CONCEPTUAL THINKING

Identifying key issues, seeing relationships and drawing elements together into broad coherent frameworks.

1 Have you ever recognised a problem before your boss or others in the organisation? Explain.

2 What problems are you currently working on that came as a surprise to you? How much advance notice
did you have on the problems? Why did the __________________ problem come as such a surprise?

3 How do you stay attuned to potential problems? Explain.

4 What sources of information do you use to keep aware of problems within your department?

5 Describe any significant projects, ideas, etc. you have conceived within the past year. How did you know
they were needed and would work? Were they used? Did they work?

6 If we're lucky, we can sometimes identify a small problem and fix it before it becomes a major problem.
Can you give me an example of when you've been able to identify small problems before they become
big?

7 At one time or another, we have all though we had successfully handled a problem only to find we really
had affected only a symptom of a larger problem. Can you give me an example of a time when you did
this?
STRATEGIC THINKING
Taking the longer term into consideration and developing broad scale objectives.

1 What are some of the toughest financial analysis problems you have faced on the job?

2 Describe a reorganisation that has significantly affected you. Describe your part in it.

3 Did you develop your unit's operating plans or goals? How?

4 Do you have long and short term plans for your department? In writing? How do you use them?

5 What organisational changes have you made in the last year? Why?
INNOVATIVENESS
Generating original and imaginative ideas and solutions to problems.

1 What are some of the most imaginative or innovative things you have done in your present position?

2 How much opportunity for innovation and imagination is there in your present position? Why?

3 Can you think of a situation you had to handle in which old solutions didn't work? What did you do to
handle it?

4 What kinds of problems have people recently called on you to solve? Tell me about your contribution(s)
to solving the problem(s).

5 Can you think of a change in your organisation which your peers would recognise as resulting principally
from an innovation you developed?

6 What do you do differently than your predecessors in the position?

7 Describe the last problem in your organisation that was solved in a highly imaginative way. What part did
you play?

8 When did you last abandon traditional approaches to meet goals?

9 How did you go about considering alternatives outside the realm of your specific discipline?

10 Describe a time when you formulated a unique approach to a problem or design objective.

11 Describe a time when you resolved a problem plagued with a history of failed solutions.

12 Tell me about a time when you generated unusually or different (but effective) solutions to a problem or
opportunity.

13 Tell me about a time when you gave up a "tried and true" method in favour of a new approach.
ANALYTICAL THINKING
Logically breaking problems down into their essential elements; carrying out diagnosis and developing solutions.

1 What steps did you take after you identified a certain problem?

2 Describe the biggest problems you have faced in the past 6 months. How did you handle them?

3 What steps do you follow to study a problem before making any decisions? Examples.

4 Tell me about the most important decisions you have made which were based largely on data you got by
asking questions.

5 Walk me through a situation in which you had to get information by asking a lot of questions of several
people.

6 Describe some tough or tricky situations in which you had to talk to people to get information you needed
to make an important decision or recommendation.

7 What are the biggest mistakes you have made in analysing financial data? How did you discover them?

8 What were the toughest decisions you have to make while at _____________ Company. Tell me about
them. What alternatives did you consider?

9 How difficult is it to establish priorities in your job?

10 Describe some recent work-related problems and the action you took to solve them.
ABILITY TO LEARN
Quickly understanding and applying information, concepts and strategies.

1 How did you learn the technical aspects of your job at________? How long did it take you?

2 How long were you at _________________ before you felt at ease with their products and services?

3 What did you have to learn to be effective at __________________? How long did it take you? Which
parts took the most time? Why? Which parts were the hardest?

4 What technical courses have you taken? What did you learn? How hard were the courses?

5 What formal training did you receive in your job at __________________? How did you do?

6 Did you take any courses in _____________________ while in College? What grades did you get? In
which ones did you have to work the hardest?

