Interview Questions Flashcards
What is your 5 year plan / where do you see yourself in 5 years?
Career goals include a stable job that I find fulfillment from. I think for me, since I don’t really know what I want to do yet, that means being at a company that can provide me the flexibility to try out new things and find a good fit. I would also like to have moved past an entry level position. I think I would be good at managing people, so eventually that would be a goal.
Can you tell me a little about yourself?
As I am sure you know, I finished my masters in May. Since then, I had a part time job working at a local shop shop in Logan for the summer just for fun. Then I did some travelling to visit family. I’m currently live in Logan with my partner with our 2 dogs. I’m very into outdoor sports like mountain biking, climbing, and trail running. Now I am looking for a full time job, I really want to start using my education and contributing to society.
What are your greatest strengths?
I am always very punctual to work and meetings, and deadlines are very important to me. I am very social and personable, which may not seem like strength but among engineers can be an asset. I love to try new things and learn
What are your weaknesses?
I struggle adapting to sudden changes both personally and in the workplace, I would say that impacts me personally more than on the job though. I am a planner, so when someone decides to change the plan suddenly I need some time to adapt.
What do/did you like most and least about your present/most recent position?
Liked: I liked to be able to use my brain and utilize some of the skills I learned during college. I liked to have the structure of a job over just schoolwork
Didn’t like: I did not like how small JUB was, there wasn’t much diversity or room for growth
Tell me about a challenge or conflict you faced at work and how did you deal with it?
When I was at the Utah Water Research Lab on a group project that I was taking the lead on, one of the other research assistants was constantly late with finishing his tasks. I approached him about it and he was very defensive. I remained calm and asked if there was anything I could do to help him. He expressed that he had a lot of deadlines for school, and that his workload for the research was too much. We talked to our professor together and he delegated some of the tasks to other students, and things ran much smoother after that
What is your dream job?
It is hard to say if this is my real dream job, because I have never done it so I don’t know if I would really like it, but I think I would like to work doing environmental footprint analysis for companies. Looking at companies as a whole including their supply chain, energy usage, waste generation, and show them how they can be doing better environmentally
What’s a time you exercised leadership?
At my internship at Wright Pierce, I started an in office composting program. It was in Portland, Maine, so they were pretty progressive and were trying to be more sustainable. I took the initiative and wrote a technical report of the costs and benefits as well as all the logistics and got the company to initiate the program - I am pretty sure it is still there today!
How do you handle conflict?
I try to always remain calm when dealing with conflict. Everyone has different opinions and values and it is important to try to see where the other person is coming from. It is also important to me to remember that everyone has their own things going on, and often when someone gets mad it isn’t really about you. Talking and working things through to reach a solution is always a good way to deal with conflict
What’s a time you disagreed with a decision that was made at work?
When I was working at the Water Research Lab, we were doing a project that dealt with data about student water use on campus. Some of the data were not fitting into the rest, and a researcher over me told me to just delete that data, I think he was just fed up with the project and wanted it to be over with. I disagreed with this, because deleting the data would change the conclusions of our project. During a group meeting when our professor and the researcher were present, I brought up the data and asked what my professor thought should be done with it. He told us to use the data, and after I had a conversation with the researcher where he apologized for telling me to remove it, saying he was just really frustrated at the time, and we remained on good terms as coworkers.
Tell me about a time when you disagreed with your manager
At JUB, my supervisor asked me to complete a corrosion control plan by a specific deadline that I knew I would not be able to meet. She was very busy at the time, and frantically needed the report done for a client meeting. I explained that I would not be able to get the report done with all of the other tasks I had on my plate, and at first she was not willing to compromise. We went through what work needed to go into the report, and neither of us were willing to compromise on the quality, so we ended up meeting with the other employees I was doing work for and postponing other tasks so I could finish the report on time. I felt good about the resolution because we made a compromise that worked for everyone
How would your boss and coworkers describe you?
My past supervisors and coworkers have described me as hardworking and have commented how I always complete tasks faster than they expected. They have also mentioned that they appreciate how I seek out new tasks when I have completed the assigned ones instead of waiting to be assigned other tasks. My coworkers have described me as very outgoing and adventurous, and I often am the one to initiate after work activities. I would say also ambitious, at my internship with Wright Pierce, I started an office composting program
Tell me about an accomplishment you are most proud of.
Personally, I think I am most proud of climbing Ancient Art at Fisher Towers in Moab. It is a 4 pitch climb, but the last pitch is terrifying, you have to climb horizontally across an area that is about 2 feet wide and straight down for hundreds of feet on both sides, and then jump up onto this diving board. I love climbing, but I am really afraid of heights so it was a big feat for me to accomplish. I think professionally, when I started a composting system at Wright Pierce. I think it took a lot of initiative and motivation because I was just an intern and I had to get management on board with paying for a service and other office mates on board with taking over once I left
What motivates you?
I really want to make an impact and be a part of the water infrastructure. Particularly in the west, our water situation is so interesting, and I learned a lot about how it works in school but I really want the opportunity to be part of it and do work the help our environment and provide safe water to people
What is your ideal work Environment?
Ideally I would like to work remotely (from home) for a large company with a lot of diversity. I would like to work for a flexible company that provides a good work life balance. I want to work for a company that motivates their employees and encourages people to think outside the box and do things differently
