Best behavioral interview questions

A job interview is no easy task. In fact many job seekers have trouble with the same set of questions. We've listed the Top 440 Hardest Job Behavioral Interview Questions. Behavioral Interview questions vary job to job. When you have to give any behavioral interview it is a little different from routine interviews.

Some of the most challenging interview questions are found in behavioral interviews which are designed to test your abilities in three ways:

Determine how well you work under pressure
Find out how well you work with others
Establish whether you can resolve conflicts

The following are suggestions for responding to situational interview questions:

Negotiation Skills interview questions:

1. When was the last occasion that you were given an assignment to develop your mediating skills, and what was the conclusion?
2. What skills do use when you need to influence the way other people think?
3. When your credibility is compromised, what steps do you take to rectify the situation?
4. Do you need to make your attitude more positive when marketing yourself and your ideas to others?
5. When was the last occasion that you had to use your negotiating skills to bring about a resolution that was in everyone’s best interest?
6. Do you need to make your attitude more positive when marketing yourself and your ideas to others?
7. When your credibility is compromised, what steps do you take to rectify the situation?
8. Have you had an experience where you realized that you had to be more positive and persuasive when selling you ideas to others? What did you learn from this experience?
9. When was the last occasion that you had to use your negotiating skills to bring about a resolution that was in everyone?s best interest?
10. Have you had an experience where you realized that you had to be more positive and persuasive when selling you ideas to others? What did you learn from this experience?
11. When was the last occasion that you had to use your negotiating skills to bring about a resolution that was in everyones best interest?
12. When was the last occasion that you were given an assignment to develop your mediating skills, and what was the conclusion?
13. What skills do use when you need to influence the way other people think?
14. When was the last occasion that you were given an assignment to develop your mediating skills, and what was the conclusion?
15. Have you had an experience where you realized that you had to be more positive and persuasive when selling you ideas to others? What did you learn from this experience?
16. Do you need to make your attitude more positive when marketing yourself and your ideas to others?
17. When was the last occasion that you were given an assignment to develop your mediating skills, and what was the conclusion?
18. When your credibility is compromised, what steps do you take to rectify the situation?
19. Do you need to make your attitude more positive when marketing yourself and your ideas to others?
20. What skills do use when you need to influence the way other people think?
21. When was the last occasion that you had to use your negotiating skills to bring about a resolution that was in everyones best interest?
22. Have you had an experience where you realized that you had to be more positive and persuasive when selling you ideas to others? What did you learn from this experience?
23. What skills do use when you need to influence the way other people think?

Organizational skills interview questions

1. Illustrate how you prioritize each day’s tasks?
2. What do you do when a project is not coming to fruition as expected, because of inefficient planning?
3. What steps do you take when the work of a colleague threatens the completion of a project?
4. Tell me about a time when you managed a complicated project.
5. Tell me about a time when you worked under a tight deadline.
6. Tell me about a time when you had to multitask.
7. Tell me about a time when you took on more than you could handle.
8. Tell me about a time when you failed to delegate effectively.
9. Tell me about a time when you delegated an important task successfully.
10. When it is your responsibility to organize and plan a project what steps do you take?
11. How do you accommodate last minute changes that have to be incorporated into your work?
12. How do you prioritize the tasks to be completed in one complete work project?
13. Tell me about a time when your organizational skills helped you succeed.
14. Tell me about a time when your planning led to positive results.
15. Tell me about a time when you missed an important deadline.
16. Tell me about a time when you went the extra mile to get a project done.
17. Tell me about a time when you felt overwhelmed by your workload.

Presentation skills interview questions:

1. Did you ever give a presentation to a challenging audience? How did you cope with that audience? What was the result?
2. Tell me about a situation that demonstrates your ability to maintain the attention of the audience.
3. Can you give me an example when it was most difficult to respond effectively to on-the-spot questions during or after a presentation?
4. Tell me about a time when you demonstrated your ability to hold interesting and well-received presentations.
5. Tell me about a recent successful experience giving an oral presentation.
6. When you are preparing and giving a presentation or making a speech, how do you take your audience’s needs into consideration? Give me an example.
7. Have you ever been appointed spokesperson for a group? Tell me more about that experience.

