Sample Interview Questions
SUBJECT
Productivity
Problem Solving / Decision
Making
Conflict Resolution
Personal Adaptability
Communication Skills
Motivation
Organizational skills
Education/History
SAMPLE QUESTIONS:
 What do you think has been your most significant accomplishment in the past year?
 Give me an example of a problem which you faced on a job you have had and tell me how you solved it.
 Describe a time when you face unreasonable deadlines or expectations. How did you respond?
 What decisions are easiest for you to make and which ones are most difficult? Why?
 What is the purpose of delegation?
 Tell me about a difficult person with whom you have had to work. Why was s/he difficult? What did you do?
 Tell me about the last significant crisis situation you faced in your work. How did you reach a solution?
 Give me an example of a time you felt pressured in your work. How did you handle the situation?
 Describe a situation when you received constructive feedback from a supervisor. How did you respond?
 Tell me about a time you were persuasive in overcoming resistance to your point of view.
 Tell me about a successful presentation and describe what made it a success.
 What are some of the characteristics of a good listener.
 Tell me about a situation where you demonstrated poor communication skills. What would you do differently?
 How can a supervisor establish effective communications with staff?
 In what instances is written communication better than verbal communication?
 Give me an example of a time when you were able to motivate your coworkers.
 Describe a time when you did something that went above and beyond expectation.
 What can a supervisor do to enhance employee motivation and job performance?
 Tell me about a situation where you motivated your staff to extraordinary accomplishments.
 What motivates you the most?
 What de-motivates you?
 Tell me about a time you had to meet a stressful deadline. What caused the most difficulty? Why?
 Tell me about a work related project that you had to organize.
 What college did you attend? Did you graduate? Tell me about your experiences there?
 What degrees do you hold?
 Tell me about the worst and best class you’ve ever taken.
 What is you experience with C++ (or another particular software application)?
 What were some of your specific responsibilities in your previous job?
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Sample Interview Questions
Open and Closed Interview Questions
Open Ended:
 Tell me about your job at X organization.
 What were your responsibilities in X job/organization?
 What skills and qualifications do you feel you bring to this position?
 What specific experience qualifies you for this position?
 What type of work do you like doing the most/do best at/feel most comfortable doing?
 Why are you looking to leave your current position/past position?
 How do you go about improving your current knowledge/skill set?
 What short term and long term goals do you have?
 What type of career advancement are you looking for? How do you see our organization helping you meet these goals?
 What type of work do you want to be doing in the next two years, are there specific technologies you are interested in working with?
 What do you want your role to be in relation to the type of work you are doing (ie. Individual contributor, lead, manager, business
development)?
Close Ended:
 Have you worked with C++, financial reporting, etc?
 How many years did it take you to become proficient in X?
 Have you done design and analysis work or just implementation?
 Have you ever received a promotion, reward/recognition?
Probing:
 Tell me about a project/task/job you feel you did well and why?
 What was the favorite team you worked on and what did you like about that team?
 Tell me about a time that a team project/task didn’t go well, why do you think that was the case?
 What would you change about your current management structure?
 What would you change about your work style and/or skills?
Descriptive:
 What is the level of responsibility in your current position?
 Give me an example of a time you went above and beyond to get the job done?
 What has been your worst customer or co-worker experience, how did you handle that?
 If I were to talk to your current supervisor, what would they tell me about your work?
 What goals did you set for yourself in your current role? How have you met these goals, in what ways have you fallen short of
meeting these goals? (continuous improvement)
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Sample Interview Questions
Interview Questions for Leadership Positions
Linked to APL Management Competencies and Behaviors
The questions below can be used to interview candidates for leadership positions. Not all of the questions apply to every opening, and you are
encouraged to select and tailor the questions so they best meet the requirements of your position. One suggestion is to divide the questions among the
interview team and have different interviewers ask questions about different competencies.
Leadership
Think Strategically
 How have you built professional relationships with potential customers and sponsors?
 Tell me about a time when you recognized and created a new business opportunity.
 How have you established long term plans for your department/group? How did you follow-up and work to achieve your objectives?
 What have you done as a leader to ensure that your work unit’s direction was consistent with the greater organization’s vision?
 If you become the leader of this group/section/department, what 2-3 issues would require your immediate attention? Why?
 How have you demonstrated being on the leading edge in your field? How have you used this knowledge to lead projects or new
initiatives?
Fostering Innovation
 Tell me how you stimulate new ideas and approaches in your current organization.
