| Competency | Interview questions are intended to: |
|---|---|
| Adaptability | to find candidates that are adaptable to change, flexible when facing tough decisions, able to deal with ambiguity effectively, and have the ability to change course when required |
| Analytical Thinking | to find candidates who can identify and define problems in order to develop solutions |
| Attention to Detail | to find candidates that are extremely detail-orientated, pay close attention to the little things, and make sure nothing falls through the cracks, and are accurate and organized |
| Career Development | to understand the candidate's career progression and how the role being interviewed for fits into their career goals |
| Client Relations/Customer Service | to find candidates that have a service-oriented attitude, a “Your-problem-is-my-problem” approach, take ownership, are accountable and escalate when necessary, and have a “can- do/will-do” mind-set, with rapid follow-up |
| Communication | to find candidates that approach communication strategically, that never assume one type of communication fits all circumstances, have the ability to express thoughts effectively both verbally and non-verbally, and have strong listening skills to ensure understanding |
| Conflict Resolution | to find a candidate who can diffuse and resolve issues or tense situations |
| Decision Making | to determine a candidate's ability to make informed decisions based on available information that is in line with department goals |
| Delegation | to find candidates that are comfortable delegating both routine and important tasks, can see how all the individual pieces fit together, and trust employees to perform these tasks |
| Diversity Inclusion | to probe a candidate's commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), their ability to deal fairly with all races, ethnicities, disabilities, cultures, ages, and genders, and their ability to engage in self-reflection of their impact on DEI in their organization |
| Employee Development | to find a candidate that has a genuine intent to foster long-term learning or development of others, and has a focus on the developmental intent and effect rather than a formal role of training |
| General | to find out why the candidate is interested in the role they are interviewing for, to get a sense of what the candidate is looking for and what they understand about the organization |
| Initiative | to find a candidate who is proactive, forward thinking, and takes the initiative to meet goals |
| Innovation | to find a candidate who can find new ways of looking at old problems, who has the ability to develop new and creative solutions, and who can put those solutions into action |
| Integrity | to find a candidate whose actions are consistent with what they say ("walk the talk"), who has the ability to communicate intentions, ideas, and feelings openly and directly, and who welcomes openness and honesty |
| Internship Interview Questions | to find qualified and interested internship candidates |
| Interpersonal Skills | to probe a candidate's ability to understand other people and to find candidates who can build and maintain friendly and reciprocal relationships with people |
| Introducing Change | to probe a candidate's ability to make change part of "business as usual," to learn their methods to reduce and manage resistance to change, and how they drive adoption to achieve the business result |
| Leadership | to determine a candidate's ability to influence, motivate, and challenge others, and how they adapt their leadership style to different situations |
| Management | to probe a candidate's ability to successfully manage people, including their ability to manage performance by setting clear expectations and goals, giving feedback, and addressing performance issues promptly |
| Motivating Others | to probe a candidate's ability to help others see the benefit of doing their job well and how they maintain a positive, yet realistic, outlook to sustain morale |
| Motivation | to find candidates who are self-motivated, to learn about what actions a candidate takes to ensure goals are met |
| Multitasking | to probe a candidate's ability to juggle different work projects and how they effectively shift their attention from one task to another |
| Negotiating | to probe a candidate's ability to work with two or more people, organizations, etc., to reach solutions through compromise |
| Organization/Planning | to find candidates who have an aptitude for organizing their work in order to complete their assigned responsibilities |
| Personal Effectiveness/Self-Assessment | to learn how a candidate views themselves and their work |
| Persuasion | to get a sense of a candidate's ability to inspire and persuade others to voluntarily follow direction, pursue and achieve goals, and adopt new positions or opinions |
| Presentation | to probe a candidate's ability to convey ideas and information to others |
| Problem-solving | to identify a candidate's ability to identify problems, determine accuracy and relevance of information, use sound judgement to generate and evaluate alternatives, and use information to make decisions |
| Project Management | to learn how a candidate structures and directs work on projects, how they define and communicate success in a project, and what experience leading projects was like |
| Setting Goals | to probe a candidate's ability to clearly define success and their ability to develop appropriate steps to achieve success |
| Sound Judgment | to find candidates who are trustworthy and are consistently professional in their work |
| Strategic Planning | to find candidates who have the ability to link long-range visions and concepts to daily work and have an awareness of the impact of the world at large on strategies |
| Stress Management | to probe a candidate's ability to keep functioning effectively when under pressure and maintain self-control in the face of difficult situations |
| Teamwork | to determine how a candidate works with others to achieve shared goals and recognizes the value of diverse perspectives |
| Time Management | to probe a candidate's ability to finish tasks on time, learn how they organize their time to complete tasks, and how they manage their own time, priorities, and resources to achieve goals |
Resources:
Behavioral Interviewing Question Bank
100 Potential Interview Questions