Attitude based interview questions

1. How do you perform better under pressure?
2. How do you have a cheerful attitude which makes others feel good when he’s around.
3. How to you keep everything in focus and makes sure the team moves forward?
4. How do you balance it by remaining positive and upbeat.
5. How do you keep a balanced view on day to day events?

Accountability based interview questions

1. Do you take ownership for all responsibilities and honours commitments?
2. Do you deliver outputs for which one has responsibility within prescribed time, cost and quality standards?
3. Do you operate in compliance with organizational regulations and rules?
4. Do you support subordinates, provides oversight and takes responsibility for delegated assignments?
5. Do you take personal responsibility for his/her own shortcomings and those of the work unit, where applicable?

Analytical skills interview questions

1. How would you rate your analytical ability? Why?
2. How would your manager rate your analytical ability?
3. Tell us about a situation where the analysis that you performed was incorrect. What would you have done differently?
4. Can you tell me about a time when you discovered a more efficient way to do a work task?
5. Tell me about a task that really tested your analytical abilities?
6. Tell me about a tricky situation for which you found a very simple solution?
7. Have you ever been in a real dilemma at work? What did you do to get out of it?
8. Tell me about an assignment you worked on in which you had to amass a huge amount of data, and then analyze it?
9. Can you tell me about a situation where your analysis of a problem was deemed to be incorrect? What would you have done differently?
10. Are you analytical? Give us one example of your analytical abilities.
11. Tell us about your analytical skills.
12. Tell us about a particularly difficult problem that you analyzed and what was your recommendation?
13. What steps do you take when analyzing complex problems?

Accuracy behavioral based interview questions

1. How to you recognize the importance of accuracy.
2. How to you perform with a high degree of accuracy.
3. How to you achieve results with accuracy and precision.
4. How to you avoid mistakes and errors.
5. How to you conform to strict tolerances.
6. How to you maintain accurate documentation.
7. How to you provide explicit documentation.
8. How to you make accurate predictions about future trends, directions and developments.

Communication skills interview questions

1. When you have had a boss, in the past, who fails to adequately communicate with you, how have you handled this?
2. Give me an example when you had to present complex information in a simplified manner in order to explain it to someone?
3. Give me an example when you had to present complex information in a simplified manner in order to explain it to someone?
4. Tell me about a time when you had to be very careful in communicating delicate information. What was the possible risk involved and how did you go about it?
5. What steps do you take to establish a rapport with others?
6. Describe five things about the communication within an organization that must be present for you to work most effectively?
7. Describe a time when you took extra effort to make sure the person with whom you were communicating with had really understood your point. How did you do this?
8. How often do you believe it is necessary to withhold information from staff members who report to you? Would you say you do this regularly, not often, or never? Under what circumstances do you limit communication in your experience?
9. Describe the work environment or culture and its communication style in which you experience the most success?
10. How do you explain a complex technical issue to someone who has less technical knowledge than you?
11. Give me an example of a time when you had to put your point across in a meeting to which most of the people were reluctant to hear.
12. When you have entered a new workplace in the past, describe how you have gone about meeting and developing relationships with your new coworkers, supervisors, and reporting staff?

Cooperation skills interview questions

1. Give me an example of a situation where you helped your colleague perform a particular task in which you had better knowledge on the subject?
2. Can you tell me about a time when you backed off in a meeting because you felt someone else should speak or have an opportunity?
3. Tell me about a time when you acted as a mediator to help colleagues resolve their differences.
4. How would you show co-workers the importance of co-operation?
5. Give me an example of a time when you tried your best to work with someone, but the problems still remained. What did you learn from that situation?
6. Give an example of a time when you assisted a co-worker to enhance their work skills?
7. Tell me about a time when you had to help a co-worker who had made a bad mistake. What did you do?
8. Tell me about a time when you had to help a co-worker who had made a bad mistake. What did you do?
9. Give an example of a time when you assisted a co-worker to enhance their work skills?
10. How would you show co-workers the importance of co-operation?

