• do you know people have understood what you are trying to communicate?

 

• Tell me about a time when you were successful in challenging others’ ideas. What does this say about your ability to be assertive?

 

• Describe a situation in which you had the opportunity to bring the team together to accomplish a common goal. How did you do it?

 

• How have you handled surprises or sudden crises on the job?

 

• Give me an example of a time when another person really tried your patience. Specifically, talk about a time when you were angry or frustrated.

 

• Just about anybody can give a routine, standard answer to common problems; however, the payoff is often in the development of unique solutions to common problems. Give me an example of one of your unique and novel problem solutions.

 

• How have you changed over the last few years?
• What is the riskiest decision you have made? What was the situation? What happened?
• On occasion we are confronted by dishonesty in the workplace. Tell about such an occurrence and how you handled it.
• Have you ever met resistance when implementing a new idea or policy to a work group? How did you deal with it? What happened?
• Have you ever had difficulty getting others to accept your ideas? What was your approach? Did it work?
• 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.
• Tell us about a recent job or experience that you would describe as a real learning experience? What did you learn from the job or experience?

• Tell us about a time when you were able to successfully influence another person.

• Have you ever dealt with a situation where communications were poor? Where there was a lack of cooperation? Lack of trust? How did you handle these situations?

• Describe how you prepare for a sales call for a new client.
• What was the most stressful situation you have faced? How did you deal with it?

• How many projects do you work on at once? Please describe.

Download Below :

MATH TEST Skill test for a new employee

• Once the list of job-related interview questions is created, use it consistently for all applicants for the same position.
• Try to first put the applicant at ease with introductory and welcoming remarks.
• Ask open-ended questions which focus on behavioral descriptions rather than simply “yes or no” questions (i.e. have them describe a work situation in which they handled stress well rather than just asking if they can “handle stress well”).
• Listen; don’t do all the talking.
• Stay away from questions that have more to do with personal lifestyles than job experience – phrase the question so that the answer will describe on-the-job qualities instead of personal qualities – if the question is not related to performance on the job, it should not be asked.

In almost all instances, the following topics should be avoided in an interview:

• Age – is irrelevant unless you are concerned about child labor violations under the Fair Labor Standards Act, in which case you can ask for proof that he/she is old enough to work.
• Arrest record – do not ask at all – you may ask about convictions, but even then it would have to be relevant to the position in order to lead to immediate rejection.
• Association with present employees – this information is not relevant to an applicant’s ability to perform successfully in a particular job, and the tendency to either encourage or prohibit the employment of friends or relatives of existing employees may create an adverse impact on members of protected classes.
• Bankruptcy and credit affairs – never ask about bankruptcy since it is illegal to discriminate on this basis under the Federal Bankruptcy Law – all credit inquiries must comply with the Fair Credit Reporting Act.
• Citizenship – unless required by law or regulation, you may not ask applicants if they are U.S. citizens since it is considered discriminatory under the Immigration Reform and Control Act. You may ask if candidates are authorized to work in the United States.
• Disability – the Americans with Disabilities Act makes it illegal to ask questions about an applicant’s disability or perceived disability – it is crucial to focus on the job, not on the disability.
• Driver’s license – avoid asking about it unless the job requires one since it could statistically screen out females, minorities and/or individuals with disabilities.
• Educational attainment – relevant if it is directly related to successful job performance – if not, avoid it because it could potentially screen out minorities.
• Emergency contact information – unnecessary at the application stage – and it can be discriminatory if it reveals information about the applicant’s membership in a protected class.
• English language skills – only ask if it is a requirement of the job (i.e. an English teacher) – otherwise it could be construed as national origin discrimination.
• Height and weight – can be discriminatory against females, Hispanics, and/or Asians – it is important to focus on what the job requires, not the person’s physical characteristics.
• Marital status/name changes/spouse/children – any questions relating to these issues may be construed as discriminatory, especially against women – – none are job-related.
• Organization or club membership – this might reveal protected class information and it is irrelevant (i.e. Knights of Columbus, NAACP or Diabetes Association)
• Race, color, religion, sex, or national origin – EEOC guidelines prohibit asking questions that may reveal this information; rejected applicants could have grounds for a discrimination suit if any of these questions were part of the application process.
• Union affiliation – could be considered an unfair labor practice under the National Labor Relations Act if the applicant claims he or she was not hired because of the union affiliation.
• Veteran status/military records – general questions about a person’s background in the military should only be asked if based on business necessity or job-related reasons. If requested, such information should include a statement that general or dishonorable discharge will not be an absolute bar to employment but that other factors will be taken into consideration.
• Weekend work/shift changes – unless required for the job, the applicant should not have to state whether or not they can work on the weekends – this could screen out applicants who cannot work on some weekend days because of their religious beliefs.

 

You’ll hear people talk about the high cost of turnover, but when you try to press for the actual costs they don’t really know. It seems like a mysterious thing that people talk about.

And it’s true–the costs are largely hidden. It doesn’t hit your profit and loss statement. It’s not something in the budget. There are some hard costs, like the cost to post a position on a job board, or for specialized positions, the cost of a headhunter. But, even if you recruit strictly through word of mouth and employee referrals, there are costs to losing an employee. Here are the things you’re paying for.

Lowered productivity. The person who left was doing something, right? And who is doing that job now that the position is vacant? No one? That’s lost productivity right there. What if you just farm out the tasks to other people? Chances are, the most important tasks will get done, but other things will fall by the wayside.

 

Overworked remaining staff. Can you measure this in dollars? If your employees are exempt, their paychecks remain the same, so how is this a cost? Well, as they get stretched thin, their quality of work goes down as does their satisfaction and engagement. Which means that they are more and more likely to start looking for a new job and leave. And the longer they stay in their overworked roles, the harder it will be for you to regain their goodwill even after you’ve filled the vacancy.

