Interview Questions by Industry

Below are sets of interview questions by major. Choose your major to review some standard interview questions for that specific field.

Allied Health #section

Below are some common questions you may encounter on a job interview for an allied health position.

  1. What made you decide to enter the healthcare field?
  2. Tell me how your clinical experience had prepared you for this position.
  3. Which clinical speciality area have you enjoyed the most and why?
  4. Describe a challenging problem you faced on one of your clinical rotations. How did you solve the problem?
  5. Give me an example of a time you had to work under pressure. What actions did you take and what was the result?
  6. How will you deal with difficult doctors?
  7. Tell me about a time when you had deal with a difficult patient and/or family. How did you handle that situation?
  8. How will you handle unexpected circumstances, such as being short staffed and having to perform a treatment you have not done before?
  9. What qualities do you possess that will help you get up to speed quickly with the demands of your new unit?
  10. Tell me about a time when something did not go as planned at work. What happened and what did you learn from the experience? How would you use this experience in a positive way in your new position?
  11. What type of health care experience do you have?
  12. Where did you get your training and what certifications do you have?
  13. How long has it been since you worked in (ER, OR, ICU, or particular specialty area)?
  14. What are your greatest strengths and weaknesses?
  15. What specialties are you interested in working in and why?
  16. Why did you choose (ER, OR, ICU, LTC, FNP, or other specialty area of nursing)?
  17. Demonstrate the steps you would take to create a treatment plan for a patient. Provide examples if applicable.
  18. Why do you want to work in our hospital and/or community?
  19. Why did you leave your last job?
  20. Tell me about a time in which you had to handle an irate physician, co-worker, or patient. How did you handle it and what were the results?
  21. Describe a difficult decision you've made and the process you went through to reach that decision.
  22. What makes you right for this job?
  23. What professional organizations do you belong to?
  24. How do you stay current in your practice?
  25. Where do you see yourself in 5 years? 10 years?
  26. Do you have any related work and/or volunteer experience? If so, please elaborate.
  27. Provide an example in which you demonstrated strong communication skills.
  28. Which part of your coursework have you enjoyed the most and why? Least and why?
  29. What you have done that shows initiative?
  30. What do you believe are essential qualities you must possess to be successful in the healthcare industry?

Business #section

Below are some common questions you may encounter on a business interview.

  1. Why have you chosen this particular career field?
  2. Have you completed an internship or co-op? If so, please describe what you have learned from this experience and how you will use this experience in this position.
  3. Describe a specific problem you solved for an employer or professor. How did you approach the problem? What role did others play? What was the outcome?
  4. Tell me about a time when you were participating in a team project and somebody dropped the ball. What did you do to help the team finish the project on time?
  5. 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?
  6. Give me an example of a situation in which your ethics were challenged. How did you handle it?
  7. What are three effective leadership qualities you think are important? How have you demonstrated these qualities in your past/current situation?
  8. Provide an example of how you have demonstrated leadership skills.
  9. What are your career goals? What are you planning to do with your management degree?
  10. What skill sets do you think are most important for a supervisor/manager to have and why?
  11. Provide an example of how you have performed well under pressure.
  12. Describe a specific instance, in a group situation, where you made your views known about an issue important to yourself. What was the issue, and why was it crucial
  13. How do you decide which tasks take priority when organizing a project?
  14. How would you describe your management style?
  15. If I were to interview your classmates, how would they describe your strengths and weaknesses as a leader?
  16. What factors are crucial within an organization and must be present for you to work most effectively?
  17. As a manager or supervisor, one of your jobs is to provide direction and leadership. Describe how you have accomplished this in the past.
  18. Which accounting applications are you familiar with? Describe how you can apply your knowledge of these applications to this position.
  19. What do you consider to be the biggest challenge facing the business profession today?
  20. How do you intend to keep up with the latest accounting rules and techniques?
  21. Give me an example of the accounting reports your have prepared.
  22. Describe your experience of working with the budgeting process.
  23. Talk to me about the stock market. What do you think about it?
  24. Tell me about the investment books you have read lately.
  25. What are the qualifications needed to be a good salesman?
  26. How do you build rapport with a customer?

