Tell me about yourself.

• Be focused and incorporate how you will add value to the employer.
• Spend about 15 seconds to respond to each of the following questions:
  • Can you do the job- discuss training, skills, accomplishments?
  • Will you do the job- demonstrate your work ethic- give examples?
  • Your fit with the organization- explain how you will fit (teamwork)- give examples.

Why our organization?

• Do your homework before the interview – visit the employers website and utilize LinkedIn.
• Be able to explain who they are, what they do, and how that matters to you.

Why did you decide to enter this field?

• Tell your story.

Describe your major strengths and weaknesses.

• Mention a few strengths and just 1 weakness. Relate your strengths to the positions and their needs.
• Focus weaknesses on your work – have it be something you are trying to improve, or you could improve.
• Consider how you are working on improving that specific weakness.

What are your short term and long term career goals? OR Where do you see yourself in 3-5 years?

• Include their organization and how you are going to grow and improve yourself and abilities, while working for them. Include how you may move up within the organization or how you will continue to grow.

Why should we hire you?

• Why you can’t wait to work for the company/organization.
• The training, accomplishments, skills, expertise you possess and your ability to learn.
• Your work ethic, provide an example.
• Focus on teamwork.

What would you do if the work of a team member was not up to expectations?

• Balance between being a tattle-tale with standing up and taking responsibility for the situation and doing something positive about it. How do you handle tough situations?

Describe how you would handle the situation if you met resistance when introducing a new idea or policy to a team or work group.

• Discuss being able to listen to all perspectives and ideas and how you also stick to your thoughts, particularly those grounded in experience, training and research.

What would you do if you realized at deadline time that a report you wrote for your boss or professor was not up to par?

• Discuss honesty and positive aspects that you completed.
• Focus on what you’ve done. Don’t make excuses.

You disagree with the way your supervisor says to handle a problem. What would you do?

• Describe how you would approach the situation and the type of conversation you would have with your boss.

• STAR method: Situation, Task, Action, Results; use specific examples from your experiences. Focus should be on the action and results with less focus on the situation – don’t lose the interviewer.

Potential questions and statements:

• Can you tell me about a time when you felt you had to make an unpopular decision based on your beliefs and values?
• What are three effective leadership qualities that you think are most important in the workplace? How have you demonstrated these in your current/past experience?
• Describe a situation where you were able to comfortably delegate an important task to another team member.
• Describe a situation when you felt that you over-promised and under-delivered. What did you learn? (If they don’t ask you this, include it)
• Tell me about a time when you looked beyond the obvious to find an unusual solution.
• Tell me about a time where you admitted a mistake and it paid off.

How to answer interview questions:

• Situation: Explain the situation in detail. Was it a class team? What was the project? What was difficult about the project?
• Action: What did YOU do to pull the team together? What specific action did you take? Don’t talk about what “we” did or “they” did. Talk about your role in the situation.
• Outcome: Discuss the outcome of the project or team. Did the team succeed? How did you know the team was successful?
• Learning: Sometimes you’ll be asked about a situation in which you weren’t successful. Talk specifically about what you learned, how you modified your behavior, and how you’ve incorporated this lesson into your routine.

Keep your answer focused on recent job-related experiences. Whenever possible, use examples from your internship, class work, professional association, or other degree-related experiences.  Do not use personal or family examples, or examples from religious organizations.

Source: NACE Grab and Go

• What are the main objectives that you have for this position?
• Describe the typical first assignments.
• What are the challenging aspects of the job?
• What is your organization’s culture?
• What do you enjoy/dislike about working here?
• What characteristics does a successful person have at your organization?
• Will there be opportunities for increased responsibility and broader experience?
• How will I and how often will I be evaluated? Who does the evaluation?
• What are the next steps?

• How does your organization define diversity? What lenses of diversity has your organization made a direct commitment toward?
• Does your organization have a chief diversity officer (CDO) or a designated leader to drive DEI and engage internal and external stakeholders?
• What social causes does your organization support?
• Does your organization actively support diverse suppliers, contractors, and small businesses?
• Has your organization made any formal commitments in support of racial equity?
• How does your organization center diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging?
• Does your organization offer any formal employee training around biases, anti-racism, or general DEI?
• How has your organization prioritized executive accountability toward DEI advancement?
• Does your organization have any affinity groups or committees to support diverse populations? If so, how do these groups contribute to the culture of the organization?
• Does your organization complete annual compensation equity analysis?
• What resources has your organization provided to its employees in support of COVID-19 and racial injustices?