7 Tell me about your grades in College.

8 What tricks or techniques have you learned to make your job easier or yourself more effective? How did
you learn that?

9 What courses in college gave you the most difficulty/easiest? Why?

10 What is your experience with ____________? Examples.

11 What type of equipment can't you operate? Why?

12 What type of equipment can't you repair?

13 What project at ____________________ gave you the most difficulty? Whey?

14
Have you ever felt like you were over your head on a project? Why? What did you do? What happened?

15 Have you ever had to get help from someone else on ________________? Why? When? What
happened?

16 Was there any part of your job at _______________ that came easier to you than to other people? How
did you learn it?

17 What was the easiest task you have to learn on your job at __________ that gave other people trouble?
SELF DEVELOPMENT ORIENTATION
Taking continuous action to improve personal capacity.

1 What skill development courses have you taken recently? Why did you decide to take them?

2 What are your career goals in the next five years? What have you done to accomplish them?

3 What are some ways you have found useful in identifying your needs and potentials?

4 How do you keep informed about important changes in your field?

5 Where have you recently read and received useful, job-related information from?

6 What specific things have you done towards self development?

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ADAPTABILITY
Maintaining effectiveness in different situations, environments and cultures.

1 What kinds of problems did you run into switching from _____________________ department to
__________________ department?

2 Going from the ____________________ position to the _________________________ position must

have been difficult. What problems arose and how did you take care of them?

3 How many times have you moved? What move caused you the most difficulty and why?

4 I see that you have moved a number of times. What are the most difficult problems you have faced in
moving?

5 How is your present job affected by factors beyond your control? How do you deal with this? Give
examples.

6 How often is your schedule upset by unforseen circumstances? Give me a recent example. What do you
do then?

7 How do you cope with disruptions to your planned schedule? Give me a recent example.

8 What kinds of pressure do you feel in your job? Tell me about them. How have you dealt with them.

9 Tell me about a situation when you had to handle a number of pressing assignments simultaneously.
What action did you take?

10 Describe a situation in which you had to handle several tasks at once. How did you adapt to the
situation?

11 What are the greatest pressure situations that you have been under recently? How did you adapt to the
situation?

12 What kinds of pressure have you felt during your studies? Tell me about them. How do you deal with
them?

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FLEXIBILITY
Ability to alter behaviour and opinions in the light of new information or changing situations.

1 How have you gotten around obstacles that prevented you from completing projects? Describe the
obstacle and what you did to get around it.

2 Describe a situation in which your first attempt to sell an idea to your (boss, subordinate, etc) failed. Did
you try again? What approach did you use the second (third, fourth) time?

3 Describe a situation in which your initial attempt to gain someone's support or co-operation failed. Did
you try again? What approach did you use the second (third, fourth) time?

4 Give some examples of occasions when you had to approach several individuals for support, co-
operation, etc. whom you considered quite different from one another.

5 Let's talk about your handling of your best employee and your worst employee. Do you manage them
differently? How so?

6 Tell me about some situations in which you have had to adjust quickly to changes in organisational
priorities. What was the impact of the change on you?

7 Which bosses have you worked most effectively for and why?

8 Which bosses have been the hardest to work for? Why was that?

9 Tell me about some situations on your job at ________________ where you had to abruptly change what
you were doing. What did you do? How did it affect you?

10 Describe your most satisfying (disappointing) experience in attempting to overcome resistance from your
subordinates or peers.
POSITIVE SELF IMAGE
Believing in oneself.

1 In which of your previous jobs were you most effective? What were your strengths and weaknesses?
What did you do to overcome your weaknesses?

2 We've all experienced disappointment in our lives. Think of a situation where you were disappointed and
tell me what you did to handle that disappointment?

3 Not everyone enjoys hearing criticism or objections. Think of a time when someone criticised you and tell
me how you reacted?

4 Have you ever had to help someone else on a project? Why? When? What happened?

5 We all face challenges. I'd like you to think of the biggest challenge where you succeeded, and the
biggest challenge you failed to meet. Tell me about them.

6 Describe the most important event in your education and/or work experience.

7 Describe your most satisfying work experience.

8 What are your career objectives and what actions have you taken towards achieving them?

9 In what areas do you consider yourself proficient? And in what areas do you feel that you still need some
development? Why?

10 What do you consider to be the biggest contribution you made to your organisation? Why?

11
Have you ever felt like you were over your head on a project? Why? What did you do? What happened?

12 Can you think of a project or idea that was implemented or carried out successfully, primarily because of
your efforts?