Creativity based interview questions

1. How often do you discuss and work with colleagues to think up new systems and styles of working?
2. Have you ever tried a new way of doing things? Did you succeed?
3. Tell me about one case when you tried to solve a problem with a totally different approach than is normally used. What was the result?
4. Can you tell me about a situation, which you tried to solve a problem with ideas and methods that had not been tried before?
5. Tell me about the most interesting idea that you’ve learned outside of education?
6. What well-established professional practice are you skeptical about?
7. How do you express creativity in your life? What is your art? that has this expression brought to your life?
8. What ideas did you contribute to your department? What were the results?
9. Give an example of a project you were responsible for starting. What did you do? How did it work out?
10. What is the most creative thing you have done in a past job? How did it occur?
11. In the last year, what innovative ideas have you had at work? Were you able to implement them? How were they innovative?

Customer focus interview questions

1. Describe a time when you made meeting and exceeding customer requirements a driving force behind your activities and decisions.
2. Share a time when you actively gathered information to measure stakeholder satisfaction. How did you gather the information? How did you use it improve service?
3. Describe specific methods you’ve used to build relationships and gain the trust and respect of key stakeholders.
4. When have you had to deal with an irate customer? What did you do? How did the situation end up?
5. Tell me about a time you have “inherited” a customer. What steps did you take to establish rapport with them? What did you do to gain their trust?
6. How have you handled a situation in the past where your client has changed the brief or “changed the goalposts”?
7. Give an example of a time you went well out of your way to ensure a customer received the best possible service from you and organisation. What was their reaction?
8. When have you ever gone out on a limb to defend a customer? What happened?

Adaptability based interview questions

1. Have you ever worked hard on something and then had your priorities change mid-stream? How did it make you feel? What did you do?
2. How have you had to adapt your work style to fit the needs of others?
3. Tell me about a difficult adjustment that you have had to make in a job/position.
4. How often has your work been interrupted by unforeseen circumstances? What do you do when this happens?
5. Describe your changeover from high school to business school.
6. It has been a long time that you are working with your current employer. Won’t it be difficult to switch over to a new company?
7. How do you adapt to major changes at work?
8. It is important that you apply logic to answer these types of questions.
9. Every individual has different style of working. How do you adapt to an associate’s style in order to finish an assignment?
10. Tell me about a change that you have had to manage within your organization.
11. Describe a time when you have had to respond quickly to something within a changing environment.
12. Have you ever had to introduce a change into your department that was met with resistance? How did you handle the situation?

Attendance based interview questions

1. How do you manage to keep his employees on task and on schedule?
2. How to you schedule meeting with appropriate advance notice and maintains a good schedule while at work?
3. How do you manage a tough schedule with your staff?
4. How do you maintain good attendance and does not deviate from the standard attendance policy?
5. How do you show up to work on time and keep a good work schedule.?

Attention to detail interview questions

1. How do keep a project checklist, covering all the details that might be overlooked?
2. Describe an occasion when you worked on a project that had little room for error.
3. Give an example of a time when you went beyond standard operating procedures to ensure that regulatory compliances were met.
4. Our slogan is “Better Quality, Better Entertainment.” With that in mind, give an example of a time when you served that slogan in your previous (existing) position.
5. Tell me about a time when you analyzed a situation and found many mistakes had been made.
6. Recall a situation in which you used more than one skill at a time.
7. Give an example of a time when you participated in a team effort to complete a one-of-a-kind project.
8. Tell me about a time when you caught a problem before it escalated.
9. Describe a time when your document-management skills benefited your department.
10. Tell me about an occasion when your attention to detail was recognized by management.
11. Describe a time when addressing a minor project detail made a significant difference in the outcome.
12. Recall a time when a thorough evaluation of events was critical to your company’s success.
13. Give an example of a problem you solved with an obvious solution that was overlooked by others.
14. Tell me about an occasion when precision was important in your work.
15. Describe a time when the attention you gave to your work led to additional responsibility.

Decision making interview questions

1. Are you firm on your decision? How many times do you regret a decision or you reconsider or change decisions?
2. Describe the most difficult decision that you had taken till date. What made it so difficult?
3. Can you elaborate about the decisions you reach quickly and the ones you take more time?
4. If you come across a situation where you have to choose between a highly experienced candidate and a highly qualified but not so experienced contender for promotion, what would you decide?
5. What do you believe is the best way to take decisions, independently or by seeking guidance?
6. If you come across a situation where you have two or more options to accomplish a goal, and each one as good as the other, which option will you choose?
7. How do you react when you have to make important decisions but have to make them quickly?
8. Explain an occasion where you had to make a decision on your own? Were you happy with your decision making process?
9. How do you react in a situation where you need to take an immediate decision? What process will you follow for decision making in such a critical situation?
10. Have you ever faced a situation when you had to take a decision, which did not fall within in your area of responsibility? What decision did you make and how?
11. Have you ever tried to delay any decision-making? What were the consequences of this on both your company and customers?
12. Do you always make decisions on your own without the help of others? In which situations do you seek other’s help for decision-making?