 

Lost knowledge. A ton of people can do what your former employee did, but they don’t have the specific knowledge she had. It’s not just about putting numbers in a spreadsheet, writing code, or selling a product. It’s about knowing the people, the traditions, the location of relevant information, what the boss likes and a million other things that come from working for a company for a long period of time. All that goes away when someone quits. And sometimes it’s more than just general company knowledge. How many of your employees have their jobs documented well enough that someone could figure it out with their documentation? Do you have people cross trained? Does one person have control of the passwords?

 

Training costs. Paid training costs are obvious. If you have to pay $5,000 for a seminar to teach your new employee your complex internal computer systems, that’s a cost noted on a spreadsheet. But, when there are no training classes to attend, there are still costs. Someone has to sit there and show him what to do. Someone has to double check work until the employee has proven himself. And that all takes the “trainer” away from her regular job. Which means you’re paying two people to do one job. Costly.

 

Interviewing costs. If you have to pay travel expenses, that’s costly. But if all your candidates are local, you still have to take the time to go through resumes, talk with numerous people, do formal interviews (which take an inordinate amount of time), talk with colleagues, and figure out who is the best employee.

 

Recruiters. I’m not talking headhunter fees (which are absolutely worth it for some positions), but rather the employee who has to find the candidates. In some business, you have dedicated HR or recruiting staff that takes care of this. They all get paid. And for smaller businesses, this task usually falls directly on the shoulders of the hiring manager–you know the one who is extra busy because he’s down one person? That costs too.

What do all these costs add up to? Well how much? Estimates run as high as 150 percent of annual salary. Much less for lower level positions, but still significant enough to make retention a high priority for your business.

This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t fire problem employees. You should–because they aren’t being productive and they encourage your good employees to quit. But, you should first try to counsel and coach and correct. And you should consider your pay scales for your good employees and give raises and bonuses when appropriate because it will cost you more to lose that good employee than the $5,000 raise you refused to give.

Turnover is expensive. Sometimes it cannot be avoided, but when it can, you should avoid it by doing the right things for your employees.

Eight Parts in a First Class Selection Process

1. Job Description
2. Sourcing Strategy to locate qualified applicants.
3. Applicant management tracking system (AMT)
4. A behaviorally structured interview
5. The Assessment of the Individual – technical and behavioral
6. The Background Check
7. Negotiation of Position – Salary and Responsibilities
8. Paperwork completed by the new hire.

 

The Process

• Job Description – Start with this if you are going to find the right person for your job.
  • Every well written job description should contain these elements: A simple summary; Minimum requirements; The specific tasks and standards for accomplishing the job; The essential behaviors required for success; Tools required; Knowledge necessary; The customers of the position.
  • Review for accuracy – Is the job description current and a reflection of the position’s responsibilities, authority, and accountability?
  • Does it fit with the organization’s strategic direction?
  • Does it accurately describe both the tasks or what they do as well as the behaviors or how they do it?
  • Prepare to use both the full Job Description (JD) as well as a Job Description Summary (JDS) in the process. You will also have to create a “job ad” description specifically designed to attract candidates to your job. Use hroutofthebox.com for the most accurate way to record your job descriptions. It also creates all the other critical components of your human system such as a learning checklist and a performance plan.   

• Sourcing Strategy – How to get applicants to come to your site.
  • Open a job posting site.
  • Create a job posting media plan.
  • Select the job boards that are most appropriate for your position.
  • Place your job ad on your site under the Talent Value Recruiting system.
  • Then the Talent Value system will automatically place your job ad in all the Job Boards selected.
• Applicant uses the applicant processing system (APS) to apply for the job.

• • You will create a series of pre-qualification questions to screen each candidate. These are the technical questions you need asked to determine if they have the specific job knowledge to do the job.
  • You will weigh each question to assist in ranking each person most qualified to least qualified based on their answers. Some questions will be automatic knock-out questions to eliminate those who are clearly not qualified for the job. When the applicant answers each technical question, the system creates a score depending on how you have weighed the importance of each job.
  • The job will be posted on the chosen job boards and the company’s web site if you choose.
  • Applicants flow into the Talent Value APS.
  • Each candidate for the job completes the application and answers the questions.
  • A rating score from 0 to 100 is given to each candidate based on their technical qualifications.
  • You can see exactly where each candidate found your job online. This is great to determine where you get your most qualified candidates in the future.
  • A resume is included for you to further qualify the candidate that has the highest scores. You save time when you only focus on the most qualified candidates for you.

• How to review a resume.
  • Resumes screened and culled out by immediate Manager.
  • Potential applicants identified.
  • Review the resume for
    • Examine for completeness –
    • Review for unique or special skills and knowledge
    • Review the format – A person sending you their resume should have a format that will allow you to quickly understand what they have done and what they can do.
    • Review the writing style – Can they speak in short sentences. Is it sloppy? Are there grammatical or spelling errors?
    • Review the key words – Look for the key items or words that are critical for a person to be successful in this job.
    • Review for gaps in employment
    • Review for patterns and inconsistencies – timelines; job hopping; significant changes in responsibilities.
  • Make notes on a separate piece of paper or on a Post-it note if there are any questions that you have. Do not write on the resume itself.
  • Schedule a telephone interview with the applicant at a mutually convenient time

 

• First qualifying behavioral assessment

• • Most managers hire for skill and fire for behavior. You have just done a preliminary review of the candidate for their technical qualifications. Now we need to examine their behavioral fit to the job and the organization.
  • The first is an on-line assessment that looks at attitudes such as: how dependable they are; how aggressive they might be; their attitudes toward drugs and alcohol; their honesty; tendency for computer abuse; and sexual harassment or how they treat others in the workplace.