Communication Arts #section

Below are some common questions you may encounter on a job interview for a communication arts position.

  1. Why did you choose this career field?
  2. How has your education prepared you for work in this industry?
  3. How would you describe your artistic style?
  4. What components are crucial for your designs?
  5. How can you tell something is well designed?
  6. Demonstrate to me that you can effectively work as a member of a team.
  7. What type of work environment do you prefer?
  8. What inspires you?
  9. Do you have a portfolio of your work?
  10. What types of design software are you familiar with and which ones do use regularly?
  11. Tell me about your design process. What steps do you take to ensure you are meeting the needs of the client while adding your own creativity?
  12. Tell me about a time when your ideas did not meet the expectations of your client. What was the situation and how did you handle it?
  13. How do you react when you design is not accepted? What are your next steps?
  14. How well do you work under pressure?
  15. How do you develop rapport with your clients and maintain a positive working relationship?
  16. What methods of communication do you utilize to keep in contact with your clients?
  17. Have you ever removed yourself from a project? What was the situation and what did you learn from it?
  18. What project are you most proud of? Explain.
  19. Tell me how the use of color affects over design and layout.

Communications & PR #section

Below are some common questions you may encounter on a job interview for a communications or PR position.

  1. Why did you choose this career field?
  2. How has your education prepared you for work in this industry?
  3. How would you describe your artistic style?
  4. What components are crucial for your designs?
  5. How can you tell something is well designed?
  6. Demonstrate to me that you can effectively work as a member of a team.
  7. What type of work environment do you prefer?
  8. What inspires you?
  9. Do you have a portfolio of your work?
  10. What types of design software are you familiar with and which ones do use regularly?
  11. Tell me about your design process. What steps do you take to ensure you are meeting the needs of the client while adding your own creativity?
  12. Tell me about a time when your ideas did not meet the expectations of your client. What was the situation and how did you handle it?
  13. How do you react when you design is not accepted? What are your next steps?
  14. How well do you work under pressure?
  15. How do you develop rapport with your clients and maintain a positive working relationship?
  16. What methods of communication do you utilize to keep in contact with your clients?
  17. Have you ever removed yourself from a project? What was the situation and what did you learn from it?
  18. What project are you most proud of? Explain.
  19. Tell me how the use of color affects over design and layout.

Criminal Justice & Law #section

Below are some common questions you may encounter on a job interview for a criminal justice or law position.

General Questions

  1. Why did you choose a career in Criminal Justice/Justice Administration?
  2. Give me a specific example of a time when you used good judgment and logic in solving a problem
  3. Provide me with an example of a time when you had to conform to a policy with which you did not agree
  4. Give me an example of a time you had to make a split second decision. What was the situation and what was the result?
  5. Tell me about a situation in which you had to deal with a person who was upset. How did you handle it?
  6. How have you prepared yourself for this position?
  7. What actions would you take as a police officer to insure good relations with the citizens in the area you patrol?
  8. Under what circumstances is deadly force justified?
  9. You’re off duty, at a local restaurant, and the owner recognizes you as a police office that patrols the neighborhood. The owner says, “Good job. Keep my restaurant safe ok?” and then writes no charge on your bill. What will you do?
  10. Tell us about your qualifications for working as a police officer
  11. How well do you follow instructions?
  12. What would you do if you were issued a direct order but you knew this order would either place others or yourself in danger?
  13. When is it okay to disobey an order?
  14. Tell me about your ability to work as a part of a team. In which role on the team do you feel most comfortable?
  15. What would you do if you witnessed a robbery in progress?
  16. Is there anything else we should know about your qualifications to be a police officer?
  17. Where do you see yourself in 1 year? 5 years? 10 years?
  18. Are you currently participating in any type of physical fitness program?
  19. 1For the past several months, there have been many assignments which required someone to work late at night. Everyone in your office has done their share of working late hours except for one person. His continual refusal to work after hours is causing a strain with his co-workers. What would you do?
  20. Two co-workers in your office do not like each other and they refuse to work together. Because of this situation, assignment scheduling is a challenge and morale is low. What would you do?
  21. You and your partner are driving a dangerous prisoner to jail. While en route to the jail, you observe an accident involving three vehicles. It appears that damage to the vehicles is significant. What would you do?
  22. What would you do if you were assigned a partner whom you did not like?
  23. Tell me about a time when you successfully handled a stressful situation with multiple factors. What was the situation and what steps did you take?
  24. What do you think will be the hardest thing about being a correction officer?
  25. What do you think you will enjoy about being a correction officer?
  26. How did you resolve disagreements with others?

