Very important interview tomorrow...

[AdamSnow]

Hey everyone!
I have a very important interview tomorrow morning at 9:00am, and I have posted up some sample interview questions without answers... Wondering if people can kind of give their answers for some of these to give me some idea's on how to answer them.

Hopefully these questions will be helpful for others who are going through interviews at this time as well... These are just some questions that I have remembered over the years, but would like to ensure I'm giving the best answers I can...

Thanks everyone!



1) Why do you want to work at Company X?

2) What has been the most obstructive group you have had to get cooperation from and how did you achieve it?

3) Tell us about a situation where you made a mistake, how did you handle the mistake and what was the resolution?

4) What are some constructive methods of dealing with stress?

5) What is your greatest strength?

6) What is your greatest weakness?

7) Describe a situation where you had to work with someone you didn?t like or someone that was difficult to get along with. How did you handle it and what was the outcome?

8) Describe a situation where you couldn?t meet your deadline. What did you do and what was the outcome?

9) Explain a situation when you had to ?step into someone else?s shoes.? How was it handled and what was the outcome?

10) Describe a situation where you came up with a creative solution to a problem?

11) Have you ever been challenged to get others to understand and accept your ideas? How did you do this?

12) What are some rules to follow to ensure effective communications with your coworkers?

13) Have you ever written any procedures or rules for use by a client/customer or by your own organization? Tell me about them?

14) Do you have a particular method or trick for remembering detailed information ? and if so can you share the process with us?

 

[AdamSnow]

Bump!

Someone has to be able to answer these...

 

[beer]

So many of these are specific to you, how the hell are we supposed to answer them?

The ones that aren't are BEHAVIORAL questions. You can't really make sh!t up on the fly for these because the interviewer will probe deeper and discover if you're truthful or not (i.e., 2, 3, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 13). Some of them are just specific to you (1, 14),

 

[Kadarin]

Those look like generic HR questions. What is the position for which you are interviewing?

 

[gotensan01]

Those are "behavioral-based" interview questions and should be answered using the STAR method.


*** 7 categories of questions they could ask you, have a situation ready for each category
1. Leadership - "Tell me about a time when you met resistance when proposing a plan or action. How did you handle it?"
2. Teamwork - "Tell me about he most difficult or frustrating person with whom you have worked. What was the outcome?"
3. Initiative - "Tell me about a time when you weren't pleased with your performance. What did you do?"
4. Communication - "Describe your most satisfying/disappointing experience in attempting to gain support for an idea or proposal. What did you do? What was the result?"
5. Ethics/Integrity - "Tell me about a time when you were asked to compromise your integrity."
6. Problem Solving - "Describe a situation where you made a decision that backfired."
7. Applied Intelligence - "What is the most difficult task you have had to learn and how did you overcome the challenge?"


*** How they should be answered (STAR method)
Situation or Task: Very specific description of the situation (who, what, when,where, why, how). - 1 point

Action: What did YOU do in creating a solution. Answer with about 5 actions. - ~2 points.

Result: How successful were you? Answer with about 3 quantifiable results. - ~2 poitns.

If you answer everything well, you'll get 5 points which is the max. Of course this grading method is different for every company/interview, but they are very similar in how they should be answered as explained above.


*** A good question they could ask you
"Tell me about a time when you had to bend the rules in order to be successful or to accomplish a goal".

This type of question always catches people off guard. The key is to explain a situation where you bend, not break the rules. Also, you MUST have a result where you come clean, things work out in the end, and you learn a positive lesson.


*** Have questions ready to ask as well
"What is the greatest challenge for some one coming into my position"
"What were the characteristics of the best candidate interviewed"


*** Things after the interview
Always get the person's contact info. Ask what the next step in the process is.


If it's a technical interview, the key is to think out loud. They care more about how you go about getting an answer as opposed to your final answer.


Hope the info helps. Good luck.

 

[doze]

I had to interview people for sales/tech/cs positions at my last job and we used quite a few of those questions. The main thing I was looking for in the interview was clear, simple answers that directly addressed the question. The specific answer was just as important as the ability to address the question correctly. For example if asked What is your greatest strength? - An answer of "I am honest and dependable, and I always get along well with others in a work or casual environment" is much better than "ummm ... yeah people tell me I'm a nice guy"

Many people I interviewed were not able to properly answer all of the questions or gave completely unrelated anwsers. This was an indicator that a person was not able to communicate effectively or were simply not listening to the questions.

Another plus is to keep all answers positive especially the questions that deal with weakness ,or conflict/problems with fellow employees or past jobs.

 

[Schfifty Five]

I have a phone interview tomorrow too and it's behavioral...good tips ppl

 

[AdamSnow]

Originally posted by: gotensan01
Those are "behavioral-based" interview questions and should be answered using the STAR method.


*** 7 categories of questions they could ask you, have a situation ready for each category
1. Leadership - "Tell me about a time when you met resistance when proposing a plan or action. How did you handle it?"
2. Teamwork - "Tell me about he most difficult or frustrating person with whom you have worked. What was the outcome?"
3. Initiative - "Tell me about a time when you weren't pleased with your performance. What did you do?"
4. Communication - "Describe your most satisfying/disappointing experience in attempting to gain support for an idea or proposal. What did you do? What was the result?"
5. Ethics/Integrity - "Tell me about a time when you were asked to compromise your integrity."
6. Problem Solving - "Describe a situation where you made a decision that backfired."
7. Applied Intelligence - "What is the most difficult task you have had to learn and how did you overcome the challenge?"


*** How they should be answered (STAR method)
Situation or Task: Very specific description of the situation (who, what, when,where, why, how). - 1 point

Action: What did YOU do in creating a solution. Answer with about 5 actions. - ~2 points.

Result: How successful were you? Answer with about 3 quantifiable results. - ~2 poitns.

If you answer everything well, you'll get 5 points which is the max. Of course this grading method is different for every company/interview, but they are very similar in how they should be answered as explained above.


*** A good question they could ask you
"Tell me about a time when you had to bend the rules in order to be successful or to accomplish a goal".

This type of question always catches people off guard. The key is to explain a situation where you bend, not break the rules. Also, you MUST have a result where you come clean, things work out in the end, and you learn a positive lesson.


*** Have questions ready to ask as well
"What is the greatest challenge for some one coming into my position"
"What were the characteristics of the best candidate interviewed"


*** Things after the interview
Always get the person's contact info. Ask what the next step in the process is.


If it's a technical interview, the key is to think out loud. They care more about how you go about getting an answer as opposed to your final answer.


Hope the info helps. Good luck.

That's awesome... Thanks!!

-- I was mainly looking for people to answer them, just for an example... obviously I'd use my own situation, but example of where you bent the rule but not broke it... I'm not sure of a situation like that, so it would help hearing examples from other people.

Thanks everyone!