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Question Bank: General

Are you looking for your purple squirrel in the General? 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 General.

Accomplishments

Describe professional victories - what was the issue, how did you identify it, how did you address it, and any learnings from it.
Describe what you've accomplished toward reaching a recent goal for yourself.
Give me an example of one of your successful accomplishments?
Is there an achievement of which you are particularly proud? What is it? Why is it significant?
What accomplishment are you most proud of?
What are your greatest strengths?
What have you accomplished that shows your initiative and willingness to work?
What is the most significant contribution you made to the company during a past job or internship?
What item on your resume are you most proud of?
When have you been most satisfied in your career?

Analytical Reasoning

Describe how you negotiate with your supplier in the economic recession.
Describe the components of your past jobs that had to do with planning. How effective was your performance in this planning role?
How did you handle a difficult client?
How well do you deal with ambiguity?
How will you handle multiple projects which have the same deadline?
If you were hiring for this position, what qualities would you look for?
Project manager has 3 possible projects and wants to choose the one with the greatest profit margin. How do you help him do this?
Project manager requests that discount rate on valuation of new project be halved because project is so important...what do you tell him?
What are the key elements of measuring performance and how can you establish whether an outcome represents a success?
What challenges do you think our industry will face in the next five years?
What experience do you bring to this position?
What steps do you follow to study a problem before making a decision.
What suggestions do you have for our organization?
What was the toughest challenge you've ever faced?
When given an important assignment, how do you approach it?
Which is more important: creativity or efficiency? Why?

Behavioral

Describe a time when you had to deal with conflicting demands. How did you deal with this situation and what was the outcome?
Is it more important to be a detail-oriented person, or a big picture person? Explain.
Tell me about a challenging situation you have faced. What was the situation and how did you cope with it?
Tell me about a major problem you recently handled. Were you successful in resolving it?
What is the biggest mistake you've made?
What motivates you to put forth your greatest effort?
Would you describe yourself as goal-driven?

Communication Skills

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 where you felt you had not communicated well. How did you correct the situation?
Describe a time when you took extra effort to make sure the person with whom you were communicating with had really understood your point. How did you do this?
Describe the most significant written document, report, or presentation which you had to complete.
Describe the work environment or culture and its communication style in which you experience the most success.
Describe three things about communication within an organization that must be present for you to work most effectively.
Give me an example, from your past work experiences, about a time when you were part of a project or team and you never knew what was happening with the other action items or participants. 9. How did you handle this situation?
Give me an example of a time when you had to put your point across in a meeting to which most of the people were reluctant to hear.
Give me an example when you had to present complex information in a simplified manner in order to explain it to someone.
Have you ever had to "sell" an idea to your co-workers or group? How did you do it? Did they "buy" it? Why?
How do you explain a complex technical issue to someone who has less technical knowledge than you?
How often do you believe it is necessary to withhold information from staff members who report to you? Would you say you do this regularly, not often, or never? Under what circumstances do you limit communication in your experience?
Information you believe to be untrue or confidential has reached you via the grapevine. What actions have you taken in the past to take care of situations such as this when communication is out of control?
Rate your communication skills on a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 representing excellent communication skills. Give me three examples from your past work experiences that demonstrate the selected number is accurate.
Tell me about a time when you had to be very careful in communicating delicate information. What was the possible risk involved and how did you go about it?
What do you do to show people that you are listing to them?
What steps do you take to establish a rapport with others?
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.
When you have had a boss, in the past, who fails to adequately communicate with you, how have you handled this?
You attend a weekly staff meeting with your supervisor. How have you ensured, in the past, that the information you have received is communicated to your reporting staff and coworkers?