• Building an organization that is based on respect and courtesy can start with your employee’s core behaviors.
• Assessments such as these generate questions that can be used in subsequent interviews at the appropriate time.

• Further Qualification of Potential Candidates – the Telephone screen.
  • Call each potential applicant personally.
  • Qualify and screen potential candidates in terms of general interest in the job.
  • Use “Telephone Interview” procedure – A

• • Ask the same questions, in the same order, to everyone you talk to on the phone. Write down what they say to each question.
  • Use a telephone interview form. Write their responses down. Do not write an editorial. Write only the facts. Listen not only to the words but how they sound and react to your questions. 
  • Do evaluate how they responded to each question as well as an overall judgment if they should continue the process at the end of the telephone discussion.

• Establish the range of Salary expectations.
• Schedules a time to conduct an in-person interview if appropriate.

• Further Qualification of Potential Candidates – the Job Fit Behavioral Assessment.

• • Establish a benchmark based on the success patterns of your most successful performers.
  • Select those individuals based on actual verifiable performance indicators; those people who are the most successful achievers in that position in your organization.

• Allow the applicant to take the appropriate job fit assessment. Contact your Talent Value advisor for full details, information, and how to select the best assessment for your position.
• Examine the distortion or validity score to determine if this candidate’s assessment is an accurate reflection of their core behaviors. It may be appropriate to discount their responses and results because of inconsistencies, inaccuracies and omissions.
• Besides the actual numerical scores, also look to the explanations around each category to see if there are particular areas that cause you to be especially pleased or concerned. It may be that they may be a good fit for this job but not your organization.

• • An assessment should be only one part of 3 parts in your consideration whether or not to hire. It is management tool to help you select the best you can. These assessments are intended to provide you with more objective data to make what is essentially a subjective judgment. Is this person the right fit for the job?

 

 

 

• Conduct a face-to-face Interview the candidate
  • The most critical aspect of a good interview is to ask exactly the same questions; in precisely the same order; to every person you interview.

• There are 3 purposes to conducting a face-to-face interview.

1. To determine if they have the technical experience and skills to do the job as required.
2. To determine if they have the behaviors that will fit into the job.
3. To determine if they will fit behaviorally into your organization.

• Use the “Applicant Interview” form when questioning the applicant. – It should be constructed from the job description based on the tasks they will be expected to perform, and the behaviors required for success.
• Ask the questions and record any pertinent comments to the right in the comment box provided. The purpose of this comment box is to record a summary of the applicant’s responses… a phrase or two to illustrate what the person said. It is not to record your impression of the comments – whether they were good or bad.
• Place a check mark in the upper right, upper left, bottom left, or bottom right of the comment box. This indicates your qualitative judgment as to the applicant’s answers compared to the answers we were looking for. Did you think the candidate answered the question well?  Use the definitions on the bottom as indicated.
  • Put a small check mark at the Top Left if the applicant’s response is a “Very High Quality Response” – You are pleased with the answer and it fits the requirements of the job extremely well.
  • Top Right is a “Reasonably Good Answer or Response”
  • Bottom Left for a “Response that leaves something to be desired.”
  • Bottom Right for a “Poor Answer” – one that you consider to be weak and not matching the requirements of the job.
  • This evaluation of a candidate’s answer is strictly a subjective judgment on your part. Did you like the way he or she responded?
• Probe applicant’s answers when appropriate.

• • Make the probe an open-ended question that forces the applicant to elaborate and clarify their response.
  • Don’t dwell on the answer but continue on to the other questions.
  •  Use the questions as a guideline for a general discussion of the topic and note how the applicant responds.

• All the questions should be asked.

• • The applicant’s response may lead you to probe further as to why they answered as they did.
  • You may wish to ask for further clarification. Do not spend too much time exploring any one question or answer. There are many questions that need to be asked and we want to gather all the information possible. Dwelling on one set of questions may not allow you the time to ask the other questions required.

 

• Turn the candidate over to the second level interviewer.
  • Have the applicant continue with a second level interview if you believe that the person should be considered.
  • The second person interviewing the applicant should be using the interviewing form as well. Have him or her ask the next set of questions in the interviewing process.

 

• Each interviewer should record in the appropriate comment space for future evaluations of the applicant.
• Examine for technical/task competence and behavioral competence; Look for match with overall culture of organization and the department in which the person will work.
• They should record the candidate’s comments in the appropriate comment box as well as their qualitative evaluation of the candidate’s responses.

• Compare all answers and comments along with the results from the appropriate technical and behavioral assessments.

• Come to a conclusion using all the tools whether to extend an offer to the candidate.

• Negotiate salary and job position. Make sure the compensation program is both internally and externally equitable.

 

• When you decide to proceed with hiring order those background checks that seem the best for you.

• You must have the applicant fill out and sign the release form.  This is a legal requirement before you can proceed. The background company will not proceed without the authorization from the applicant. These are some of the background checks you may wish to examine based on your job specific requirements and concerns.
  • Criminal History Report – you can order by state, or county or city – each request is separate and is priced separately.
  • Former Employer Contact
  • Employee Credit Check
  • Sexual Offender’s Registry
  • Driver’s License Check
  • Social Security number check
  • Workman’s Compensation history (some states prohibit you from ordering this check)
  • Education History
• Ask for a complete list of background checks that could be made.  You must be very careful about ordering these checks. Each check must have a specific job-related reason why they are ordered.

