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HR Recruitment Resources

Diversity Focused Interview Questions

Measuring Cultural Key Competencies during the Interview Process

Specialty / National / General Online / Print Job Boards

National Diversity Outreach

Online and Local Diversity Outreach

Local Online Job Postings

Recruitment Strategy for Faculty

HBCUs (Historically Black Colleges and Universities) Offering Doctoral Programs

Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs) Offering Doctoral Degrees

Top Doctoral Degree Granting Institutions for Native Americans

Behavioral Interview Question Bank

Professional Skills

Managing Personal Effectiveness

Managing Results

Leadership

Managing People

Additional Questions

Diversity Focused Interview Questions

Measuring Cultural Key Competencies during the Interview Process

As a component of the Diversity Action Plan and the President’s Strategic Mission of achieving global excellence, Portland State University strives to become an institution that is recognized nationally and internationally for the accomplishments of its faculty, the reputation of its programs, and the preparation of its students as world citizens. Consequently, all our employees are required to demonstrate cultural competencies. The following are among the questions hiring managers can ask potential candidates of employment to measure whether they meet the essential functions of the job relating to cultural competency.

  1. We expect a high level of performance from everyone at PSU, no matter their position. Our goal is nothing short of transforming into a first class institution of higher education. We build teams of really bright people. We empower each other and value our diversity, celebrate and reward our success. What is your model of success and how will you fit into this culture?
  2. Please describe how you would work to create a campus environment that is welcoming, inclusive and increasingly diverse.
  3. Describe how you, as a faculty member, function and communicate effectively and respectfully within the context of varying beliefs, behaviors, and backgrounds.
  4. What opportunities have you had working and collaborating in diverse, multicultural and inclusive settings.
  5. What is your definition of diversity? How do you encourage people to honor the uniqueness of each individual? How do you challenge stereotypes and promote sensitivity and inclusion?
  6. How do you seek opportunities to improve the learning environment to better meet the needs of students from all over the world and from students who have been historically marginalized in the USA, such as the Native Americans, African Americans, Latinos, Asians, and other communities?
  7. What is your method of communication with students who are different from the Professor? How do you convey thoughts, ideas, or adverse conclusions?
  8. Describe your experience or explain how you have been educated to understand the history of African Americans, Latinos, Asians, Native Americans and other historically marginalized communities in the USA.
  9. Describe your experience in serving or teaching underrepresented communities.
  10. Tell us about a time when you had to work with someone who had the direct opposite personality of yours?
  11. Give an example of how you walk in the shoes of people we serve and those with whom we work.
  12. Give an example of how you honor commitments and describe a time when you were asked to compromise your ethics. What did you do? What would you do in the future?
  13. How has your current/previous employer benefited from multiculturalism?
  14. How do you define social justice?
  15. Describe a situation in which you encountered a conflict with a person from a different cultural background than yours. How did you handle the situation? (Please be specific)
  16. In previous work experiences, what has been the greatest obstacle in developing a multicultural-competent staff?
  17. Describe a situation in which you utilized your multicultural skills to solve a problem.
  18. What ideas do you have for educating students about diversity?
  19. How has diversity played a role in shaping your social style?
  20. Tell us about a time when you changed your style to work more effectively with a person from a different background.
  21. Tell us about a time you took responsibility/accountability for an action that may have been offensive to the recipient and how you did that.
  22. Talk about a time when you had to abide by a policy that you did not personally agree with.
  23. Talk about a time when you had to deal with conflict at work.
  24. Talk about a time when you were placed on a team and you or someone on that team didn't see eye-to-eye.
  25. Describe the most difficult person you've ever had to deal with at work.
  26. Describe a time when you needed to work cooperatively with someone that did not share the same ideas as you.
  27. Give an example of a time when you had to make an adjustment to your personal style in order to successfully work with a coworker.
  28. Give an example of a time when you had to expend social capital to champion social justice.
  29. Give an example of a time when you could not be tolerant of another person’s point of view.
  30. As a PSU professional, have you done any work in the area of social justice in the community?
  31. What do you see as the most challenging aspects of an increasingly diverse academic community? Follow-up question: What initiatives have you taken to meet such challenges?
  32. What is your sense of the complexities and leadership challenges related to social justice and multiculturalism at PSU?
  33. How would you work with people under your supervision to foster a climate receptive to diversity in your department, the curriculum, staff meetings, printed materials, initiatives, etc?
  34. Suppose that in working with a University unit you discover a pervasive belief that diversity and excellence are somehow in conflict. How do you conceptualize the relationship between diversity and excellence? What kinds of leadership efforts are needed to encourage a commitment to excellence through diversity?
  35. In what ways have you integrated multicultural issues as part of your professional development?
  36. Talk about how you responded to a co-worker who made an insensitive remark.
  37. Talk about a time that you successfully adapted to a culturally different environment.
  38. What have you learned from working with diverse populations?
  39. What issues have arisen from your work with non-traditional and first generation students? What has gone smoothly and what has been challenging in this work?
  40. Do you speak any other languages other than English? If so, what language(s) and to what extent are you fluent in that/those language(s)?
  41. What are some specific things you are going to do within the next two years to further your development in cultural competency?
  42. How does your own identity impact your work with a diverse staff and student body?
  43. Please tell us about an experience that you had with a student. What did you learn about yourself?
  44. When interacting with a person from a different culture than your own, how do you ensure that communication is effective?

