Sample Interview Questions
General Interview Questions
Warm-up Questions
What made you apply for this position?
How did you hear about this job opening?
Briefly, would you summarize your work history and education for me?
Work History
What special aspects of your work experience have prepared you for this job?
Can you describe for me one or two of your most important accomplishments?
How much supervision have you typically received in your previous work?
Describe for me one or two of the biggest disappointments in your work history?
Why are you leaving your present job? (Or, why did you leave your last job?)
What things do you look for in an organization?
Job Performance
Everyone has strengths and weaknesses as employees. What are your strong points for this job? What would you say are some areas that need improvement?
How did your supervisor on your most recent job evaluate your job performance? What were some of the good points and bad points of that rating?
When you have been told, or discovered for yourself , a problem in your job performance, what have you typically done? Can you give me an example?
Do you prefer working alone or in groups?
What kind of people do you find it most difficult to work with? Why?
Starting with your last job, tell me about any of your achievements that were recognized by your superiors.
Can you give me an example of your ability to manage or supervise others?
What are some things you would like to avoid in a job? Why?
In your previous job, what kind of pressures did you encounter?
What would you say is the most important thing you are looking for in a job?
What are some of the things in your job that you feel you have done particularly well or achieved the greatest success? Why do you feel this way?
What were some of the things about your last job that you found most difficult to do?
What are some of the problems you encounter in doing your job? Which one frustrates you the most? What do you usually do about it?
What are some things you particularly liked about your last job?
Do you consider your progress on the job representative of your ability? Why?
How do you feel about the way you and others in the department were managed by your supervisor?
If I were to ask your present (or most recent) employer about your ability as a____________________, what would he/she say?
Education
What special aspects of your education or training have prepared you for this job?
What courses in school have been of most help in doing your job?
Career Goals
What is your long-term employment or career objective?
What kind of job do you see yourself holding five years from now? What do you feel you need to develop in terms of skill and knowledge in order to be ready for that opportunity? Why might you be successful in such a job?
How does this job fit in with your overall career goals?
Who or what in your life would you say influenced you most in developing your career objectives?
Can you pinpoint any specific things in your past experience that affected your present career objectives?
What would you most like to accomplish if you had this job?
What might make you leave this job?
Self-assessment
What kind of things do you feel most confident doing?
Can you describe for me a difficult obstacle you have had to overcome? How did you handle it? How do you feel this experience affected your personality or ability?
How would you describe yourself as a person?
What do you think are the most important characteristics and abilities a person must possess to become a successful? How do you rate yourself in these areas?
Do you consider yourself a self-starter? If so, explain why (and give examples).
What do you consider to be your greatest achievements to date? Why?
What things give you the greatest satisfaction at work?
What things frustrate you the most? How do you usually cope with them?
Creativity
In your work experience, what have you done that you consider truly creative?
Can you think of a problem you encountered when old solutions didn't work and you came up with new solutions?
Of your creative accomplishments big or small, at work or home, what gives you the most satisfaction?
What kind of problems have people recently called on you to solve? Tell me what you devised.
Decisiveness
Do you consider yourself to be thoughtful and analytical or do you usually make up your mind quickly? Give an example. (Watch time taken to respond.)
What was your most difficult decision in the last six months? What made it difficult?
What did you do the last time you couldn't make a decision or were uncertain of what decision to make?
How do you go about making important decisions that affect your career?
What was the last major problem that you were confronted with? What action did you take?
Range of Interests
What professional organizations do you belong to?
How do you keep up with what's going on in your company/your industry/your profession?
Motivation
What is your professional goal?
Can you give me examples of experience on the job that you felt were satisfying?
Do you have a long- and short-term plan for your department? Is it realistic? Did you achieve it last year?
Describe how you determine what constitutes top priorities in the performance of your job.
Work Standards
What are your standards of success in your job?
In your position, how would you define doing a good job? On what basis did you determine your definition?
When judging the performance of your subordinate, what factors or characteristics are most important to you?
Leadership
In your present job what approach do you take to get your people together to establish a common approach to a problem?
What approach do you take to get your people to accept your ideas or department goals?
What specifically do you do to set an example for your employees?
How frequently do you meet with your immediate subordinates as a group?
What sort of leader do you think your subordinates feel you are? Are you satisfied?
How do you get people who do not want to work together to establish a common approach to a problem?
When you do not have much time and people hold seriously differing views, what is your approach to solving problems?
How would you describe your basic leadership style? Give specific examples of how you practice this?
Do you feel you work more effectively on a one-to-one basis or in a group situation?
Have you ever led a task force or committee or any group who doesn't report to you, but from whom you have to get work? How did you do it? What were the satisfactions and disappointments? How would you handle the job differently?
Oral Presentation Skills
Have you ever done any public or group speaking? Recently? Why? How did it go?
Have you made any individual presentations recently? How did you prepare?
Written Communication Skills
Would you rather write a report or give a verbal report? Why?
What kind of writing have you done? For a group? For an individual?
What is the extent of your participation in major reports that have to be written?
Flexibility
What was the most important idea or suggestion you received recently from your employees? What happened as a result?
What do you think about the continuous changes in company operating policies & procedures?
How effective has your company been in adapting its policies to fit a changing environment?
What was the most significant change made in your company in the last six months which directly affected you, and how successfully do you think you implemented this change?
Stress Tolerance
Do you feel pressure in your job? Tell me about it.
What has been the highest pressure situation you have been under in recent years? How did you cope with it?
Stability and Maturity
Describe your most significant success and failure in the last two years.
What do you like to do best?
What do you like to do least?
In your last review, what did your supervisor suggest needed improvement? What have you done about it?
Interest in Self Development
Who or what has been the most important person or event in your own self development?
How much of the cost of your education did you earn?
What kind of books and other publications do you read?
Have you taken a management development course?
How do you support your subordinates in their self development?
Other Questions
Why did you like/dislike about your last job?
What would you like to be doing in five years?
Can you work well under pressure?
How do you take direction?
Do you prefer to work with others or alone?
Departmental Interview Questions
Warm-up Questions
What made you apply for this position?
Why do you want to work in (name of department)?
How did you hear about this job opening?
Briefly, would you summarize your work history and education for me?
Work History
How much supervision have you typically received in your previous job?
Why are you leaving your present job? (Or, why did you leave your last job?)
Job Performance
Everyone has strengths and weaknesses as employees. What are your strong points for this job?
Do you prefer working alone or in groups?
If I were to ask your present (or most recent) employer about your ability as a (position title), what would he/she say?
Education
What special aspects of your education or training have prepared you for this job?
Career Goals
What is your long-term employment or career objective?
What kind of job do you see yourself holding five years from now?
Motivation
What is your professional goal?
Self-assessment
What kind of things do you feel most confident in doing?
How would you describe yourself as a person?
What things frustrate you the most? How do you usually cope with them?
Decisiveness
What did you do the last time you couldn't make a decision or were uncertain of what decision to make?
What was the last major problem that you were confronted with? What action did you take on it?
Range of Interests
What organizations do you belong to?
Tell me specifically what you do in the civic activities in which you participate. (Ask leading questions in selected areas, i.e., sports, economics, current events, finance.)
Work Standards
What are your standards of success in your job?
In your position, how would you define doing a good job? On what basis did you determine your definition?
Leadership
What approach do you take to get your people to accept your ideas or department goals?
Written Communication Skills
What kind of writing have you done? For a group? For an individual?