The 50 Most Common Interview Questions Flashcards
What are your weaknesses?
I’m too independent. I don’t like to ask for help.
Some of that is pride. I feel like I can figure out anything.
Part of it is the joy of accomplishment — I like figuring things out myself.
Part of it is that I find the process valuable — I understand things more deeply when I’ve puzzled them out on my own.
Some of it is trusting my colleagues to take part of my load. So overall I feel that I’ve gotten a lot better about asking for help and not needing to be the guy who knows and understands everything.
Impatient. Particularly if I need more information to solve a problem. A lot of it comes from my associative style of problem solving, something will occur to me, but I’ll need a piece of information before setting down the path to that possible answer. And if I can’t start down that path, I find it frustrating, because I just want to run through the possibilities based on how the system is being built up in my head. You can think of it as building a machine or creating a sculpture where you can’t create a key part of the object, say a leg, which then prevents you from making other critical decisions. I get impatient because my brain is tearing through the process and I have to halt and wait. So my strategy for that is to do a brain dump. I just type out in a few minutes everything I think is relevant to the issue and specifically what I’m waiting for and why. It helps me put the problem aside and free up mental resources for other tasks while I’m waiting.
I hate saying no to interesting projects. So I have a tendency to overextend myself. Now I try to make an honest evaluation of whether I have new resources to take on an additional project, and if not, is there something I am willing to abandon in favor of the new project.
Listening - I always want to be a better listener. I have a very associative brain so connections always are occurring to me. Often I will have an insight prompted by a conversation and will want to share it, but i need to be careful that my contribution doesn’t sidetrack the conversation, or worse yet dominate it. I have two main strategies one is the jot down my distracting ideas during the conversation for follow-up, the other is to focus on questions for the other person.
What are your strengths?
Deep thinker.
Trifecta of knowledge work.
- What I know.
- What I can learn.
- What I can create.
Intensely curious about the world.
Tenacious. I’m not satisfied until I really understand the system. Leads to better solutions and clear communication.
A lot of energy.
Why are you interested in working for [insert company name here]?
Access Access Access
BCG Team
Problems That Are important
Players in companies.
Where do you see yourself in 5 years? 10 years?
Lead creation of a new or expansion of an existing area of practice based on my scientific and/or higher education expertise.
Higher Ed Pharma Biotech Instrumentation Science buildings
Senior director or V.P. of external innovation.
CSO for a small to medium pharma/biotech/cro.
Executive Dean/Provost/University President/Institute director.
May start a business.
Why do you want to leave your current company?
I don’t really. But if I’m really honest with myself, I have to recognize that I won’t really be able to meet my own standards of quality in research. The most important aspect of which is to make a meaningful contribution that impacts the field.
Facilities Resources Students Teaching Culture
Why was there a gap in your employment between [insert date] and [insert date]?
I don’t have one.
I have been continuously employed since I was 17.
My first job was as a paperboy for the Detroit news. I was 10. I left that position when my parents moved to California. 11.5 I took a part time job as a carpenters assistant when I was 12 making bookshelves for the school I was enrolled at. I had a gap in my employment from 13 to 17. At age 16 I took a job at 7-11. I quit after 6 months to start my service project required for graduation. I volunteered with the red cross. After my required 100 hours I took a job at Disneyland which I held for about 1.5 years.
What can you offer us that someone else can not?
Your business maybe the epitome of knowledge work. There are really four things you try to buy when you hire a knowledge worker.
Existingin
Smart not autistic.
What are three things your former manager would like you to improve on?
Be more delicate.
Be more patient. Lead them down the path.
Listen more, talk less, ask more questions.
Be humble.
Are you willing to relocate?
Yes.
Are you willing to travel?
Yes. I’m traveling effectively 100% now, so if you could manage any less than that…
Tell me about an accomplishment you are most proud of.
I’m very proud of the people I’ve trained and mentored — doctoral students, Postdocs, undergraduates.
Tell me about a time you made a mistake.
Starting in RMH lab, working long hours, not interacting enough with RHM, not asking for help. Too independent. The real mistake was thinking the approach that had worked at UCLA would work at Penn.
Management as service. Remove barriers to progress.
Didn’t realize at the time but I internalized that approach to management when I ran my own lab.
Unfortunately I was still rather stubbornly independent.
What is your dream job?
This one of course!
Senior Director or Vice President of external innovation for a major pharmaceutical, biotechnology, or instrumentation company.
Work with different divisions to identify areas where we could improve a process or develop a new product either for internal use b2b or consumer. Then find partners in academia and/or startups to fast-track a prototype. My vision would be to embed key team members from the local stakeholders into the academic or startup lab to keep the project aligned with our overall objectives. The unique value I would bring is a combination of the scientific depth to legitimately contribute to the science while maintaining the global vision of business outcomes relevant to the organization. My higher Ed experience would go a long way to being able to negotiate university politics and priorities.
So as you may have gathered, I see consulting as a natural path from my current role to that role.
How did you hear about this position?
consulting grad school actually but also as a postdoc.
Pharma
Etc
What would you look to accomplish in the first 30 days/60 days/90 days on the job?
Culture of how teams interact.
Become fluent in communicating the value of consulting analysis to clients.
Become proficient at delivering solid solutions to client problems.
Learn how to produce and present the results of consultation.
I would like to feel comfortable leading a team to consult for a client.
Discuss your resume.
Tell me how much time you want to spend on it?
My full CV is some ridiculous length - like 20 pages - and even that doesn’t cover everything I’ve accomplished, let alone attempted, in my career so far. What I provided you was a summary that really focused in on what I thought you might find interesting or that I thought was relevant to this position. For example: the plan for increasing grad enrollment. Also I’ve done a fair amount of technical consulting.
Discuss your educational background.
I went to a liberal arts college that was quite strong in the basic sciences. I was interested in science, but I really valued the principles of a well rounded education. I really think that the writing and communication and humanities that were such an important part of my occidental years continues to inform who I am today. For example … I chose my doctoral program because I wanted to keep my options open industry vs academia. But…
U Penn resources. Mentor. Energy.
Describe yourself.
Q
Tell me how you handled a difficult situation.
Laser blew up.
Post-doc zapped her eye.
Why should we hire you?
A
Why are you looking for a new job?
Q
Would you work holidays/weekends?
I have been for as long as I can remember, so I don’t see why that would change.
How would you deal with an angry or irate customer?
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What are your salary requirements?
Q
Give a time when you went above and beyond the requirements for a project.
Q
Who are our competitors?
For clients or for talent?
What was your biggest failure?
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What motivates you?
Q
What’s your availability
Q
Who’s your mentor?
Q
Tell me about a time when you disagreed with your boss.
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How do you handle pressure?
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