 

• Proceed with paperwork to hire. Have you completed a total HR Audit to be sure that you are compliant with all the requirements of the law?

• • I-9
  • W-4
  • Sign up for benefits.

by Alex Rudloff

Behavioral Interviewing, a style of interviewing that is increasing in popularity due to its effectiveness, can be an intimidating activity. We have assembled an exhaustive list of sample behavioral interview questions. This guide is intended to help job seekers and interviewers alike in their preparation for their upcoming interview.

Check out our guide on how to answer behavioral interview questions, and then use this list as a “study guide” of sorts to make sure you are as prepared as possible!

Complete List of Behavioral Interview Questions

Adaptability
Describe a major change that occurred in a job that you held. How did you adapt to this change?
Tell us about a situation in which you had to adjust to changes over which you had no control. How did you handle it?
Tell us about a time that you had to adapt to a difficult situation.
What do you do when priorities change quickly? Give one example of when this happened.

Ambition
Describe a project or idea that was implemented primarily because of your efforts. What was your role? What was the outcome?
Describe a time when you made a suggestion to improve the work in your organization.
Give an example of an important goal that you set in the past. Tell about your success in reaching it.
Give two examples of things you’ve done in previous jobs t hat demonstrate your willingness to work hard.
How many hours a day do you put into your work? What were your study patterns at school?
Tell us about a time when you had to go above and beyond the call of duty in order to get a job done.
Tell us about a time when a job had to be completed and you were able to focus your attention and efforts to get it done.
Tell us about a time when you were particularly effective on prioritizing tasks and completing a project on schedule.
Tell us about the last time that you undertook a project that demanded a lot of initiative.
Tell us how you keep your job knowledge current with the on going changes in the industry.
There are times when we work without close supervision or support to get the job done. Tell us about a time when you found yourself in such a situation and how things turned out.
What impact did you have in your last job?
What is the most competitive work situation you have experienced? How did you handle it? What was the result?
What is the riskiest decision you have made? What was the situation? What happened?
What kinds of challenges did you face on your last job? Give an example of how you handled them.
What projects have you started on your own recently? What prompted you to get started?
What sorts of things have you done to become better qualified for your career?
What was the best idea that you came up with in your career? How did you apply it?
When you disagree with your manager, what do you do? Give an example.
When you have a lot of work to do, how do you get it all done? Give an example?

Analytical Thinking
Describe the project or situation which best demonstrates your analytical abilities. What was your role?
Developing and using a detailed procedure is often very important in a job. Tell about a time when you needed to develop and use a detailed procedure to successfully complete a project.
Give a specific example of a time when you used good judgment and login in solving a problem.
Give me a specific example of a time when you used good judgment and logic in solving a problem.
Give me an example of when you took a risk to achieve a goal. What was the outcome?
How did you go about making the changes (step by step)? Answer in depth or detail such as “What were you thinking at that point?” or “Tell me more about meeting with that person”, or “Lead me through your decision process”.
Relate a specific instance when you found it necessary to be precise in your in order to complete the job.
Tell us about a job or setting where great precision to detail was required to complete a task. How did you handle that situation?
Tell us about a time when you had to analyze information and make a recommendation. What kind of thought process did you go through? What was your reasoning behind your decision?
Tell us about your experience in past jobs that required you to be especially alert to details while doing the task involved.

Building Relationships
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 asses your role in diffusing the situation?
It is very important to build good relationships at work but sometimes it doesn’t always work. If you can, tell about a time when you were not able to build a successful relationship with a difficult person.
Tell us about a time when you built rapport quickly with someone under difficult conditions.
What, in your opinion, are the key ingredients in guiding and maintaining successful business relationships? Give examples of how you made these work for you.

Business Systems Thinking
Describe how your position contributes to your organization’s/unit’s goals. What are the unit’s goals/mission?
Tell us about a politically complex work situation in which you worked.

Caution
Have you ever worked in a situation where the rules and guidelines were not clear? Tell me about it. How did you feel about it? How did you react?
Some people consider themselves to be “big picture people” and others are “detail oriented”. Which are you? Give an example of a time when you displayed this.
Tell us me about a situation when it was important for you to pay attention to details. How did you handle it?
Tell us me about a time when you demonstrated too much initiative?

Communication
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 you were able to strengthen a relationship by communicating effectively. What made your communication effective?
Describe a situation where you felt you had not communicated well. How did you correct the situation?
Describe a time when you were able to effectively communicate a difficult or unpleasant idea to a superior.
Describe the most significant written document, report or presentation which you had to complete.
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.
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.
Have you ever had to “sell” an idea to your co-workers or group? How did you do it? Did they “buy” it?
Have you had to “sell” an idea to your co-workers, classmates or group? How did you do it? Did they “buy” it?
How do you keep subordinates informed about information that affects their jobs?
How do you keep your manager informed about what is being done in your work area?
How do you go about explaining a complex technical problem to a person who does not understand technical jargon?What approach do you take in communicating with people?
What kinds of communication situations cause you difficulty? Give an example.
Tell us about a recent successful experience in making a speech or presentation. How did you prepare? What obstacles did you face? How did you handle them?
Tell us about a time when you and your current/previous supervisor disagreed but you still found a way to get your point across.
Tell us about a time when you had to present complex information. How did you ensure that the other person understood?
Tell us about a time when you had to use your verbal communication skills in order to get a point across that was important to you.
Tell us about a time when you were particularly effective in a talk you gave or a seminar you taught.
Tell us about an experience in which you had to speak up in order to be sure that other people knew what you thought or felt.
Tell us me about a situation when you had to speak up (be assertive) in order to get a point across that was important to you.
Tell us me about a time in which you had to use your written communication skills in order to get an important point across.
What challenges have occurred while you were coordinating work with other units, departments, and/or divisions?
What have you done to improve your verbal communication skills?
How have you persuaded people through a document you prepared?
What are the most challenging documents you have done? What kinds of proposals have your written?
What kinds of writing have you done? How do you prepare written communications?