13 What do you do differently than other managers? Why? Examples.

14 Are there any projects you generated on your own? Explain. What prompted you to begin them?

15
What has been your biggest achievement at ________________? What steps did you take to achieve it?

16
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SELF CONTROL
Continuing to perform effectively in stressful and difficult circumstances.

1 Give me some examples of when your ideas were strongly opposed in a discussion. How did you react?

2 What conditions at _________________________ are most frustrating to you? Why?

3 Describe the times in the past year that you have been most upset with your performance.

4 Describe the times in the pat year that you have been most upset with someone else.

5 What is the typical length of your business trips? It's natural for someone to lose their "edge" at the end
of a lengthy trip. What was the last time you "lost your edge"? Example.

6 Have you ever had a feeling of frustration and impatience when dealing with customers (your boss, or
peers)? What was the situation?

7 Have you ever had a feeling of frustration and impatience when dealing with others? What was the
situation?

8 Were there any time pressures on you in your job at ________________? Tell me about them. How did
you deal with them?

9 What were some of your biggest disappointments at __________________? How did you cope with
them?

10 When was the last time that the pressure really got to you?

11 How did you catch up on an accumulated backlog of work after a vacation or conference? Give me some
examples.

12 How many hours of overtime have you worked to meet a recent deadline?

13 How many hours a day do you put in your work (studies)? How do you cope with work when you are
fatigues?

14 Describe some time in your work at _____________ when you felt most stressed. What caused this?

15 In your work at ________________ describe the amount of ambiguity you encounter(ed) and what you
have/had to do to cope with it.

16 Which kinds of job activities do you find most frustrating? How do you keep things in perspective?
17 We all have to deal with complaints. Think of a situation where you received a complaint from higher
management (or a customer). What was the situation and how did you handle it?

18 Sometimes job priorities can change frequently and without notice. Has this ever happened to you?
What was the situation? How did you handle the change?

19 When was the last time your boss criticised the way you handled a situation? Why?
TENACITY
Repeated and enduring efforts to overcome obstacles and/or to complete tasks.

1 What are some big obstacles you had to overcome to get where you are today? How did you overcome
them?

2 Describe an experience in which you were too persistent. What happened? How could you have
improved the outcome?

3 Have you ever submitted good ideas to your superior and he or she did not take action on them? What
did you do?

4 Can you relate some experiences in which you felt you gained something because you persisted for a
length of time?

5 Describe some situations in which you gave your all, but failed.

6 Describe some situations in which you gave your all and succeeded.

7 Have you ever taken work home in order to complete a project? What was the situation?

8 Many of us have set goals for ourselves. Which of your goals gave you the most trouble? What did you
do about them?

9 Many of us have set goals for ourselves. Which of your goals gave you the most trouble? What did you
do about them?

10
What were the biggest problems you encountered while in your previous job? How did you handle them?

11 Have you ever continued to present information to upper management or customers to gain acceptance
of a new product, idea, or service?

12 How have you gotten around obstacles that prevented you from completing projects? Describe the
obstacle and what you did to get around it.

13 What are some of the best ideas you ever presented to a superior or peer? What was your approach?

14 What are some of the best ideas you tried but failed to sell to a superior or peer? What was your
approach? How did you attempt to overcome their resistance?
THOROUGHNESS
Seeking completeness and accuracy.

1 In your position, how do you define doing a good job? Are you doing a good job? How do you know?
Examples.

2 What are your standards of success in your job? What have you done to meet these standards?

3 Tell me about some times when you weren't very pleased with your performance. What did you do about
it?

4 How have you differed from your peers in the evaluation of your performance? How did you handle the
situation?

5 How have you differed from your supervisor in the evaluation of your performance? Example.

6 Describe some times when your supervisor either formally or informally talked with you about your
performance? Explain.

7 Bosses are not always completely satisfied with the way we do certain things or complete certain
projects. Can you give me some examples of when this happened to you?

8 Compare and contrast the times when you did work which was above the standard and times your work
was below standard.

9 What do you consider the most important contributions your department has made to the organisation?
What was your role? Give examples.

