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100 Top Job Interview Questions — Be Prepared - Sample Job Interview Questions You May Use

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INTRODUCTORY QUESTIONS:

  • What five adjectives describe you best?
  • Why should I consider you for this position?
  • Why are you the best candidate for this position?
  • Tell me about the one thing in your life you're proudest of.
  • You've changed jobs frequently. What makes you think that this position will be different?
  • What qualities do you think are necessary to make a success of this job?
  • Describe your ideal job.
  • How did you find out about this job?
  • What do you know about the job?
  • What do you know about the UTSA/this department?
  • Is there anything that will prevent you from getting to work on time?
  • Is there anything that will prevent you from working the job’s regular hours?
  • What kinds of work interest you the most?
  • What interests you most about this position?

NEW GRADUATE QUESTIONS:

  • What extracurricular activities were you involved in?
  • What activities did you enjoy the most?
  • What classes did you enjoy the most? The least?
  • Why did you choose your major?
  • Why did you change majors?
  • If you could start again, what major would you choose?
  • Why are you applying for a job in a field other than your major?
  • What did you learn from your summer jobs?
  • In what courses did you get the worst grades? Why?
  • Are your grades a good measure of your ability?
  • Give me an example of a problem you've had at school and how you solved it.
  • How does your degree prepare you (a) for a career in [industry] or (b) to excel as a [job title]?
  • What qualifications do you have beyond academics that qualify you to make a successful transition into business?

PERSONAL MOTIVATION & TRAITS:

  • How do you feel about your present workload?
  • What motivates you to do your best work?
  • How can we best help you get your job done?
  • Tell me about a time you went “out on a limb” to get the job done.
  • What are the disadvantages of this line of work?
  • What do you find most frustrating at work?
  • Tell me about a project that got you really excited.
  • How do you define doing a good job?
  • What makes a job enjoyable for you?
  • Under what conditions do you work best?
  • What is your greatest strength/weakness or deficiency?
  • Tell me about a work task you enjoy.

GENERAL PAST JOB PERFORMANCE/EXPERIENCE:

  • Tell me about your last position and what you did.
  • Tell me about the last time you made a mistake and how you corrected it.
  • If you don't leave your current job, what will happen there? How far can you advance?
  • Of all the work you have done, where have you been most successful?
  • I see you were unemployed for a period of time. Tell me about it.
  • Give me an example of when you've demonstrated your customer service skills.
  • How do you define continuous improvement? What is the last new procedure you integrated into your job?
  • What makes you stand out among your peers?
  • What have you done to reduce your department’s operational costs or to save time?
  • What would your current supervisors say makes you most valuable to them?
  • If I asked your boss to evaluate your performance, what would he or she say?
  • Have you held positions similar to this one? If so, tell me about them.
  • What is the most important thing you learned at a previous job?
  • What did/do you enjoy most/least about your last/present job?
  • If there were two things you could have changed about that job, what would they be?
  • How did your job change while you held it?
  • Describe your supervisor’s management style.
  • What kinds of people do you deal with on the job?
  • What qualifications do you have that make you successful in this field?
  • What have you learned from previous jobs?
  • Describe a typical day at work.
  • How have your previous positions prepared you for this one?
  • What parts of your job do you consider most important?
  • What job tasks do you feel most successful doing?
  • What special skills or knowledge have you gained to help in this job?
  • Describe an important project you worked on.
  • What sort of person do you enjoy working for?
  • Define excellent customer service.
  • You have a lot of experience. Why would you want this job?
  • What do you consider your greatest strength?
  • What is your most significant professional accomplishment?
  • What was the last job-related book you read?
  • What was your favorite job? Why?
  • You've stayed with the same organization for years. Why have you decided to leave?

SOFTWARE/TECHNICAL QUESTIONS:

  • What types of office equipment have you used?
  • Tell me about the types of word processing you did on your last job.
  • What would you say are the major technical skills needed for this position?
  • How do you merge a file in Microsoft Word?
  • What certifications/classes have you completed this last year? Were any of them required by your supervisor?
  • Describe the types of documents you deal with on a daily basis.
  • What software programs do you use most often in your current position?
  • Describe in detail your experience with computer software programs.
  • Tell me about the spreadsheets you have created.
  • Give me an example of a technical problem you had to solve. How did you implement the solution?
  • Tell me about the PowerPoint presentations you have developed.
  • What software do you have experience with? How would you describe your experience level for that software?