Law School Admission Sample Interview Questions

  1. How has your undergraduate and/or graduate degree(s) prepared you for law school?
  2. Why have you chosen this career field?
  3. What are your short term and long term goals?
  4. What do you know about our program?
  5. Why did you choose to apply to our program?
  6. What other schools are you considering?
  7. What do you believe your greatest challenge will be if you are accepted into this program?
  8. How will you be able to make a contribution to this field?
  9. Explain a situation in which you had a conflict and how you resolved it. What would you do differently? Why?
  10. Describe your greatest accomplishment.
  11. Why should we take you and not someone else?
  12. What courses have you enjoyed the most?
  13. What courses have been most difficult for you?
  14. How would you rate yourself in the following areas? a. Reading and Comprehension b. Analytical Skills c. Communication – oral and written
  15. What skills or abilities do you hope to strengthen through our program?
  16. What is the most important development in the law field over the past 25 years, and why?
  17. What do you do in your spare time? What do you do in your spare time?
  18. What are you currently reading?
  19. What are your hobbies?
  20. Tell me about your volunteer experiences.
  21. How do you motivate yourself?
  22. Which area of law are you most interested in?
  23. What kind of experience do you have in the law field?
  24. Convince me that you have a thorough knowledge of the daily activities of a lawyer.
  25. What type of lawyer would you like to be? Why?
  26. What do you look for when choosing a lawyer?
  27. What are the negative aspects of law from a professional standpoint?
  28. Would you prefer to work on one big case for an entire year or multiple cases throughout the year?
  29. What newspapers or journals to you read regularly?

Culinary Arts #section

  1. Why did you choose this career field?
  2. Where do you see yourself in 1 year? 5 years?
  3. Tell me about your leadership skills in the kitchen and how you will maintain an effective work flow.
  4. If you were designing a kitchen within a budget, what 3 components would you not compromise on?
  5. How would your current or previous supervisor(s) describe your work ethic?
  6. How do you react when left to work without supervision?
  7. Tell me about a time when you have worked in a high-pressure environment. What were your responsibilities and how did you cope with the pace and demands?
  8. What are you strengths and weaknesses?
  9. What do you want to learn from this position?
  10. Tell me about a time when you had to work with a difficult person. What was the situation and how did you handle it?
  11. How do you handle working with staff with whom you are not comfortable? What do you do in such situations?
  12. Tell me about the steps you take to ensure the food you are preparing is of the best quality.
  13. Tell me about a meal you had to prepare for a large group that really stretched your attention to detail. What advice would you give somebody who has to do a similar job?
  14. Describe a time when you felt the kitchen was under enormous pressure. What steps did you take?
  15. How often do you think of new menus, new ways to prepare and combine foods and flavors that will improve the quality and profitability of your kitchen? Can you provide an example?
  16. What types of professional development activities do you participate in to learn new skills or to improve your current skills?
  17. When creating a new dish or menu, what details are the most important?
  18. What inspires you?
  19. How would you describe your cooking philosophy?
  20. Describe a time when you had to help another cook who was having difficulty concentrating. What did you do to help them?
  21. What skills do you feel are necessary for someone working in a high-pressure environment? Provide examples of your own skills that are necessary for this environment.
  22. Tell me about a time when something you tried to accomplish failed. What did you learn from this?
  23. Describe a situation in which you effectively developed a solution to a problem by combining different perspectives or approaches.
  24. Tell me about a time when you had to learn something new in a short period of time. How did you proceed?
  25. Describe your ability to receive constructive criticism and improve your skills.

