Questions to ponder that you might be asked during an interview!

Activities

Educational Background

• Why did you choose to go to ________________ University/College/Trade School?
• How would you describe your academic achievement?
• How did you choose your major?
• What subject in college did you enjoy the most?
• What school year was the most difficult and why?
• What changes would you make in your school and why?
• What extracurricular activities did you enjoy?
• How do you think college contributed to your overall development?
• Do you think college grades should be considered employers?
• How do I know what you are capable achieving?
• What have you learned from your mistakes in college?
• Do you feel that you still have anything to learn?
• What summer job did you enjoy the most?
• What has been your least valuable work experience and why?

Aspirations

• What is important to you in a position? What would you like to avoid?
• What do you want to do five years from now?
• What are you doing to achieve your career goals?
• How will this position help you reach your long-term career goals?
• How do you define a successful career?

Self-Assessment

• In what areas would you most like to improve? Why?
• What motivates you?

Skills Match

• What do you believe qualifies you for this position,
• Where do you think your skills are transferable?
• What elements of this position would be new to you?
• What additional training do you feel is required to achieve full proficiency?
• Based on the information I have provided thus far, what do you think are critical duties or skills required to perform this job successfully?

Teamwork

• Give an example of a time in which you feel you were able to build motivation in your co-workers or subordinates.
• What did you do in your last job to contribute toward a teamwork environment? Be specific.

Flexibility

• Describe a time in which you felt it was necessary to modify or change your actions in order to respond to the needs of another person.
• Tell me about a situation where someone was angry with you. How did you handle it?
• Describe a work situation where you had to deal with one crisis after another. How did you handle it? And what did you learn from it?
• What is the most frustrating work-related experience you have faced? How did you resolve it and what did you do to ensure it did not happen again?
• What do you do when you are being pressed for a decision?
• Describe a time when unexpected events demanded that you reschedule your time or rethink your approach.
• Give an example of when it was not possible for you to be flexible and why?
• How do you overcome objections to your ideas? Goals?

Manageability

• Describe the most effective way your supervisor has given you direction.
• Describe a time when you responded well to criticism. Describe a time when you responded poorly to criticism.
• What disagreements have you had with your supervisor?
• Give me an example of a specific occasion in which you conformed to or confronted a policy with which you did not agree.

Goals, Risks, Creativity

• Give an example of an important goal, which you have set in the past and tell me about your success in reaching it.
•  Give an example of a time when you have to go above and beyond the call of duty in order to complete the job.
• Describe the most creative work related project or solution you have developed.
• Describe a situation where you took a risk.
• Tell me about a time when you took on a project or made changes to an existing procedure before you were asked to do so.
• Give an example of where you resisted pressure to do something because you knew it was not right.
• Describe a time when you rearranged things to be more effective.

Work History

• How would you describe your ideal job?
• What kind of work interests you most?
• Explain your understanding of the responsibilities for this job.
• How would your references describe you?

This portion on describe yourself with 3 adjectives should be something such as; focused, hardworking, honest, reliable, detail oriented, trustworthy, etc.

• 3 adjectives that you would use to describe you at work.
• 3 adjectives that your friend would use to describe.