Personal Interview Questions Flashcards
What are you doing here?
I guess we could think of this as a first date.
I’m trying to impress you you’re trying to impress me.
You’re asking me questions and if you don’t like the answers, I won’t be getting a second date. Likewise I’m trying to figure out whether we’re compatible, do we have the same values. Do you seem fun…and so on… I’ll stop the analogy before it gets to the third date.
Tell me about yourself.
Answer
Why consulting?
Constant stream of new challenges.
I love solving problems.
I like working with other smart people especially people with complementary skills.
I feel I do my best work and am most creative when working on a team.
Exposure to people and problems otherwise unavailable to me.
I like the idea of having a shorter time between tackling a problem and seeing an impact.
Why did you pick your school?
Oxy. I liked the idea of a liberal arts college with strong sciences. I liked the idea of actually getting to know the faculty, doing research starting my freshman year, also being able to take classes at Caltech. Which I did.
UCLA vs U Chicago. Didn’t like the negativity at Chicago. I think if the faculty had worked a little harder to bring me in it might have made the difference.
Penn vs Minnesota vs Texas vs San Diego
Facilities were off the chart. Great people. Hochstrasser was very impressive.
Rutgers vs BU. at BU my best conversations were with people in the physics department and the medical school. I thought I’d be too much on the periphery of the department. Only one faculty member went to dinner with me.
MSU vs Chapman
What do you think consultants do?
Solve problems for clients.
Bring additional brainpower to bear on a problem.
Maybe that the client needs temporary expertise in some area.
Maybe they have the expertise, but the people with that expertise are too busy for this particular problem.
Bring an outside perspective. Fresh eyes. Challenge institutional assumptions. New options.
What do you know about this job and our firm?
Better know this!
Why would you choose our firm over our competitors.
Because we’re a better fit.
How are your quantitative skills?
Off the charts.
What percentage is 7 of 63?
1/9 11%
Tell me of a time you showed leadership skills.
1 Persuaded MSU to put readiness exam. 2 Post-doc Grad student conflict. 3 Planned Arkansas trip. 4 5 6
Ten Basic Skills of Outstanding Leadership • Integrity • Vision/strategy • Communication • Relationships • Persuasion • Adaptability • Teamwork • Coaching and Development • Decision-making • Planning
Communication: negotiates/resolves differences, leads group discussions,
Interpersonal Skills: works well with others, sensitive, supportive, motivates others, represents others, self-confident, accepts responsibility
Management Skills: leads groups, teaches/trains/instructs, counsels/coaches, manages conflict, delegates responsibility, makes decisions, directs others, implements decisions, enforces policies, takes charge.
Tell me of a time you were a team player.
1 IAMDN 2 NIRT 3 molecular design initiative. 4 admissions committee 5 contributed to -80°C 6 joined and contributed to joint protein expression facility. 7
Give me an example of the time you persuaded a group.
Readiness Exam
Prerequisite Enforcement
Graduate Course Offerings
Tell me about a recent crisis you handled.
1 exam. Train. Reroute. 2 paper math invalid 3 laser on fire 4 ammonia spill 5
Have you ever failed at anything?
You’ll have to narrow it down.
1 iAMDN
2 graduate project - lack of technical knowledge
3 postdoc project - check assumptions
4 200 club recommendation - persuasion/truth to power
5 grants
6 RUTenure - resources - networking - papers/integrity -
Tell me about a time you took the initiative to start something.
1 Rutgers web site redesign. 2 Joint Research Project with U Arkansas. 3 Rutgers Joint PhD MBA program. 4 build sm microscope 5 my research 6 6
