Describe an important decision you made with the help of someone else.
You should say:
- what the decision was
- who helped you
- how he/she helped you
and explain why you took help from this person regarding this decision.
[You will have to talk about the topic for one to two minutes. You have one minute to think about what you are going to say. You can make some notes to help you if you wish.]
Model Answer:
Sometimes in life, there comes a time when we just don’t know what we should do, or what decision we should make, when we are presented with a number of options to choose from. Should that be the case, we should always, in my opinion, rely on the wisdom and knowledge of others who are in a position to guide us in the right direction. Please allow me to share with you such an experience in which my older cousin helped me make an important decision in my life.
It was after my A level graduation, I was struggling to decide whether I should have pursued a degree at a regular university in Business Administration, or I should be more focused on securing admission at an Engineering college. Given the benefits of having a better career option in attending an engineering college, I could have easily gone for an engineering degree. On the other hand, with a real possibility of receiving a very handsome scholarship option in pursuing a degree in Business Administration without leaving home, getting admission at a university wasn’t a bad option either. I needed to make a sound decision since the choice also involved staying with my parents or leaving them for a better “opportunity”. But the problem was my parents left the decision up to me. Luckily, I had my cousin who almost always had acted as my “saviour” in the past, and this time was no exception. I decided to take admission to a regular university in Business Administration.
My cousin was about 10 years older than me, but I could always count on him because of his cool and calm head. Besides, he was an engineer himself. So, I knew that he would help me with some good advice. On top of that, my cousin would always take time in analyzing a situation before coming to a decision. And, knowing how much of a “well-wisher” he really was for me and my family, I and my parents knew that we were going to get a very “practical and right” decision from my cousin.
Finally, my cousin had to struggle a lot in his life before establishing himself as a successful engineer as well as a businessman at the same time. So, it was quite natural for me to value and admire him as a good “counsellor”.