10 How often have you missed deadlines? What were the causes of each?

11 How many days of work have you missed in the past year? The year before? Why? What is your goal
for absenteeism?

12 When judging the performance of your subordinates, what factors are most important to you? Give
examples.

13 How do you control your department's expense budget? What action do you take when expenses
exceed it? Give example.

14 Are you satisfied with your department's performance? Why or why not? What action(s) are you taking
(if any)?

15 Sometimes we are provided incomplete information. Think of a situation where you needed additional
information. What did you do?

16 We all have different ways of preparing for presentations. Think of a specific event or presentation and
tell me how you prepared for it.

17 What kind of research, if any, do you do to prepare for business strategy?

18
Tell me about a situation when you checked on your subordinates to ensure a project was done properly.

19 Tell me about a situation where you had to keep track of many small details.

20 Tell me about a situation where you felt the need to ensure data was correct.
INTERPERSONAL AWARENESS
Drawing inferences about and maintaining awareness of others' interests, moods and concerns.

1 At times everyone has problems at work. Tell me about a situation when you listened to the personal or
work problems of a co-worker.

2 Have you ever anticipated others' reactions to problems? What was the situation? What did you do and
what was the result?

3 We often have to discipline subordinates. Tell me about a situation where you had to discipline a
subordinate. What were the circumstances? How did you take the feelings of the subordinate into
consideration?

4 Have you perceived any problems you caused others? Tell me about the situation.

5 What cues do you look for in trying to read a group or individual? Give me an example of when you did
this in a critical situation.
INDEPENDENCE
Holds to own convictions in the face of resistance (anticipated or actual)

1 Describe a time when a project you had worked hard on was rejected or failed? What did you do?

2 Have you ever had to deal with resistance? What was the situation and how did you handle it?

3 When was the last time you disagreed with a new policy or procedure instituted by management? Why?
What did you do?

4 Walk me through a situation in which you followed your convictions even though others disagreed with
your decision. Explain.

5 Tell me about a new policy or idea you recently implemented which was considerably different from the
standard procedure. What kind of resistance, if any, di you encounter? How did you get your employees
(peers) to go along with it?

6 Describe a situation in which you had to arrive at a compromise or guide others to compromise.

7 Tell me about a situation where you disagreed with your colleagues, boss or senior managers.

8 Have you ever taken a stand on a potentially unpopular issue? What was the issue? What stand did you
take? What was the result?

9 Tell me about a time when you performed work procedures differently from those recommended by
procedural manual or supervisor.

10 Tell me about a situation where you openly questioned or tested the opinions or positions of others.

11 Tell me about a time when you began work on a project without specific instructions from upper
management.

12 Tell me about a situation where you expressed your view even when you knew others would disagree
with you.

13 Have you ever questioned the rationale for a process or procedure in effect? What was the situation and
what did you do?
RATIONAL PERSUASION
Building persuasive arguments based on logic, data and the objective merits of the situation.

1 What are some of the best ideas you have ever sold to a superior or peer? What was your approach?

2 What are some of the best ideas you tried, but failed, to sell to a superior or peer? What was your
approach? Why did it fail?

3 Describe one of your experiences in attempting to gain top management's support for an idea or
proposal. What was the situation and how did it turn out?

4 Tell me about a time when you were really challenged while trying to get others to see something from
your point of view? Why was it challenging? How did you handle it?

5 Have you ever had to build a case for an argument before making the argument?

6 When have you had to rely heavily on facts in order to gain agreement for your opinion?

7 What are some of the most difficult attempts at persuasion you have experienced? What were the
issues? Who was your audience? Examples.

8 Occasionally we all find our ideas opposed. When has this happened to you? What did you do?

9 Some decisions are better when not based on emotions. Tell me about a time that you helped someone
avoid making an emotional decision.

10 Tell me about a time you had to get cooperation from someone and he or she was not cooperative. What
did you do? Why?

11 Tell me about some of the toughest groups you have had to get cooperation from. Did you have any
formal authority? What did you do?

12 Have you had to reprimand a subordinate? How did you handle the situation.

13 What have you learned about managing/supervising others? Can you give me an example when you've
used these techniques?

14 Let's talk about your handling of your best employee and your most difficult employee. Do you manage
them differently? Examples.

15 What are some of the most difficult one-to-one meetings you have had with subordinates (peers)? Why
were they difficult?
16 What recent problems have you had in which you included your subordinates in arriving at solutions or
approaches? What approach did you take to get them to accomplish the task?