Dependability based interview questions

1. Have any of your colleagues been regularly late at work? What was the reaction to this in your team?
2. Tell me about a time when you were accountable for a mistake you made. Did you accept responsibility?
3. How many days of attendance at work should be considered satisfactory? What has been your record of attendance at work?
4. What is your approach towards your personal and professional goals? How do you prioritize them? Give me some examples?
5. Do you regularly keep in touch with customers? How do you tell customers about new products and updates?
6. How many days of attendance at work should be considered satisfactory? What has been your record of attendance at work?
7. Tell me about a time when you were accountable for a mistake you made. Did you accept responsibility?
8. Have any of your colleagues been regularly late at work? What was the reaction to this in your team?
9. What is your approach towards your personal and professional goals? How do you prioritize them? Give me some examples?
10. Do you regularly keep in touch with customers? How do you tell customers about new products and updates?
11. Tell me about a time you handled a situation in the wrong way? Did you admit your mistake? If so, to whom? How did you handle situation?

Delegation skills interview questions

1. What tactics do you use to motivate others to complete delegated tasks? Provide examples?
2. Have you ever delegated a project to someone that you probably shouldn’t have? Why did this happen? Were there any repercussions? What was the resolution?
3. Describe for us your biggest delegation mistake. Why did you make it?
4. What do you think are the most common excuses team leaders use to not delegate?
5. Discuss with us the last time your supervisor delegated a project to you. How did you handle it? Were you able to complete the project on time and accurately?
6. Do you feel there are situations where one should never delegate? Why or why not?
7. Has there ever been an instance in your career where you had to delegate something but there was no one else to take on the work? What did you do? What was the outcome?
8. What type of instructions would you give your staff if you decided to delegate?
9. What steps do you take to ensure that the work you delegate is successful?
10. Describe the most challenging situation where you’ve had to delegate work. What happened? Why was it challenging? How did it end?
11. Do you think delegation is a way to dump failure on the shoulders of a subordinate or as a dynamic tool for motivating and training your team to realize their full potential?
12. What measures to do take to ensure a time sensititve project you’ve delegated to someone else gets completed?
13. What should you assume about your co-workers if you want to delegate successfully?
14. Using an example, tell me how you choose which staff members to delegate to, and which projects should be delegated to whom?
15. Tell me about a time when you effectively delegated a project to someone else?
16. Describe for me, using a specific situation, the types of instructions you use to delegate?

Detail oriented interview questions

1. How well do your work with detail information?
2. Give us an example of how detail-oriented you are.
3. Do you prefer to work with detail or with general information?
4. What level of detail have your current and past jobs required?
5. Are you a “big picture” or “detail oriented” person? How so?
6. Have the jobs you held in the past required little attention, moderate attention, or a great deal of attention to detail?

Goal setting interview questions

1. What (exactly) do you want to achieve? this year, 3-years goals, 5 – year goals?
2. Who needs to be involved in this goal process in order to accomplish it successfully?
3. Why invest time and energy into this goal?
4. Why would this goal relate to purpose, vision, or organizational values?
5. Who possesses the skills and talent necessary to meet the goal or do we need to train?
6. What are conditions of a goal?
7. What actions need to be taken and detailed tasks done to achieve a successful goal?
8. What is the plan for how often goals should be reviewed against measurement criteria?
9. What is the objective or challenge that needs to be reached?
10. When should this future be realized and what are the requirements and deadlines?
11. When will the goal be realized and how will progress be measured?
12. Why are these results important and what are the benefits?
13. Where will the goal and accomplishment of goal take place?
14. Where does the company, department, or team need to be in the near future?
15. Why is this important right now or in the next few months?