Cultural Fit

Are you a leader or a follower?
Describe the management style that will bring forth your best work and efforts.
Describe the most difficult working relationship you’ve had with an individual. What specific actions did you take to improve the relationship? What was the outcome?
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. Has this happened to you? What happened?
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?
Have you ever been abroad?
Have you ever been in a situation where you had to bargain with someone? How did you feel about this? What did you do? Give an example.
How do you schedule your time? Set priorities? How do you successfully "multitask"?
How do you see your experience and personal qualities contributing to the work of the organization?
How do you think that you might fit into this company?
How involved in the community should the company be? With what? What role do you see yourself playing in such involvement?
How would you describe your personality?
How would your coworkers describe your work style and contributions in your former job?
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?
It is important to maintain a positive attitude at work when you have other things on your mind. Give a specific example of when you were able to do that.
Leaders have to make tough decisions. What was the most difficult one you have had to make?
Provide an example of a situation where others were intense but you were able to maintain your composure.
Provide two examples of things you’ve done in previous jobs that demonstrate your willingness to work hard.
Tell about a time when you built rapport quickly with someone under difficult conditions.
Tell about a training program that you have developed or enhanced.
Tell us about an occasion when you believe that you delighted a customer, either an internal or an external customer.
Tell us about a specific time when you had to handle a tough problem that challenged fairness or ethical issues.
Tell us about a time when your trustworthiness was challenged. How did you react/respond?
To what extent would you be willing to travel for the job?
Trust requires personal accountability. Tell about a time when you chose to trust someone? What was the outcome?
What are the characteristics exhibited by the best boss you have ever had or wished that you have had?
What are the most important rewards you expect to gain from your career?
What are the positive aspects of your current job and work environment, or the last position you held before coming to this interview?
What are three to five expectations that you have of senior leaders in an organization where you will work successfully?
What are your thoughts about volunteerism? What experiences do you have with charitable or trade associations?
What do you like most about your last job, what did you like least?
What is the single most important factor that must be present in your work environment for you to be successfully and happily employed?
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 level of compensation would it take to make you happy?
What was the biggest mistake you have had when delegating work? The biggest success?
When you have been made aware of, or have discovered for yourself, a problem in your work performance, what was your course of action? Can you give an example?
Why are you interested in our organization?
Would it be a problem for you to relocate?
Would you say that you can easily deal with high-pressure situations?

General Experience

Define excellent customer service?
Describe an important project you worked on?
Describe a typical day at work?
Describe your supervisor’s management style?
Give me an example of when you’ve demonstrated your customer service skills?
Have you held positions similar to this one? If so, tell me about them?
How are your research skills?
How did your job change while you held it?
How do you define continuous improvement? What is the last new procedure you integrated into your job?
How do you determine priorities in scheduling your time? Give examples.
How do you handle stress?
How have you participated in planning processes?
How have your previous positions prepared you for this one?
How will your experience benefit our firm?
If I asked your boss to evaluate your performance, what would he or she say?
If there were two things you could have changed about that job, what would they be?
If you don’t leave your current job, what will happen there? How far can you advance?
I see you were unemployed for a period of time. Tell me about it?
Of all the work you have done, where have you been most successful?
Tell me about a time when you had to select between priorities, how did you reach a compromise?
Tell me about your last position and what you did?
What are your career goals? What influenced you in setting those goals?
What are your major professional reading sources?
What can you tell me about our industry?
What did/do you enjoy most/least about your last/present job?
What experiences make you unique?
What has been your experience in giving presentations? What has been your most successful experience in speech making?
What have you done to reduce your department’s operational costs or to save time?
What have you learned from previous jobs?
What industry besides this one are you looking into?
What is the most important thing you learned at a previous job?
What is your most significant professional accomplishment? What was the last job-related book you read?
What job tasks do you feel most successful doing?
What kinds of people do you deal with on the job?
What makes you stand out among your peers?
What parts of your job do you consider most important?
What qualifications do you have that make you successful in this field?
What qualifications do you have that will make you successful in this company?
What skills have you acquired from your work experience?
What sort of person do you enjoy working for?
What sorts of things have you done to become better qualified for your career?
What special skills or knowledge have you gained to help in this job?
What was the most complex assignment you have had? What was your role?
What would your current supervisors say makes you most valuable to them?
When you have been made aware of, or have discovered for yourself, a problem in your school or work performance, what was your course of action?
You have a lot of experience. Why would you want this job? What do you consider your greatest strength?
You’ve stayed with the same organization for years. Why have you decided to leave?

