Q&A Flashcards
“Tell us about a time you showed leadership/ demonstrated flexibility/had to make adjustments on the fly”
S: The situation was that… Last day at YMCA, field trip to crystal caves. Immediately issues. Confusion about whether we had to pick up Woodbury kids, staff ran late, three kids showed up after our bus left
T: My tasks changed. Usually support staff, not leader. Tasked w/watching kids by myself, coordinating, directing parents
A: The actions I took… promptly lead children onto bus. Immediately call site supervisor and program director about picking up kids from other location. Communicated with front desk about three late kids. Let parents know to meet us.
R: The results were that both buses arrived on time, late children arrived and were signed in, and late staff showed up just before out bus left. Trip went smoothly. I learned of my capability to communicate information between multiple parties and to supervise while busy with other responsibilities.
“*throw in some crap just to make yourself look good. Smile and say, “I loved those kids. They tortured me, pushed my buttons, but it was a lot of fun.”
“What gets you out of bed in the morning?”
- Opportunity to make use of the blessings I’ve been afforded
- Born in developing country
- Adopted by well-to-do parents, many opportunities.
- Billions would want my life, many opportunities to give back, I see FBI as a way to do that, and working towards that is a big reason I get out of bed
- Provide closure for victimized, try and stop those form reoffending.
- Protect community and country which have been so kind to me
“Tell me about a time you failed/Describe a significant mistake you have made, how you could have avoided it, and what you learned from that experience
S: At YMCA, summer of 2022, worked as child care staff. Supervised group. Child ran out of gym crying after exclusion
T: In these situations, I was tasked with… both sides of story, having apologies be made if necessary, watching over situation until calm
A: The actions I took were…spoke to child. New to job, stumbled and said wasn’t personal, that they wanted the best players. Broke them. Stood until quiet, angry with self.
R: The results were… child stopped crying after a few minutes. Led them back into gym away from dodgeball. did another activity. Learned to take extra precaution when speaking to a child, should spend time observing how more experienced staff handled those situations, and should’ve asked for help. Don’t be afraid to do so.
“Why is the FBI important?”
Protects that which makes this country the United States
- schools, businesses, families.
- Free elections, after-school activities, mom-and-pop restaurants
- Daily plots against the US, but they know they’ll run into the FBI, the world’s premier law enforcement agency, which has dealt with their kind before, and won. That reputation is powerful, and the FBI’s presence, just as much as it’s duties, is what makes it so important.
“Tell us about a time you found an error in your work and what you did about it”
S: At BCA (“Bureau of Criminal Apprehension”, worked in Predatory Offender Registry. Offenders had to send in mail by law, verifying address, employment, etc. One time, prematurely threw away envelope, which had offender’s name. Since didn’t know name, couldn’t scan into registry management system,.
T: Error brought to my attention, tasked w/fishing out envelope and scanning letter into system
A: The action I took was that though it wasn’t something that needed to be done immediately, I got to work as soon as I was told about the problem.
R: What resulted is that letter was successfully scanned in, and was put into the correct offender file. Learned to be more careful about throwing away mail, and more broadly, part o issue was going too fast, so I learned never to sacrifice precise work for doing the work fast.
“Describe a situation in which you went above and beyond your responsibilities”
S: Sophomore year of college, part of HHH, student group focused on clothing, blanket drives for homeless in Twin Cities.
T: Tasks not specified. Essentially just help out when asked.
A: However, wasn’t satisfied w/being on the sidelines, and actions I took were far beyond what was expected of me. Volunteered to call shelters (prez was supposed to do this). Volunteered to draft handbook of homelessness resources for drives. Employment assistance programs, housing authorities, food shelters. exhausting project (countless out-of-service phone numbers, contradictory info, many hours to complete).
R: Extremely impressed. Offered VP. COuldn;t accept since I transferred, SUA couldn’t allow non-students to be leaders. Learned that going above and beyond not only opens doors, makes others jobs easier, encourages other to give best effort,
“What can you tell me about the fbi?
