How would you describe yourself?
What specific goals, including those
related to your occupation, have you established for your life?
How has your college experience
prepared you for a career?
Please describe the ideal job for
you following graduation.
What influenced you to choose this
career?
At what point did you choose this
career?
What specific goals have you established
for your career?
What will it take to attain your
goals, and what steps have you taken toward attaining them?
What do you think it takes to be
successful in this career?
How do you determine or evaluate
success? Give me an example of one of your successful accomplishments.
Do you have the qualifications and
personal characteristics necessary for success in your chosen career?
What has been your most rewarding
accomplishment?
If you could do so, how would you
plan your college career differently?
Are you more energized by working
with data or by collaborating with other individuals?
How would you describe yourself
in terms of your ability to work as a member of a team?
What motivates you to put forth
your greatest effort?
Given the investment our company
will make in hiring and training you, can you give us a reason to
hire you?
Would you describe yourself as goal-driven?
Describe what you've accomplished
toward reaching a recent goal for yourself.
What short-term goals and objectives
have you established for yourself?
Can you describe your long-range
goals and objectives?
What do you expect to be doing in
five years?
What do you see yourself doing in
ten years?
How would you evaluate your ability
to deal with conflict?
Have you ever had difficulty with
a supervisor or instructor? How did you resolve the conflict?
Tell me about a major problem you
recently handled. Were you successful in resolving it?
Would you say that you can easily
deal with high-pressure situations?
Which is more important to you,
the job itself or your salary?
Describe a situation in which you
were able to use persuasion to successfully convince someone to
see things your way?
Describe an instance when you had
to think on your feet to extricate yourself from a difficult situation.
Give me a specific example of a
time when you used good judgment and logic in solving a problem.
By providing examples, convince
me that you can adapt to a wide variety of people, situations and
environments.
Describe a time when you were faced
with problems or stresses that tested your coping skills.
Give an example of a time in which
you had to be relatively quick in coming to a decision.
Describe a time when you had to
use your written communication skills to get an important point
across
Give me a specific occasion in which
you conformed to a policy with which you did not agree.
Give me an example of an important
goal which you had set in the past and tell me about your success
in reaching it.
Tell me about a time when you had
to go above and beyond the call of duty in order to get a job done.
Give me an example of a time when
you were able to successfully communicate with another person even
when that individual may not have personally liked you (or vice
versa).
Sometimes it's easy to get in "over
your head." Describe a situation where you had to request help
or assistance on an assignment.
Give an example of how you applied
knowledge from previous coursework to a project in another class.
Describe a situation where others
you were working with on an assignment disagreed with your ideas.
What did you do?
Describe a situation in which you
found that your results were not up to your professor's or supervisor's
expectations. What happened? What action did you take?
Tell of a time when you worked with
a colleague who was not completing his or her share of the work.
Who, if anyone, did you tell or talk to about it? Did the manager
take any steps to correct your colleague? Did you agree or disagree
with the manager's actions?
Describe a situation in which you
had to arrive at a compromise or guide others to a compromise.
What steps do you follow to study
a problem before making a decision.
We can sometimes identify a small
problem and fix it before it becomes a major problem. Give an example(s)
of how you have done this.
In a supervisory or group leader
role, have you ever had to discipline or counsel an employee or
group member? What was the nature of the discipline? What steps
did you take? How did that make you feel? How did you prepare yourself?
Recall a time from your work experience
when your manager or supervisor was unavailable and a problem arose.
What was the nature of the problem? How did you handle that situation?
How did that make you feel?
Recall a time when you were assigned
what you considered to be a complex project. Specifically, what
steps did you take to prepare for and finish the project? Were you
happy with the outcome? What one step would you have done differently
if given the chance?
What was the most complex assignment
you have had? What was your role?
How was your transition from high
school to college? Did you face any particular problems?
Tell of some situations in which
you have had to adjust quickly to changes over which you had no
control. What was the impact of the change on you?
Compare and contrast the times when
you did work which was above the standard with times your work was
below the standard.
Describe some times when you were
not very satisfied or pleased with your performance. What did you
do about it?
What are your standards of success
in school? What have you done to meet these standards?
How have you differed from your
professors in evaluating your performance? How did you handle the
situation?
Give examples of your experiences
at school or in a job that were satisfying. Give examples of your
experiences that were dissatisfying.
What kind of supervisor do you work
best for? Provide examples.
Describe some projects or ideas
(not necessarily your own) that were implemented, or carried out
successfully primarily because of your efforts.
Describe a situation that required
a number of things to be done at the same time. How did you handle
it? What was the result?
Have you found any ways to make
school or a job easier or more rewarding or to make yourself more
effective?
How do you determine priorities
in scheduling your time? Give examples.
Tell of a time when your active
listening skills really paid off for you - maybe a time when other
people missed the key idea being expressed.
What has been your experience in
giving presentations? What has been your most successful experience
in speech making?
Tell of the most difficult customer
service experience that you have ever had to handle -- perhaps an
angry or irate customer. Be specific and tell what you did and what
was the outcome.
Give an example of when you had
to work with someone who was difficult to get along with. Why was
this person difficult? How did you handle that person?
Describe a situation where you found
yourself dealing with someone who didn't like you. How did you handle
it?
Give me a specific example of something
you did that helped build enthusiasm in others.
Tell me about a difficult situation
when it was desirable for you to keep a positive attitude. What
did you do?
Give me an example of a time you
had to make an important decision. How did you make the decision?
How does it affect you today?
Give me an example of a time you
had to persuade other people to take action. Were you successful?
Tell me about a time when you had
to deal with a difficult person. How did you handle the situation?
Tell me about a time you had to
handle multiple responsibilities. How did you organize the work
you needed to do?
Tell me about a time when you had
to make a decision, but didn't have all the information you needed.
What suggestions do you have for
our organization?
What is the most significant contribution
you made to the company during a past job or internship?
What is the biggest mistake you've
made?
Describe a situation in which you
had to use reference materials to write a research paper. What was
the topic? What journals did you read?
Give me a specific example of a
time when a co-worker or classmate criticized your work in front
of others. How did you respond? How has that event shaped the way
you communicate with others?
Give me a specific example of a
time when you sold your supervisor or professor on an idea or concept.
How did you proceed? What was the result?
Describe the system you use for
keeping track of multiple projects. How do you track your progress
so that you can meet deadlines? How do you stay focused?
Tell me about a time when you came
up with an innovative solution to a challenge your company/class/organization
was facing. What was the challenge? What role did others play?
Describe a specific problem you
solved for your employer or professor. How did you approach the
problem? What role did others play? What was the outcome?
Describe a time when you got co-workers
or classmates who dislike each other to work together. How did you
accomplish this? What was the outcome?
Tell me about a time when you failed
to meet a deadline. What things did you fail to do? What were the
repercussions? What did you learn?
Describe a time when you put your
needs aside to help a co-worker or classmate understand a task.
How did you assist him or her? What was the result?