GOALS:

  • What are your 5-year goals?
  • Tell me what "success" means to you.
  • Do you consider yourself successful?
  • What does "failure" mean to you?
  • Do you set goals for yourself and how do you do that?

SUPERVISORY QUESTIONS:

  • You have supervised people in the past. What were their titles and what type of supervision did you give them?
  • How do you motivate people?
  • Have you ever fired anyone? What were the circumstances?
  • Have you ever hired anyone? Why did you choose them?
  • What do you do when you're having trouble with an employee?
  • What type of supervisory training have you completed in the last two years?
  • How did you communicate bad news to your staff?
  • What makes someone a good supervisor?
  • Who reports to you? What are their job functions?
  • What is the employee turnover rate in your area?
  • What do you think is the reason for this rate?
  • What programs have you put in place to build morale?
  • How do you plan your day?
  • Describe your management style.
  • How do you measure success as a supervisor?
  • How do you decide who needs what training?
  • How do you measure success in training?
  • If you are hired, what will you do in your first 30 days?
  • Describe one change you made in your last job that was very beneficial.
  • Describe a time when you and your supervisor disagreed on how to accomplish a goal.
  • Describe a change you made in your job that you feel is innovative or that you are very proud of.
  • How do you handle unpopular management decisions?
  • How do you proceed when you need to make a decision and no policy exists?
  • How would you define “leadership”?
  • Describe a time when you were able to influence an outcome in a positive way.
  • What have you done to become more effective in your job?
  • How do you orient new employees to your department?
  • How do you plan an interview?
  • What do you look for on resumes and applications?
  • What criteria do you use for making decisions on hiring?

JOB PERFORMANCE:

  • What were your most significant accomplishments at your last job?
  • What is the biggest failure you've had in your career? Why do you believe it was your biggest failure?
  • What were your three most important responsibilities in your last job?
  • What was the most important project you worked on in your last job and why did you choose this example?
  • Describe how you have progressed through the ranks and landed in your current position at ABC Company?
  • How have you added value to your job over time?
  • How have you had to reinvent or redefine your job to meet your companies changing needs?
  • What proactive steps did you have to take to increase the output of your position?

COMMUNICATION:

  • Tell me about a work situation you had that required excellent communication skills.
  • Do you prefer to speak directly with someone or send a memo?
  • How would you grade your ability to communicate with upper-level management, customers, and peers?
  • What was more important on your job, written or oral communication?

FLEXIBILITY:

  • Tell me about the last change which occurred in your office. How did you handle it?
  • I'm interested in hearing about the last time you took a risk. What was it and in retrospect, was it the right decision?
  • How important is communication and interaction with others on your job? How many departments did you deal
  • with? What problems occurred?
  • Tell me about a time when a work emergency caused you to reschedule your work/projects.
  • Give me an example of the last time you went above and beyond the call of duty to get the job done
  • In what areas do you typically have the least amount of patience at work?

STRESS:

  • Tell me about a deadline you had to meet. How much advance notice did you have?
  • You have worked in a fast paced environment. How did you like the environment?
  • What kinds of decisions are most difficult for you?
  • What is the most difficult work situation you have faced?
  • What types of jobs do you have the most difficulty with?
  • What do you do when you have a great deal of work to accomplish in a short period of time?
  • What do you do when you're having trouble with your job?

ORGANIZATION/TIME MANAGEMENT:

  • Describe the top of your desk.
  • Tell me about the last time you failed to complete a project on time.
  • What do you do when you're having trouble solving a problem?
  • What do you do when things are slow/hectic?
  • What do you do when you have multiple priorities?
  • Tell me about your typical day. How much time do you spend on the phone? In meetings? Etc.
  • Your supervisor left you an assignment, then left for a week. You can't reach him/her and you don't fully understand
  • the assignment. What would you do?
  • How do you organize and plan for major projects?
  • Describe a project that required a high amount of energy over an extended period of time.
  • How do you organize yourself for day-to-day activities?
  • Tell me about a task you started but just couldn't seem to get finished.

