Imagine a customer buys three items: a shirt for ₱450.00, a cap for ₱275.50, and a bag for ₱1,200.00. They give you a ₱2,000 bill and a 15% discount coupon applicable to the highest-priced item. How much change should they receive? Walk me through your calculation.
RoleCustomer Service Representative
DifficultyEasy
TopicTechnical
Asked at
Why This Is Asked
Robinsons Retail includes a math exam in hiring, and this scenario tests your real-time numeracy, attention to detail, and ability to handle common floor situations like returns or discounts.
General Approach
Break the problem into clear steps: compute the discount, add all items, then subtract from the tendered amount. Speak your process aloud to demonstrate confidence and transparency to the interviewer (and later to customers).
General Answer
Walk through it step by step out loud, the way you would with a customer at the counter. The discount applies to the highest-priced item, the bag at 1,200. Fifteen percent of 1,200 is 180, so the discounted bag price is 1,020. Add the three items at their final prices: 450 for the shirt, plus 275.50 for the cap, plus 1,020 for the discounted bag, which totals 1,745.50. Subtract that from the 2,000 bill tendered: 2,000 minus 1,745.50 leaves 254.50 in change. Narrating each step as you calculate, rather than just stating the final number, is what shows the interviewer (and later the customer) that you're working transparently and not just hoping the number is right.
PH Interview Gotcha
Avoid panicking and saying 'Ay, wait lang po, hindi ko pa alam' or using your phone calculator right away. Instead, verbalize your steps: 'Let me confirm: the bag gets a 15% discount, so that's ₱1,020, total is ₱1,745.50, and your change is ₱254.50.'
Sample STAR Answer▾
S
Situation
While volunteering at a school bazaar, I was assigned to man the payment booth during a peak hour. A customer approached with multiple items and a discount voucher, and a long line was forming behind them.
T
Task
I needed to compute the final amount quickly and accurately to keep the queue moving and avoid any short-changing.
A
Action
I first mentally identified the highest-priced item (₱1,200 bag) and calculated 15% off: 10% is ₱120, 5% is ₱60, so ₱180 discount, making the bag ₱1,020. Then I added the other items: ₱450 shirt + ₱275.50 cap + ₱1,020 bag = ₱1,745.50. The customer tendered ₱2,000, so I subtracted: ₱2,000 − ₱1,745.50 = ₱254.50 change. I counted it back aloud: ₱254.50 plus a receipt, and placed it in an envelope to avoid misplacement.
R
Result
The customer smiled and thanked me for the clear breakdown. My supervisor, who was observing, later praised my calm handling and said I prevented a potential bottleneck at the booth.
Key Takeaway
A methodical, step-by-step mental math approach ensures accuracy under pressure.
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