Sample Interview Questions
Here is a way to construct interview questions to receive more specific responses from
the candidate.
 “Tell me about a time when…”
 “Describe a situation when you had to…”
 “What did you do…”
 “How did you…”
Avoid questions or discussions about:
 Race, color, sexual orientation, religion, national origin, ethnicity, age, marital
status, veteran status, disability, height, weight, and genetic information
 Personal or political activities
 Marriage plans, family, children, or child care arrangements
 How much longer a candidate plans to stay in the work force
Examples of question by topic:
Work Experience
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Please describe your present job responsibilities and duties.
Describe the most complex problem or issue which you have had to solve in your
current/last position.
Why did you leave you last employer/are considering leaving your current
employer?
Work Standards
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In your position, how do you define “doing a good job?”
Are you doing (did you do) a good job? How do you know?
Compare and contrast the times when you did work which was above the standard
and times your work was below standard.
Initiative
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What changes have you tried to implement in your area of responsibility?
Brandeis University
Office of Human Resources
06/2009
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Give me/us some examples of your doing more than required in your course or
job at ____.
Have you found any ways to make your job(s) easier or more rewarding?
Leadership
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Describe a time when you made a decision in the absence of a clear policy
regarding the issue or when the situation was unique under the terms of the policy
or established practices.
Describe a situation when, even though you hadn’t been officially designated as
the leader of the group, you took charge of getting a task accomplished. What
skills did you draw upon?
Do you get better results when accomplishing projects on your own or as part of a
group? Which do you prefer? Why?
Planning and Organizing
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How are you able to schedule your time? How far ahead can you schedule?
How do you determine what constitutes top priority in scheduling your time?
Describe a situation that required all things to be done at the same time. How did
you handle it? What was the result?
Communication/Teamwork
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What different approaches do you use in talking with different people? (How do
you know that you are getting your point across?)
Have you ever done any public or group speaking? Examples? How did you
prepare? Were you nervous? What were your objectives? Were you successful?
What format did you use? What were some of the questions that were asked?
What kind of feedback did you get?
How important is it to build relationships with students, coworkers, subordinates,
supervisor, etc.?
* Human Resources representatives can provide a more complete list and assist you in
preparing for interviews.
Brandeis University
Office of Human Resources
06/2009