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Question Bank: Behavioral

Are you looking for your purple squirrel and would like to test their behavior? Not to worry, we here are ConveyIQ by Entelo are here to help with some questions that can help you locate your purple squirrel!

Below, you will find questions divided into sub-categories for Behavioral.

Analytical Skills

Can you tell me about a time when you discovered a more efficient way to do a work task?
Describe a failure/mistake in your professional life. What did you do about it?
Describe an instance when you had to think on your feet to extricate yourself from a difficult situation.
Describe a project or situation that best demonstrates your analytical abilities.
Describe a situation in which you were able to effectively "read" another person and guide your actions by your understanding of their individual needs or values.
Describe a situation when advising or recommending a course of action where the customer did not follow or did not accept. What happened and what did you learn?
Describe a situation where you made a decision that was overturned.
Describe a time when you had to make a difficult choice between your personal and professional (or academic) life.
Describe examples of problem solving and decision making required in your job.
Describe the most significant or creative presentation that you have had to complete.
Describe the work environment or culture in which you are most productive and happy.
Describe what you believe are the most effective roles that a good manager plays in his or her relationship with reporting staff members.
Do you have a best friend at work? How do you feel about becoming friends with your coworkers? Is this a wise practice?
Everyone has made some poor decisions or has done something that just did not turn out right. Give an example of when this has happened to you.
Give a specific example of a time when you had to address an angry customer. What was the problem and what was the outcome? How would you assess your role in diffusing the situation?
Give me an example of a time you had to make an important decision. How did you make the decision? How does it affect you today?
Have you had to explain data. How it was derived and what it means?
How would reporting staff members describe their relationship with you? What would they like to see you do more of, less of, start, and stop?
If you had to live your life over again, what one thing would you change?
In your experience what how does an organization encourage your use of your discretionary energy and effort, that willingness each employee has, to go the extra mile, push harder, spend more time, and do whatever is necessary to get the job done?
Tell about a specific time when you had to handle a tough problem that challenged fairness or ethical issues.
Tell about a time when your trustworthiness was challenged. How did you react/respond?
Tell me about an assignment you worked on in which you had to amass a huge amount of data, and then analyze it?
Tell me about a time when you had to make a decision but didn't have all the information you needed.
Tell us about a decision that you made that was made based primarily on customer needs and input.
Tell us about an occasion when you believe that you delighted a customer, either an internal or an external customer.
Tell us about a task that really tested your analytical abilities?
Tell us about a tricky situation for which you found a very simple solution?
What are the characteristics exhibited by the best boss you have ever had - or wished that you have had?
What are the three to five expectations that you have of senior leaders in an organization where you will work successfully?
What are three tips you'd offer anyone who takes on a role that involves planning, making projections, and accountability for decisions?
What do you consider to be your greatest achievement so far and why?
What is your preferred work style? Do you prefer working alone or as part of a team? What percentage of your time would you allocate to each, given the choice?
What was the best idea you came up with during your professional or college career? How did you apply it?
When you work with a team, describe the role that you are most likely to play on the team.

Assistant Skills

Can you tell me about a situation where your analysis of a problem was deemed to be incorrect? What would you have done differently?

Cultural Fit

Describe the management style that will bring forth your best work and efforts.
Everyone has made some poor decisions or has done something that just did not turn out right. Has this happened to you? What happened?
Give a specific example of a policy you conformed to with which you did not agree. Why?
How would coworkers describe the role that you play on a team?
How would your coworkers describe your work style and contributions in your former job?
Provide an example of a time when you went out of your way and jumped through hoops to delight a customer.
What are the positive aspects of your current job and work environment, or the last position you held before coming to this interview?
What is the single most important factor that must be present in your work environment for you to be successfully and happily employed? Now that you have answered that question, what were two others that you debated about before giving the response that you chose?
When working with people, in general, describe your preferred relationship with them.

