Great Interviewing Questions



Great Interviewing Questions

Version 20030524

Posted with Permission

May 2007

Entelechy, Inc.

PO Box 878, Merrimack, NH 03054 USA

Ph: 603-424-1237  Fx: 603-424-6361



Copyright ( April 2002, by Entelechy®, Inc.

All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. Except as permitted under the United States Copyright Act of 1976, no portion of this manual may be reproduced in any form or by any means without the written permission of Entelechy, Inc.

Table of Contents

Great Interviewing Questions 1

Overview 3

Strengths 3

Weaknesses 5

Customer Focus 6

Punctuality 7

Leadership 8

Effective Communication 9

Respect for People 10

Innovation 11

Flexibility 12

Commitment to Excellence 13

Teamwork 14

Continuous Learning 15

Great Interviewing Questions

Overview

Choose from the following questions to better understand the candidate’s background and to predict how he or she may perform on the job. There are banks of questions from which you can draw; select only those questions that are relevant to this position and this candidate.

It is important to ask questions that reveal what the candidate HAS DONE IN THE PAST rather than what the candidate might do in the future since the best predictor of future behavior is past behavior.

In addition, it is important to ask questions that get at what the CANDIDATE did or said or thought, not what the team or group or others did. If the candidate responds by saying something like, “We worked for three months to complete the project,” continue probing by asking, “what specifically did YOU do on the project?”

Prepare your list of questions before the interview. Use similar questions for each candidate so that you are able to compare and contrast candidates.

Strengths

1. What key factors have accounted for your success to date?

1. What do you consider to be some of your more outstanding characteristics?

2. What is your greatest strength?

3. What would others say are your greatest strengths?

4. In what areas have others been particularly complimentary regarding your strengths?

5. During recent performance reviews, what areas have been listed as strengths? Why?

6. If I were to ask your (most recent) manager/supervisor to describe your greatest strengths, what would s/he say? Why?

7. If I were to ask your (most recent) manager/supervisor to describe your greatest contributions, what would s/he say? Why?

8. If I were to check your references and ask them to describe your greatest strengths, what would they say? Why?

9. Considering this job, what would you say are your greatest strengths? Why?

10. Describe your three greatest strengths and tell me how you used them to contribute to your job.

11. What two or three major accomplishments best demonstrate your key strengths?

12. What makes your strengths unique?

13. What do your co-workers admire most about you? Why?

14. When compared with other members of your department, where do you most excel?

15. In what areas can others completely rely on your ability?

16. If you had to cite a single characteristic or skill that has most contributed to your career success, what would it be? Why?

17. What are you most proud of?

18.

19.

20.

Weaknesses

1. What has been your single biggest work-related failure to date? Why?

1. From a work standpoint, what has been your greatest shortcoming? Why?

2. Each of us has areas to improve. In what areas do you feel you could improve? Why?

3. What areas for improvement have been suggested by your boss? Do you agree? Why or why not?

4. As you look at this position, in what areas do you think you will need to develop? How could you develop those areas?

5. What aspect of your overall capabilities would you like to improve the most?

6. What steps have you taken in the past year to improve your overall performance? Why?

7. What one thing could you improve to enhance your value to your employer?

8. During recent performance reviews, what areas have been listed as development areas? Why?

9. If I were to ask your (most recent) manager/supervisor to describe your greatest areas for improvement, what would s/he say? Why?

10. If I were to ask your (most recent) manager/supervisor to describe your greatest failure, what would s/he say? Why?

11. If I were to check your references and ask them to describe your greatest areas for improvement, what would they say? Why?

12. In what ways could you improve your effectiveness with others?

13. What are you currently doing to improve your overall performance?

14. What aspect of your overall qualifications has most stood in the way of your career advancement?

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16.

17.

Customer Focus

Goes the extra mile to provide superior products and service which consistently exceed internal and external customer needs and ensure high-level customer satisfaction.

1. Describe what customer focus means to you and why it might be important for this position.

1. None of gets along with all customers all the time. Describe when you find customers irritating. How do you cope?

2. Describe a situation where you went the extra mile for a customer. What did you do? Why?

3. Some companies say, “The customer is always right.” We know that the customer isn’t ALWAYS right. Have you ever experienced a situation where the customer was wrong? What did you do? Why? Would you handle it differently if you had to do it again? How and why?

4. What do you think customers are looking for? Why? What could you do to address their needs?

5. What was the best customer service you ever received? What made it special? What did they do? How did you respond/feel? How can you use that experience?

6. What was the worst customer service you ever received? What made it bad? What did they do? How did you respond/feel? How can you use that experience?

7.

8.

9.

Punctuality

Takes responsibility and ownership for executing assignments and projects swiftly, soundly, and on a timely basis; maintains focus and drive in overcoming obstacles to achieve results.

1. Describe what punctuality means to you and why it might be important for this position.

1. Give me an example of a project for which you were responsible that had a very strict deadline. What did you do? What obstacles did you face? How did you overcome them? Would you handle it differently the next time? Why?

2. Describe a project for which you were responsible that you are especially proud of. What did you do that makes you especially proud?

3. What can you do to ensure that a project is completed on time, under budget, and above expectations?

4. Give me some examples of things that you have done to ensure punctuality, beyond what others would see as typically required by your job.

5. How do you measure yourself in completing a project? (Listen for benchmarks that include self-imposed punctuality.)

6. How do you go about organizing your work?

7. How do you prioritize your work?

8. Sometimes it's easy to get in "over your head". Describe a situation where you had to request help or assistance on a project or assignment.

9. We’ve all missed deadlines. Think of a deadline that you missed and how you handled it.

10.

