Behavioral Q&A

Question 1

Describe a time on any job in which you were faced with stresses which tested your coping skills. What did you do?

Answer 1

Well, this would actually be my first job, but I can give you an example from school. Something that used to test my coping skills was writing long papers. Anytime I had to write a paper, I turned into a ball of anxiety, which would make me question everything I wrote and then lead to procrastination. I had to get over that, so I turned to studying different books and articles to help myself become more efficient, and that payed off in the end because I was eventually able to get really good grades in my writing classes.

Question 2

Tell me a time in which you had to not finish a task because of a lack of information. How did you handle it?

Answer 2

This past semester in a science class I wasn’t able to finish a lab assignment that involved dissecting an eyeball. I was taking this particular class online, and the assignment happened at the very end of the semester. I wouldn’t have been able to get a hold of an eyeball in time, so I lost point on that assignment. There was nothing I could do at that point except learn from my mistake. Luckily I didn’t lose enough points to hurt my grade. That just taught me to always plan ahead, to make sure I have everything I need and not leave things until the last minute.

Question 3

Describe a job experience in which you had to speak up to be sure that other people knew what you thought or felt.

Answer 3

In a science class lab group there were four of us working together. When I understood something that the others didn’t, I spoke up to help the other three. I don’t remember a specific thing that I spoke up about, because we were learning a huge subject, so we all helped each other at different times on different things.

Question 4

Can you tell me a time in which you felt you were able to build motivation in your co-workers or subordinates?

Answer 4

This would be my first job, so I’ve never been in a situation where I needed to build motivation.

Question 5

Describe a situation in which you felt it necessary to be very attentive and vigilant to your environment.

Answer 5

Whenever I’m babysitting, it’s necessary to be attentive and vigilant to the environment. For example, driving the children to school, it’s necessary to be extra cautious on the road, because an accident could potentially have bigger consequences than if it were just me in the car. So I do that. I’m always thinking about safety.

Question 6

Provide an example of a time in which you had to use your fact-finding skills to gain information for solving a problem.

Answer 6

Very often in school. In my psychology class last semester I had to fact check every week to write papers, so I would use various scholarly sources, my textbook, as well as Google to fact check. As far as I know, there was never a problem, because I didn’t get one bad grade in that class.

Question 7

Give me a time in which you had to set an important goal in the past and tell me about your success in reaching it.

Answer 7

A specific goal that I have is to maintain A’s in college, and I’ve been semi-successful at that. I say semi-successful because, much to my chagrin, I finally got a B in one class. Anyway, I achieve this by regularly devoting up to 8 hours a day studying. That’s really all there is to it. Because it’s important to me, I don’t mind putting in long hours.

Question 8

Describe the most significant piece of writing which you have had to complete.

Answer 8

I don’t know about a specific piece of writing that I would call my most significant, honestly. I have had to do a lot of writing in English and Psychology classes, though.

Question 9

Tell me an example of a time when you had to go above and beyond the call of duty in order to get a job done.

Answer 9

Well, honestly, I never do anything half way. And, actually, that can sometimes be a weakness, especially in school. I often spend so much time writing a paper that I can’t spend as much time as I would like to on other projects. I’m working on managing my time spent on those projects by using calendars and timers.

Question 10

Can you tell me a time when you were able to effectively “read” another person and guide your actions by your understanding of their individual needs or values?

Answer 10

I tend to be very good at reading people. My sister would even say I have a knack for it. Once you’ve been around someone for a little while, you can sense when they’re having an off day. When this friend of mine had a bad day, I could tell even through text message without her talking about it specifically, so I brought it up and we talked through what was bothering her. From there I was able to see that she really needed to vent, and I was able to offer that outlet to her.

Question 11

What did you do in your last job in order to be effective with your organization and planning? Be specific.

Answer 11

I consider myself pretty organized. I keep a calendar and I set alerts on my phone and iPad so I don’t forget anything.

Question 12

Tell me a time in which you felt it was necessary to change your actions in order to respond to the needs of another person.

Answer 12

I’ve been caught off guard. For example, my grandmother isn’t able to drive herself anymore, and there have been times where she needed something or to be driven to an appointment. When no one else is available, I’ve had to drop everything I was doing that day to drive her somewhere or bring her what she needs.

Question 13

When working on a team, what role do you usually take? Why?

Answer 13

Each team is different. I take the position I need to take within that team. The last team or group I was a member of, in school, I acted more as a fact checker. There were questions that nobody could answer, so I would go through the textbook or literature available to come up with an answer. That’s just the role I fell into, I guess. It was fun for me so I didn’t mind.

Question 14

By providing an example, how did you handle a time where others on your team were negative.

