Competency Based Interview Questions Flashcards
Name two softwares you use the most.
I use Outlook because that’s how I communicate to our clients via email.
I also use Monday and Airtable extensively because that’s where the magic happens where I process and track all of our cases.
I love technology because it really encourages better time management and self sufficiency.
How do you set up travel arrangements?
1) I researched the event to get key facts like dates, times, locations, topics and presenters
2) I asked him if there was anything else he could do while he was there to further take advantage of the trip
3) I researched and booked a hotel and determined appropriate distance from the event compared to distance from the airport and made sure the hotel had a restaurant. Input correct timezones in calendar.
4) I wrote up an agenda and emailed it to him
5) I reminded him to screenshot me any receipts that should be expensed
Walk me through how you would coordinate an event.
Event planning involves coordinating a lot of detailed steps. From the picking theme to the checking the sound.
So in general I would:
1) Set up a task list by starting from the outcome/goals and working backwards - making sure to be clear of the who, what, when, where, why and hows.
2) Follow a budget
3) Get input from the any speakers and my managers
4) Create and agenda for the event
5) Send out invites and get RSVPs as soon as possible
6) Follow up with vendors and guests
7) Have my own itinerary to make sure the event is on track
When you worked on multiple projects, how did you prioritize?
In my current job especially in the beginning I was often working on multiple projects and since I was wearing a lot of hats, they all felt like priority #1.
1) Make a list and rank this list
at the top of the list is important and/or urgent (judge importance by the consequences involved with the task not getting done).
2) Delegate where I can
3) Schedule everything
4) Come up with creative was to get things done in a timely fashion –such as automation, like automate emails to be sent out
5)Aim for perfection but never let perfection be the enemy of progress, move ahead and improve as you go
How do you manage calendars?
1) First I need to get to know my executive, shadow them if I can to learn their routine, or study their calendar from the past 6 months. This will help me know what meetings/events are critical, which are happen frequently, which can be rescheduled with huge consequence. This also allows me to know that types of meetings I should help them avoid, for instance my chief patent engineer does not like meetings for things that could have easily been resolved via email, so a part of my job is knowing how to respond to emails effectively to avoid unnecessary meetings.
2) Grouping similar meetings – for my Chief Patent Engineer, I try to make his technical meetings with inventors on Mondays or Fridays because when he is involved in technical drafting that’s creative time that shouldn’t be interrupted.
3) Block everything on the calendar, from breaks, to briefing time. For instance, if my chief patent engineer has a meeting, I’ll block a buffer time before and after the meeting for him to prepare or debrief. He usually doesn’t need much time for this, just 10 minutes on either side of the meeting because he takes notes and does research during his meetings since they typically take an hour. But I really push him to write notes after his meeting so that I can document the notes, this makes me more effective at my job because there will invariably be a follow up email that I need to respond to and I can easily do that with his help if I have good notes from him.
What are your time management strategies?
I use Pomodoro in my personal life and I bring similar concepts into my work. For instance, learning to bring each project down into smaller tasks and properly estimate the amount of time it will take me to complete each task, then scheduling those tasks on my calendar. Also grouping similar tasks especially recurring tasks, for instance, at my current job Fridays are the days that I use for auditing all of our open projects. The first week of a month is my deadline for completing, getting approval on, and sending out invoices. Also it taught me to write down anything that comes up that isn’t urgent and follow up after I’m done with my task. Getting Things Done by David Allen is a great book about time management that I incorporate into my workflow mostly his categorization technique for example if it doesn’t take 1 step to complete then move it to a project folder, if it takes less than 2 minutes to complete then do it now. If it’s actionable and has a deadline, schedule it, if it’s not actionable, archive it. I really appreciate this structure because for me efficiency can be super simple when I make simple changes to my environment to free up working memory for more complex or urgent tasks.
What are your organizational strategies?
In my personal life I use Pomodoro and Getting Things Done tactics by David Allen. I incorporate these tactics in my work life as well.
How do you complete expense reports?
Originally I responsible for managing our Quickbooks Accounting Software, but now we have a bookkeeper, so now I just keep up with receipts and make sure expenses are categorized properly and approve the bookkeeper’s work.
