QUESTIONS AN INTERVIEWER MAY ASK YOU
- Tell me about yourself?
- What are your short-term and long-term career goals, and how do you plan to achieve them?
- What are the most important rewards you expect in your career?
- What do you consider to be your greatest strengths and weaknesses?
- How has your college experience prepared you for a career?
- What motivates you to put forth your greatest effort?
- In what ways do you think you can make a contribution to our organization?
- Why do you want to obtain a position at organization?
- What do you know about our organization?
- Why did you choose the career for which you are preparing?
- Why should I hire you?
- What qualifications do you have that makes you think you will be successful?
- What do you REALLY want to do in life?
- What do you think it tales to be successful in an organization like ours?
- How would you define the word, “success”?
- What qualities should a successful manager possess?
- Do you have a geographical preference? Are you willing to relocate? Travel?
- What criteria are you using to evaluate the company for which you hope to work?
BEHAVORIAL QUESTIONS
These are very probing in nature and are based on the concept of “predictable future behavior” which means the most accurate predictor of future performance is past performance in a similar situation. The secret to answering behavioral question is to practice, practice and practice some more.
You must be able to:
- Know why you have made the decisions you have made that have brought you to this point in your life.
- Explain and defend your decisions.
- Provide concrete, specific examples of where you have demonstrated the proficiencies employers are seeking.
Companies that employ behavioral interviewing have predetermined the skill sets they require for a particular position. These skill sets could include: decision making and problem solving, leadership, motivation, communication, interpersonal skills, planning and organization, critical thinking skills, team building and the ability to influence others.
Be detailed and specific!
Examples:
- How have you demonstrated initiative?
- How have you motivated yourself to complete an assignment or task that you did not want to do?
- Think about a difficult boss, professor or other person. What made him or her difficult? How did you successfully interact with this person?
- Think about a complex project or assignment you have been given, what approach did you take to complete it?
- Tell me about the riskiest decision that you have made?
- Can you tell me about an occasion where you needed to work with a group to get a job done?
- Describe when you or a group that you were a part of, were in danger of missing a deadline. What did you do?
- Tell me about a time when you worked with a person who did things very differently from you? How did you get the job done?
- Describe your three greatest accomplishments to date.
- Tell me about a situation when you had to learn something new in a short time. How did you proceed?
- Can you tell me about a complex problem that you solved? Describe the process you utilized.
- Tell me about a challenge that you successfully met.
- Walk me through a situation where you had to do research and analyze the results for one of your classes.
- What leadership positions have you held? Describe your leadership style.
- Have you generated any new ideas or suggestions while at school or at work?
- Summarize a situation where you successfully persuaded others to do something or see your point of view.
- Give an example of when your persistence had the biggest payoff?
- Describe a situation where class assignments and work or personal activities conflicted. How did you prioritize? How did you manage your time? What was the outcome?
- Describe a situation in which you effectively developed a solution to a problem, by combining different perspectives or approaches.
- How have you most constructively dealt with a disappointment and turned it into a learning experience?