Conflict Resolution
Describe a time when you took personal accountability for a conflict and initiated contact with the individual(s) involved to explain your actions.

Customer Orientation
How do you handle problems with customers? Give an example.
How do you go about establishing rapport with a customer? What have you done to gain their confidence? Give an example.
What have you done to improve relations with your customers?

Decision Making
Discuss an important decision you have made regarding a task or project at work. What factors influenced your decision?
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 an example of a time in which you had to be relatively quick in coming to a decision.
Give an example of a time in which you had to keep from speaking or not finish a task because you did not have enough information to come to a good decision. Give an example of a time when there was a decision to be made and procedures were not in place?
Give an example of a time when you had to be relatively quick in coming to a decision.
Give me an example of a time when you had to keep from speaking or making a decision because you did not have enough information.
How did you go about deciding what strategy to employ when dealing with a difficult customer?
How do you go about developing I information to make a decision? Give an example.
How do you involve your manager and/or others when you make a decision?
How have you gone about making important decisions?
How quickly do you make decisions? Give an example.
In a current job task, what steps do you go through to ensure your decisions are correct/effective?
Tell us about a time when you had to defend a decision you made even though other important people were opposed to your decision.
What kind of decisions do you make rapidly? What kind takes more time? Give examples.
What kinds of problems have you had coordinating technical projects? How did you solve t hem?
What was your most difficult decision in the last 6 months? What made it difficult?
When you have to make a highly technical decision, how do you go about doing it?

Delegation
Do you consider yourself a macro or micro manager? How do you delegate?
How do you make the decision to delegate work?
Tell us how you go about delegating work?
What was the biggest mistake you have had when delegating work? The biggest success?

Detail-Oriented
Describe a situation where you had the option to leave the details to others or you could take care of them yourself.
Do prefer to work with the “big picture” or the “details” of a situation? Give me an example of an experience that illustrates your preference.
Have the jobs you held in the past required little attention, moderate attention, or a great deal of attention to detail? Give me an example of a situation that illustrates this requirement.
Tell us about a difficult experience you had in working with details.
Tell us about a situation where attention to detail was either important or unimportant in accomplishing an assigned task.

Employee Development
Tell us about a training program that you have developed or enhanced.

Evaluating Alternatives
Have you ever had a situation where you had a number of alternatives to choose from? How did you go about choosing one?
How did you assemble the information?
How did you review the information? What process did you follow to reach a conclusion?
What alternatives did you develop?
What are some of the major decisions you have made over the past (6, 12, 18) months?
What kinds of decisions are most difficult for you? Describe one?
Who made the decision?

Flexibility
Have you ever had a subordinate whose performance was consistently marginal? What did you do?
How have you adjusted your style when it was not meeting the objectives and/or people were not responding correctly?
What do you do when you are faced with an obstacle to an important project? Give an example.
When you have difficulty persuading someone to your point of view, what do you do? Give an example.

Follow-up and Control
How did you keep track of delegated assignments?
How do you evaluate the productivity/effectiveness of your subordinates?
How do you get data for performance reviews?
How do you keep track of what your subordinates are doing?
What administrative paperwork do you have? Is it useful? Why/why not?

Initiative
Give me an example of when you had to go above and beyond the call of duty in order to get a job done.
Give me examples of projects/tasks you started on your own.
Give some instances in which you anticipated problems and were able to influence a new direction.
How did you get work assignments at your most recent employer?
What changes did you develop at your most recent employer?
What kinds of things really get your excited?
What sorts of projects did you generate that required you to go beyond your job description?
What sorts of things did you do at school that were beyond expectations?

Interpersonal Skills
Describe a recent unpopular decision you made and what the result was.
Describe a recent unpopular decision you made and what the result was.
Describe a situation in which you were able to effectively “read” another person and guide your actions by your understanding of their needs and values.
Tell us about the most difficult or frustrating individual that you’ve ever had to work with, and how you managed to work with them.
What have you done in past situations to contribute toward a teamwork environment?
What have you done in the past to contribute toward a teamwork environment?

Innovation
Can you think of a situation where innovation was required at work? What did you do in this situation?
Describe a situation when you demonstrated initiative and took action without waiting for direction. What was the outcome?
Describe a time when you came up with a creative solution/idea/project/report to a problem in your past work.
Describe something that you have implemented at work. What were the steps used to implement this?
Describe the most creative work-related project which you have carried out.
Give me an example of when you took a risk to achieve a goal. What was the outcome?
Sometimes it is essential that we break out of the routine, standardized way of doing things in order to complete the task. Give an example of when you were able to successfully develop such a new approach.
Tell us about a problem that you solved in a unique or unusual way. What was the outcome? Were you satisfied with it?
Tell us about a suggestion you made to improve the way job processes/operations worked. What was the result?
There are many jobs in which well-established methods are typically followed. Give a specific example of a time when you tried some other method to do the job.
There are many jobs that require creative or innovative thinking. Give an example of when you had such a job and how you handled it.
What have been some of your most creative ideas?
What innovative procedures have you developed? How did you develop them? Who was involved? Where did the ideas come from?
What new or unusual ideas have you developed on your job? How did you develop them? What was the result? Did you implement them?
When was the last time that you thought “outside of the box” and how did you do it?