Empowerment

Are you familiar with a concept called employee empowerment? Tell us what you think of when you think of empowered employees.
Describe the work environment or culture and its management style in which you have experienced the most success.
Give me an example of a time you had to persuade other people to take action. Were you successful?
What factors are crucial within an organization's work environment and must be present for you to work most effectively?

Initiative

Describe a recent experience/project that you found enjoyable and demanding?
Describe a situation that required a number of things to be done at the same time. How did you handle it? What was the result?
Describe a situation where you have had to use your initiative to solve a problem. What did you do?
Describe a situation where you've had to determine what technologies/projects should be included in an organization. How did you do that -- what criteria did you use?
Describe a time in school when you had many projects or assignments due at the same time. What steps did you take to get them all done?
Describe a time when you had to hire a number of staff who were going to work as a team. How did you do that and what traits did you look for?
Describe a time when you had to resolve conflicts that arose from managing a team or multi-program department. What did you do and what did you learn?
Describe a time when you set your sights too high (or too low).
Describe how you foster a highly motivated and productive work environment, especially during times of change.
Describe the last time that you undertook a project that demanded a lot of initiative.
Describe your management philosophy and practices. Tell us about a time when you really had to put them to the 'test'.
Did you ever adopt a process which eventually enhanced the existing methods?
Give me an example of a time when you set a goal and were able to meet or achieve it.
Give me an example of when you showed initiative and took the lead.
Has your supervisor ever come to you and pointed out that you had not met some of your tasks at work? How frequently does it happen?
How does your current or a former boss encourage or discourage employee empowerment?
How have you kept up with professional development over the last three years?
Recall a situation in which communications were poor. How did you handle it?
Tell me about a time when you found a better way of doing something, which proved to be an improvement on the existing system.
Tell me about a time when you had to go above and beyond the call of duty in order to get a job done.
Tell me about a time when you had too many things to do and you were required to prioritize your tasks.
Tell me about initiatives you have taken to improve procedures at work? Were you successful? Would you do anything different now?
Tell us about a time when you exhibited empowered behavior in your most recent job.
Was there a time when you went that ‘extra mile' and beat all expectations?
What experience have you had implementing reorganizations or change in an organization? How did you do this -- what were the challenges and regrets?
You are asked to step in your boss' shoes for a couple of months as he is under the weather, how would you go about it?

Leadership Skills

Describe a conflict you were involved in at work. How did you resolve the conflict? What happened next with that coworker or team?
Describe a situation when you were able to have a positive influence on the actions of others.
Describe a time when you had to hire a number of staff who were going to work as a team. How did you do that? What traits did you look for?
Describe a time when you had to resolve conflicts that arose from managing a team or multi-program department. What did you do. What did you learn?
Describe a time when you've had to work with strong -- willed peers. What did you do -- how did you handle them so you could influence their decisions?
Describe how you foster a highly motivated and productive work environment, especially during times of change.
Describe your management philosophy and practices. Tell us about a time when you really had to put them to the 'test'.
Give me an example of a time when you motivated others.
Have you ever asked for feedback about your work? Is feedback a positive or a negative?
Have you ever been in a position where you had to lead a group of peers? How did you handle it? Tell me about problems you had and how you handled them.
How did you handle your most challenging experience in your previous job?
How do you demonstrate leadership?
If you have reporting staff, how would these staff members describe your relationship with them?
Tell me about a time when you delegated a project effectively.
Tell me about a time when you were forced to make an unpopular decision.
Tell me about a time you had to fire a friend.
What are the three most important factors that make you an effective, valued coworker in your current job? What would your supervisor say are the three most important factors?
What experience have you had implementing reorganizations or change in an organization? How did you do this -- what were the challenges and regrets?
What management skills and experience will you bring to our company?
You've just been assigned to lead a new project, outline the steps that you have taken in the past, or would take in the future, to get the project on track and moving.