Answer 14

I’ve fortunately never experienced that, but if that should happen in the future I would try to discover what they were upset about and see if I could do anything to calm them down.

Question 15

Provide an example of how you resolved a conflict with you and another person when you disagreed with each other

Answer 15

I recently had a conflict with my mother over a personal matter. We have completely different views on the issue, so we each gave our point of view. But there was no way I was going to see it her way, and there was no way she was going to see it mine. We resolved it by dropping it. As a rule I don’t take anything personally, ever. Some times it’s best to just let it go.

Question 16

Give some examples of ways you minimize stress in your life.

Answer 16

I meditate. I practice deep breathing. I stay present. I don’t take anything someone else does personally.

Question 17

Tell me about a time when your supervisor was not satisfied with the quality of your work. What actions did you take?

Answer 17

I can give you an example from school. I had an English teacher a couple of semesters ago that I couldn’t please to save my life. She kept finding issues with my papers, and I kept taking her advice, but that would only lead to her finding something else. The action I took was to just make the best of it. Correct the mistakes and move on. I’m in school to learn, after all, and that’s I did.

Question 18

Describe a typical day. How do you decide what to work on and what goals to accomplish?

Answer 18

I usually decide what needs to get done by how close the deadline is. I keep a to do list with the closer deadlines at the top so I know that those are urgent. That’s how I decide, by how urgent or close the deadline is. Also, if the task is challenging, I will start working on it or planning for it well in advance so I’m not taken by surprise.

Question 19

Tell me a time when you were on a team and one of your teammates was not pulling his/her weight. How did you handle it?

Answer 19

I have never had a situation like that, as this would be my first job, but if I notice something like that and I had “proof” that the person was slacking, I would talk to a superior about it.

Question 20

Describe for me a job experience when you had to serve as the leader in order to accomplish a goal.

Answer 20

As this would be my first job, I’ve never had this experience. In school, the groups or teams don’t necessarily work that way. No one is the leader or the follower, it’s more like a collaboration where everybody gets equal input.

Question 21

Give me an example of a time when your schedule was interrupted by unforeseen circumstances. How did you handle it?

Answer 21

(Grandmother story.)

Question 22

Tell me about an accomplishment that you are very proud of and why it means so much to you.

Answer 22

Gosh. I would have to say I take a lot of pride in the grades I’ve been able to earn in college. In grade school I was just an average student, but as I got older things like working hard and persevering even when something is difficult became more important to me. So that’s what I would say.

Question 23

Describe for me a situation when you failed to meet a deadline. What things did you fail to do? What did you learn?

Answer 23

I wasn’t able to turn in an assignment on time in a science class last semester. It was at the very end of the semester, and with finals and everything, I misjudged how long the assignment would take. It didn’t hurt my score too much, thankfully. But I learned to stay on top of things even at the end, to make better estimations of how long things should take.

Question 24

Sometimes extra help is needed during difficult times. Describe a time where you offered extra help during a difficult time, what made you offer extra help, and how did your help improve the situation?

Answer 24

It’s not necessarily work or school related, but my aunt was recently going through a divorce and needed to move her stuff very quickly out of where she was living. She couldn’t do it alone, and it was kind of an emergency situation. So I went and spent two days helping her. We rented a large truck, and loaded and unloaded it several times. I don’t think she would have been able to do it without someone to help her.

Question 25

Even though we know you should always be courteous it can be hard in a tense situation. Describe a time when you found it hard being courteous to someone, what made the situation difficult, and how did your actions effect the outcome of the situation?

Answer 25

I can’t really think of a time I found it hard to be courteous. I go out of my way to be courteous. I avoid conflict like the plague, so when someone is rude I tend to let it roll off my back and not get worked up about it. If I can’t do anything to ease the tension, I’m not going to allow myself to feel any certain way because of it. I don’t allow myself the luxury of not being polite.

Question 26

There are rules for everything we do. Tell me about a time when you thought it was important to follow a rule. Why was it important to follow this rule, and how did following this rule effect others?

Answer 26

To be honest with you, I have sort of a guilty conscience. It’s always important for me to follow the rules. I have a mini panic attack when the stop light turns red too quickly and I go through it anyway because there’s no way for me to stop at that point, for example. I always go out of my way to follow the rules, it’s just what I do without thinking about it, so I can’t think of one particular situation where I said, “Okay, I’m going to follow this rule now. I normally wouldn’t, but it’s important in this moment especially.” That’s not how I operate. I always follow the rules.

Question 27

Sometimes quality can be sacrificed when we are in a hurry. Tell me about a time when you had to work really fast and expected to maintain high quality in your work. How did you change what you were doing to get more done, how did working faster affect the quality of your work?

