Job Interview Preparation Flashcards
Tell me about yourself.
My name is Jason Chang. I have worked and continue to work as a teacher at an afterschool program called US Academy. I assist students with their homework and help prepare them for any tests that they will take at their schools. I also provide them with supplemental educational material when needed. I always try to stay in harmony with others and I always try to get along with everyone at work. I try to always remain calm. I like to spend my free time outdoors surrounded by nature, so I like to visit beaches and parks.
What are your 3 strengths and 3 weaknesses? (What would your supervisor say about you?)
I am resilient. I used to be a pessimist but I’ve read a lot of positive psychology books and worked at becoming a positive person. I am a lot more resilient than I used to be…..I’m a fast learner. During my summer internship with Community Legal Services I worked at the legal services office of the courthouse. While I was there, I learned all the procedures and forms pretty quickly and my supervisor recognized that…..I can be forgetful so I organized my life in a way where I write everything I need to know down on paper, and I always remember to check my notes…..I have an anxiety disorder. But I can function normally because I take medication for it and have learned a few coping skills to address it. Ever since then I’ve been able to really thrive in my life.
resilient —> fast learner —> forgetful —> anxiety disorder
Why did you apply for this apprenticeship?
Even though I enjoy teaching children, I felt that teaching wasn’t really my calling, and I felt that I wasn’t really thriving. So I looked for new opportunities. One day I received an email from my local community college about an operating engineer apprenticeship opportunity. I realized that this was the opportunity I was praying for so I applied, I studied for the test, took it, and now I’m here.
What are your short and long term goals?
One of my short-term goals is to be someone who reads for fun. Reading still feels like a chore to me but I keep forcing myself to do it. I figure that if I do it long enough it’ll become something I do habitually. My long-term goal is to successfully complete the 5-year apprenticeship program and hopefully continue working here at Kaiser in San Diego.
Did you ever have conflicts with a coworker/superior? How did you handle it?
I once had a conflict with a coworker when I found out that he was stealing supplies from the after-school. I told him that I knew about it and that he should stop doing it. He actually thanked me from bringing it up. But later on, I found out that he didn’t stop so I told my supervisor about it. I don’t know what happened to him but his stay with us was short. I once had a conflict with a superior when I felt that she was undermining my authority as a teacher to my students. I was assigned to teach middle-school teenage students instead of grade-school students. I knew that the previous teacher gave them a lot of leeway and let them play with their smartphones in class. When I got to their classroom, I was going to put a stop to that. I told them that they couldn’t have their smartphones out anymore during class. I told them that they are going to do some serious work in class from now on. The teenagers complained to my supervisor that I was a bad teacher and so my supervisor pulled me from that class and reassigned me to teach 1st graders. I was doing what a teacher was supposed to do by taking control of my classroom so I didn’t agree with what my supervisor did. I explained what really happened to my supervisor and she told me that she understood. But for business reasons, she had to pull me from the class. I ended up teaching first graders. I didn’t like getting pulled from the middle-school class but I learned that even with good intentions, sometimes things don’t go my way.
coworker stealing supplies —> superior pulls me from middle-school class
How do you handle criticism?
I never take criticism personally. When I was in college, I once had a career counselor critique my resume. She had so many bad things to say about it so I was taken aback, but I stayed calm and respectful, and the feedback was very useful so I thanked her afterwards.
How do you handle stress? (what do you do when you have a lot of work on your plate?)
When I have a lot on my plate, I break down tasks by prioritizing my most urgent assignments, and I determine what I can accomplish on a daily and weekly basis and I make daily schedules to do so. I ask myself what do I have to accomplish today. If I have a long-term assignment, I set mini deadlines for myself to work towards and set the final deadline ahead of the real project deadline just in case. I try to prioritize all my commitments on a day to day basis, set a schedule for tasks that needed to be accomplished first. When I have a long busy schedule I learned that stress management was also very important. When I am stressed, I like to listen to happy music and take a walk outside if I can. For long-term stress, I always make sure that I exercise regularly.
take a walk, happy music
long-term stress, exercise
Do you like teamwork or do you prefer to work alone?
I prefer to work alone, but I can just as easily work on a team. When I worked as a Community Service Officer with UC Berkeley PD, I bear-walked people in the Berkeley community. We would wear a uniform and walk students to and from our campus to their homes and anything in between. Most of the time, we walked students home by ourselves, but some of the time we paired up and walked students together. When working with others I found the walk was more fun and I felt more safe.
What is the greatest challenge or project that didn’t turn out the way you wanted and how did you handle it?
Once in my current employment, I was assigned to teach the middle-school class, a bunch of teenagers. I knew that the previous teacher gave the students a lot of leeway, in my opinion. He let them play with their smartphones during class and such. When I became their teacher, I was determined to reform this class. I wasn’t going to let these kids do whatever they wanted in my class. I wasn’t going to allow them to play with their smartphones in my class, and they were going to actually do some work. It turned out that the teenagers didn’t like it and so they reported me to my employer. My employer then pulled me out of that class. I didn’t agree with that move at all b/c I felt that I was doing what a teacher should be doing. I was taking control of my classroom. So I talked to my employer about it, and told her what really happened. She told me she understood, but that for business reasons she had to pull me from that class. I learned from this experience that next time, I needed a new approach in my mission to reform the middle-school class. I needed to adapt and make a small methodical changes and observe to see if it’s working.
Tell me about a time you went above and beyond.
I like to make my own worksheets for my students in my current position working as a teacher at an after-school program. I could just use worksheets in a workbook or just get them online, but I want to customize my worksheets for each student and I enjoy doing it. It eats up a lot of time but since it’s for the kids, it’s worth it.
I make my own tests. I don’t have to make my own tests but I do it anyways because I want to measure how well my students are doing with my worksheets. My students are tested on everything they’ve learned while completing the worksheets I make for them.
What are some challenges you’re looking for in the position?
I know that there is going to be a lot of things to learn, and I’m going to need to experience and practice a lot of things. I see the whole apprenticeship as one big challenge and I’m looking forward to starting the whole process.
What is something that you didn’t like about your previous/current employer?
I didn’t like it when my employer pulled me out of my middle-school class. (talk about why she pulled you out, and explain what you did about it)
What is your background and what are you bringing to this position?
I don’t have any direct experience with operating engineer-type work, but I have a solid work ethic and I am dedicated to my responsibilities. (talk about making my own worksheets)
Why should we hire you? What are two words we should remember you by?
I’m mindful of others and I am a good team player. I know that in the apprenticeship I might be learning from multiple people with very different teaching styles, but I can be flexible and adapt to many different personalities. I know that I’ll be a positive addition to the team.
2 questions to ask about the job
- What’s the day to day work life of an operating engineer apprentice?
- What will my weekly schedule look like?
- Because of the virus, will I be taking classes thru zoom?
