Joel Marans, a guy I’ve known for a long time, since I moved to Toronto back in the last millenium, asks me to talk about a time I broke a rule at work and why. I had to really wrack my brain to come up with something, which I guess speaks to my tendency to stick to the rules–but that doesn’t mean I don’t bend them from time-to-time, or interpret them creatively in ways that I think might be helpful to the work at hand. I think the key to analyzing the answer to this question is looking at why the candidate broke the rule: was it for their own gain? What were the intentions? Were there any negative outcomes?
Personally, as a hiring manager, I want to know that a candidate is always questioning why s/he should or shouldn’t do something, and is brave enough to go their own way if it’s for the right reason.