Integrity
Describe a time when you were asked to keep information confidential.
Give examples of how you have acted with integrity in your job/work relationship.
If you can, tell about a time when your trustworthiness was challenged. How did you react/respond?
On occasion we are confronted by dishonesty in the workplace. Tell about such an occurrence and how you handled it.
Tell us about a specific time when you had to handle a tough problem which challenged fairness or ethnical issues.
Trust requires personal accountability. Can you tell about a time when you chose to trust someone? What was the outcome?

Introducing Change
Have you ever had to introduce a policy change to your work group? How did you do it?
Have you ever met resistance when implementing a new idea or policy to a work group? How did you deal with it? What happened?
When is the last time you had to introduce a new idea or procedure to people on this job? How did you do it?

Leadership
Give an example of a time in which you felt you were able to build motivation in your co-workers or subordinates at work.
Give an example of your ability to build motivation in your co-workers, classmates, and even if on a volunteer committee.
Have you ever had difficulty getting others to accept your ideas? What was your approach? Did it work?
Have you ever been a member of a group where two of the members did not work well together? What did you do to get them to do so?
What is the toughest group that you have had to get cooperation from?
What is the toughest group that you have had to get cooperation from? Describe how you handled it. What was the outcome?

Listening
Give an example of a time when you made a mistake because you did not listen well to what someone had to say.
How often do you have to rely on information you have gathered from others when talking to them? What kinds of problems have you had? What happened?
What do you do to show people that you are listing to them?
When is listening important on your job? When is listening difficult?

Motivating Others
Have you ever had a subordinate whose work was always marginal? How did you deal with that person? What happened?
How do you deal with people whose work exceeds your expectations?
How do you get subordinates to produce at a high level? Give an example.
How do you get subordinates to work at their peak potential? Give an example.
How do you manage cross-functional teams?

Motivation
Describe a situation when you were able to have a positive influence on the actions of others.
Give an example of a time when you went above and beyond the call of duty.
Give me an example of a time when you went above and beyond the call of duty.
How would you define “success” for someone in your chosen career?
Tell us me about an important goal that you set in the past. Were you successful? Why?

Negotiating
Describe the most challenging negotiation in which you were involved. What did you do? What were the results for you? What were the results for the other party?
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 did you prepare for it?
How did you present your position?
How did you resolve it?
Tell us about the last time you had to negotiate with someone.
What was the most difficult part?

Organizational
Describe a time when you had to make a difficult choice between your personal and professional life.
Give me an example of a project that best describes your organizational skills.
How do you decide what gets top priority when scheduling your time?
What do you do when your schedule is suddenly interrupted? Give an example.

Performance Management
Give an example of a time when you helped a staff member accept change and make the necessary adjustments to move forward. What were the change/transition skills that you used.
Give an example of how you have been successful at empowering either a person or a group of people into accomplishing a task.
How do you handle a subordinate whose work is not up to expectations?
How do you coach a subordinate to develop a new skill?
How do you handle performance reviews? Tell me about a difficult one.
How often do you discuss a subordinate’s performance with him/her? Give an example.
Tell us about a specific development plan that you created and carried out with one or more of your employees. What was the specific situation? What were the components of the development plan? What was the outcome?
Tell us about a time when you had to take disciplinary action with someone you supervised.
Tell us about a time when you had to tell a staff member that you were dissatisfied with his or her work.
Tell us about a time when you had to use your authority to get something done. Where there any negative consequences?
There are times when people need extra help. Give an example of when you were able to provide that support to a person with whom you worked.
What have you done to develop the skills of your staff?
When do you give positive feedback to people? Tell me about the last time you did. Give an example of how you handle the need for constructive criticism with a subordinate or peer.

Personal Effectiveness
Give an example of a situation where others were intense but you were able to maintain your composure.
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.
Keeping others informed of your progress/actions helps them fell comfortable. Tell your methods for keeping your supervisor advised of the status on projects.
Tell us about a recent job or experience that you would describe as a real learning experience? What did you learn from the job or experience?
Tell us about a time when you took responsibility for an error and were held personally accountable.
Tell us about a time when your supervisor criticized your work. How did you respond?
Tell us about some demanding situations in which you managed to remain calm and composed.
There are times when we are placed under extreme pressure on the job. Tell about a time when you were under such pressure and how you handled it.
What have you done to further your own professional development in the past 5 years.
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?

Persuasion
Describe a situation in which you were able to positively influence the actions of others in a desired direction.
Describe a situation where you were able to use persuasion to successfully convince someone to see things your way.
Describe a time when you were able to convince a skeptical or resistant customer to purchase a project or utilize your services.
Have you ever had to persuade a group to accept a proposal or idea? How did you go about doing it? What was the result?
Have you ever had to persuade a peer or manager to accept an idea that you knew they would not like? Describe the resistance you met and how you overcame it.
How do you get a peer or colleague to accept one of your ideas?
In selling an idea, it is sometimes useful to use metaphors, analogies, or stories to make your point. Give a recent example of when you were able to successfully do that.
Tell us about a time when you had to convince someone in authority about your ideas. How did it work out?
Tell us about a time when you used facts and reason to persuade someone to accept your recommendation.
Tell us about a time when you used your leadership ability to gain support for what initially had strong opposition.
Tell us about a time when you were able to successfully influence another person.

Planning and Organization
Describe how you develop a project team’s goals and project plan?
How do you schedule your time? Set priorities? How do you handle doing twenty things at once?
What do you do when your time schedule or project plan is upset by unforeseen circumstances? Give an example.
What have you done in order to be effective with your organization and planning?

Presentation
How do you prepare for a presentation to a group of technical experts in your field?
How would you describe your presentation style?
Tell us about the most effective presentation you have made. What was the topic? What made it difficult? How did you handle it?
What kinds of oral presentations have you made? How did you prepare for them? What challenges did you have?