17 How did you go about setting objectives for your unit last year? (Look for involvement of subordinates).
How did you ensure those objectives were met?

18 Do you have any subordinates with performance problems? What have you done to get them to correct
the problem?
CONCERN FOR IMPACT
Actively anticipating and responding to the feelings, needs and concerns of others.

1 Tell me about some of the people who take up your time with problems? How have you handled these
situations?

2 Can you describe some situations where you found yourself dealing with someone very thin-skinned?

3 Describe some situations where you wished you'd acted differently with someone at work. What did you
do? What happened?

4 Have you ever had any difficulty getting along with co-workers? How did you handle it?

5 We have all tried different ways of showing consideration for others. What are some things you've
actually done at ______________?

6 What unpopular decisions have you recently made? How did you communicate that decision? How did
you subordinates (peers) respond? How did that make you feel?

7
Have you ever had to dismiss an employee? How did you handle it? What was the employee's reaction?

8 What specific problems have people from other departments brought to you recently? How did you
handle them?

9 When dealing with individuals or groups, how do you determine when you are pushing too hard? How do
you determine when you should back off? Give an example.

10 What specific problems have your subordinates brought to you recently? How did you handle them?

11 Describe your most recent discussion with one of your subordinates (peers) who was having or causing
problems. How did you get involved? How did it turn out?

12 We've all had to work with someone who is very difficult to get along with. Give me some examples of
when this has happened to you. Why was this person difficult? How did you handle that person?

13 How have you gone about developing rapport with (customers, co-workers, people from other parts of the
organisation)? Examples.

14 Have you ever had problems in getting your subordinates to accept your ideas or department goals?
What approach did you use? (Look for involvement of subordinates in decision making). How effective
was it?

15 What are some of the tings you have done to increase sales and productivity? Did you meet resistance?
How did you overcome it?
16 What "bargains" have you engineered with (customers, superiors, other departments etc)?
STRATEGIC INFLUENCING
Being aware of different forms and sources of influencing in choosing between different influencing strategies.

1 Gaining agreement from different groups isn't always simple. When have you had to gain agreement and
how did you go about it?

2 What "bargains" have you engineered with (customers, superiors, other departments etc). How did you
choose your approach?

3 The proverb says "A wise man learns from his mistakes". What lessons about negotiations have you
learned? Examples. How did you learn them?

4 Describe a situation in which you had to arrive at a compromise or guide others to a compromise.

5 Tell me about some of the toughest groups you have had to get co-operation from. Did you have any
formal authority? What did you do?

6 Sometimes we are fortunate enough to have time to plan our approach before we have to influence
others. Has that happened to you? What was your approach? How did you decide on that approach?

7 Different people react differently to different persuasion styles or approaches. Tell me about a time that
you had to persuade different people on a single issue. How did you decide on the approach to use with
each?
INITIATIVE
Engaging in proactive behaviour, seizing opportunities.

1 How did you get your job at __________________________________?

2 Have you found any ways to make your job easier or more rewarding? Examples.

3 Describe some ways you changed the job at _______________________________?

4 Can you think of some projects or ideas (not necessarily your own) that were sold, implemented, or
carried out successfully primarily because of your efforts?

5 What changes have you tried to implement in your area of responsibility? What have you done to get
them under way?

6 Give me some examples of doing more than required at your job at _____________________>

7 What do you do differently than other (managers, salespersons, tellers, students)? Why? Example.

8 Are there any projects you generated on your own? Explain. What prompted you to begin them?

9 Have you suggested any new ideas to your boss in the last six months? Which were accepted? How did
you know they were needed?

10 Have you generated any new ideas or suggestions while at College? Explain.

11 Have you ever done more than required in a course? Examples.

12 Have you taken any steps to improve your skills or performance? Examples.

13 Have you made any cost-saving suggestions to your boss? Examples. Were they accepted? What
action was taken to get them accepted?

14
What has been your biggest achievement at ________________? What steps did you take to achieve it?
CRITICAL INFORMATION SEEKING
Gathering critical information from key sources to assist problem solving.

