ABILITY TO HANDLE STRESS
- What has been the most stressful situation you have ever found yourself in at work? How did you handle it?
- What have you done in the past to prevent a situation from becoming too stressful for you or your colleagues to handle?
ACCOUNTABILITY
- Tell me about a time when you admitted making a mistake and accepted responsibility for it.
ADAPTABILITY
- Tell me about a situation in which you have had to adjust to changes over which you had no control. How did you handle it?
- Tell me about a time when you had to adjust to a colleague’s working style in order to complete a project or achieve your objectives.
- How was your transition from high school to university? Did you face any particular problems? How did you handle them?
- Tell me about a time when you were asked to do something you had never done before. How did you react? What did you learn?
- Describe a situation in which you embraced a new system, process, technology, or idea at work that was a major departure from the old way of doing things.
- Recall a time when you were assigned a task outside of your job description. How did you handle the situation? What was the outcome?
- Tell me about the biggest change that you have had to deal with. How did you adapt to that change?
- Tell me about a time when you had to adjust to a colleague’s working style in order to complete a project or achieve your objectives.
ANALYTICAL SKILLS / PROBLEM SOLVING
- Describe the project or situation that best demonstrates your analytical abilities. What was your role?
- Tell me about a time when you had to analyze information and make a recommendation. What kind of thought process did you go through? Was the recommendation accepted? If not, why?
- Tell me about a situation where you had to solve a difficult problem. What did you do? What was the outcome? What do you wish you had done differently?
- What steps do you follow to study a problem before making a decision? Why?
ATTENTION TO DETAIL
- What process do you use to check that you have the right details from a customer?
- Give me an example of a time you discovered an error that been overlooked by a colleague. What did you do? What was the outcome?
- Tell me about a time that you were confused by a customer’s request. What steps did you take to clarify things?
CLIENT FOCUS / CUSTOMER ORIENTATION
- When have you had to deal with an irate customer? What did you do? How did the situation end up?
- Tell me about a time you have “inherited” a customer. What steps did you take to establish rapport with them? What did you do to gain their trust?
- How have you handled a situation in the past where your client has changed the brief or “changed the goalposts”?
- Give an example of a time you went well out of your way to ensure a customer received the best possible service from you and organisation. What was their reaction?
- When have you ever gone out on a limb to defend a customer? What happened?
COLLABORATION
- Give an example of when you had to work with someone who was difficult to get along with. How did you handle interactions with that person?
- Tell me about a time when you were communicating with someone and they did not understand you. What did you do?
- Tell me about one of your favorite experiences working with a team and your contribution.
- Describe the best partner or supervisor with whom you’ve worked. What part of their managing style appealed to you?
- Can you share an experience where a project dramatically shifted direction at the last minute? What did you do?
COMMUNICATION
- Tell me about a recent successful experience in making a speech or presentation?
- When have you had to present to a group of people with little or no preparation? What obstacles did you face? How did you handle them?
- Have you ever had to “sell” an idea to your co-workers? How did you do it?
- Give me an example of a time when you were able to successfully communicate with another person even when that individual may not have personally liked you (or vice versa).
- What obstacles or difficulties have you ever faced in communicating your ideas to a manager?
- Tell me about a time in which you had to use your written communication skills in order to get an important point across.
- When have you chosen to communicate a particular message in person as opposed to via email even though the email channel would have been a lot faster?
- Tell me about a time when you had to persuade someone in writing.
CREATIVITY
- When was the last time you thought “outside the box” and how did you do it? Why?
- Tell me about a problem that you’ve solved in a unique or unusual way. What was the outcome? Were you happy or satisfied with it?
- Give me an example of when someone brought you a new idea that was odd or unusual. What did you do?
- When have you brought an innovative idea into your team? How was it received?
- What are the three things that are most important to you in a job?
- Tell me about a time in the last week when you’ve been satisfied, energized, and productive at work. What were you doing?
- What’s the most interesting thing about you that’s not on your resume?
- What would make you chose our company over others?
- What’s the biggest misconception your co-workers have about you and why do they think that?