Education #section

Teachers

  1. What is your philosophy of education?
  2. Describe your teaching style.
  3. Why do you want to work in our school district?
  4. Define the role of the principal.
  5. How do you handle discipline in your classroom?
  6. Describe in detail a lesson you taught.
  7. Why did you enter the teaching field?
  8. What qualities do you have that make you an effective teacher?
  9. What grade levels or subjects do you prefer to teach?
  10. Tell me about your experience with special education students.
  11. Do you have (i.e. multicultural, urban, learning problems, etc) teaching experience?
  12. How do you ensure your lessons are taught at the correct level?
  13. How would you incorporate parents into the classroom?
  14. How do you meet the range of needs commonly present in a classroom?
  15. When do you use an individual, group, and/or whole class teaching approach? Why?
  16. If I walked into your classroom, what would I see and hear?
  17. What kinds of planning do you see a teaching doing?
  18. Describe the ideal classroom environment.
  19. What are some characteristics of a well-managed classroom?
  20. What are some examples of rules you would have in your classroom? How are they established?
  21. Describe your most difficult student discipline situation and how you handled it.
  22. What professional development topics most interest you?
  23. What extracurricular activities can you supervise?
  24. What is your experience with and philosophy concerning the use of computer technology in the classroom?
  25. If students are having difficulty learning a skill or concept, what do you do?
  26. What was your biggest problem in student teaching? How did you resolve it?
  27. What techniques would you use to keep students actively involved and motivated during a lesson?

Administrators

  1. What skills do you have that will make you an effective leader?
  2. Describe a successful school project and your role in the project.
  3. Tell me about a situation where you were not successful. What you would do differently given a second chance.
  4. Define leadership.
  5. How will you measure your success as an administrator in our system?
  6. What is your student management (discipline) philosophy? Give an example from your past that demonstrates this philosophy.
  7. If you were hired, how could you help enhance student learning and create a more positive learning climate?
  8. What are the important characteristics of a successful school?
  9. How have you communicated with irate parents? What was the outcome? How do you involve parents in the learning process?
  10. How do you set a vision for your building? How will you achieve this vision?
  11. Tell us about yourself. How do you deal with stress? Conflict?
  12. What makes you the best candidate for this position?
  13. Tell us about your supervisory experiences. What skills are essential for being an effective supervisor/evaluator of staff? How do you help staff become more effective?
  14. Describe your technology skills. What tech skills should teachers have to be effective in their classrooms?
  15. Tell us about your experience with diversity issues; with multicultural and multilingual students/parents.
  16. How do you want students to view you? Why?
  17. What is your philosophy on student assessment?
  18. How do you model integrity, fairness and ethical behavior?
  19. In what ways do you use your leadership skills to have a positive effect on the community?
  20. How do you reach out to unengaged parents/family members?
  21. Share some examples of your efforts to advocate for your students (all students).
  22. What knowledge, talents or skills do you possess that you believe would benefit our students in their learning process.
  23. What’s the most important/satisfying thing you’ve done this year?
  24. Why should we hire you? What separates you from others?