Interpersonal skills interview questions

1. What personal characteristics are necessary for success?
2. If you could change one thing about yourself, what would that be?
3. Who had the most influence on your career? On your life? Why?
4. Tell me about your closest friends – their personalities, interests, occupations.
5. Describe your overall relationship with most bosses you have worked with.
6. Describe your personal style, work style, management style.
7. Who was the best colleague you have worked with and why? Who was the worst?
8. What difficulties do you experience in getting along with others?
9. What kinds of people do you like to work with?
10. How have you changed since high school?
11. Who is the best subordinate you have worked with and why? Who was the worst and why?
12. Tell me why you would be a good team player.
13. How would your friends describe you?
14. If your credibility were questioned, how would you react?
15. What do people criticize about you? Are their concerns valid?
16. Describe the kind of individuals who are difficult for you to work with.
17. How have you changed since college?
18. How would you rate your effectiveness in relating to others? Do you feel it is a natural talent for you?
19. What causes you to be short fused or impatient with others?
20. What challenges do you face getting along with others?

Initiative based interview questions

1. Tell me about a time that you undertook a course of study, on your own initiative, in order to improve your work performance?
2. Tell me about initiatives you have taken to improve procedures at work? Were you successful? Would you do anything different now?
3. Tell me about a time you succeed in overcoming a major obstacle. How did it make you feel?
4. Tell me about a time when you found a better way of doing something, which proved to be an improvement on the existing system.
5. Has your supervisor ever come to you and pointed out that you had not met some of your tasks at work? How frequently does it happen?

Job knowledge interview questions

1. In which areas of your job do you feel capable and in which areas to you feel more comfortable utilizing other people’s experience?
2. When did you last volunteer to take a work project simply because it allowed you to expand your personal knowledge of the internal structure within your company?
3. Describe a recent occasion when you used your knowledge of the internal structure, within your company, to answer complex questions about the organization?
4. Can you suggest methods to utilize your knowledge of the company’s structure to improve relationships with our customer’s and clients?
5. In which areas do you consider yourself to be a specialist, and how do you envisage being able to utilize your expertise within our organization?
6. In what specific areas do you need to expand your knowledge to become more proficient at this job?

Leadership competency based interview questions

1. Explain a situation where you served as a leader during: a group project, an organized work project or activity, or a community service project. Explain in detail your role and how individuals responded to your leadership.
2. Explain a situation where you had an opinion that differed from a manager. Were you able to persuade the manager to change his or her opinion?
3. Explain a time when subordinates you supervised disagreed with your directives. How did you handle it?
4. How do you resolve conflict? What specific strategies have you used to be successful?
5. If your managers were asked to rate your leadership skills, how would they reply? What would subordinates say?
6. You decided to reorganize the department or work unit that you lead. Tell me how you proceeded with the reorganization?
7. Have you ever been a member of a successful team? If so, describe the role you played on the team and in its success.
8. Give me an example of a time when you played a leadership role in an event, an activity, a department or work unit, or a project. Describe how you led the efforts. Tell me how people responded to your leadership.
9. If I were to ask your reporting staff or your peers to comment about your leadership style, your leadership strengths, and your leadership weaknesses, how would they respond? What would this discussion tell me about you as a leader?
10. Tell me about a time when you created agreement and shared purpose from a situation in which all parties originally differed in opinion, approach, and objectives.
11. During your work experiences while attending college, tell me about a time when you demonstrated that you have leadership ability and skill.
12. How would your staff and colleagues describe your leadership style? Give me an example to support your answer.
13. What are the most important values and ethics you demonstrate as a leader? Give me an example of these in practice.
14. Name some situations in which a leader may fail. Tell me about a time when you failed as a leader?
15. What role does leadership play for a manager? How have you demonstrated this with your managers?
16. Tell me about an innovative solution you developed to a non-traditional problem.
17. Tell me about a time when the going got really tough. How did you rally the staff and build morale?
18. What methods have you used to gain commitment from your team?
19. All leaders have to deal with conflict situations. Describe a recent disagreement or conflict you personally had to handle.
20. How have you influenced employees to follow your strategic vision for the organization?
21. How have you encouraged learning and development of employees?
22. What was the most significant change you brought about in an organization?
23. Describe one experience when you had to lead a team.
24. How do you keep each member of the team involved and motivated, while keeping morale high? What steps do you need to take to achieve this?
25. In what situations do you prefer to use your leadership skills? Can you give me some examples?
26. Does you like to praise team members in public? How do you express your appreciation of them?
27. Have you ever tried to act as a mentor to a colleague? Was it worth it from a professional point of view?
28. Have you ever tried to do a job for which you were unqualified for? How did you react at that time? Were you able to accomplish your task?
29. Can you name someone who has had a big impact on you as a leader?
30. How did you build your personal reputation?
31. What advice would you give someone who is assuming a leadership position for the first time?
32. What improvements would you like to make regarding your leadership skills?
33. What is your style of leadership?
34. Why do leaders fail? Can you give me some real world examples?
35. What is the difference between a leader and a manager?
36. How do you develop new leaders in your team?
37. Who was the most difficult person you’ve dealt with? How did you manage the situation?
38. How do you market your ideas?
39. Are you a dreamer or a realist?
40. How do you deal with difficult people?