Problem Solving
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?
Give me an example of a situation where you had difficulties with a team member. What, if anything, did you do to resolve the difficulties?

Problems Solving
Have you ever been caught unaware by a problem or obstacles that you had not foreseen? What happened?
Tell us about a time when you did something completely different from the plan and/or assignment. Why? What happened?
What are some of the problems you have faced; such as between business development and project leaders, between one department and another, between you and your peers? How did you recognize that they were there?
When was the last time something came up in a meeting that was not covered in the plan? What did you do? What were the results of your judgment?

Problem Resolution
Describe a situation where you had a conflict with another individual, and how you dealt with it. What was the outcome? How do you feel about it?
Describe a time in which you were faced with problems or stresses which tested your coping skills. What did you do?
Describe a time when you facilitated a creative solution to a problem between two employees.
Give a specific example of a time when you used good judgment and logic in solving a problem.
Give an example of a problem which you faced on any job that you have had and tell how you went about solving it.
Give an example of when you “went to the source” to address a conflict. Do you feel trust levels were improved as a result?
Problems occur in almost all work relationships. Describe a time when you had to cope with the resentment or hostility of a subordinate or co-worker.
Some problems require developing a unique approach. Tell about a time when you were able to develop a different problem-solving approach.
Sometimes the only way to resolve a defense or conflict is through negotiation and compromise. Tell about a time when you were able to resolve a difficult situation by finding some common ground.
Sometimes we need to remain calm on the outside when we are really upset on the inside. Give an example of a time that this happened to you.
Tell us about a recent success you had with an especially difficult employee/co-worker.
Tell us about a situation in which you had to separate the person from the issue when working to resolve issues.
Tell us about a time when you identified a potential problem and resolved the situation before it became serious.
There is more than one way to solve a problem. Give an example from your recent work experience that would illustrate this.

Project Management
Tell us about a time when you influenced the outcome of a project by taking a leadership role.
Using a specific example of a project, tell how you kept those involved informed of the progress.

Relate Well
Describe a situation where you had to use conflict management skills.
Describe a situation where you had to use confrontation skills.
Give me an example of a time when a company policy or action hurt people. What, if anything, did you do to mitigate the negative consequences to people?
How do you typically deal with conflict? Can you give me an example?
Tell us about a time when you were forced to make an unpopular decision.
What would your co-workers (or staff) stay is the most frustrating thing about your communications with them?

Removing Obstacles
Have you ever dealt with a situation where communications were poor? Where there was a lack of cooperation? Lack of trust? How did you handle these situations?
What do you do when a subordinate comes to you with a challenge?
What have you done to help your subordinates to be more productive?
What have you done to make sure that your subordinates can be productive? Give an example.

Resolving Conflict
Have you ever been in a situation where you had to settle an argument between two friends (or people you knew)? What did you do? What was the result?
Have you ever had to settle conflict between two people on the job? What was the situation and what did you do?
Tell us about a time when you had to help two peers settle a dispute. How did you go about identifying the issues? What did you do? What was the result?

Resource Management
Tell us about a time when you organized or planned an event that was very successful.

Sales
Describe how you prepare for a sales call for a new client.
How do you go about making cold calls?
How have your sales skills improved over the past three years.
Tell us about your most difficult sales experience.
Tell us about your sales volume over the past three years. What have you done to influence it?

Scheduling
Describe the most difficult scheduling problem you have faced.
How did you assign priorities to jobs?
How did you go about making job assignments?
When all have been over-loaded, how do your people meet job assignments?

Self Assessment
Can you recall a time when you were less than pleased with your performance?
Describe a situation in which you were able to use persuasion to successfully convince someone to see things your way.
Give me a specific occasion in which you conformed to a policy with which you did not agree.
Give me an example of an important goal that you h ad set in the past and tell me about your success in reaching it.
If there were one area you’ve always wanted to improve upon, what would that be?
In what ways are you trying to improve yourself?
Tell us about a time when you had to go above and beyond the call of duty in order to get a job done.
What do you consider to be your professional strengths? Give me a specific example using this attribute in the workplace.
What goal have you set for yourself that you have successfully achieved?
What was the most useful criticism you ever received?

Selecting and Developing People
How do you coach an employee in completing a new assignment?
What have you done to develop your subordinates? Give an example.
What have you done to improve the skills of your subordinates?
What was your biggest mistake in hiring someone? What happened? How did you deal with the situation?
What was your biggest success in hiring someone? What did you do?

Setting Goals
Did you have a strategic plan? How was it developed? How did you communicate it to the rest of your staff?
How do you communicate goals to subordinates? Give an example.
How do you involve people in developing your unit’s goals? Give an example.
What company plans have you developed? Which ones have you reached? How did you reach them? Which have you missed? Why did you miss them?
What goals did you miss? Why did you miss them?
What goals have you met? What did you do to meet them?
What were your annual goals at your most current employer? How did you develop these goals?
What were your long-range plans at your most recent employer? What was our role in developing them?

Setting Performance Standards
How do you go about setting goals with subordinates? How do you involve them in this process?
How do you let subordinates know what you expect of them?
What performance standards do you have for your unit? How have you communicated them to your subordinates?

Setting Priorities
Have you ever been overloaded with work? How do you keep track of work so that it gets done on time?
How do you manage your time?
How do you schedule your time?
When given an important assignment, how do you approach it?

