opportunity for your company, and came up with an idea that fit the opportunity and made good money for the company. Those ideas and skills are very popular with employers, as you can probably imagine.

Another problem solving strength would be if there was ever a problem that came up with an existing project or customer, and you were able to figure it out and come up with a cost-effective solution that worked for everybody. Ongoing customer support can be a problem all by itself, and recognizing possible problems early and fixing them well is an important skill, and something that prospective employers would like to see.

[Choppy]

A lot will depend on who is asking the question.

I think in general, what someone asking this question really wants to know is whether you are the kind of person who independently identifies problems and develops solutions, or if you simply wait to be told what to do. And a little further, they may also be interested in how you identify problems and how independent you are in working on a solution. Too much independence, for example, can sometimes be a negative quality, if you, for example, neglected other important duties to work out what was essentially a trivial problem.

In an interview, don't be afraid to ask for clarification either. Remember, it's a two-way conversation.