Standard Questions Flashcards
What relevant experience do you have?
Broadly, I’ve been conducting military research on the service member wellbeing over the past 7.5 years and have worked with active-duty, guard/reserve, and veteran populations. During that time, I’ve assisted in developing a multitude of studies in the military at WRAIR and in academia as the teams military culture expert. I’ve administered thousands of assessments in the form of surveys, sleep patterns, etc and am skilled in developing SOPs to ensure a smooth roll-out; written various technical reports with military samples; analyzed quantitative and qualitative data; and have briefed senior leader and key stakeholders
What did you like or dislike about your previous job?
Liked - rich in opportunities and experiences to grow in terms of statistical skills, interventions, publishing, etc. Didn’t like that much work was siloed. I think it would be nice to work in a more collaborative environment
What major challenges have you handled?
1st generation college student; excelled through challenges presented before me in the military; passed comprehensive exams; have excelled through grad school maintaining a 3.95 GPA despite the multitude of challenges
How did you fit in with the company culture?
I’ve worked in very rigid organizations such as the military and very laid back environments in academia. This has given me the confidence to state that I can work for any culture as I’ve experienced polar opposite organizational cultures and still thrived
What was your biggest accomplishment (failure) in this position?
My greatest accomplishment is passing comprehensive exams during the onset of the COVID pandemic. I was provided a reading list of over a 100 seminal social psychological manuscripts or books which I needed to read and distill over the summer with no clear indication of the types of questions which I would be asked during my written and oral exams. It was an incredibly stressful experience which was exacerbated by the pandemonium of COVID when everyone was acclimating to a completely new lifestyle. Previous comps cohorts had the benefit of additional social support through study sessions in person these types of sessions just weren’t the same online. I’m happy to report that despite these adverse events, I was able to read and distill 3500 pages of text, I passed my exams, and I become an expert in social psychology throughout the process. AS you can see from my Resume, I’m clearly not accustomed to failure. But from a subjective perspective, I’d say I’ve failed to produce many first author publications. This has been due to a tradeoff in how I spent my time which was through gaining experience in writing 4 DoD grants, analyzing complex data, going on countless data collections, and serving my team as a military culture expert when it came to hypothesis development, survey design, etc. I find these experiences to be rewarding and would make the same decision again. With regard to my first, first-author publication in Military Behavioral Health, I was a finalist for the Barbara Thompson Award and my paper was one of the top 4 military family papers published in 2020.
What was most (least) rewarding about your job?
During COVID, much of the social interaction moved online which wasn’t the same… Being in a siloed state wasn’t preferable but I quickly learned how to adjust. I’d prefer to work in person but can also work remote if needed.
Describe your work style.
Well-organized, communicative, helping others, doing whatever I can do to keep momentum going.
Do you take work home with you?
I didn’t in them military and I have had to in graduate school. However, I’m always mindful of my wellbeing and always get the job done. I feel like I’ve got a great grasp in finding the right balance
How would you describe the pace at which you work?
Working at WRAIR as well as within DoD grants, the nature of research seems to occur as ebbs and flows. Sometimes the operational tempo can be slow and sometimes it can be rapid with all hands on deck. The latter excites me however, I often get a rush on finishing early
Is there a type of work environment you prefer?
I feel as if I’m very flexible to organizational practices. This is something the military really instilled in me. Don’t ever get too comfortable. My preference would be to work with a high-performing team that strives for excellence as I believe it pushes everyone to be their best while holding everyone accountable… it’s pretty inspiring when you are working on a team like this and all talented team-members are firing on all cylinders
Have you ever had difficulty working with a manager?
Throughout my career, I’ve been able to work well with 99% of managers. I had one leader who was extremely challenging to work for but I made it work. This leader was eventually relieved of command for toxic leadership but it was also a learning experience in how 1 person can taint the workplace culture
Have you gotten angry at work? What happened?
No, in fact, I’ve had a number of peers often mention that I exude more of a calming energy and often results in them confiding in me
How would you handle it if your boss was wrong?
I often utilize the socratic method within interpersonal situations as it often results in amicable situations, promotes learning, and addresses the root of the problem. For example, clustering by company rather than platoon
Do you prefer to work alone or on a team?
I am often capable of working in both contexts but I greatly enjoy working as a team. I can often work independently as long as there is some social interaction with workplace peers
Give some examples of teamwork.
Sharing credit with others, going out of my way to help others with tasks, softly checking in if I suspect something is amiss with their demeanor