1 How do you stay attuned to potential problems? Examples.

2 What Sources of information do you use to keep aware of problems within your department?

3 What steps do you follow to study a problem before making any decisions? Examples.

4 Tell me about the most important decisions you have made which were based largely on data you got by
asking questions.

5 Walk me through a situation in which you had to get information by asking a lot of questions of several
people.

6 Describe some tough or tricky situations in which you had to talk to people to get information you needed
to make an important decision or recommendation?

7 What kind of financial reports to you prepare in your job? What do they contain? How often do you have
to prepare them? How are the reports used?

8 Tell me about a complex problem you worked on at _______________ where you had to gather a good
bit of information from others before reaching any conclusions.

9 Tell me about a project in college that required a lot of data gathering.

10 Sometimes we gather information on problems that affect several "stakeholders". When has that
happened to you? What was the problem? Who were the stakeholders?

11 Have you ever had to review current practices for problems, inconsistencies etc? How did you go about
your review? What did you learn?

12 How much of the key information in your job comes to you orally rather than in writing? Give me
examples of situations in which you were able to extract key information which other people had missed.

13 Tell me about a difficult situation in which you had to talk to people to get information that you needed
before either yourself or your boss could make an important decision.

14 Have you ever anticipated a problem before your boss or others in the organisation did? What did you
do?
EFFICIENCY ORIENTATION
Looking for best use of resources.

1 Have you ever recognised practices that were resulting in waste? What were the practices? What did
you do about them?

2 Occasionally, we can spot opportunities to do things more efficiently. Has that ever happened to you?
Examples.

3 How do you know that people working for you are as efficient as they can be? What steps have you
taken to ensure that? Example.

4 Do you have systems for keeping track of reports you submit to management? What is that system?
How has it worked?

5 How do you keep track of progress on projects for which you are responsible? Example.

6 What kind of system do you have for keeping track of assignments made to subordinates? Give some
specific examples.

7 Time of one of several precious resources. What are some things you do to ensure your time is being
used effectively.

8 How do you control your department's expense budget? What action do you take when expenses
exceed it? Give examples.

9 Give me an example of steps you have taken to make your department more profitable.

10 When making plans and allocating responsibilities, how do you take into account efficiency
considerations?
DEVELOPMENT ORIENTATION
Identifying and providing opportunities to improve the capabilities of other people.

1 What people development strategies have you successfully implemented and supported in the last 12
months?

2 Tell me about a time when you formally reviewed coaching performance with your managers in terms of
what successful development strategies they have helped implement.

3 Are there any procedures which you find helpful in monitoring your subordinates development? Give
examples of how you have used them.

4 What procedures do you use for evaluating your subordinates performance? Why have you chosen
them? How have they worked?

5 What do you do when you find that your techniques for regulating activities are loosely adhered to by
your subordinates? Give a specific example.

6 Describe the basic content of your staff meetings (or meetings you have conducted). How are action
items assigned? How often are these meetings held?

7 What kind of system do you have for keeping track of assignments made to subordinates? Give some
specific examples.

8 How do you keep track of what your subordinates are doing?

9 Who is (1) your most effective subordinate and (2) your least effective subordinate? What are the
strengths and weaknesses of each? What have you done to develop each of these subordinates?

10 If you were promoted tomorrow, do you have a replacement? What did you do to help develop him or
her?

11 How many of your subordinates will be ready for promotion in the next year? How do you know? What
did you do to prepare them for promotion?

12 To what extent do subordinates participate in decisions you make? Why? Example.

13 Tell me about some of the people who have become successful as a result of your management. What
was your role in their development?
RESULTS ORIENTATION
Focusing attention on key objectives; wanting effective outcomes.

1 How do you know that you are doing the right things on the job? Give an example.

2 It is very easy to get distracted from doing what is necessary to be effective. Has this happened to you?
What did you do about it?

3 What kinds of things have you done to ensure that others are meeting objectives?

4 What are some goals that your subordinates have? How did they get set?

5 How do you know when objectives are being met? Give examples.

6 Specifically, what do you do to set an example for your subordinates or peers? How has that helped you
meet your (their) objectives?

7 People are easily distracted from the primary objectives of their jobs. When has that happened to you?
What action did you take?