 What processes have you redesigned to better meet business requirements? How did you go about it? Lessons learned?
Leading with Courage
 Tell me about a time when you had to tell your supervisor bad news. What did you do?
What did you learn from the experience?
 How have you stood up for co-workers and staff in a challenging situation?
 Tell me how you have had lead in a confrontational situation. What was the outcome?
 Tell me about a time when you were given a rush, high priority assignment. How did you handle it? What was the outcome? How did
you get other people on board to accomplish this task?
Developing and Motivating Staff
 When was the last time you had to integrate a new team member into your work group? How did you do it?
 Have you had the experience where a staff member did not meet the expectations for their position? What did you do? What were the
results?
 How do you coach and provide feedback to your current team? How often?
 Give me an example of the support you provided when a staff member wanted to grow/develop new skills.
 Give me 2 examples of how you have recognized others on your team within the past 2 months.
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Sample Interview Questions
Interpersonal
Understanding Others
 Tell me what ideas you have heard from your staff/team members for improvement. What have you done with those ideas?
 How do you gather information from your customers/and or sponsors on their needs? How often? How have you used this information to
plan for improvements or new products/services?
 Tell me about a time when your decision was modified or improved by the feedback and input of others.
 If I were to ask the people in your work group about an area for development for you as a leader, what would they say?
Promoting Team Unity
 Share with me an example of where you had to collaborate with other work units to achieve an important organizational goal. What
obstacles did you have to overcome to do this effectively and how were the results impacted by this collaboration?
 How often and in what ways do you currently communicate with your team/section? Which approaches are most/least effective?
 What have you done to build your work unit as an effective team?
Valuing Diversity
 What actions have you taken to ensure that diverse staff are provided opportunities for growth and development?
 How have you handled challenging diversity related issues? As a new supervisor, what will you do to ensure higher diversity of staff in
your group/section?
 What things have you done to promote workplace diversity?
 What efforts have you made to ensure the inclusion of viewpoints of staff from different age, race, cultural and gender backgrounds?
Administrative/Managerial
Planning/Prioritizing
 Tell me about the most recent comprehensive change you have managed in your area to date. How did you come to understand the need
for change? Who was involved in the change process? What was your role? How was resistance handled? How did you assess the
impact of the change? What would you have done differently knowing what you know now?
 Describe a positive change that you have made as a result of input received from your supervisor.
 What steps do you take to ensure that customer/sponsor satisfaction is a top priority?
 What do you do to make sure that you are on the forefront of your technical/functional field?
 How do you set priorities for the year? How do you include staff in this process?
Making Decisions
 You were the technical lead for ….. (describe the role). What is an example of a challenge you faced in a leadership role, and how did
you handle it? What would you do differently next time?
 How do you ensure that information is shared freely on your team or within your section/group?
 What was the last significant decision you were responsible for making? How did you arrive at your decision?
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Sample Interview Questions

Can you give me an example of a good decision and an example of, in retrospect, a poor decision that you have made in the last year?
What were the lessons learned from this experience?
Delegating/Managing Tasks
 Tell me about a time when you were leading an important project for a customer and did not trust that all the team members had the
capability or motivation to make it a complete success. What did you do?
 How do you currently ensure that each person on your team knows what is expected? How are priorities discussed?

In your management role what are the key factors you keep in mind when deciding whether or not to delegate a task or do it yourself?
Give an example of a task you decided to delegate and explain why. Give another example of a task you decided to do yourself and explain
why.
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Sample Interview Questions
Behavioral Interviewing Examples
Focus on behavior questions is to get candidates to discuss specific events that they have been a part of. Behavioral examples typically
refer to a specific name, date, project, location etc. Getting a behavioral example may require additional probing. For example, a
candidate responds that they have strong skills in dealing with stress. A probing question would be to ask the candidate to give an
example of a time dealing with a stressful situation. When this is difficult for the candidate, remember to be sympathetic rather than harsh
and demonstrate this by allowing for time and silence.
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Describe a time when you were faced with a stressful project, what did you do?
Give an example of a time you needed more information to complete a project, how did you go about completing that project?
Give me an example of time your verbal communication skills were necessary to get an important point across?
Give me an example of time you were able build motivation on a team to accomplish a difficult task?
What has been your most significant leadership experience? What were the goals you were working with? As a leader, how did
you ensure these goals were met? What was the overall result?
Tell me about a time you faced an ethical dilemma in the workplace, what was it, how did you choose to handle it and what was
the outcome?
