Basic Interview Questions Flashcards
Tell us about yourself!
My name is Holly McAndrew, a recent college graduate and experienced professional. Throughout college, I worked up to 3 jobs and 35 hours a week to graduate without debt. At the same time, I regularly volunteered at a local church, where I worked with disenfranchised kids in Sunday school and later on I picked up camera work and other technical skills. Once I completed all my classes 3 semesters early, I moved to Boston to pursue a career here. I started as an Education Director where I grew a tutoring center from 20 students to 120 students, from no other tutors to managing 10 tutors in-person as well as more virtually. Afterwards, I began a greater shift towards public service. I work in a school that highly values open-mindedness and equitable teaching practices for those burdened by anxiety, ADHD, Tourettes, and other disabilities. However, this current position isn’t my final stopping point for how I want to contribute to the community. I want to dedicate my organization, attention to detail, and budgetary skills to aid Somerville’s local government and affect real, lasting change.
How did you hear about this position?
I was investigating public service positions specifically in Somerville. Then, I found this position at the intersection of my skills and passions!
What do you know about our company (i.e. Somerville city government)?
Our mayor is Mayor Ballentyne. We have at-large and ward-specific councilors. In this case, Councilor Jake Wilson is an at-large councilor. We have numerous committees and boards for additional decision making as well as those in charge of minutes and the like. City Clerk Kimberly Wells is one of those crucial figures, and I recognized her during the Mayor’s inauguration where Wells did a stellar job.
Why do you want to work here?
If Boston is a clam, Somerville is the pearl I fell in love with while exploring Boston. It’s the home that’s made me grateful to be in this city and state. As I live here, I’m lucky to learn the names of workers at my local crepe shop and greet them every weekend. I met my best friends through a Meet-Up event hosted here. And I met my partner in Orleans. From the city perspective, I’ve seen wonderful changes enacted here like better sidewalks for people with disabilities and environmental policies put in place. I’ve enjoyed Art Walks and Porch Fest and random Art Festivals and Markets organized throughout our city. Ultimately, my happiest days are genuinely because of the businesses flourishing and citizens thriving all under your policies and parameters established here. Without the City Government, we wouldn’t be one of the top 100 cities in America, and I want to give back to this community and continue to help Somerville thrive.
Why should we hire you?
Because of my skills, traits, and personality. For my skills, I’ve been training for years on how to best explain information to strangers and peers alike. I’ve taught numerous classes, explained relevant data for our business, led trial runs at a tutoring business to sell our product to students and parents, etc. I’m also incredibly passionate about numbers, puzzles, and Excel! I’m a huge geek about XLOOKUPs and PowerQuery, and I’ve learned even a bit of Python for fun. Lastly, with my personality and mental stability, I recognize that I am not perfect. I will make a mistake, max two, but I will use that opportunity to learn and grow. I’m 1000% committed to self-development, and I will go out of my way to receive constructive feedback. I earnestly aim to be a better employee for my peers and management sake as well as for my own personal growth. With that mindset combined with my developed skills and traits, I believe I am the best employee to root myself and grow in this position.
What are your greatest professional strengths?
- My organizational and efficiency skills. At home, my personal space is neat and organized. At the same time, I brainstorm the most efficient, effective morning routines and other processes for fun. In the professional realm, I utilize to-do lists organized by due dates, I develop timely routines and templates for knocking out emails and other tasks, and I’m early to every meeting.
- I’m immensely passionate about numbers, problem-solving, and Excel! (Etc. etc.)
- I’m constantly overly considerate and understanding. This furthers my well-developed the skill of explaining and teaching others. I aim to see the world from others’ eyes, which helps me see: okay, how should I explain and represent this data? What are we looking for, and how can I best deliver this information?
What do you consider to be your weaknesses?
- When my consistent routine gets disrupted, that’s the biggest opportunity for mistakes to occur. On the other hand, I compensate for this hurdle by notating changes in my routine in my to-do lists, and I set additional reminders on changed meeting times. If a mistake happens to slip in, I will own it, and I devote myself to preventing the same mistake twice. As long as a mistake isn’t fatal or too damaging, I allow one mistake as long as I use that mistake as a lesson to grow my skills and understanding.
- I hyper-fixate on problem solving. If I see the solution to an Excel task or the perfect way to word an email, I zone in on this with all intensity. This creates another opportunity where I could potentially be a minute or two late to a meeting. To combat this, I also set additional timers and reminders in order to shake myself out of this problem-solving mode.
- My youth is my weakness. I wish I started learning Excel 10 years ago so I could be the Excel champion today. I wish I took more CS classes or had more time in my day to learn more about SQL. However, I recognize that my inexperience in areas makes me a sponge. I believe it’s better to recognize that I’m not perfect than pretending I am and refusing to grow. Instead, I promise that if you give me the guidelines to follow and the space to learn, I will be 95% perfect at my job given one month. I will soak up every constructive criticism, every mistake, every stumble, to develop my skills to fit this job and this organization better. If you extend grace, I will outperform your metrics by a mile. That’s my guarantee.
Tell me about a challenge or conflict you’ve faced at work, and tell me how you overcame it.
When I first started my Education Director position at Mathnasium, I thought I would never have a need for Sales skills. However, 6 months into the position, I was told I had to lead a one-on-one trial for a student. (Explain trials and whatnot). However, because I loved and believed in my job, I could enthusiastically convey the value and purpose of my organization. I became genuinely renown for my trials and thus the center I ran, and I used these assessments to grow my center from a handful of individuals to 120 students personally under my wing.
Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
Right here in Somerville, hopefully. My partner and I want to save up and buy the loft we’re in, and we’re in love with this city. Unfortunately with the lack of affordable housing, there is the chance we’d relocate to Arlington or Belmont instead, but we’d love to see the housing here improve and the Red Line reach its potential. Job-wise, I’d love to stay in this city government, and I’d either stay in this job forever and further develop my problem-solving and Excel skills, or I’d grow into a new role that would need me more here. Either way, I’m committed to helping others and helping this city, so I’d love to just stay here in one of the best cities in the nation.
Why are you leaving your current job?
As my current position serves a for-profit corporation, I feel like I’m serving shareholders instead of my students more at times. As a teacher, I’m also not professionally developing new skills at times as I’m instead focused on teaching others. Rather, I’d love to grow in this new role and better serve this community while also fanning my passion for finances, budgets, and Excel.
Tell me about a time you disagreed with a decision made at work.
At my Mathnasium position, there is a decline in hours available during the summer. Because of my boss’s financial concerns, which she didn’t show with her Center Directors, she wanted us to deeply cut hours for our tutoring staff. However, I value long-term success over short-term gain. At the same time, I understand how the unfortunate turnover rate and lack of hirable tutors affects our business and especially staffing, so I only performed light cuts instead of deep cuts to my staff’s hours. Because of this and because of my boss had previously overhired with new Center Directors, I was the one who was cut instead. I’m happy with the turnout however because I know this gave my previous employees time to look for new work instead of being cut off immediately. And if I was in the same position, I would value long-term success and retaining great employees again.
What’s your dream job?
A job where I’m self-reliant and able to prioritize which tasks are completed in order of priority. A job where I’m allowed to problem-solve, learn, and professionally develop. A job where I can fan my passions for numbers, budgets, and Excel. A job where I can say “Yes, I am helpful here, and I am valued.” That is the dream.
