abilitytolearn

Interview Questions

Ability to Learn

 What tricks or techniques have you learned to make school or a job easier, or to make yourself more effective? How did you learn that?

 Describe an example of how you acquired a technical skill and converted it into practical application.

 Give me an example of when your work was criticized.

 Tell me about a time you made a bad decision and how you corrected it.

Adaptability

 How was your transition from college to the world of work and then back to graduate school? Did you face and particular problems?

 Tell of some situations in which you have had to adjust quickly to changes over which you had no control. What was the impact of the change on you?

Analysis

 What steps do you follow to study a problem and fix it before it becomes a major problem. Give an example(s) of how you have done this.

 We can sometimes identify a small problem and fix it before it becomes a major problem. Give and example(s) of how you have done this.

 Describe a situation in which you had to collect information by asking many questions of several people.

 Describe a situation where you had to seek out relevant information, define key issues, and decide on which steps to take to get desired results.

 Describe an instance where you made effective use of facts to secure the agreement of others.

Communication

 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 has been your experience in giving presentations to small and large groups? What has been your most successful experience in speech making? Company/Industry Knowledge

 Who else are you interviewing with? What differences do you see between these companies?

 Why did you sign up for this interview?

 What would you do for us? What do you have to offer? (requires you to know what they need!)

 What do you like best about our company? What would you change and how?

 Who is our competition? How do you see them affecting our company direction?

 Where do you see this industry 5 - 10 years from now?

 What kind of research did you do for this interview? Creativity

 Describe a creative/innovative idea that you produced which made a significant contribution to the success of an activity or project.

 Give me an example that called for you to develop your own approach to a situation - you had to “think outside the box”.

 Give me an example of when you solved a problem in a creative way. Interview Questions

Customer Service Orientation

 What was the most difficult customer service experience that you have ever had to handle - perhaps an angry or irate customer? Be specific and tell what you did and what was the outcome. Decision Making

 How will you know when you have found the right opportunity? What criteria will you use?

 Why did you choose The Kellogg School?

 How did you select your undergraduate school?

 Tell me why you made the job/company transitions you have since college.

 What is the most difficult decision you have ever made?

Initiative

 Summarize a situation where you took the initiative to get others going on an important issue, and played a leading role to achieve the results wanted.

 Describe some projects or ideas (not necessarily your own) that were implemented, or carried out successfully primarily because of your efforts.

 Describe a situation that required a number of things to be done at the same time. How did you handle it? What was the result?

 Have you found any ways to make school or a job easier or more rewarding?

 What have you been doing to reach your career goals?

Leadership  Give me an example of when you led a group.

 What do you have to offer to a group?

 How do you lead your group mates (if you do).

 What is your leadership style? (What are the pros and cons of that style)

 How do you persuade someone to accept your ideas - particularly when you have no direct authority over them?

Management (Sensitivity)

 Give an example of when you had to work with someone who was difficult to get along with. Why was this person difficult? How did you handle this person?

 Describe a situation where you found yourself dealing with someone who didn’t like you. How did you handle it?

 In a supervisory or group leader role, have you ever had to discipline or counsel an employee or group member? What was the nature of the discipline? What steps did you take? How did it make you feel? How did you prepare yourself?

 How did you monitor the performance of people in your job at….

Motivation

 Why do you want to work for ABC Corporation?  Give examples of your experiences at school or in a job that were satisfying. Give examples of your experiences that were dissatisfying?