Learning

Describe a time when you took a new job that required a much different set of skills.
Do you feel you are knowledgeable about current industry related legislation or trends? Why or why not?
Explain a recent mistake. What did you learn from it and in what areas can you utilize that knowledge in the future?
Give me an example of a time when something you tried to accomplish and failed.
In which specific areas of your work are you really interested in expanding your knowledge of? How do you intend to achieve this?
Tell me about a goal that you set that you did not reach. What steps did you take? What obstacles did you encounter? How did it make you feel?
Tell me about the one person who has influenced you the most within your career? Were they a manager or mentor? What did you learn from them? Why do you think you learned so much from them?
Throughout your career have you learned more about your profession through coursework or through on the job experience? Explain. What is more important to your profession, experience, or continued education?
What area of your last job was most challenging for you? Why was this specific part of the position difficult? Is this still challenging? Why or why not?
What is personally fascinating about the areas of your job in which you wish to expand your knowledge?
What sorts of things have you done to become better qualified for your career?
What’s the most valuable thing you’ve learned in the past year? Why?
What tricks or techniques have you learned to make school or a job easier, or to make yourself more effective? How did you learn that?
What was the last seminar you attended? How did you apply this new-found knowledge to your work?
What was the last work-related educational seminar or class you attended? Why did you attend this course? How have you transferred the knowledge gained in the course to your work?
What would you most like to accomplish if you had this job?
When did you last acquire effective knowledge in your own time and how can you apply this to your career?
When was the last occasion you asked for direct feedback from a superior or a customer? How did you then use this knowledge to improve your personal performance?
When was the last time that you volunteered to expand your knowledge at work, as opposed to being directed to do so?

Long-term Objectives

Careers grow and develop over time, where do you see your career now? What are you doing to sustain it?
How does this job fit in with your overall career goals?
Tell me about your dream job.
What are you goal aspirations?
What are your short and long-term goals; how are you prepared to achieve them?
What goals have you achieved in your present career? And how did you plan to have achieved these goals?
What kind of job do you see yourself holding five years from now?
Where do you see yourself in 10 years?
Who or what in your life would you say influenced you most with your career objectives?

People Skills

Can you explain the working culture of your current team? How do you manage to let your colleagues know that you are concerned about them?
Give me an example of a time when you were able to successfully communicate with another person even when that individual may not have personally liked you (or vice versa). How did you handle the situation? What obstacles or difficulties did you face? How did you deal with them?
Give me a specific example of a time when you sold your supervisor or professor on an idea or concept. How did you proceed? What was the result?
If there is a better candidate for this position than you, what qualities does the person possess that make them better?
Tell about a time when your trustworthiness was challenged. How did you react/respond?
Tell me about a time when you had to deal with a difficult person. How did you handle the situation?
Tell me about a time you had to deal with a customer who was very vague.
Tell us about a time when you disagreed with the actions or decisions of your manager or supervisor. How did you approach the situation? Was the situation resolved to your satisfaction or did nothing change?
Tell us about a time when you had to work closely with a coworker whom you disliked or with whom you had trouble working. What did you do to make the relationship work so you could succeed for your company?
Tell us about a time when you worked with a friend or a coworker who became a friend. What did you do to ensure that the friendship bore positive results for your company?
What is your typical way of dealing with conflict? Give me an example.
When faced with a problem do you ever view it from the other persons point of view? Can you give me a recent example?
When you have entered a new workplace in the past, describe how you have gone about meeting and developing relationships with your new coworkers, supervisors, and reporting staff.