Engineering #section

  1. Tell me about a project you did where you had things go wrong. How did you handle it?
  2. How do you prefer to work (direct supervision, indirect supervision, part of team, tell me the problem and leave me alone)?
  3. Describe a time when you wished you had been more collaborative with others at work or school. What did you do?
  4. Think about a good decision you made recently and one you wish you had not made. Describe the process you followed in making each decision.
  5. Have you ever had a situation when several people gave you assignments – all due very soon? How did you decide in what order to do them? Was that a successful approach to take?
  6. Describe your method for tracking your progress on work assignments. Has this method ever failed?
  7. At this time in your studies, do you have a preference of which area of engineering you would like to work in after you graduate?
  8. Are you open, if available, to other US opportunities with our company? Do you have any interest in opportunities outside the US? Our company has plants outside the United States, can you write and or speak fluently in another language?
  9. Our company has multiple plants, are you open to travelling to other plants to assist them and/or for training or meetings?
  10. What areas of mechanical engineering do you prefer to be involved with? What areas do you least like to be involved with?
  11. During your time at Speed School, what single course was the most challenging? What were those challenges? How did you overcome them?
  12. What do you consider your most successful project and why?
  13. What do you consider your biggest disaster and what did you learn from it?
  14. Why did you select engineering as your career field?
  15. Tell me about a unique approach you took to solve a problem. How did you come up with the approach? What other options did you consider?
  16. How has your school program prepared you for your career?
  17. Give an example of where effective communication proved to be valuable.
  18. Give me an example of a technical problem you solved that involved creativity beyond the standard textbook examples.
  19. Describe a situation in which you thought it might be justifiable to bypass a policy or procedure, and why?
  20. Getting the job done sometimes requires developing a detailed plan. Give me an example of a time when you developed and implemented such a plan. How did it turn out?

If specific skills are listed on the resume, then be prepared to answer questions similar to these:

  1. PC hardware experience: How do you configure this hard drive as a slave in a master-slave setup?
  2. PC networking experience: How do you reconfigure this machine to be a member of the <netname> network?
  3. Logic Design experience: Write a pseudocode algorithm for implementing the XOR function.
  4. C++ experience: What is the main difference between C and C++?
  5. VB experience: The following code results in a run-time error. Why?
  6. What’s the best way to enumerate a linked list in reverse order in C?
  7. Implement the following pseudocode in C. Comment your code.

Human Resources #section

  1. Why have you selected a career in Human Resources?
  2. What do you think the employees’ responsibilities are to the company?
  3. How do you deal with someone who is not satisfied?
  4. What are the steps involved in handling an irate worker?
  5. As a human resources professional, occasionally you will experience days where everyone has a problem to solve or a question that needs to be answered. If you encounter a day where your schedule is full and someone comes to you with a situation that needs immediate attention, how will you handle it?
  6. What motivates employees?
  7. What is your experience in benefits management?
  8. What can a supervisor do to enhance employees’ job performance and motivation?
  9. How would you handle an employee’s affirmative action complaint?
  10. How would you design a training program for new employees? What is the significance of the components you choose to use?
  11. What factors would you use in evaluating a trainee?
  12. Tell me what strategies you would employ if managing a work area with staff from a range of different cultural backgrounds.
  13. How would you prepare for a meeting with an employee that required you discussing corrective action with the employee?
  14. What are four questions you are not permitted to ask of an interviewee in an employment interview?
  15. What process would you use in setting a salary for a new position in your company?