11.

12.

Leadership

Gains the support, commitment, and action of others towards mutually agreed upon goals; inspires others through the quality of their own ideas and vision.

1. Describe what leadership means to you and why it might be important for this position.

1. Who do you think is a great leader? Why?

2. What goals have you set for yourself in life? (Share only those you are comfortable with.) Why? How will you achieve them?

3. By what standards do you measure your personal success?

4. Describe a situation where you acted as leader. What did you do? How did others respond? Were you an effective leader? How do you know?

5. What is the most difficult aspect of being a leader? Why do you say that?

6. What are your career aspirations for the next three years? Why?

7.

8.

9.

Effective Communication

Structures and conveys ideas, both verbally and in writing, in ways that are clear, concise, and readily understood.

1. Describe what effective communication means to you and why it might be important for this position.

1. Give me an example of a complex communications problem that you faced. What made it complex? Why was it difficult to communicate? How did you solve this problem?

2. Think of your colleagues. Which of them did you have the most difficult time communicating with? Why? What did you do?

3. Of all your former bosses, which did you get along with the best? Why do you think that you got along with that boss more than the others?

4. Are you better at written or verbal communication? Why do you say that?

5. Tell me why you should get this job. (Listen for structure of the argument, persuasion techniques, logic, attention to the requirements of the position, and focus on your needs as articulated to this point.)

6.

7.

8.

Respect for People

Values the ideas, contributions, talents, and diversity of all your company’s people and its customers; is sensitive to the needs and concerns of others.

1. Describe what respect for people means to you and why it might be important for this position.

1. If you caught one of your colleagues doing something dishonest, what would you do?

2. If one of your colleagues suggested what they thought was a good idea, but you didn’t think it was, what would you do? Why? What if they persisted and the idea — as you expected — failed? What would you do? Why?

3. While it has been said that “there are no stupid questions”, there are really some bad ideas. Describe a bad idea that you, a boss, or a colleague had. What happened? What did you say/do/think?

4. Describe a situation where you were annoyed with one of your colleagues. What happened? What did you do? What options did you consider?

5. Who was the most difficult person you’ve worked with (boss or colleague)? What made them difficult to work with? What did you do?

6.

7.

8.

Innovation

Develops creative ideas to address business challenges; sees broader and more imaginative options in problem solving.

1. Describe what innovation means to you and why it might be important for this position.

1. What are the various approaches that could be used to address the following problem (describe the problem)? Cite as many approaches as you can. Demonstrate what you believe to be a creative approach that will get the best results.

2. Give me an example of something very creative that you did. Why was it creative? What were the alternative approaches that you considered?

3. What was the biggest business risk you ever took? Why was it risky? What prompted you to take the risk? What was the outcome?

4. Who do you admire for their creativity? Why? (Look for creative, imaginative responses.)

5. If I were to ask your boss what the most creative thing you did on the job, what would the response be? Why?

6.

7.

8.

Flexibility

Stays open to ideas and approaches that differ from one’s own; is willing to change and adapt as needed to meet business and customer requirements.

1. Describe what flexibility means to you and why it might be important for this position.

1. Describe a situation where you had to switch projects in midstream. What did you do?

2. If your boss told you to pick up a new project that must be completed in a week — but you already had too much on your plate — how would you respond? Why?

3. Describe a situation where you had to convince someone that your way was better than the way they were doing it. What did you say? What was the result?

4. Describe a situation where someone convinced you that their way was better than the way you were doing it. What did they say? How did you respond? What was the result?

5. Describe a situation where someone tried to convince you that their way was better than yours — but you knew they were wrong. What did you say? What did they say? What was the result?

6. Describe a situation where you got pulled off one project to work on another. What did you say? What did you do?

7. When your boss pulls you off one project to work on another, how should they do it? What should they say? How much detail is appropriate? What kind of support should they provide?

8.

9.

10.

Commitment to Excellence

Seeks to excel at everything; sets and maintains the highest standards of quality and professionalism. Exercises sound fiscal and business judgment.

1. Describe what commitment to excellence means to you and why it might be important for this position.

1. How do you measure yourself? How do you know when you’re successful?

2. Describe a situation where you had to compromise on something important. What did you do? What factors did you weigh in making your decision? What was the result of the decision?

3. Which of your previous jobs showed the strongest commitment to excellence? Why do you say that? (Listen for their description of excellence.)

4. Think of a boss or colleague who best exemplifies professionalism. Describe them. Compare their professionalism to yours.

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7.

Teamwork

Promotes cooperation and a spirit of partnership in all collaborative activities both inside and outside of your company.

1. Describe what teamwork means to you and why it might be important for this position.

1. What has been your experience in working as part of a team?

2. What do you see as being the advantages and disadvantages of working as part of a team? Why?

3. Do you prefer working as part of a team or individually? Why?

4. Give me an example of your involvement in a successful team effort. What role did you play? Why was the effort successful?

5. Give me an example of your involvement in a team effort that failed. What role did you play? Why do you think the effort was not successful?

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8.

Continuous Learning

Continuously develops new knowledge, skills, and ways of operating to increase own value to the company; supports others in their efforts to do the same.

1. Describe what continuous learning means to you and why it might be important for this position.

1. What do you think is your greatest shortcoming as far as your ability to perform this position? What can you do to address this shortcoming? How long would it take before you became proficient?

2. What have you done over the past year to improve your skills?

3. Give me an example of a project for which you were responsible that was especially challenging. What did you do? What obstacles did you face? How did you overcome them? Would you handle it differently the next time? Why?

4. What kind of things do you learn quickly?

5. What things take you a relatively long time to learn? Why do you think that is?

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