- Federal law enforcement agency, infromally established July 26, 1908, Bonaparte, AG under Roosevelt, grand nephew of Napoleon
- Year later, known as BOI. !935 under Hoover, known as FBI.
-Strengthened under Hoover, weakened OC under RICO
-Shifted to CT after 9/11, counterintel against countries such as China, Russia, Iran. - Investigates HT, CAC, drugs, public corruption, many other violations
- Authority under Titles 18 and 28 of US code (carry firearms, serve warrants, make arrests
“Describe a time a supervisor disagreed with you. How did you handle it?”/Describe a situation in which you were able to use persuasion to successfully convince someone
to see things your way
S: Macy’s (stocking, cashier, busiest section). One shift, excess merch in back. Very short staffed, bad to have merch backed up
T: I was tasked with… staying on register for entirety of shift, let someone stock another day. I disagreed with this decision, to not have me stock.
A: The actions I took were to… politely express concerns to manager (with short staff throughout summer, leaving backstock of merch, while having new merchandise coming in every day, prevent someone from cashiering, few cashiers to begin with. Longer lines, more stress.
R: Manager agreed, allowed me to spend half shift stocking, other half cashiering. Learned compromise is always possible, worthwhile to look out for coworkers just as much as self.
“Provide an example of a time when you worked in a group and encountered an obstacle/”Describe a time you had a disagreement with a coworker and what you did”
S: Freshman year of college, psych science class. Group of three or four other students. Numerous projects throughout semester. One student always late submissions, subpar quality. Grades were fine, but felt it was unfair for other students; took unofficial leader role the whole semester
T: My task was to simply complete work as well as I could. Not required to say anything. But I took on the task of getting him to make meaningful contributions to group.
A: The actions I took were to… first, polite but firm email, timely, thorough. Agreed, but no change. Next action: go to professor and express concerns.
R: Prof agreed to have chat, after, work improved. Received high marks rest of year, no more issues. Learned effective way to address issues with coworker: professional, cordial confrontation, if no improvement, manager. Always speak up when feel inclined to do so.
“Tell us about a project where you did not have enough time to finish and what was the outcome?
S: At BCA (Bureau of Criminal Apprehension), responsible for scanning in predatory offender mail (required by law). One Monday, abnormally large pile of mail, numerous meetings.
T: I was tasked with scanning in mail ASAP, before SPAs left, since they dealt with errors I encountered. Used a scanner office lovingly referred to As PITA, or Pain in the Ass, since it never worked correctly.
A: The actions I took were to work as fast as I could, without any errors, to open and scan in mail. Skipped lunch/other interns in order to to work. Despite best efforts, didn’t finish before techs left, stayed past typical end time to finish.
R: What resulted was that I was able to successfully scan in all mail without hiccups. Managed to make all of my meetings. Learned that I’m capable of making best of these kinds of situations, when time isn’t on my side.
“How were you a leader at your university?/Tell me about a time you were a leader”
S: Freshman year, global institutions course. Paired with a few other students, worked on projects throughout semester
T: Took on task of being group leader: tasked w/assigning roles, providing feedback, , facilitating communication
A: The actions I took were to repeatedly schedule meetings w/professor to ask for feedback, well before we received a letter grade. Wasn’t required to do this. Politely but professionally held teammates accountable. Regularly updated group w/feedback from prof. I was looked to for advice on improvements.
R: Myself and every group member received A’s for every project, prof impressed w/my leadership and initiative. Learned how to communicate feedback to a group, coordinate dates and deadlines, how to assign tasks to others fairly and effectively.
“Describe a scenario where you succeeded as leader of a team and a scenario where you failed as leader of a team”
Part one (condensed version of above answer): Where I believe I succeeded as a leader
S: In freshman year of college, I took a global institutions class and completed multiple projects with the same group of people. I took the position as team leader.
T: I took on the task of assigning roles to each student, providing feedback, and facilitating communication.
A: The actions I took were to schedule meetings with the professor for feedback, wasn’t required to do. I politely but professionally held teammates accountable for their timely completion of work, updated them with feedback from professor.