Leadership Skills

As a leader within an organization, you must often build support for goals and projects from people who do not report to you and over whom you have no authority. Tell me about a situation in which you demonstrated that you can build the needed support.
Can you describe a time when you have been required to perform as part of a team?
Describe a problem situation and how you solved it.
Describe the actions and behaviors of your manager or supervisor that you respond to most positively when you are participating in a project or team activity.
Describe the characteristics of a successful manager.
Do you work better by yourself or as part of a team?
During your work experiences while attending college, tell me about a time when you demonstrated that you have leadership ability and skill.
Give me an example of a time when you played a leadership role in an event, an activity, a department or work unit, or a project. Describe how you led the efforts. Tell me how people responded to your leadership.
How would you describe your leadership skills?
If I were to ask your reporting staff or your peers to comment about your leadership style, your leadership strengths, and your leadership weaknesses, how would they respond? What would this discussion tell me about you as a leader?
Tell me us time when you delegated effectively.
Tell us about a time when you created an agreement and shared purpose from a situation in which all parties originally differed in opinion, approach, and objectives
Tell us about a time when you fired someone that was very well-liked at the company.
Tell us about a time when you had to adapt your leadership style to meet a challenge.
Tell us about a time when you had to get your team to make a major change that they disagreed with.
Tell us about a time when you had to sell a tough idea.
Tell us about a time when you helped someone improve their performance.
Tell us about a time when you hired someone that didn’t work out.
Tell us about a time when you led a team with low morale.
Tell us about a time when you made an unpopular decision.
Tell us about a time when you managed two people that did not get along.
Tell us about a time when you took over an under-performing team.
Tell us about your management style - people, teamwork, direction?
What are the three most important values you demonstrate as a leader? Tell me a story that demonstrates each of these leadership values in practice within your workplace.
What is your leadership experience?
What is your own philosophy of management?
You decided to reorganize the department or work unit that you lead. Tell me how you proceeded with the reorganization?

Long-term Objectives

Describe your dream job.
Do you have a location preference?
How do you measure success?
How will this job fit in your career plans?
How will you judge yourself successful? How will you achieve success?
If you stayed with your current company, what would be your next move?
Tell us about a time when you recognized the achievement of someone you managed.
Tell us about the most challenging leadership situation you have faced.
What are your career goals? What influenced you in setting those goals?
What can you offer me that another person can't?
What career goals have you set for your life? What is your plan to accomplish them?
What do you expect from this job?
What do you expect to be doing in five years?
What do you see yourself doing in ten years?
What has been your greatest achievement to date?
What short-term goals and objectives have you established for yourself?
What specific goals, including those related to your occupation, have you established for your life?
What type of position are you interested in?
What will you do if you are not successful in gaining this position?
What would you like to be doing five years from now?
Where do you expect to be in 5 years' time?
Why are you looking for this job?
Why did you leave your last job?
Why do you want to work here?
Would you be willing to take a salary cut?

Most Popular Questions

Can you describe your long-range goals and objectives?
Define professional behavior and/or conduct appropriate in the workplace.
Describe some projects or ideas (not necessarily your own) that were implemented or carried out successfully primarily because of your efforts.
Describe the perfect manager or supervisor.
Do you have a geographic preference?
How would you describe yourself?
So, tell me a little about yourself.
Tell me about the most difficult work/school problem you ever faced. What steps did you take to tackle it? What were the results?
Tell me about yourself.
Tell me what you know about our company.
Tell of a time when your active listening skills really paid off for you -- maybe a time when other people missed the key idea being expressed.
What are the characteristics of a successful manager?
What attracts you to a career with us?
What criteria are you using to choose companies to interview with?
What kinds of things have you done on the job that were beyond expectations?
Which is more important to you, the job itself or your salary?
Why did you apply for this position?
Why did you decide to seek a position in this field?
Why do you think you might like to live in the community in which our company is located?
Why do you want to work for our company?
Why this company?

