50 toughest Q's Flashcards
Describe a time you were criticised and how you handle
Coachability is huge, find example that includes constrictive criticism
Describe a time when your workload was heavy
Take them through your thought process of how you approach a problem and think critically about it and make great decisions that will benefit the company
Describe how you would handle a situation if you were required to finish multiple tasks by the end of the day with no conceivable way of finishing
They are looking to see how you think, how do you approach problems, what tools or strategies do you use to approach and solve challenges.
Question comes down to prioritisation, show strategic thinking
Walk through thought process, does everything need to be done today
Describe work style
Answer that fits job: Creative, collaborative, self-directed, goal-oriented, analytical, adaptable, innovative
Describe yourself in one word
Dynamic
Other choices: strategic, flexible, dependable, focused, enthusiastic
Do you prefer working in team or with others
Answer that fits job (e.g. like working in teams, but comfortable working alone)
Showing you have a positive attitude is critical
Consider tossing in a question
Give me an example of a time that you felt you went above and beyond the call of duty at work
Think about a story that highlight skills you need on this job or tasks you’ll need to accomplish
- Situation:Novo Nordisk just did acquisition on Forma, Novo always fairly conservative with BD and thus looking at strategic implications of the deal give insight into Novo’s strategic priorities
- Task:Task needed to do research on the company and put it into context of Novo’s existing operations. Responsibility was to inform investors, so they have better understanding of move and also for us internally to have an anchor point when incremental information becomes available.
- Action:Looking at the existing operations proved useful, and was not initially part of the brief, after researching Forma and its lead asset, I looked into an existing sickle cell drug Novo that had gone under the radar but was already post phase 1. After discussing with my analyst he agreed that it would be useful to talk about both together
- Result:More complete piece showing how Novo was positioning itself to address two ends of the spectrum of SCD and was building out a more comprehensive offering for these patients and could in the future strengthen its position. Highlighted importance of putting incremental information in the context of previous positioning. This is the way you see coherence in strategy and identify non-linear value creation.
Difficulty with manager
I did get off to a bad start with my manager in my very first job because we had different expectations and at the time, I didn’t know enough to ask about those before I started work. But I got some very good advice to go talk with him about it, and we cleared the air. It turned out to be a great experience for me, and it was a good lesson to take forward in my career. Good communication is essential to a productive working relationship.
Time your boss chasistised you
If you do not have an example say a bit of your philosophy on communication “I try to keep the lines of communication very open so that doesn’t happen. But misunderstandings happen, so I would try to see if that was the case first. If I make a mistake, I correct it and take steps to not make the same mistake twice”
If you do have an answer say “I realised I’d made a mistake because I did not have all the information. Now I ask a lot more questions before I start a project to make sure that does not happen again. I’m a much better communicator now”
How do you deal with stressful situations
If a situation seems overwhelming, I mentally break it up into smaller steps, or doable goals, and just focus on reaching each one on the way to accomplishing the larger task. In fact, that’s what I did with XYZ project. We had a major issue with X problem, but I broke it down into ‘what needs to happen first,’ and concentrated on one step at a time. I was able to see more solutions to the larger problem, and in fact, we got the entire project done in record time.
What will find out about you later down the line if we hire
You’ll know that my skills in X, Y, and Z were a perfect fit for this position based on the results I got from _____ / the solution I came up with for _____.
Weaknesses
Work-life balance
Public speaking (rusty)