Answer 27

It has happened in school before. There were other assignments that took too much of my time, so I ended up needing to write a several pages long paper in one day to meet a deadline. Unfortunately, that meant that I didn’t have the luxury of taking my time to write several drafts before polishing the final product. In the end, though, I was able to meet the deadline and get a favorable score, but I would have preferred more time to improve the quality of my work.

Question 28

There are time when you have to work as a team to get things completed. Describe a time where you had to work with several people to get something completed, what issues came from having several people working on the same thing, and what part did you play to reach your goal?

Answer 28

In a science class I had to work in a group on lab assignments. Issues that came up were we sometimes stepped on each other’s toes because there were times when we didn’t have specific roles to play. Once things were straitened out a bit and the roles more defined, it worked okay. My job usually was to check facts before submitting the work, to make sure everything was correct.

Question 29

Describe a time where you have effectively resolved another person’s request. What was the situation and what kinds of information did you gather to help assist in resolving this request?

Answer 29

Recently my aunt was trying to decide whether she should buy a Kindle or an iPad, and she came to me for help. I have an iPad, but not a Kindle, so I helped her research both by asking her questions about her needs, about what she wanted to use the device for. I helped her decide on the Kindle because it meets all of her needs and the price is reasonable for her.

Question 30

Tell me about a time where you successfully completed a project or task. What was the situation, what steps did you take to make sure the project or task was done and was completed on time?

Answer 30

I can’t think of a specific time, because it’s something I do so often that I don’t even think about it while I’m doing it anymore. In school I’m completing projects every week, and it’s always the same process. I find out what needs to be done, and when the deadline is. And then I use a calendar and track my progress to make sure the project is done on time.

Question 31

Describe a time when you had a challenging assignment. What steps did you take to complete it, and how did you determine what steps to meet, what steps you needed to complete the assignment?

Answer 31

Dissecting a sheep’s brain was pretty challenging. The professor told us what to do, but it was still hard for a lot of reasons. Hard because at this point I didn’t know very much about it, had never dissected anything before, and hard because of the gross factor.

Question 32

Describe a time where you solved a problem, what steps did you take to fix the problem, what was the problem, what information did you gather to help solve the problem, who did you involve, and why. How was the problem impacting your ability to complete your work and what was the outcome?

Answer 32

I’m pretty good at solving computer problems. My mother has computer problems frequently, like viruses, and I’ve usually been able to get rid of them for her. If it was a time where I couldn’t do it myself, I found someone online who had before and used their advise. My mother’s job is online, so if she has a computer problem it’s difficult for her to work.

Question 33

Sometimes we have to deal with people who are challenging. To example, who are difficult or angry. Describe a time you successfully helped someone who was challenging. Why was the person challenging, how did you help the person, what questions did you ask, who did you involve, what was the person’s reaction to the help you provided, and what if any would you do differently next time?

Answer 33

As this would be my first real job, I don’t have a customer example I can give you. But I can give you an example of a difficult relative. Somehow I became known in my family as the person to turn to whenever there’s a computer or iPod or iPhone problem. Unfortunately, this relative, who is older and known for being demanding and impatient, began coming to me to solve all of his tech related problems. I was capable, but he didn’t give me any advance notice of when he would come around, and he expected everything to be quick and easy to fix, which is just not how it usually goes when you’re dealing with computers. I solved his problem, and he was find with it. I wouldn’t do anything differently next time.

Question 34

Describe a time where you had to complete several assignments at the same time, what steps did you take to complete these assignments, how did you ensure the assignment was done correctly and on time while maintaining a focus on quality. What was the outcome?

Answer 34

It’s not uncommon in school for several classes to all have deadlines piled up at the same time. Finals, for example. Last semester I took all of my final exams on the same day, one right after the other. I knew I would be doing this, so I prepared in advance by studying each subject for a certain amount of time every day. The harder the subject, the more time I devoted to it. The outcome was I got good scores on those exams.

Question 35

Tell me a time when you created a plan to successfully complete multiple work tasks, what steps did you take to plan and complete the work assignment, what information did you consider, what standards or guidelines did you use, who did you involve, how did you know that you had successfully completed the task, what did you learn from the situation that you could apply to others?

Answer 35

I frequently have to do this in school. Taking multiple classes every semester, it’s important for me to plan how to tackle everything without falling behind. I start by looking at the calendar that the professors provide, and use that to plan out every week of the semester. I consider many things, from how difficult the task is, to how important it is to my grade, to how long I think it should take. And that’s how I know which things need to be looked at first, if I think it’s going to take a long time or be especially difficult. I know that I successfully completed the task if I get the grade I want. Whether I do or not, though, I use the professor’s feedback to do better next time.