Listening skills interview questions

1. Are you capable of getting to the bottom of a situation, when some one is incapable of communicating what they really mean? If so how do you achieve this?
2. Relate an occasion when you withheld your own opinion, and tried to obtain the opinion of others, and why was this action important?
3. Describe an incident when you had to listen attentively in order to act quickly enough to meet a deadline.
4. Give an example of a time when you had to ask direct questions to bring out diverse opinions on a central issue.
5. How do you deal with situations when others are finding it hard to communicate effectively with you?
6. What do you do when someone is deliberately giving you vague, dissembling, or even obstructive information, which hinders your ability to complete a task?
7. Describe an incident when you had to listen attentively in order to act quickly enough to meet a deadline?
8. What do you do when someone is deliberately giving you vague, dissembling, or even obstructive information, which hinders your ability to complete a task?
9. How do you deal with situations when others are finding it hard to communicate effectively with you?
10. Give an example of a time when you had to ask direct questions to bring out diverse opinions on a central issue?

Management skills interview questions

1. Examples of strategic thinking in past situations
2. Have you ever challenged, shaken old work methods.
3. What methods have you used to evaluate employee’s job performance?
4. What experience do you have in setting budgets?
5. What systems have you developed and implemented to improve operating efficiency in your department?
6. Tell me about a tough decision you had to make recently at work , how did you go about making the decision?
7. How do you make your decisions in general?
8. How do you reach a decision if you don’t have all the facts?
9. How do you usually solve problems?
10. Examples of situations when your initiative ideas for improvement have made a significant difference.
11. How have you coordinated the work of your team to achieve target goals?
12. Example of adaptation to changes and the difficulties.
13. Talk me through a short term plan you developed and implemented for your department.
14. What methods have you used to prioritize work assignments?
15. What do you consider to be the most challenging thing about being a manager?
16. What are the recent trends in management that you have come across?
17. How would you describe your management style?
18. When did you last update your business management education? What are your professional development needs?
19. How do you handle a heavy workload? How do you prioritize day to day tasks?
20. How do you handle failures? Provide examples.
21. How do you define your key team members?
22. Describe a problem you recently experienced with an employee who reported to you, how did you solve it?
23. Tell me about an important assignment or task that you delegated. How did you ensure that it would be completed successfully?
24. When delegating a recent assignment, describe how you showed your confidence in the person’s ability to do the job?
25. Give me an example of when you successfully motivated your staff using incentives or rewards.
26. Describe a time you had to motivate a staff member who was reluctant to undertake an assignment.
27. Describe a time you had to provide training or coaching to different staff members on the same tasks.
28. Give me an example of when you had to provide feedback to a staff member who was performing poorly, how did you go about this and what was the outcome?
29. How to apply iso 9001 for management activities?
30. Please tell me top skills fo management?