IT and CIS #section

  1. Why did you choose this particular career field?
  2. Have you completed a co-op or internship? If so, tell me what you have learned from that experience.
  3. What major class projects do you feel have been the most beneficial for your career?
  4. Describe your ability to work with a team.
  5. Explain what local area networks and wide area networks are, and how, if at all, they are related.
  6. As a 2nd line support agent, what criteria would you use when deciding to escalate a call to a higher level support?
  7. We are looking for a skilled developer to liaise directly with clients and work on new code modules, system enhancements and solve functional and performance issues in products. Do you see this as being a challenge for you?
  8. Imagine you are a couple of months into a 6 month project and it is overrun on costs. How would you deal with this most effectively, what steps would you take?
  9. Describe a time when you used your skills to persuade a manager or colleague to accept your recommendations. What skills did you use and were your recommendations used?
  10. We are looking for a Head of IT who has a strong knowledge of and expertise in the implementation of performance management techniques in a telecoms environment. Tell me more about your experience in this area.
  11. This position requires someone who can effectively communicate with various types of people via telephone and face-to-face to resolve computer issues. Tell me what type of communication skills you will utilize and how you will interact with various people.
  12. Tell me about a time it was particularly difficult for the caller to explain the problem to you. How did you reach an understanding of the issue?
  13. Give me an example when you had to simplify complex information in order to explain it to a caller.
  14. Discuss a situation when the caller had great difficulty in understanding what you were explaining. What did you do?
  15. Tell me about a time you had to deal with a difficult customer. How did you resolve the issue?
  16. Describe a complicated problem you had to deal with. How did you gain a better understanding of the problem?
  17. Tell me about a problem that tested your analytical abilities? How did you reach a solution?
  18. Tell me about a time you had to adjust your approach to deal effectively with a work demand.
  19. Describe a time when you experienced conflicting work demands. How did you respond?
  20. How do you keep your knowledge and skills current?
  21. In which areas do you consider yourself an expert, and how do you envisage being able to utilize this expertise within this organization?
  22. Accessibility standards are a major concern with web development. Tell me some considerations in selecting font size?
  23. Give me examples of how you comply with accessibility standards when developing website.
  24. What is involved in making a website accessible? What are arguments you use to convince others to invest in making their web site accessible?

Liberal Arts #section

  1. Why did you choose the career for which you are preparing?
  2. How do you know you like this career path?
  3. Describe a professional skill that you developed in your last job/activity.
  4. What are the most/least rewarding aspects of your current job?
  5. What skills have you learned in college that will help you to succeed in this career field?
  6. What motivates you to put forth your greatest effort?
  7. What qualifications do you have that make you think that you will be successful in the position?
  8. What two or three things are most important to you in your job?
  9. How do you determine success?
  10. How has your education prepared you for your career?
  11. Describe your most rewarding academic experience.
  12. If you could do so, how would you plan your academic study differently?
  13. Do you have plans for continued study or an advanced degree?
  14. What do you think it takes to be successful in an organization like ours?
  15. What do you know about our company?
  16. How do you stay current in this field?
  17. Why do companies with good products/services sometimes fail?
  18. Give me an example of a time you were resourceful.
  19. What is the most innovative project you have ever helped develop?
  20. How do you organize and plan for major projects?
  21. Give me an example of something you did to build enthusiasm in others to take action.