8 What would you do when the standard of work completed either by yourself or other was not up to your
expectations? Give me an example.
CONCERN FOR STANDARDS
Pursuing excellence in line with the organisation's norms and values.

1 How have you differed from your professors in the evaluation of your performance? How did you handle
the situation?

2 How have you differed from your supervisor in the evaluation of your performance? How did you handle
the situation?

3 Bosses are not always completely satisfied with the way we do certain things or complete certain
projects. Can you give me some examples of when this happened to you?

4 Compare and contrast the times when you did work which was above standard and times your work was
below standard.

5 How often have you missed deadlines? What were the causes of each?

6 How many days of work (school) have you missed in the past year? The year before? Why? What is
your goal for absenteeism?

7 When judging the performance of your subordinates, what factors are most important to you? Give
examples.

8 Are you satisfied with your department's performance? Why or why not? What action(s) are you taking
(if any) to improve?

9 As a student, how do you define good performance?

10 How have you gone about establishing the standards of performance for yourself? What have those
standards been?

11 How have you gone about establishing the standards of performance for others? What have those
standards been? Give examples.

12 Give me an example of when you have made efforts to improve a members of staff's standards?

13 How do you ensure that work meets quality standards? Give an example.

14 What standards do you set when you approach a task? Give examples.

15 What are the major training and development needs of the people in your department? How did you
identify them? What are you doing about them?
16 Go over each of your subordinates and tell me your goals for each. What action have you taken to help
them achieve those goals?

17 How are you helping your subordinates develop themselves? Give examples.

18 How, if at all, have you involved subordinates in determining their development needs? Give examples.

19 Are there any techniques you have found useful in identifying particular subordinates' needs and
potentials? Tell me how they worked with a particular person.

20 What techniques have you found most useful in developing subordinates? How did you use them with
____________?

21 Have you had a subordinate who was released because they didn't work out? Why were they released?
Did you do anything to work with the person in this area before his/her release? What?

22 How innovative are your employees in dealing with work situations? What are some innovative ideas
your employees have had recently? How have you encouraged innovations?
CUSTOMER SERVICE ORIENTATION
Making efforts to listen to and understand the customer (both internal and external); anticipating
customer needs; giving high priority to customer satisfaction.

1 Have you ever had to "go the extra mile" to satisfy a customer? Tell me what you did.

Situation/Customer Need Action/How Handled Feedback

2 Sooner or later, we all have to deal with a customer who has unreasonable demands. Think of a time
when you had to handle unreasonable requests. What did you do?

Situation/Demand Action Feedback

3 What skills or qualities are important for dealing effectively with customers? Give an example of when
you displayed these.

Skills/Qualities Action/How Used Feedback

When Used

4 Tell me about a time when you handled a customer complaint effectively

Situation/Complaint Action/How Handled Result/Feedback

5 What lesson(s) have you learned about keeping the customer satisfied? How did you learn them? Give
me an example that illustrates how you have used that lesson.

Lesson(s) How Learned Example

6 Tell me about a time when you handled a customer complaint ineffectively.

Situation/Complaint Action/How Handled Result/Feedback

7 How do you know if your customers are satisfied (survey results, thank you letters etc). Give examples.

Situation(s) Action/How Handled Result

8 Tell me about a difficult customer (internal or external) with whom you had to deal. Why was he/she
difficult? What did you do?

Situation/Why difficult Action/How Handled Customer Reaction

9 What steps do you take to ensure customer satisfaction? Give examples.

Steps
Situation/Why difficult Action/How Used Effect

10 What action do you take to provide quick and thorough service for customer requests or problems? Can
you tell me about a particular situation?

Situation Action Result

LEADERSHIP
Using appropriate interpersonal styles and methods to inspire and guide individuals, teams,
meetings, groups, etc. toward goal achievement; modifying behaviour to accommodate tasks,
situations and individuals involved.

1 How have you led others in solving a problem. Give an example.

Problem Action Result

2 What techniques have you learned to manage/supervise others? How have you used these techniques.
Give an example.

Technique(s) Action Result

3 Describe how you set an example for other employees (be specific)

Situation Action Result

4 Describe a face-to-face meeting in which you had to lead or influence someone very thin-skinned
(sensitive)

Situation Action Result

5 Tell me about a time when you were able to lead an employee toward task accomplishment

Employee/Task How Led Result

6 How do you determine how much influence you'll need to use to get others to do the job right? How do
you show this? Give an example.