Motivation

Can you maintain self-motivation when you experience a setback on the way to achieving your target? How do you do it?
Can you tell me at least three things that you have done in the past year to improve yourself, both business-wise and competency-wise?
Describe a project you were involved in that really excited you? How long did that feeling last?
Describe a work-related goal that you have set for yourself.
Describe a work situation in which you can demonstrate that you encouraged the motivation of another person.
Describe the actions and behaviors of your manager or supervisor that you respond to most effectively?
Describe the work environment or culture in which you are most productive and happy.
Have you done anything to further your experience?
How do you react when faced with many hurdles while trying to achieve a goal? How do you overcome the hurdles?
How would you define "success" for someone in your chosen career?
How would you define "success" for your career? At the end of your work life, what must have been present for you to feel as if you had a successful career?
If you find yourself working with a team that is not motivated, how do you keep yourself motivated and motivate others?
Imagine that you have received a coveted national award five years from now. Why did you receive the award, what is the award, and what are the circumstances under which you are receiving the award?
In your experience, what draws forth your discretionary energy and effort, that willingness each person has to go the extra mile, push harder, spend more time, do whatever it takes to get the job done?
Observing your coworkers, in your current or past job, describe what motivated their best performance.
Over a period of time, the job you are doing becomes a routine and you lose passion. What would you do to retain the passion?
Over a period of time, the job you are doing becomes routine and you lose passion. What would you do to retain the passion?
Tell me what you know about this company
Tell us about a goal you achieved which at some points seems hopeless? Why did you keep going on?
Tell us about a hurdle which got in the way of achieving an ambitious goal. How did you go about overcoming it?
Tell us about a time when you and your whole team were demoralized for some reason. What do you do to raise spirits?
Tell us about a time when you willingly volunteered for a task. Also, why were you so interested in this specific task?
What are your goals for the summer?
What goals, including career goals, have you set for your life?
What, in your experience, motivates your best, most successful performance? Can you give us an example of this motivation in action in the workplace?
What is the most important habit one needs to acquire to make a person more effective in everything one does?
What is your definition of success in your chosen field of career?
What kind of managers bring out the best performance of yours?
What kind of supervisor do you work best for? Provide examples.
What motivates you to go the extra mile on a project or job?
What role does your manager or supervisor play in your personal motivation at work?
What two or three things are most important to you in your job?
Would you regard yourself as a self-starter? Can you give me a recent example where you displayed this quality?
You are assigned to participate on a team that has several members who are not motivated to work hard and contribute. How have you in the past, or would you, if you were to experience it, approach this motivational situation?
You have tried to complete a task and failed many times. How do you motivate yourself to keep going until the task is done?

People Skills

Are you more energized by working with data or by collaborating with other individuals?
Describe a conflict you were involved in at work. How did you resolve the conflict? What happened next with that coworker or team?
Describe the kind of individuals who are difficult for you to work with.
Describe your overall relationship with most bosses you have worked with.
Describe your personal style, work style, management style.
Give me an example of a time when you took the time to share a co-worker's achievement with others.
Have you ever had difficulty with a supervisor or instructor? How did you resolve the conflict?
How do you establish a working relationship with new people?
How have you changed since college?
How have you changed since high school?
How would you evaluate your ability to deal with conflict?
How would you rate your effectiveness in relating to others? Do you feel it is a natural talent for you?
How would your family and friends describe you?
How would your friends describe you?
How would your last boss describe you?
If you could change one thing about yourself, what would that be?
If your credibility were questioned, how would you react?
If your previous co-workers were here, what would they say about you?
Tell me 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 me 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 me 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?
Tell me about your character.
Tell me about your closest friends - their personalities, interests, occupations.
Tell us why you would be a good team player.
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 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 causes you to be short-fused or impatient with others?
What challenges do you face getting along with others?
What difficulties do you experience in getting along with others?
What do people criticize about you? Are their concerns valid?
What, in your opinion, are the key ingredients in guiding and maintaining successful business relationships?
What kinds of people do you like to work with?
What makes you effective in small groups?
What personal characteristics are necessary for success?
What qualities do you look for in a friend?
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.
Who had the most influence on your career? On your life? Why?
Who is the best subordinate you have worked with and why? Who was the worst and why?
Who was the best colleague you have worked with and why? Who was the worst?

Quality

Describe a time that you identified an error or problem that had escaped the team's attention.
Describe a time you received unsolicited feedback from a customer about your work. What did you do? What improvements/changes were suggested or made?
Describe the most complicated problem you recently dealt with in your job. What methods and tools did you use to manage it?
Did you ever have to complete a project with a fixed pressurized deadline, where the final proposal had to be 100?
Do you always double-check your work?
Give me an example of an assignment that you found difficult to finish? How did you go about it?
Have you ever contacted a customer to seek feedback about a product or service you delivered? What did you learn? What did you change?
How do you decide when something is "good enough" or when it needs to be as close to perfect as possible?
How do you handle projects with short deadlines that require precise calculations and analysis? What is your approach?
Is detail important to you? Do you think details should be left to your assistant?
Tell me about a time when you were given an assignment, but you were not clear how to go about it. How did you tackle this situation?
Tell me how the quality of your work impacts others around you.
Tell me the steps you take to monitor the quality of your work.
Tell us about a situation in which you had to make a complex decision within a very limited timeframe.
Tell us about a situation where you had to handle multiple projects. How did you ensure the quality of each project?
Tell us about a time that you thought you had successfully handled a problem only to discover it was a symptom of a larger problem.
Tell us about a time you experienced conflicting priorities. How did you schedule your QA activities accordingly?
Tell us about a time you had to make a decision with less than perfect information.
What methods do you use to ensure that no details are forgotten when monitoring corrective action?
What steps do you take to ensure a quality management system.