Motivation skills interview questions

1. Describe the work environment or culture in which you are most productive and happy.
2. Imagine that you have received a coveted national award five years from now. Why did you receive the award, what is the award, and what are the circumstances under which you are receiving the award?
3. What goals, including career goals, have you set for your life?
4. How would you define “success” for your career? At the end of your work life, what must have been present for you to feel as if you had a successful career?
5. Describe a work situation in which you can demonstrate that you encouraged the motivation of another person.
6. Observing your coworkers, in your current or a past job, describe what motivated their best performance.
7. You are assigned to participate on a team that has several members who are not motivated to work hard and contribute. How have you in the past, or would you, if you were to experience it, approach this motivation situation?
8. In your experience, what draws forth your discretionary energy and effort, that willingness each person has, to go the extra mile, push harder, spend more time, do whatever it takes to get the job done?
9. What, in your experience, motivates your best, most successful performance? Can you give us an example of this motivation in action in the workplace?
10. What role does your manager or supervisor play in your personal motivation at work?
11. Describe the actions and behaviors of your manager or supervisor that you respond to most effectively?
12. Describe a project you were involved in that really excited you? How long did that feeling last?
13. Tell me about a time when you willingly volunteered for a task. Also, why were you so interested in this specific task?
14. Tell me about a hurdle which got in the way of achieving an ambitious goal. How did you go about overcoming it?
15. Tell me about a goal you achieved which at some points seems hopeless? Why did you keep going on?
16. Describe a work related goal that you have set for yourself.
17. Can you tell me at least three things that you have done in the past year to improve yourself, both business-wise and competency wise?
18. Tell me about a time when you and your whole team were demoralized for some reason. What do you do to raise spirits?
19. Would you regard yourself as a self-starter? Can you give me a recent example where you displayed this quality?
20. Give an example of a situation/project/time when you went above and beyond your responsibility to get the job done?

Problem solving interview questions

1. What are the frequent problems you have been facing in your current job which you would like to get rid of, but have not solved it yet?
2. Illustrate an experience when you had to put your fact finding ability to solve a problem. How did you scrutinize them and reached a resolution?
3. What types of problems are you called upon to solve in your current position?
4. Describe a situation where you had to adapt and manage change but were having problems. What did you do?
5. How did you handle your most challenging experience in your previous job?
6. Describe the problem and the way you collect info and establish a problem solving model.
7. How do you build a troubleshooting process?
8. What are the steps you take for a project that requires collection of systematic data and risk management for conducting a performance analysis
9. What are the steps you take to anticipate risks and resolve issues?
10. Give an example of an effective/innovative solution you created to solve a problem.
11. What procedure do you employ in solving problems?
12. Describe a problem you discovered in your current job. How did you solve it?
13. Describe a win-win situation that you have negotiated.
14. What did you do when you discovered that a problem was a direct effect of inappropriate service by your organization or team member?
15. Planning skills interview questions
16. Tell me what steps to create a plan?
17. What techniques are used for planning?
18. Tell me 3 big plan that you made and how to deploy and it ‘s results?
19. How to control a plan?
20. what elements you must be done when planning?
21. Tell me contents of a plan?
22. What career goals have you set for your life? What is your plan to accomplish them?
23. What is your plan for your career? How would you define “success” for your career? At the end of your work life, what must have been present for you to feel as if you had a successful career?
24. How would team members describe the role you played and the effectiveness of your contribution on a recent team project, department planning effort, or project?
25. What are three tips you’d offer anyone who takes on a role that involves planning, making projections, and accountability for decisions?
26. Describe any responsibilities that you have had in the past for manpower planning, materials and supply planning, shipping schedules, or vendor interaction?

Teamwork competency based interview questions

1. What are the characteristics of a successful team?
2. Have you ever had a role in a team project where your role was not clearly defined? How do you handle this?
3. When your team encounters a problem, such as irritation with another co-worker, how do you reach a good resolution?
4. Give an example of a successful project you were part of. What was your role? Why was the project successful?
5. Describe a situation in which you had to arrive at a compromise or help others to compromise. What was your role? What steps did you take? What was the end result?
6. Describe a team experience you found disappointing. What would you have done to prevent this?
7. Tell us about an unsuccessful team of which you were a member. What, if anything, could you have done differently?
8. Tell us about a successful team of which you were a member. What was the most outstanding characteristic of that team? What did you contribute?
9. What are the important qualities a person should have to become an effective team member?
10. What qualities do you have that make you an effective team player?
11. Do you work better by yourself or as part of a team?
12. When did you last coordinate your work with others in a team project? What was your most successful contribution?
13. When you feel that a team is working efficiently, except for the fact that one member is clearly not “pulling their weight”, what steps will you take?
14. Describe a team experience you found rewarding?
15. Describe the types of teams you’ve been involved with. What were your roles?
16. Describe your leadership style and give an example of a situation when you successfully led a group?
17. What type of people do you work best with?
18. What factors would you consider in assembling a project team?
19. Through what tools can a committee become more useful or productive?
20. When you receive positive feedback about the completion of a project do you give your team any credit?
21. When you are part of a team that is working exceptionally well, what do you think the reasons are for its success?
22. When you have worked on a team, and your role was crucial, what was that role? In what way was this team effort different or similar to working on your own?
23. What actions can a supervisor take to establish teamwork in the organization?
24. What are the advantages, if any, of establishing team goals as opposed to individual goals?
25. What role have you typically played as a member of a team? How did you interact with other members of the team?
26. When is the last time you had a disagreement with a peer? How did you resolve the situation?
27. When working on a team project have you ever had an experience where there was strong disagreement among team members? What did you do?
28. Have you ever been a project leader? Give examples of problems you experienced and how you reacted?
29. Have you ever been in a position where you had to lead a group of peers? How did you handle it?
30. Please give your best example of working cooperatively as a team member to accomplish an important goal. What was the goal or objective? To what extent did you interact with others on this project?