CUSTOMER SATISFACTION
- Describe a situation where you had to address an angry or dissatisfied internal/external customer.
DECISION MAKING
- Tell me about a time when you had to make a decision without all the information you needed. How did you handle it?
- Give me an example of a time when you had to be quick in coming to a decision. What obstacles did you face?
- What is the most difficult decision you’ve ever had to make at work? How did you arrive at your decision? What was the result?
- Give me an example of a business decision you made that you ultimately regretted. What happened?
- Tell me about a time when you had to get to the root cause of a problem to make a decision.
- Initiative
- Give me an example of a difficult or challenging project you volunteered to lead.
GROWTH POTENTIAL
- Recall a time when your manager was unavailable when a problem arose. How did you handle the situation? With whom did you consult?
- Describe a time when you volunteered to expand your knowledge at work, as opposed to being directed to do so.
- What would motivate you to make a move from your current role?
- When was the last occasion you asked for direct feedback from a superior? Why?
- What’s the biggest career goal you’ve ever achieved?
GOAL SETTING
- Give me an example of an important career goal which you set yourself and tell me how you reached it. What obstacles did you encounter? How did you overcome the obstacles?
- Tell me about a professional goal that you set that you did not reach. How did it make you feel?
- How have you gone about setting short-term goals and long-term goals for yourself or your team? What steps did you take along the way to keep yourself accountable?
INITIATIVE
- Describe a project or idea (not necessarily your own) that was implemented primarily because of your efforts. What was your role? What was the outcome?
- Describe a situation in which you recognized a potential problem as an opportunity. What did you do? What was the result? What, if anything, do you wish you had done differently?
- Tell me about a project you initiated. What did you do? Why? What was the outcome? Were you happy with the result?
- Tell me about a time when your initiative caused a change to occur.
- What has been the best idea you have come up with during your professional career?
INTEGRITY/HONESTY
- Discuss a time when your integrity was challenged. How did you handle it?
- Tell me about a time when you experienced a loss for doing what is right. How did you react?
- Tell me about a business situation when you felt honesty was inappropriate. Why? What did you do?
- Give a specific example of a policy you conformed to with which you did not agree. Why?
- What is the biggest ethical dilemma that you have faced at work?
INTERPERSONAL SKILLS
- Give an example of when you had to work with someone who was difficult to get along with. How/why was this person difficult? How did you handle it? How did the relationship progress?
- Describe a situation where you found yourself dealing with someone who didn’t like you. How did you handle it?
- Describe a recent unpopular decision you made. How was it received? How did you handle it?
- What, in your opinion, are the key ingredients in guiding and maintaining successful business relationships? Give me examples of how you have made these work for you.
- Give me an example of a time when you were able to successfully communicate with another person even when that individual may not have personally liked you (or vice versa). How did you handle the situation?
- Tell me about a time when you had to work on a team with someone you did not get along with. What happened?
- Describe a situation where you had a conflict with another individual, and how you dealt with it. What was the outcome? How did you feel about it?
- Describe a time when you had to deliver bad news or negative feedback to a co-worker.”
LEADERSHIP
- Tell me about a team project when you had to take charge of the project? What did you do? What was the result?
- Describe a leadership role of yours outside of work. Why did you commit your time to it? How did you feel about it?
- What is the toughest group that you have ever had to lead? What were the obstacles? How did you handle the situation?
- What has been your greatest leadership achievement in a professional environment? Talk through the steps you took to reach it.
- What have been the greatest obstacles you have faced in building/growing a team?
- Describe a time when you have not only been responsible for leading a team of people but for also doing the same job as your team members? How did you juggle/balance your time?
- Tell me about the last time something significant didn’t go according to plan at work. What was your role? What was the outcome?
- Describe a situation where you needed to persuade someone to see things your way. What steps did you take? What were the results?
- Give me an example of a time when you felt you led by example. What did you do and how did others react?
- Tell me about the toughest decision you had to make in the last six months.
- Have you ever had to “sell” an idea to your coworkers or group? How did you do it? What were the results?