Strengths & Weaknesses

Given the investment our company will make in hiring and training you, can you give us a reason to hire you?
How do you plan to overcome your weakness?
How will your greatest strength help you perform?
If I were to ask your last manager to share your last performance evaluation with me, what areas would she/he tell
If there were one area you've always wanted to improve upon, what would that be?
Tell me about yourself.
What areas need improvement?
What are you passionate about?
What are your greatest strengths?
What are your top strengths?
What are your weaknesses?
What do people most often criticize about you?
What do you find are the most difficult decisions to make?
What has been your greatest failure?
What has been your greatest success?
What is your greatest strength?
What is your greatest weakness?
What makes you stand out from others?
What motivates you?
What particular skills and qualities do you bring to the workforce?
What personal weakness has caused you the greatest difficulty in school or on the job?
What quality or attribute do you feel will most contribute to your career success?
What was your biggest strength as a student?
When was the last time you were angry? What happened?
Where have you excelled?
Why are you the best person for the job?
Why did you apply for this position?
Why did you leave your last job?

Teamwork

Describe a really difficult person you worked with and how you handled working with that person.
Describe a situation in which you had to arrive at a compromise or help others to compromise. What was your role? What steps did you take? What was the end result?
Describe a team experience you found disappointing. What would you have done to prevent this?
Describe a team experience you found rewarding.
Describe the types of teams you have worked in and tell me what worked well and what did not.
Describe the types of teams you’ve been involved with. What were your roles?
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 workout?
Give an example of a successful project you were part of. What was your role? Why was the project successful?
Give me an example of a situation in which you managed or led a team and were able to create high morale, high productivity workgroup.
Give me an example of a time when your workgroup or department worked especially well with another workgroup or department to accomplish a goal.
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?
Have you ever been a project leader? Give examples of problems you experienced and how you reacted?
Have you ever had a role in a team project where your role was not clearly defined? How do you handle this?
Have you ever had to work with a team of people who did not work well together or did not like each other? Tell me what happened and how you reacted.
Have you ever worked in a virtual team?
If so, tell me about this experience. What were the team dynamics? Was the team successful? What would you do differently?
If not, what do you perceive to be the advantages and disadvantages of this type of team? How would you suggest creating team cohesiveness in a virtual setting?"
How would you describe yourself in terms of your ability to work as a member of a team?
Please give your best example of working cooperatively as a team member to accomplish an important goal. What was the goal or objective? To what extent did you interact with others on this project?
Some managers encourage people to work together while others encourage direct competition among their people. Tell me about the best manager you have worked for and what approach that person took and what you learned.
Some people work best as part of a group -- others prefer the role of an individual contributor. How would you describe yourself?
Tell me about a situation where political power plays affected team dynamics. How did you or could the team have overcome or avoided this situation?
Tell me about a time when you had difficulty getting others to work together on a critical problem and how you handled it.
Tell me about a time you worked in a cross functional team? Were there different challenges compared to a departmental task team?
Tell me about the most effective contribution you have made as part of a task group or special project team.
Tell me when you think it is important for a manager to use a participative style and involve work unit members in making decisions.
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?
Through what tools can a committee become more useful or productive?
What actions and support, in your experience, make a team function successfully?
What are the characteristics of a successful team?
What are the important qualities a person should have to become an effective team member?
What factors would you consider in assembling a project team?
What qualities do you feel a successful manager should have?
What qualities do you have that make you an effective team player?
What role have you typically played as a member of a team? How did you interact with other members of the team?
When did you last coordinate your work with others in a team project? What was your most successful contribution?
When groups work together, conflict often erupts. Tell me about a time that conflict occurred in one of your workgroups and what you did about it.
When is the last time you had a disagreement with a peer? How did you resolve the situation?
When working on a team project have you ever had an experience where there was strong disagreement among team members? What did you do?
When you are part of a team that is working exceptionally well, what do you think the reasons are for its success?
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?
When you have worked on a team, and your role was crucial, what was that role? In what way was this team effort different or similar to working on your own?
When your team encounters a problem, such as irritation with another co-worker, how do you reach a good resolution?
Why do you think a team of people – a sports team, work team, may not work well together?

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