R: What resulted is that we all received A’s for each project we completed, and the professor was impressed with my leadership and initiative
Part Two: When I think I have failed as a leader was
S: during senior year of high school, where I lead a group in AP Government and Politics. We worked on a presentation about major Supreme Court cases.
T: I was tasked by the teacher with completing some slides on a specific case, but took on the role of team leader.
A: The actions I took were to give feedback, to be the person to start and finish the presentation. Was impatient with how quickly work was getting done, was terse with some of my teammates on one or two occasions.
R: What resulted is that we received a high grade on the presentation, but teammates were not pleased to have worked with me, and the work was unenjoyable for some of them because of that. I learned that in future group projects, I must reflect patience and understanding in my words, no matter how I actually feel.
Describe a situation where you had to think critically/where you had to learn on the fly/where you faced a challenge/Give an example of a situation that required you to gather a great deal of information to solve a problem or present a proposal/Give me a specific example of a time when you used good judgment and logic in solving a
problem/Name a project you worked on that you’re proud of:
S: At HSI, I was given the opportunity to assist with an investigation by using a suspect’s computer, hard drive, and SD cards and looking through his files. I had never done anything like this before, and had never used Cellebrite, a digital analysis tool.
T: I was tasked with going through camera roll, documents, photos to identify any information that could point to illicit activity, summarize my findings in writing. Much of his files were on subjects I knew nothing about, such as on advanced technology and foreign government administrative rules I can’t specify for confidentiality. I had to learn about these topics on the fly.
A: The actions I took were to look for patterns in his files, and research anything I wasn’t familiar with. I used Google Lens to translate foreign government documents, which revealed potential evidence of particularly serious forms of theft. “I have to make sure to be vague here.” I researched the file types attached to folders in his hard drive, and doing this pointed to tools he may have used to commit crimes. I summarized my findings in an email.
R: What resulted is that the special agent involved in the case was very impressed with my work, and spoke to the Special Agent in Charge about how well I did. The SAC later wrote a letter to my academic program director complimenting my work, saying she hadn’t done this for an intern in her 23-plus years of law enforcement. Learned how to quickly learn about new subjects, and how to disseminate findings of my research to other people.
Tell us about a time you used a creative idea to solve a problem
S: In sophomore year of college at the University of Minnesota, I was part of a student organization called Helping Hand for the Homeless. We focused on putting together blanket and clothing drives for homeless individuals. I was not initially in a leadership position. Second question: We knew that handing out blankets was a helpful thing to do, but couldn’;t figure out a way to make a lasting impact on the homeless individuals we were going to encounter. That was the problem.
T: My tasks actually weren’t specified to me. It was a new organization, and I wasn’t supposed to do anything besides help out when asked to do so.
A: However, I wasn’t satisfied with not contributing. The action I took was to volunteer to draft a handbook that would be handed out to the homeless at the blanket and clothing drives. In these handbooks were employment assistance programs, housing authorities, and social services hotlines. This was an exhausting project, where I encountered countless out-of-service phone numbers and contradictory information, and took many hours to complete.
R: What resulted was that the organization leadership was extremely impressed. They felt that I had solved the problem they brought up, where we could impact homeless individuals beyond providing them with a few material necessities. They were so impressed that they offered me the vice president position for the group. I couldn’t accept it since I had just transferred to another school, and it was against student union policy to be a leader if I wasn’t a student.
Give an example of a challenging situation during which you exercised integrity:
S: At Macy’s, I did cashiering and stocking for the most popular department in the store. One of my coworkers made long, frequent trips to the bathroom, all while we were terribly short staffed and made my coworker’s jobs even more difficult.
T: In these situations, I was tasked with speaking up immediately, first by going to my coworker, and then to the manager.
A: The actions I took were to first politely talk to my coworker about why they were away from their register for so long. After they got defensive, I spoke to my manager about my concerns and how my coworker reacted to my confrontation.
R: What resulted is that my coworker was much more prompt in their bathroom breaks, and their productivity as a whole improved. I learned that it is always worthwhile speaking up when a coworker is making the workplace less efficient.
