Strength Questions
1. What do you consider your most outstanding qualities?
2. In what areas are others most complimentary of you?
3. During performance reviews, what areas have most frequently been cited as your key
strengths?
4. What aspects of this position do you feel you will perform particularly well?
5. In what ways do you consider your qualifications unique or distinctive from others applying for
this position?
6. If asked, what would your current boss cite as your three greatest strengths or attributes?
7. Why should we choose you over other candidates for this position?
Weakness Questions
1. All of us have areas in which we could improve our overall performance. What are some areas in
which you could improve?
2. What has been your single most significant work-related failure to-date? Why?
3. What areas has your boss suggested for your improvement?
4. What would you most like to improve about yourself and why?
5. If we asked two or three of your co-workers to identify three areas in which you could most
improve, what would they choose?
6. What steps have you taken during the last year to improve your overall performance?
7. What factors have most stood in the way of your career success to-date?
Education Questions
1. What do you value most about your education?
2. How has your education prepared you for this position?
3. What could you do from an educational standpoint to improve your overall effectiveness in your
work?
4. What led to your decision to choose your major?
5. What did you like most about your educational experience?
6. What did you like least about your educational experience?
7. What aspects of your life has your education most influenced?
Work Preference Questions
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What type of work do you find rewarding and stimulating?
What type of work do you find least rewarding and stimulating?
In which of your past positions were you most motivated and productive?
What are some of the criteria you are using to determine whether or not a given job will be of
interest to you?
5. With what aspects of your job at ____________ were you most comfortable?
6. From the standpoint of job content, how would you describe your ideal job?
7. How would you compare the type of work you did at _______________ with the type of work
you did at ________________? Which did you like better and why?
Motivation and Drive Questions
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What basis do you use for measuring your own performance?
What are you currently doing to improve your overall job performance?
How do you measure your personal success?
How would you describe your work ethic and performance with your peers?
What do you believe are the common characteristics of highly successful people?
Tell me about your process for setting goals for yourself.
What are some of your personal job-related goals?
Personal Traits Questions
1. What five or six adjectives best describe you?
2. Which of your personal traits or characteristics have proven most beneficial to your career?
3. During past performance reviews, which of your personal traits have most often been cited as
strengths?
4. Of which of your personal traits are you most proud?
5. Which of your personal traits best qualify you for this position?
6. If we talked with your co-workers (classmates) which personal traits would they say they admire
most about you?
7. Which of your personal traits do you find most frustrating?
Interpersonal Skills Questions
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With what kind of persons do you most enjoy working?
With what kind of persons do you have the most difficulty working?
What factors most influence the positive feelings you have about your co-workers?
Tell me about a time when you had a major conflict with another employee.
If you sensed you were not fitting in well with your work group and felt you were being treated
as an outsider, what would you do?
6. What examples can you cite that best demonstrate your ability to relate well to others?
7. Which of your skills would you rate higher—your technical skills or your interpersonal skills?
Why?
Planning Skills Questions
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What are the basic steps you follow in your planning process?
What do you believe about the relationship between planning and organizational success?
How and when do you go about establishing work priorities?
Tell me about a time when good planning really paid off for you.
Tell me about a time when you wish you had done more planning.
Tell me about your daily work routine. What determines where you will spend your time?
When do you feel like planning can get in the way of results?
Unconventional Questions
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On a scale of 1-10, how lucky are you?
What’s an opinion you hold with which most people disagree?
If you had ten years to live, what would you do?
What’s the toughest decision you’ve had to make in the last few months?
5. What were you doing the last time you looked at a clock and realized you had lost all track of
time?
6. What book do you think everyone on the team should read?
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