Marketing / Advertising #section

  1. What has led you to a career in marketing/advertising?
  2. Why did you select this as your major?
  3. What aspects of your time in college have prepared you for your career?
  4. What are your strengths and how do you plan on using them in this position?
  5. What are your weaknesses?
  6. Describe a time when you used your leadership skills to motivate others.
  7. What are other methods that you use to motivate both individuals and teams?
  8. Describe your ability to work as a member of a team. What role are you most comfortable with when working on a team? (i.e. leader, support role, etc)
  9. Give me an example of when one of your ideas was met with resistance. How did you handle the situation and how was it resolved?
  10. Tell me about a time when you adapted to a changing situation.
  11. What do you expect to learn from working in this position?
  12. How well do you handle stress and what methods do you use to stay calm in difficult situations?
  13. What types of persuasive techniques would you use to entice a customer to purchase a specific product?
  14. You have been selected to head up a team to develop a marketing/advertising plan for a client’s new product. Tell me how you will assemble your team and what steps you will take to create and implement the plan.
  15. What methods do you use to establish good rapport with clients and your fellow coworkers?
  16. Provide me with an example of a marketing/advertising strategy you developed for a client. What was the goal of the strategy and was it achieved with the materials created?
  17. Tell me about a marketing/advertising plan that you worked on that was not successful. What happened and what did you learn from this experience?
  18. Provide me with examples of marketing/advertising materials you have created.
  19. Tell me about your computer skills. What types of software are you familiar with in creating marketing/advertising materials and creating sales reports?
  20. Tell me how you plan to energize our company with your skills and experience.
  21. Tell me about a time when you solve a problem by using unconventional methods. What was the problem and what did you do?
  22. How would you handle a situation where your client is not pleased with your work?
  23. What would you do if your client is dissatisfied and tells you they may leave your company?
  24. How do you plan on generating new clients for our business?
  25. How would you sell an idea to a potential client?
  26. Describe an advertising campaign that you think is successful or unsuccessful. Why?
  27. Why is it important to use branding techniques?
  28. How do advertising agencies contribute to the success of a brand or how can they make a brand more successful?
  29. Why do you want to work for our advertising agency?
  30. How would you describe our advertising agency? What is your perception of our advertising agency within the advertising industry?
  31. How do you see yourself fitting in with our agency?
  32. This position requires you to travel frequently and on short notice. Tell me how you will use time management skills to meet these expectations and stay on-task with current projects.
  33. Describe to me the process you use to evaluate the effectiveness of your marketing/advertising.
  34. Describe to me what you believe is the target population for our product/services. What are the needs of this target population as it relates to our product/services? How would use address these needs in a marketing/advertising campaign?
  35. What is our company’s mission and how would you ensure your marketing/advertising campaign reflected this mission?

Pharmaceutical Sales #section

  1. Why did decide to become a pharmaceutical salesperson?
  2. What qualities and skills do you possess that will help you succeed in this position?
  3. How long have you been seeking a position in this industry?
  4. How does your current or previous work experience compare to pharmaceutical sales?
  5. Tell me about a time when you utilized persuasive skills to change others’ perceptions of an idea or product.
  6. How do you establish rapport with your clients?
  7. How would you describe selling?
  8. How do you feel about working on your own most of the time?
  9. What motivates you?
  10. Tell me about some of your recent goals and what you did to achieve them.
  11. Describe to me how you would set up a meeting with a doctor that does not meet with pharmaceutical representatives?
  12. How well do you handle pressure?
  13. Where do you see yourself in 1 year? 5 years?
  14. Describe a time when you were faced with a stressful situation that demonstrated your coping skills.
  15. Give me a specific example of a time when you used good judgment and logic in solving a problem.
  16. Describe your presentation skills to me. What techniques do you use when trying to provide product information?
  17. Tell me about a time when you are able to successfully deal with another person even when that individual may not have personally liked you or vice versa.
  18. Give me an example of a time when you showed initiative and took the lead.
  19. Describe a time when you anticipated potential problems and developed preventive measures.
  20. Tell me about a time when you had to go above and beyond what was asked of you.
  21. How far would you go to make a sell?
  22. Provide examples of how you have met and/or exceeded sales goals.
  23. Describe your organizational skills and how you will utilize these skills on the job.