Personality

By providing examples, convince me that you can adapt to a wide variety of people, situations, and environments.
Do you have any hobbies or pets?
Give me an example of an important goal which you had set in the past and tell me about your success in reaching it.
Give me an example of when you were able to meet the personal and professional (or academic) demands in your life yet still maintained a healthy balance.
Give me a specific example of a time when you had to conform to a policy with which you did not agree.
Give me a specific occasion when you conformed to a policy with which you did not agree.
Give two examples of things you've done in previous jobs or school that demonstrate your willingness to work hard.
Some people consider themselves to be "big picture people" and others are detail oriented. Which are you? Give an example that illustrates your preference.
Tell me about a difficult situation when it was desirable for you to keep a positive attitude. What did you do?
What books have you read lately that you enjoyed? What has been your experience in giving presentations to small or large groups? What has been your most successful experience in speech making?
What is it people don’t like about you?
What is the most competitive work situation you have experienced? How did you handle it? What was the result?
What mistakes have you made in your previous job?
What types of causes or community service are you involved in?
When you are not at work what activities do you indulge in?
Why do you think our organization can be the right employer for you?

Problem Solving

Describe a situation in which you were able to use persuasion to successfully convince someone to see things your way?
Describe a situation in which you were able to use persuasion to successfully convince someone to see things your way.
Describe a situation where you felt you had not communicated well. How did you correct the situation?
Describe a situation where you have had to overcome a problem or obstacle in order to move forward with something. What did you do?
Describe a specific problem you solved for your employer. How did you approach the problem? What role did others play? What was the outcome?
Describe a time when you anticipated potential problems and developed preventive measures.
Describe a time when you were faced with problems or stresses that tested your coping skills.
Describe the problem and the way you collect info and establish a problem-solving model.
Describe the system you use for keeping track of multiple projects. How do you track your progress so that you can meet deadlines? How do you stay focused?
Describe two situations from your past work experience in which you have determined a team was the best potential solution to a problem, a needed process improvement, or a planned change. How did each work out?
Give an example of an effective/innovative solution you created to solve a problem.
Give an example of a successful project you were part of. What was your role? Why was the project successful?
Give an example of a time in which you had to be relatively quick in coming to a decision.
Give an example of when you took a risk to achieve a goal. What was the outcome?
Give me an example of a time when you used your fact-finding skills to solve a problem.
Give me a specific example of a time when you used good judgment and logic in solving a problem.
How do you build a troubleshooting process?
How do you determine priorities in scheduling your time? Give examples.
How do you prioritize projects and tasks when scheduling your time? Give me some examples.
Provide an example of a time when you had to deal with an difficult colleague about a work issue and explain how you resolved the issue.
Recall a time when you were assigned what you considered to be a complex project. Specifically, what steps did you take to prepare for and finish the project? Were you happy with the outcome? What one step would you have done differently if given the chance?
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.
Tell me about a difficult decision you've made in the last year.
Tell me about a problem that you’ve solved in a unique or unusual way. What was the outcome? Were you happy or satisfied with it?
Tell me about a recent situation in which you had to deal with a very upset customer or co-worker.
Tell me about a situation where you had to solve a difficult problem. What did you do? What was your thought process? What was the outcome? What do you wish you had done differently?
Tell me about a time when you came up with an innovative solution to a challenge your company was facing. What was the challenge? What role did others play?
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?
Tell me about a time when you had to make a decision without all the information you needed. How did you handle it? Why? Were you happy with the outcome?
Tell me about a time when you missed an obvious solution to a problem.
Tell me about a time you had to handle multiple responsibilities. How did you organize the work you needed to do?
Tell of the most difficult customer service experience that you have ever had to handle -- perhaps an angry or irate customer. Be specific and tell what you did and what was the outcome.
Tell of the most difficult customer service experience that you have ever had to handle-perhaps an angry or irate customer. Be specific and tell what you did and what was the outcome.
We can sometimes identify a small problem and fix it before it becomes a major problem. Give an example of a time you have done this, and the result.
What are the factors that motivate you to give you best attempt?
What are the steps you take for a project that requires collection of systematic data and risk management for conducting a performance analysis
What are the steps you take to anticipate risks and resolve issues?
What are three examples of the kinds of behaviors, actions, or attitudes you are most likely to conflict with at work? Can you give me an example of a situation you addressed in the past? How was it resolved?
What do you do when you are faced with an obstacle to an important project? Give an example.