Give me an example of a time you had to use your analytical skills to gain information needed to solve a problem, what did you
do with that information and how did you come to a decision?
Describe the most significant written document, report or presentation you have completed?
Describe your most difficult customer/co-worker/project, how did you deal with that situation?
Tell me about a time you were leading a project and got input/ideas from those on the team, what did you do with those ideas?
Tell me about a time when you were given a rush, high priority assignment. How did you handle it? What was the outcome? How
did you get other people on board to accomplish this task?
What was the last significant decision you were responsible for making? How did you arrive at your decision?
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Sample Interview Questions
Ethical Questions when Hiring
Honest or not? 10 questions to spot ethical applicants
by The HR Specialist on April 15, 2013 9:00am
in Centerpiece,Hiring,Human Resources
Ethical employees are vital to the productivity of any organization. But when managers interview job candidates, it’s nearly impossible to get a
good reading of a person’s moral compass.
Still, it’s important for hiring managers to know how to weed out candidates who will undercut the company’s values and mission with
dishonesty.
In fact, more than 80% of U.S. workers say they’ve been lied to, stolen from, cheated or treated dishonestly at work by a co-worker or
supervisor, according to new research by Hogan Assessment Systems. The result: lower morale and higher turnover.
On the flip side, when people were asked about the most important qualities of their all-time favorite boss, the number one characteristic (cited
by 81% of people) was trustworthiness. Conversely, 50% described their worst boss as manipulative.
So how do you identify candidates with a high ethical bar? Here, according to a survey of hiring experts, are some of the most effective
“situational” or “behavioral” questions and scenarios that managers can pose:
1. “Have you ever faced an ethics challenge on the job? Explain the situation.” Be suspicious of applicants who answer “No.” Follow
up with, “Why do you think you’ve never faced such an issue?” Describe a real-life ethical dilemma and ask, “How would you handle the
situation?”
2. “Were you ever aware of a co-worker who violated a company’s ethics policy? What did you do?” You want employees who would
discuss concerns with a manager or co-worker, or find another way to address the issue according to company policy.
3. “What’s the difference between an ethical company and an ethical person?” You are looking for candidates who believe there must
be little or no difference for the company to succeed.
4. “Why are ethics important in the workplace?” You seek answers that clarify how the job-seeker would perform duties and seek
advancement while honoring company values.
5. “Describe your most important workplace ethics?” The answer can illustrate whether the applicant takes personal responsibility for
acting ethically.
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Sample Interview Questions
6. “Have you read our company’s ethics policy? What do you think?” The response can show whether the candidate values corporate
ethics enough to include it in pre-interview research.
7. “Did you ever see or do anything on the job that troubled your conscience? How did you handle the situation?”
8. “Did you ever see an employee steal anything from a workplace? What did the person take and how did you react?”
9. “Has a manager, co-worker or customer ever asked you to do anything unethical? What was your reaction?”
10. “Did you ever have ethics training or education? What did you learn?”
Quiz: How to tell if a decision is ethical
Anytime you face an ethical dilemma, ask yourself this question: “If I go through with this, would I mind seeing it reported in tomorrow’s
news?” If you answer “I’d be fine with it,” then go ahead. If you’re not sure, ask yourself these questions:
1.
2.
3.
4.
“Would this decision mesh well with the organization’s mission, vision and core values?”
“Would it be good for the customer?”
“Would it be good for the organization?”
“Would it be good for me?”
If you answer “Yes” to all four, do it. If you answer “No” or “Maybe” to any, ask your trusted mentors, advisers or friends (not co-workers or
peers) what they would do.
Checking your ethical pulse: 4 indicators
Most people aren’t conscious of how they make tough decisions. They often go with what feels most expedient at the moment—an approach that
can get them into trouble. Instead, it’s useful to be aware of these four common clues that can warn you if you’re heading in the wrong direction
ethically. Reconsider a decision if you’re:
1. Wondering if it’s legal. If you find yourself scrambling to learn whether an action is legal, chances are it isn’t ethical. Decisions should
never tiptoe up to the legal line; they shouldn’t even come near it.
2. Trying to keep it a secret. If you’re concerned what will happen if your decision becomes widely known, reconsider the choice you’re
making.
3. Making rationalizations. You shouldn’t have to rationalize your decisions to yourself. Phrases like “I deserve this” or “They owe me”
are signs of trouble.
4. Feeling in your gut that it’s wrong. Most people instinctively know when they’ve crossed an ethical or moral line.
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