Time management interview questions:

1. How many hours do you normally work?
2. How do you handle stress and pressure?
3. Describe a time when your workload was heavy and how you handled it. -
4. Tell me about the last time you failed to complete a project on time.
5. What do you do when you have multiple priorities? Tell me about your typical day.
6. Your supervisor left you an assignment, then left for a week. You can’t reach him/her and you don’t fully understand the assignment. What would you do?
7. How do you organize and plan for major projects?
8. Describe a project that required a high amount of energy over an extended period of time.
9. How would you describe the pace at which you work?
10. How much time do you spend on the phone? In meetings? Etc.
11. How do you organize yourself for day-to-day activities?
12. Tell me about a task you started but just couldn’t seem to get finished.
13. What do you do when you’re having trouble solving a problem?
14. What do you do when things are slow/hectic?
15. Describe a typical work week.
16. Do you take work home with you?
17. What do you do when you’re having trouble solving a problem?

Cooperation/collaboration skills interview questions

1. Tell me about a time when you acted as a mediator to help colleagues resolve their differences.
2. How would you show co-workers the importance of co-operation?
3. Give me an example of a time when you tried your best to work with someone, but the problems still remained. What did you learn from that situation?
4. Give an example of a time when you assisted a co-worker to enhance their work skills?
5. Tell me about a time when you had to help a co-worker who had made a bad mistake. What did you do?
6. Give me an example of a situation where you helped your colleague perform a particular task in which you had better knowledge on the subject?
7. Can you tell me about a time when you backed off in a meeting because you felt someone else should speak or have an opportunity?

Conflict management/resolution interview questions

1. Describe a time when you had a disagreement with a colleague at work. How did you manage to work it out?
2. Tell me about a time when you had to work through some negativity to get some work done.
3. Describe a time when everyone in the meeting was opposing your ideas. How did you manage to work it out?
4. How would you handle a conflict between you and higher management?
5. Tell me about a situation when you were given job instructions and you were unable to comprehend the instructions. How did you go about completing the task?
6. How do you manage to work with people whom you are not comfortable with? What do you do in such situations?
7. Tell me about a time when you helped to successfully mediate in a conflict? How did you feel?
8. Tell me about a situation where you were aware of a serious mistake made by a colleague and what did you do about it?

Confidence based interview questions

1. How would you define self-confidence?
2. How confident are you?
3. Tell me about a situation or situations that might demonstrate your confidence to do this job?
4. Would your friends describe you as a confident person?
5. Do you think there is a difference between confidence and arrogance?

Critical thinking interview questions

1. What did you play with as a child?
2. If you could describe Hershey, Godiva and Dove chocolate as people, how would you describe them?
3. What is the chance that at least two people were born on the same day of the week if there are three people in the room?
4. If you walk into a liquor store to count the bottles unsold, but the clerk is screaming at you to leave, what do you do?
5. Are you a good decision maker?
6. Do you always take the process on your own? On what occasions do you recognize that you need other’s help?

NoTe: With the right interview preparation, you can turn nightmare behavioral questions into opportunities to sell yourself.  You’ll be seen as an employee who is able to stay calm under pressure, work well with others to promote corporate goals, and retain key customers, contributing to revenue growth.  In other words, the type of person all employers would want to hire.