Team Building

Can you tell us about a challenging situation at work while working with others you have encountered so far? How did you tackle it?
During your most recent team project, how did you participate in the planning of the project? 3. Describe your role in accomplishing the action steps needed to complete the project. How did you measure the success of the project?
Give me an example of a time when your work group or department worked especially well with another work group or department to accomplish a goal.
Give me a specific example of something you did that helped build enthusiasm in others.
Have you been a member of a team that struggled or failed to accomplish its goal? If so, what assessment did you make of the reasons for the failure?
What actions and support, in your experience, make a team function successfully?

Teamwork

Are you more energized by working with data or by collaborating with other individuals?
Describe a disappointing team experience. What could you have done to prevent it?
Describe an enjoyable team experience. What did you like about it?
Describe a situation in which you had to arrive at a compromise or guide others to a compromise.
Describe a situation where others you were working with on a project disagreed with your ideas. What did you do?
Describe a situation where you found yourself dealing with someone who didn't like you. How did you handle it?
Describe a situation where you have had to work as part of a team to achieve a result. What was your role in this?
Describe a team experience you found disappointing. What could you have done to prevent it?
Describe a time when you put your needs aside to help a co-worker understand a task. How did you assist him or her? What was the result?
Describe some projects or ideas that were done successfully as part of a team effort.
During your work experiences while attending college, tell me about a time when you demonstrated that you have the ability and desire to work effectively with your coworkers.
Give an example of when you had to work with someone who was difficult to get along with. How/why was this person difficult? How did you handle it? How did the relationship progress?
Give me an example of a time when you were able to successfully communicate with another person even when that individual may not have personally liked you (or vice versa).
Have you ever participated on a team that required you to cooperate in the planning of a project?
How would you describe the role that you played?
Tell about a time when you built rapport quickly with someone under difficult conditions.
Tell about the most difficult or frustrating individual that you've ever had to work with, and how you managed to work with that person.
Tell me about a team project when you had to take the lead or take charge of the project? What did you do? How did you do it? What was the result?
Tell me about a time when you had to adjust to a classmate’s or colleague’s working style in order to complete a project or achieve your objectives.
Tell me about a time you pitched in to help someone finish a project even though it "wasn’t your job." What was the result?
Tell me about a time you were able to successfully deal with another person even when that individual may not have personally liked you (or vice versa).
Tell of a time when you worked with a colleague who was not completing his or her share of the work. What did you do in this situation or what would you have done if not applicable?
Tell us about an unsuccessful team of which you were a member. What, if anything, could you have done differently?
Tell us about a successful team of which you were a member. What was the most outstanding characteristic of that team? What did you contribute?
What aspects of teamwork do you find challenging?
When did you last coordinate your work with others in a team project? What was your most successful contribution?
When you feel that a team is working efficiently, except for the fact that one member is clearly not pulling their weight", what steps will you take?
Describe a project/assignment that resulted in a process improvement.

Training

Describe a recent on-the-job training activity you facilitated.
Describe a time when you had to use your written communication skills to get an important point across.
Describe a time when you put your needs aside to help a co-worker understand a task. How did you assist them? What was the result?
Give an example of a learning intervention you implemented which was successful. Why do you think it worked well?
How do you keep current with the latest developments and ideas about business training?
How have you gone about identifying employee training needs in the organization?
Tell me about a time when you had to use your presentation skills to influence someone's opinion.
Tell us about a recent training program that you attended. How did you make sure that the skills were successfully transferred to the work situation.
Tell us about a time when the training you delivered resulted in significant bottom line results in the organization.
Tell us about a time when you mentored a coworker successfully.
Tell us about a time when you retrained someone who was struggling in their job.
What do you consider the key criteria for training to be effective?
What has been the most difficult training situation that you have had to deal with and what did you do?
What training methods have you used and which have proven the most effective in your experience?