Situation Action Result

7 When have you inspired someone to work hard to do a better job? How did you do that?

Situation Action Result

8 Tell me about one of the toughest groups from which you had to get cooperation in a meeting. Did you
have formal authority? What did you do?

Meeting Action Result

9 How often do you meet with your employees as a group? How do you prepare for these meetings?
What is your role? Give an example.

Meeting(s) Your Role Their Reaction

10 Tell me how you keep meetings on track. Give a specific example.

Meeting Action/Steps Result

11 During a meeting you've led, did you ever notice a person who wasn't participating? How did you react?

Meeting Reaction Result

12 Have you ever led a meeting in which someone dominated the discussion? What did you do?

Meeting Action Result

13 Have you ever led a meeting in which a participant suggested an inappropriate idea? How did you
respond?

Idea Response Result

14 What strategies have you used to communicate superiors' major new directives to employees? Which
strategies have worked and which have not? Tell me about specific example.

Situation Strategy Result

15 What organisational systems (control, compensation, communication, accounting, etc) have you
implemented to support organisational strategies? Describe them. How did you put them into place?

System(s) Action (What and How) Result

16 Describe a time when your boss or other managers were displeased with your efforts to implement
change. What approach did you use? What difficulties resulted?

Situation How Implemented Result

17 Have you ever been in a position to change your organisation's culture or values? What steps did you
take?

Situation Steps Taken Result

18 Have you been in a situation in which you were able to have a significant effect on your organisation's
business direction? What steps did you take?

Situation Steps Taken Result

19 Tell me about a time when you delegated an important task to someone.

Situation/Who Delegated To Action/How Delegated Result

20 What decisions have you delegated to your employees? Tell me about one or two of these decisions.

Decision(s) Why Delegated Result

21 Most of us have assigned work to other people, and they didn't do what was intended. Can you tell me
about a time when this happened? Why did it happen? (Look for unclear instruction, assignments to
inappropriate person, or lack of due dates.)

Work Not Done Why Result

TEAM WORK
Active participation in, and facilitation of, team effectiveness; taking actions that demonstrate
consideration for the feelings and needs of others; being aware of the effect of one's behaviour
on others.

1 Describe a situation in which you helped a peer or co-worker

Situation How Helped Result

2 Describe some situations in which you wish you'd acted differently with someone in your work group.
What happened?

Situation Action Result

3 Have you every had difficulty getting along with co-workers? How did you handle the situation?

Situation How Handled Person's Reaction

4 When dealing with team members (or a group) how do you determine when you are pushing an issue or
decision too hard? Tell me about a time when you pushed too hard.

Situation How Determined/Action Taken Result

5 What was the last idea you shared with a team member? Why did you share it with that person?

Idea Why/How Shared Result

6 Tell me about some of the toughest groups with which you've had to work. What made the group tough?
What did you do?

Situation/Why Tough Action (What and How) Their Reaction

7 Tell me about a new procedure you wanted your team to use. What did you do?

Procedure Action (What and How) Their Reaction

8 Have you ever helped a co-worker improve his/her performance at work? Tell me about one of these
times.

Situation Action (What and How) Their Reaction

9 Have you ever been in a group with an unproductive person? How did you handle the situation?

Unproductive Person How Handled Person's Reaction

10 Have you ever had to work with a new employee? Describe your working relationship. What did you do
to make it this way? Give an example of your interactions with this person.

New Employee/Relationship How Handled Person's Reaction

11 Tell me about some situations in which you became frustrated or impatient when dealing with a co-
worker. What did you do?

Situation Action Result

12 What are some of the best ideas you have ever presented to, and which were accepted by, team
members. What was your approach?

Idea(s) Approach Result

13 Give me an example of an idea you tried to present to your team members, but were unable to gain
acceptance. What was your approach?

Idea Approach Result

14 Tell me about a team member from whom it was tough to gain cooperation. How did you handle this
sensitive situation?

Team Member/Situation How Handled Result

15 Can you think of a time when you intervened to get your team back on track because they couldn't decide
on an issue? Explain.

Situation How Intervened Result