Sound Judgment
Describe a situation when you had to exercise a significant amount of self-control.
Give me an example of a time in which you had to be relatively quick in coming to a decision.
Give me an example of when you were able to meet the personal and professional demands in your life yet still maintained a healthy balance.
Give me an example of when you were responsible for an error or mistake. What was the outcome? What, if anything, would you do differently?
If you were interviewing for this position what would you be looking for in the applicants?
We work with a great deal of confidential information. Describe how you would have handled sensitive information in a past work experience. What strategies would you utilize to maintain confidentiality when pressured by others?
When have you had to produce results without sufficient guidelines? Give an example.

Strategic Planning
Describe what steps/methods you have used to define/identify a vision for your unit/position.
How do you see your job relating to the overall goals of the organization?
In your current or former position, what were your long and short-term goals?
Tell us about a time when you anticipated the future and made changes to current responsibilities/operations to meet future needs.

Stress Management
How did you react when faced with constant time pressure? Give an example.
People react differently when job demands are constantly changing; how do you react?
What kind of events cause you stress on the job?
What was the most stressful situation you have faced? How did you deal with it?

Teamwork
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’ve been involved with. What were your roles?
Describe your leadership style and give an example of a situation when you successfully led a group.
Give an example of how you have been successful at empowering a group of people in accomplishing a task.
Give an example of how you worked effectively with people to accomplish an important result.
Have you ever been a project leader? Give examples of problems you experienced and how you reacted.
Have you ever been in a position where you had to lead a group of peers? How did you handle it?
Have you ever participated in a task group? What was your role? How did you contribute?
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 people work best as part of a group – others prefer the role of individual contributor. How would you describe yourself? Give an example of a situation where you felt you were most effective.
Tell us about a time that you had to work on a team that did not get along. What happened? What role did you take? What was the result?
Tell us about a work experience where you had to work closely with others. How did it go? How did you overcome any difficulties?
Tell us about the most difficult challenge you faced in trying to work cooperatively with someone who did not share the same ideas? What was your role in achieving the work objective?
Tell us about the most difficult situation you have had when leading a team. What happened and what did you do? Was it successful? Emphasize the “single” most important thing you did?
Tell us about the most effective contribution you have made as part of a task group or special project team.
Think about the times you have been a team leader. What could you have done to be more effective?
What is the difficult part of being a member, not leader, of a team? How did you handle this?
What role have you typically played as a member of a team? How did you interact with other members of the team?
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?

Time Management Schedule
Describe a situation that required you to do a number of things at the same time. How did you handle it? What was the result?
How do you determine priorities in scheduling your time? Give an example.
How do you typically plan your day to manage your time effectively?
Of your current assignments, which do you consider to have required the greatest amount of effort with regard to planning/organization? How have you accomplished this assignment? How would you asses your effectiveness?

Toughness
On many occasions, managers have to make tough decisions. What was the most difficult one you have had to make?
Tell us about setbacks you have faced. How did you deal with them?
What has been your major work related disappointment? What happened and what did you do?
What is the most competitive situation you have experienced? How did you handle it? What was the result?
What was your major disappointment?

Variety
How many projects do you work on at once? Please describe.
When was the last time you made a key decision on the spur of the moment? What was the reason and result?
When was the last time you were in a crises? What was the situation? How did you react?
Which of your jobs had the most rapid change? How did you feel about it?

Values Diversity
Give a specific example of how you have helped create an environment where differences are valued, encouraged and supported.
Tell us about a time that you successfully adapted to a culturally different environment.
Tell us about a time when you had to adapt to a wide variety of people by accepting/understanding their perspective.
Tell us about a time when you made an intentional effort to get to know someone from another culture.
What have you done to further your knowledge/understanding about diversity? How have you demonstrated your learning?
What have you done to support diversity in your unit?
What measures have you taken to make someone feel comfortable in an environment that was obviously uncomfortable with his or her presence?

(source: Kansas Department of Administration)

Download Below:

Behaviorally Structured Interviewing GENERAL FORM

• Describe the boss who would get the very best from you.
  • This allows you to hear a little bit about the work environment they enjoy. An easy question to start with that does not put stress on the candidate.
• What do you do when you are working as hard as you can, and someone gives you one more thing to do? How much work is too much?
  • Take a deep breath so you can re-focus on the task(s) at hand; prioritize; ask for help or guidance from management; keep working; just do it; stay calm; say” no” – sometimes this is OK (as long as it is not abused). OR do they….
  • Get irritated; complain about the boss or the people giving the work; make excuses – What are the criteria they use to make these decisions? What do they do when it really gets hard? 
• Tell me about the most difficult or challenging decision you made recently?

Look for common sense approach to issues, anticipating consequences of their actions.

• • Problem solving; Decisiveness; Assertiveness – What the was quality of the difficult decision? How did the candidate handle the situation?
  • How well did they answer this question? Did they stumble and hesitate? Or did they provide a commonsense answer that fits with the kind of problems they will face on the job. 
• Give me an example of a time when another person really tried your patience? What is your office pet peeve?
  • You are looking for evidence of self-control; understanding and tolerance; placing a positive “spin” on things. OR did they get angry; give up; run away; place blame too much on others or too much on oneself.
  • Every one has a pet peeve. What you are trying to find out is if the pet peeve is going to be a real problem for you to manage or just a minor thing. Will they fit into your organization or do you sense an issue that you will have to deal with in the future? 
• What is one thing that we should know about you that would help us in placing you in your ideal job?
  • You are looking for their attitudes towards work; Do they want a challenge? Do they like to keep busy? Do they like to work outside and independent? Do they like things safe and quiet? Do they want a job with no stress or issues?
  • An easy question to end with as it allows the candidate to tell you what they want out of a job. Can you provide that kind of a job for them? Then tell them this is the job for them.

Download Below :

a TELEPHONE Interview FORM