UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON
Facilities Services
Guiding Principles - Interview Questions
1. What experience have you had analyzing work and making recommendations to your supervisor or manager?
2. Please tell us why you want to work at the UW and what skills or qualities you would bring or add to the organization?
3. What aspects of your education, training or work experience have prepared you for this job?
4. Describe a team project you have worked on and what your role was in the project.
5. How would you describe your learning style? Do you prefer to read manuals, attend training classes, or receive one-on-one- training. Explain.
6. How do you see this job in relation to your overall career plan?
7. What do you consider to be your strongest and weakest professional/technical skills?
8. What do you think is the most effective method of maintaining shop discipline and support for departmental objectives?
9. What factors will you take into consideration when assigning personnel?
10. What causes you the most stress at work and what do you do about it?
11. What are some of the frustrations that you experienced in your current or former job that you want to avoid in a new job?
12. Describe the most interesting and/or challenging work assignment you have had.
13. Tell us about a decision you made on the job that did not work out well. What could you have done differently to change the outcome?
14. What specialized skills do you have that will help you do this job?
15. How do you handle gossip and rumors?
16. How do you deal with rules/regulations you personally disagree with?
17. What would you do if you disagreed with an assignment or direction given to you?
18. Describe a situation in which you had to solve a problem without having all the information you needed. Explain what happened.
19.
Describe your worst “nightmare” project. What did you learn from the situation?
20. What safety issues have you dealt with on previous jobs?
21. Give us an example of a safety concern you brought to management’s attention and explain how it was resolved.

22. Describe a situation when you encountered an irate coworker. How did you handle the situation and what was the outcome?
Teamwork and Relationships with Coworkers
23. If a group of your coworkers with whom you presently work, or formerly worked, were in the room with us instead of you, what would they tell us are your positive and negative attributes?
24. If you overheard or witnessed a staff member talking negatively about another staff member, what would you do?
25. Describe a work situation which involved team work. What was your role?
26. What have you done in your last or current job to contribute to a teamwork environment? What worked?
What didn’t work?
27. Tell us about a time when you needed cooperation from a coworker in order to get your job done, but you had no authority over this individual. What did you do to gain this person’s cooperation?
28. From time to time all of us are confronted by someone who wastes our time at work. Please tell us about your experience with such a situation and what you did.
29. Give an example of when you have had to work with someone with whom it was difficult to get along. Describe the situation and tell us how you handled it.
30. When you encounter someone who is difficult to work with, how do you react?
Please give examples and describe the results.
31. Give some examples of things you have done in your current or former job to contribute to a successful teamwork environment.
32. Do you prefer to work alone or as a member of a team? And why?
33. What is your definition of teamwork?
34. What are the characteristics of a successful team?
35. What are the important qualities a person should have to be an effective team member?
36. What type of people do you work best with? What type of people do you have trouble working with?
37. In what kind of work environment are you the most productive and enjoy working?
38. How do you determine if you are a good coworker?
39. How do you handle criticism from coworkers, supervisors and clients?
40. Describe the single most important accomplishment that you have achieved individually and as part of a team within the past year.
41. Tell us about a time when you have been assigned to a team in which differences of opinion developed about how the work was to be accomplished and by whom.

42. You are working on a job with another worker and a dispute arises as to how the work should be done. What do you do?
43. If your lead assigns you to a task, and you don’t like the person with whom you have been assigned, how would you deal with the situation?
44. When a peer worker is promoted to the position of lead, what changes might you expect in your relationship with that person?
45. How would you define a productive work atmosphere?
46. Describe how you developed relationships with others when you were new on your current/most recent job.
47. When you are dealing with co-workers or customers, what really tries your patience and how do you deal with that?
48. Give an example of a stressful interpersonal situation at work and tell how you handled it.
49. Describe a situation in which you were able to use persuasion to successfully convince someone to see things your way.
50. When was the last time something or someone upset you at work? What did you do?
51. Give an example of an unsuccessful team. How would you change it into a successful team?
52. You are assigned to work on a project with four other workers. Everyone works well together except for one person who has a negative attitude and is always complaining. As a member of this team, what do you do?
53. How do you effectively communicate with others?
54. What do you do when you hear a rumor about a coworker?
55. What do you do when you hear coworkers gossiping about others?
56. A co-worker frequently complains to you about policies and work assignments.
What do you do?
57. How would you react if your supervisor told you that a client/coworker had complained about the mess you left behind?
Teamwork and Relationships with Colleagues and Subordinates
58. Describe a situation when you encountered a colleague who was irate over a management decision. How did you handle the situation and what was the outcome?
59. If a group of your coworkers with whom you presently work, or formerly worked with, were in the room with us instead of you, what would they tell us are your positive and negative attributes?
60. If you overheard or witnessed a colleague talking negatively about another lead or member of management, what would you do?

61. Describe a work situation which involved team work. What was your role?
62. A customer calls and complains that a certain employee has been rude and abrupt with him. What actions will you take?
63. What have you done in your last or current job to contribute to a teamwork environment? What worked? What didn’t work?
64. Tell us about a time when you needed cooperation from another lead or supervisor in order to complete a project on time, but you had no authority over this individual.
What did you do to gain this person’s cooperation?
65. From time to time all of us are confronted by someone who wastes our time at work. Tell us about a time when you experienced such a situation and what you did.
66. Give an example of when you have had to work with someone with whom it was difficult to get along. Describe the situation and tell us how you handled it.
67. When you encounter someone who is difficult to work with, how do you react?
Please give examples and describe the results.
68. Give some examples of things you have done in your current or former job to contribute to a successful teamwork environment.
69. What are the characteristics of a successful team?
70. What are the important qualities a person should have to become an effective team member?
71. What type of people do you work best with? What type of people do you have trouble working with?
72. In what kind of work environment are you the most productive and enjoy working?
73. Give an example of how you have diffused a potentially difficult situation involving a difference of opinion between yourself and another person, or between other individuals in the work place.
74. Describe your expectations of an effective working relationship between you and journey-level employees.
75. How do you ensure that your subordinates produce the highest quality work in the most cost effective way?
76. How would you define a productive work atmosphere?
77. Briefly describe an occasion when your work or an idea was criticized by a peer.
How did you respond?
78. As the lead, you are assigned a project with a crew of four workers. When you arrive at the job site you discover that two workers have had a disagreement and aren’t speaking to each other, a third worker tells you he has a hand injury and can’t work, and the fourth worker hasn’t arrived yet. What do you do?
79. If you could change one decision you made at work during the past two years, what would it be and why?

80. What do you expect from your supervisor or manager?
81. How do you effectively communicate with others?
82. What do you do when you hear a rumor about a colleague?
83. What do you do when you hear employees gossiping?
84. How will your work be different if you move from being a lead to a supervisor or from being a crew member to a lead?