Describe a time when you had to analyse a complex set of data or information to solve a problem, even though you had limited or incomplete information. What was your approach and what was the outcome?

Situation

As a student council finance officer, I had to propose an annual budget for our university-wide science week, but historical financial records from previous councils were scattered across personal spreadsheets and some receipts were missing.

Task

I needed to submit a viable budget to the administration within one week, justifying each line item despite gaps in historical spend data.

Action

I gathered all available records from four past events, categorised expenses (venue, logistics, prizes, marketing), and identified patterns of recurring costs. For missing data, I obtained three quotes from suppliers and used the median estimate. I built a simple sensitivity model showing three scenarios: conservative, base, and optimistic, each with clear assumptions. I presented the model to the council, explaining where estimates came from and the risk of each scenario.

Result

The council approved a base budget of PHP 45,000 with a 10% contingency. The event was delivered on budget with a 5% surplus, and the transparent approach built trust with the administration; my budget template was adopted for future events.