PLANNING AND ORGANISATION / TIME MANAGEMENT
- Describe a situation that required you to do a number of things at the same time. How did you handle it? What was the result?
- How do you prioritize projects and tasks when scheduling your time? Give me some examples.
- Tell me about a project that you planned. How did you organize and schedule the tasks? Tell me about your action plan.
- When has a project or event you organised not gone according to plan? What happened? Why? How did you feel?
- Give me an example of the steps you have taken in developing a plan.
PRIORITISATION
- Tell me about a time when you had to juggle several projects at the same time. How did you organize your time? What was the result?
- Tell me about a project that you planned. How did you organize and schedule the tasks?
- Describe a time when you felt stressed or overwhelmed. How did you handle it?
- Give an example of a time when you delegated an important task successfully.
- How do you determine what amount of time is reasonable for a task?
PROBLEM SOLVING
- Describe a time when you accurately anticipated a potential problem.
RELATIONHSHIP MANAGEMENT
- Give me an example of how you manage conflict in the workplace.
RELIABILTY
- Give me an example of a time when you had to let someone down.
RESULTS FOCUS
- Tell me about a time when you got results in a situation where others had tried and failed.
SALES / NEGOTIATION
- Tell me about your previous success in building a customer base from a standing start. What steps did you take?
- What is your greatest sales-related achievement to date? What steps led to the final outcome?
- Describe a time when you convinced a resistant customer to utilize your services.
- What was the most stressful professional negotiation you have been involved in? How did you handle it?
SELF-MANAGEMENT
- Tell me about a time when you had to juggle multiple responsibilities at work.
TEAMWORK
- Describe a situation where others you were working with on a project disagreed with your ideas. What did you do?
- Tell me about a time when you worked with a colleague who was not doing their share of the work. How did you handle it?
- Describe a situation in which you had to arrive at a compromise or help others to compromise. What was your role? What steps did you take? What was the result?
- Tell me about a time when you had to work on a team that did not get along. What happened? What role did you take? What was the result?
- What was the biggest mistake you have made when delegating work as part of a team project?
- Tell me about a time when you had settled a dispute between team members. How did you go about identifying the issues? What was the result?
- What have you found to be the difficult part of being a member, not leader, of a team? How did you handle this?
- Describe a time when you made a positive contribution as a member of a dysfunctional team.”
TENACITY / RESILIENCE
- Tell me about a particular work-related setback you have faced. How did you deal with it?
- When have you ever found yourself in a competitive situation professionally? How did you handle it?
- When have you seen your tenacity or resilience really pay off in a professional setting? What was the outcome?
SALES GENERAL QUESTIONS:
- What are your annual sales targets?
What % of time over the last 3 years have you achieved your sales targets.
Have you ever exceeded your annual sales targets, if yes, how frequently, and what did you achieve?
When you exceeded your best, can you recall what you did differently in your routine to achieve these great results? - Most important results delivered, for which you were personally responsible.
- How much time do you spend per week with the following activities listed below?
Market and Industry research
Visiting customers
Prospecting new customers
Managing and leading your team. - How much time do you prefer to be out of the office visiting clients per week?
- List the major industries or major customers that you have supplied to in the last two to three years?
- How much time away from home are you prepared to travel per month?
- List the products/components (machine parts/ structures) that you have sold in your career to date?
- What is the average sales cycle of the products/ solutions/ components that you have sold to date? For example: 6 weeks. 3 months, One year.
- In the last year, what innovative ideas have you had at work? Were you able to implement them? How were they innovative?
- Give an example of a time when you had to use your fact-finding skills to get information to solve a problem – then describe how you analysed the information to come to a decision.
- Describe your most stressful work-related situation and how you handled it.
- What is effective communication?
SALES LEADERSHIP QUESTIONS
- How do you measure your team’s performance?
- How do you motivate your team?
- What do you enjoy about leading a team?
- What do you not enjoyabout leading a team?
- How much time do you spend managing your team in a week?
- How much tine do you spend leading a team in a week?