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General Questions

The questions below are provided as examples. This list of questions is not intended to be all inclusive. This is to provide you some realistic questions that are asked.

  • Why have you applied for this position?
  • What are your qualifications in your area of expertise, i.e., what skills do you have that make you the best candidate for this position?
  • Tell me about your present or last job. Why did you choose it? Why did you/do you want to leave?
  • What do you think about SOPs (Standard Operating Procedures)?
  • What are your career path interests?
  • What do you know about our company?
  • Why should we hire YOU?
  • If the position required it, would you be willing to travel?
  • If the position required it, would you be willing to relocate?
  • If you were offered this position, when would you be available to start?
  • Tell me anything else you would like us to know about you that will aid us in making our decision.
  • What questions would you like to ask me?

Interpersonal Questions

  • Why did you choose the career for which you are preparing?
  • What are your short-range goals and objectives?
  • What are your long-range goals and objectives?
  • What are your strengths, weaknesses and interests?
  • How do you think a friend or professor who knows you well would describe you?
  • What qualities should a successful leader possess?
  • Describe your ideal working environment.
  • Explain the phrase "work ethic" and describe yours.
  • What kind of people do you find it most difficult to work with?
  • How do you define doing a good job?

Behavior Based Questions

  • Was there an occasion when you disagreed with a supervisor's decision or company policy? Describe how you handled the situation.
  • Tell me about a time when you were a part of a great team. What was your part in making the team effective?
  • What motivates you to put forth your greatest effort? Describe a situation in which you did so.
  • Describe a situation in which you had to work with a difficult person (another student, co-worker, customer, supervisor, etc.). How did you handle the situation? Is there anything you would have done differently?
  • Describe a situation in which you worked as part of a team. What role did you take on? What went well and what didn't?
  • If someone asked you for assistance with a matter that is outside the parameters of your job description, what would you do?
  • Suppose you are in a situation where deadlines and priorities change frequently and rapidly. How would you handle it?
  • Tell me about a personal or career goal that you have accomplished and why that was important to you.
  • What strengths did you rely on in your last position to make you successful in your work?
  • Suppose your supervisor asked you to get information for them that you know is confidential and he/she should not have access to. What would you do?
  • If someone told you that you had made an error, describe how you would react and what you would say in your defense.

Creative Thinking Questions

  • What's the best book you've read in the last year? Take a minute and tell us what you liked about it.
  • What was the most creative thing you did in your last job?
  • What is your interpretation of "success?"
  • In what way(s) do you express your personality in the workplace?

Leadership Questions

  • Define professional behavior and/or conduct appropriate in the workplace.
  • Why do you think a team of people - sports team, work team, may not work well together?
  • Describe an ideal supervisor.
  • What is your own philosophy of management?
  • Is it more important to be a detail oriented person, or a big picture person and why?
  • What was the most challenging personnel issue you've had to deal with and how did you handle it?
  • Describe for me a time when you have come across questionable business practices; how did you handle the situation?
  • A new policy is to be implemented organization-wide. You do not agree with this new policy. How do you discuss this policy with your staff?
  • Describe for me a decision you made which would normally have been made by your supervisor? What was the outcome?
  • Discuss and differentiate between remediation, corrective action, and discipline.
  • Explain, step by step, how you have handled an employee who had performance problems.
  • Why should employees seek to improve their knowledge and skill base?
  • What coaching or mentoring experience have you had? With groups or one-on-one? How did you determine the appropriate way to coach/mentor and what were the results?
  • When giving information to employees, do you prefer to write a memo OR talk to the employee?
  • When deciding to fire an employee, do you find it easy because of the company's needs OR difficult because of the employee's needs and why?
  • Managing requires motivating employees as well as accomplishing tasks. Do you find it more natural to point out what's wrong so employees can accomplish tasks competently OR to praise employees for their work and then point out what may need correcting?
  • What is the largest number of employees you have supervised and what were their job functions?
  • Are you best at dealing with details and day-to-day operations OR with concepts, envisioning and future planning? Give me an example.