COOPERATION WITH CO-WORKERS:

  • What types of people have trouble getting along with you?
  • Do you prefer to work by yourself or with others?
  • Tell me about the last time you had a conflict with a co-worker, what was the conflict and how did you resolve it?
  • How would your co-workers describe you?
  • The successful candidate for this position will be working with individuals who have been with the company for a
  • long time. How will you mesh with them?
  • What kind of people did you have contact with on your previous jobs (titles/positions)?
  • What kind of person do you get along with the best?
  • Define cooperation.
  • Tell me about an occasion when, in difficult circumstances, you pulled a team together.
  • What do you find most challenging in working with co-workers?
  • Do you function more effectively as a team member or as an individual contributor?
  • Describe the most difficult customer you have dealt with. What was the situation and how did you handle it?
  • Describe a group project you were recently involved in. Describe your role, the purpose of the project, how you
  • handled differences of opinion. What was your outcome?
  • What do you do when you know you are right and others disagree with you?
  • How do you build consensus?
  • Define teamwork.

MANAGEABILITY:

  • What do you do when you're having trouble with a boss?
  • If your boss knew you were interviewing, what would he say?
  • What do you feel an employer owes an employee?
  • Your supervisor tells you do to something in a way you know is dead wrong. What do you do?
  • If your supervisor unfairly criticized you, what would you do?
  • Would you like to have your boss's job? Why or why not?
  • Tell me about a time when your manager was in a rush and didn't give you enough attention.
  • What are some of the things about which you and your boss disagree?
  • What are some of the things your boss did that you disliked?
  • In what areas could your boss have done a better job?
  • I would be interested to hear about an occasion when your work or an idea was criticized, what was criticized, who
  • criticized you, and how did you handle it?
  • Describe the best manager you ever had. The worst. What qualities did each of them have?

SENIOR MANAGEMENT EVALUATION:

  • Give me an example of your ability to facilitate progressive change within your organization.
  • How do you typically stay in the information loop and monitor your staff’s performance?
  • How do you typically confront subordinates when results are unacceptable?
  • What kind of mentoring and training style do you have?
  • Do you naturally delegate responsibilities, or do you expect your direct reports to come to you for added responsibilities?
  • How would you describe the amount of structure, direction, and feedback that you need to excel?
  • In terms of managing your staff do you “expect” more than you “inspect” or vice versa?
  • Tell me about a method you’ve developed for accomplishing a task.
  • What could you have done to be more effective at a previous job?
  • Tell me about a time you were placed in charge of a group of people.
  • What did you like about being in charge?
  • What did you not like about being in charge?

PROBLEM SOLVING/DECISION MAKING:

  • Describe the most difficult problem you had to solve. What was the situation and what did you do? Would you do
  • anything different next time?
  • In general, how do you handle conflict?
  • Describe a creative solution that you have developed to solve a problem.
  • What solution are you the proudest of?
  • Describe a time when you had to use fact-finding skills.
  • What has been your most important work-related idea?
  • Who or what caused you the most trouble in implementing your ideas?
  • What kinds of problems do you normally experience in a day?
  • Tell me about a situation that got out of control. How did you handle it?
  • Describe the best/worst co-worker you’ve ever had.
  • Tell me about something you achieved as a group member.
  • How would you define a good working atmosphere?
  • Tell me about a time you came up with a new idea. Were you able to get it approved? If so, how did you go about it?
  • Can you think of a time an idea of yours was rejected? Tell me about it.
  • Tell me about a time an idea or task of yours was criticized.
  • Tell me about a time you had to work according to a policy you disagreed with.
  • How do you go about making important decisions?
  • Tell me about the last time you made a good decision and describe what it was and what the results were.
  • Tell me about an important decision or judgment call you’ve had to make on the job.
  • Describe the worst decision you ever made and how you corrected it.

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