Tell Me About An Obstacle You Overcame? (With 10 Sample Interview Answers)

Obstacle is a part of life. Even the easiest task on earth has an obstacle. Anything you do, any job you apply for, you are bound to face obstacles in some or the other way. You tend to face an obstacle in both your professional as well as in your personal life. Sometimes, we can not do anything about the same and we have to move on accepting the fact, but it is human nature to try and overcome every possible problem. You have to make sacrifices if you want something in life and when you ultimately overcome the problem, you achieved what you wanted.

Cite about the obstacles that you have overcome so far?

In this article, we will share some of the most basic yet difficult situations that you can cite as an answer to this question. We will be citing the examples which will be more of a case study type. So, below are those answers:

Case 1: Being an introvert is really an obstacle sometimes

Go with the flow. To be honest and start that as a child, I used to be a very shy kid who got paranoid with stage fright. Be it school, college or a professional field, I used to face a lot of limitation because of this nature. I tried to be as much communicative as possible, but most of the times, I was sitting quietly in the meeting even if I had the answer to that and my eyes, eyeballing the ground. But then, I took the courage to meet a psychologist who would help me with this issue and widen my horizon. Eventually, I was able to get away with my paranoia and was good with relationship building be it in my personal life or my professional career. Though it wasn’t an easy one, I am happy that I could overcome that and now I could have an amazing interview with one of the most renowned organisations.

Case 2: Not able to get into my dream school

I think that I always had dreamt of going to a vet school, my dream school. But the main problem was that I used to be a very average student in school and did not even pay heed to studies that much. I did not understand that merit plays a very important role to get into the top vet schools. I was unable to get into a vet school for three years straight. But I did not lose hope, instead, I tried hard and prepared with utmost dedication to meet the eligibility criteria and followed my dream thereby. I used to go to veterinary practices and zoos which would give a firm grip to my resume. This had really helped in my application and eventually, I was able to get admission to one of the top-rated vet schools in the country, earned my graduate degree and now I am here for this interview to try much luck.

Case 3: Strive hard and dream big

I believe that restrictions and obstacle are deliberately built on one’s mind. If you are determined, you can reach any height you want. You do not need anyone’s opinion or validation, the only one who can make you successful is you. Not every person is privileged enough to gather, pursue studies and become successful and sometimes you are even backlashed by your family members. But be strong and strive hard for what you want and your luck will be with you. Bring yourself out of the comfort zone and fix your focus on one particular aspect. That will make you more concentrated on your goal, might take a longer time than expected, otherwise, you will find yourself all over the place, achieving nothing.

Case 4: Health has never been with me

If you are not physically active, then that might play as the biggest obstacle in your life. My biggest problem was that I had to always struggle with bowel problems, food allergies and lactose intolerance. But that did not stop me from keeping my hopes high. I used to try several diets as specified by my doctor. Sometimes I used to create a diet plan myself and at times my family members would not support my decisions and doctors also contradicted my diet plans. However, with time that I used to feel better when I changed my diet to a completely vegan diet, which was plant-based, vegetables, lentils and legumes. Eventually, I was back to good health and lead a healthy life from then. Now, I am here standing healthy and putting an effort to showcase my talent.

Case 5: Obstacles you faced in your last job

So, this is a situation from my last job. We were on board trying to create a new mobile app with the motive of helping people to screen test any diseases they might be having at the comfort of sitting at home. Although the idea was very innovative, my management team denied to accept any such proposal and also, did not even provide us with sufficient finance to fund the project. But I did not give up n my part ad strived hard to manage funds in any way and continue with the project. I kept on presenting more and more arguments in favour of the app because the success of the app would make a milestone. I managed to convince the team of the idea and arranged for more funds. Eventually, it was not enough to reach a milestone but was closer to touch it. However, I am happy with the results and overcome the problem like so.

Case 6: Not much of an obstacle

Since I was a kid, I had not faced much of an obstacle, to be honest. I am healthy from inside and outside for which I am grateful and I have been more or less successful in whatever I have done so far. However, this is the bitter truth of life that there will be obstacles that you will face in your lives at some point be it in your personal or professional lives. I would like to prepare myself for any such situation physically and mentally. I would make my ambitions and dreams so strong that they should overpower the impact of such obstacles. Life has been easy for me to date, but I know situations can turn anytime and any day. So, I am making my determination stand out for whatever comes.

Case 7: Overthinking been the biggest obstacle

I have been prey to overthinking and OCD. My insecurities and complexes helped me fight the world and live happily. I have learnt one thing over the past few years which might be considered as skills, to live in the present. I try to put my full focus and attention to the task I am doing at the present moment which might be presentation, cooking, teaching or working on my skills and not linger my thoughts over what had happened in the past or what is going to happen in future and also not to pay heed what others are saying. I have believed that no one’s validation is important to you but just your validation can change the game altogether. I am happy that I could overcome this obstacle and now I want to focus on the present moment for what I have come for.

Case 8: Obstacle related to deadline

I was required to complete my assignment at my university when my laptop malfunctioned. It was the night before the submission and I lost all the data related to it. I tried to search for many tutorials online on how to mend the problem but all was in vain. However, I didn’t makeup excuses to not complete the assignment, rather I pulled an all-nighter to complete it with the help of my phone. the night was indeed a stressful one, but I am happy that I could complete it within the stipulated time.

Case 9: Rectified a mistake

I used to work in the bakery and was in charge of the cake booking and its deliverables. There was a time when a big event was to be held and a colleague had book a very expensive cake and I took the order. However, it completely slipped out of my mind that the booked cake was already pre-booked by some other part and that we do not have any similar piece left. Instead of ruining the whole mood of the event, I tried my hands into making a similar piece of the cake and it eventually turned out to be worth putting in an effort. I was quite happy with the result.

Case 10: People with little professional expertise

I was working as cafe receptionist and when I was 18 years and was soon promoted to become a supervisor of people who had trained me in the past. That was a quite stressful part because I had never done that and did not know how to do it. I tried speaking to hose staffs about the promotion and offered them coffee. I assured them that I respect their expertise and would always take their suggestions into account while taking any step. As far as the results were concerned, I got a positive response from my staff and was very happy with it. I hope to serve your company the same way.

Conclusion

Here in this article, you will find a comprehensive idea of Tell me about an obstacle you overcame. So, we have included almost all the common situations that you can be put to during the interview that you can refer to while you are framing your answers. Also, keep in mind all the Do’s and Don’t while answering the questions because otherwise it might lead to disqualification of your selection if you do not answer accordingly. Also, please feel free to let us know, how helpful this content has been to you and do not hesitate to give any suggestions or ask questions in case you have any doubts regarding this topic. Please let us know in the comments down below.