Psychology and Social Work #section

  1. Why did you select the Human Services/Psychology/Social Work field as your career path?
  2. What skills have you learned in school that has prepared you for this career?
  3. What is your philosophy of life?
  4. Tell me what goals you would like to accomplish during your first year in this position?
  5. What do you know about our organization? Who are our clientele and what types of services do we provide?
  6. Tell me how your field experience has prepared you for this position.
  7. Why are you interested in the Human Services field?
  8. What types of clients have you worked with previously?
  9. Tell me about your experiences working with different populations. (i.e. women, youth, terminally ill, etc)
  10. What techniques do you use in crisis intervention work?
  11. How would you describe your professional boundaries?
  12. What personal qualities are necessary for this position? Provide examples of the qualities you possess.
  13. How does the work in this organization fit your professional mission or experience?
  14. What are your qualifications?
  15. What type of management style do you prefer in a supervisor?
  16. What would you like to learn here?
  17. What are you career goals? For the next year? 5 years? 10 years?
  18. Tell me about a time when you had to juggle your regular responsibilities and deal with a sudden priority?
  19. Describe the process you go through in developing a (case plan, budget, workshop, contract, or marketing plan, for example).
  20. Tell me about a time when you had a disagreement over a treatment plan. What was the situation and how did you handle it?
  21. How do you handle shifting priorities and working in a fast-paced, pressured environment?
  22. What methods do you use to build rapport with your clients?
  23. Tell me about a time when you went above and beyond what was expected of you.
  24. What is your experience with group therapy?
  25. This position requires you to maintain a large caseload. Tell me how you will utilize your organization and time management skills to manage this.
  26. How do you keep track of a lot of information at once?
  27. How would you go about locating community resources in a neighborhood in which you have no relationships?
  28. How do you see the word “leader” fitting into your role as a counselor?
  29. This organization values collaboration with other community agencies to reduce duplication of services. Tell me your thoughts on the importance of collaboration and when you have partnered with other groups.
  30. Tell me about your methods in referring clients to other agencies.
  31. What is the counseling theory or approach that you most closely follow?
  32. What is the most creative and innovative counseling technique you have used?
  33. What do you think is the most important characteristic of a counselor?

Public Admin / Politics #section

  1. Why did you select this career field?
  2. Why are you interested in working for this agency?
  3. Tell me about a situation from one of your previous positions that required you to exercise good judgment.
  4. What areas of public policy/administration interest you the most? Why?
  5. I see from your resume that you recently completed an internship. Tell me what you learned from that experience and how you will use the experience in this position.
  6. Do you have experience evaluating policy? If so, what.
  7. Tell me about a time when your ethics were challenged. How did you handle it?
  8. How do you approach a problem for which there is no definitive answer?
  9. Think about recent policy issues that we have been dealing with in our state. Pick one of those issues and identify the nature of the problem. What can be done about it? What information would you need to gather to formulate a plan?
  10. Tell me about a time when you have been a part of a team project where you were not given adequate guidance or information to accomplish the task. How did you proceed?
  11. Tell me about your community or volunteer involvement.
  12. What qualities or attributes do you possess that will make you an effective public servant?
  13. When you are in a group setting, how often are you chosen to be a leader? Why? Are there times when you choose not to lead? Explain.
  14. Describe a situation in which you acted as a leader that was particularly satisfying to you.
  15. What do you do when you need more help or expertise?
  16. Why do people like working with you? Why might people not like to work with you?
  17. When disappointment or failure occurs in your life, what do you do?
  18. Describe an event in your life that has had a major impact on you.
  19. Have you ever undertaken something just to prove to yourself or others that you could do it?

Skilled Trades #section

  1. Why did you select this career field?
  2. How has your education or experience prepared you for this position?
  3. At your last job, how did you fill downtime?
  4. Tell me about your last performance review. What was mentioned about how you could improve? Any recurring themes?
  5. Describe a recent problem you had with one of your manager’s decisions. How did you handle it?
  6. What qualities and/or skills do you possess that make you the best candidate for this position?
  7. Priorities often change suddenly throughout the day. If you are asked to quickly do another task, how will that affect your mood? What if it’s the third time before noon?
  8. Describe a time when you did something without being asked. What was the situation and what was the result?
  9. What would your current or previous supervisor say are your greatest strengths and weaknesses?
  10. What outside situations could affect your dependability on the job?
  11. Give me an example of when you had little or no direction in solving an issue. What happened and what did you do?
  12. What is on your personal checklist to ensure you are ready to leave the job daily?
  13. What action would you take when a deadline is nearing, knowing it can be met?
  14. Describe how you compile the materials and hours to charge toward a job.
  15. Why do you think safety is important in our workplace?
  16. Doing things right the first time is important. What procedures do you take to ensure the quality of your work?
  17. What do you do if you don’t have all of the materials to complete a job?
  18. Tell me about a job where you supervised others.
  19. How would you control the crew on your first day on the job?