Below is a listing of sample interview questions to use as a guideline when developing questions you might ask a potential employee. The trend in developing these interview questions has been to make them behavioral based, allowing the interviewer to get the maximum benefit from the interview.

GENERAL

• Tell me about your recent work experience(s).
• Why did you leave your previous place of employment?
• Why are there gaps in your employment history?
• What strengths and weaknesses would you bring to this position?
• What is your understanding of this position and what skills do you bring to the position?
• What types of job responsibilities do you find to be most rewarding? Why?
• What types of job responsibilities do you find to be most frustrating? Why?
• Tell me about your computer skills and what type of software you are experienced with.
• What type of management style do you prefer (hands-on, frequent supervision, minimal supervision, etc.) and why?

BEHAVIOR QUESTIONS

• If you were given a handwritten list of 50 names and addresses, along with a letter that needed to be sent to each, how would you complete the task? Explain, in detail, using a mail merge function in word processing software.
• Describe a situation when you had to take directions from several people at the same time.
• Describe a time when you had to sacrifice quality for a deadline, or visa versa. How did you react to this?
• Describe a tough problem that you have dealt with, tell me how you approached it and the outcome.
• Tell me about a specific occasion when you conformed to a policy even though you did not agree with it.
• Tell me about a time when your manager was unavailable and you had to solve an immediate problem. What did you do and what was the outcome?
• Tell me about a project you have been responsible for and how you organized the necessary paperwork, tasks, goals, etc.
• Have you ever intervened on behalf of an employee who was not being treated fairly? Tell me about it.
• Describe for me two improvements you have made in your job in the past six months.
• When you delegate assignments to others, how do you keep track of their progress?
• Tell me about a decision you made that your supervisor disagreed with. How did you handle it?
• What do you feel would be the most common errors made in a position such as this?
• Tell me about a time when you were late or absent to work. How did you communicate that to your supervisor?
• How do you deal with difficult or demanding managers/co-workers/customers? Describe a situation.
• Tell me about a time when a supervisor asked you to complete a task that you thought was not necessary, or could have been done another way. What steps did you take to achieve the task?
• Tell me about a time when you felt you had to break a company rule in order to get something done.

CUSTOMER SERVICE

• How would your supervisor describe your relationship with your peers?
• Describe a customer compliant that you have resolved.
• Describe a day when you were faced with multiple interruptions and had to assist in covering an additional position. Tell me how you managed your day to accomplish your work.
• Tell me about a time when you were given high priority tasks from multiple supervisors. How did you decide which to complete first?
• How would the people you supervise describe your management style?

END OF INTERVIEW