 Specialty / National / General Online / Print Job Boards

National Diversity Outreach

Online and Local Diversity Outreach

 Local Online Job Postings

Recruitment Strategy for Faculty

HBCUs (Historically Black Colleges and Universities) Offering Doctoral Programs

A large percentage (claims vary) of Black scholars holding doctoral degrees receive their undergraduate degrees at HBCUs. These scholars may keep in touch with their undergraduate advisors, so it may be useful to advertise open positions to the appropriate departments at any or all HBCUs. A list of links to all HBCUs may be found below.

The majority of HBCUs are not themselves doctoral granting institutions. OPDI staff looked at the website of each HBCU and compiled the following list of doctoral programs at HBCUs. Every attempt has been made to be accurate and comprehensive. Please reach out to employment@pdx.edu with any errors.

Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs) Offering Doctoral Degrees

http://www.hacu.net/assnfe/CompanyDirectory.asp?STYLE=2&COMPANY_TYPE=1,5&SEARCH_TYPE=0 for a list of HSIs. The majority of HSIs are not doctoral granting, and many are two year institutions. By visiting the website of each institution on the HIS list, ODE staff compiled the following list of doctoral programs at HSIs. Every attempt has been made to be accurate and comprehensive. Please reach out to employment@pdx.edu with any errors. Updated 11/20/06.

A list of the top 100 institutions awarding doctoral degrees to Hispanic scholars in 2004-05 is available at http://www.hispanicoutlook.com/top100_focus.htm?section=d.

Top Doctoral Degree Granting Institutions for Native Americans

According to Diverse Issues in Higher Education the following are the top doctoral degree granting institutions for Native American Scholars. http://diverseeducation.com/top100/top100listing.html?appSession=4541284... (visited 02-052010)

Behavioral Interview Question Bank

Professional Skills

Attention to Detail

  1. How have you ensured that important details were not overlooked when planning a project?
  1. Situation:
  2. Action:
  3. Result:
  1. We all have occasions when we were working on something that just “slipped through the cracks.” Give me some examples of when this happened to you?
  1. Situation:
  2. Action:
  3. Result:
  1. Can you give me some examples of times when you found errors in your work?
  1. What were the causes?
  2. How did you handle them?
  1. Describe your system for controlling/checking errors in your work.

Leading Meetings

  1. How have you prepared for meetings that you would be leading?
  2. Tell me how you have handled a time when you were leading a meeting and that discussion got away from the agenda.
  1. Situation:
  2. Action:
  3. Result:
  1. Describe how you follow up after a meeting to make sure that what was agreed to be done gets completed.

Project Management

  1. Take me step-by-step through how you prepared the budget for your last project.
  2. How have you scheduled the timeline and set priorities for a project?
  1. Situation:
  2. Action:
  3. Result:
  1. What kinds of project planning and administration did you do in your job at____________?
  2. Can you think of some projects or ideas (not necessarily your own) that were implemented or carried out successfully, primarily because of your efforts?
  1. Situation:
  2. Action:
  3. Result:
  1. Describe your method of keeping informed of what is going on in your project.
  2. What kind of system do you have for keeping track of the progress workers are making on a project?
  3. Describe any significant projects that you have developed within the past year.
  1. How did you know they were needed and would work?
  2. Were they used?
  3. Did they work?

Managing Personal Effectiveness

Achievement Orientation

  1. In your position, how do you define “doing a good job”?
  2. What are your standards of success in your job?
  1. What have you done to meet these standards?
  1. Tell me about a time when you were not very pleased with your performance and what you did about it.
  1. Situation:
  2. Action:
  3. Result:
  1. How have you handled competitive situations in the workplace?

Action Orientation

  1. How did you get your job at ____________?
  2. Describe a situation and the outcome of a time when you showed initiative.
  1. Situation:
  2. Action:
  3. Result:
  1. Describe the changes and steps taken to implement changes in your area of responsibility.
  1. Changes:
  2. Steps Taken:
  1. How have you tried to influence events to achieve goals?

Adaptability

  1. Tell me about how you have had to adjust quickly to changes in organization priorities and how that affected you.
  2. What kinds of changes did you run into switching from department to department?
  3. Going from the ________ position to ________ position must have been difficult.
  1. What problems arose and how did you take care of them?
  1. What was the highest pressure situation you have been under in recent years?
  1. How did you cope with it?
  1. What do you do to manage fatigue and edginess with coworkers and customers?
  2. How do you deal with your most frustrating situations at work?

Applied Learning Ability

  1. How did you learn the technical aspects of your job at __________?
  1. How long did it take you?
  1. What did you have to learn to be effective at ___________?
  1. Which parts took the most time?
  2. Why?
  1. What technical courses have you taken?
  1. What did you learn?
  2. How hard were they?
  1. Did you pass your _________ certification/examination?
  1. What did you do to prepare for it?
  1. In which academic courses did you have to work the hardest?
  1. How well did you do
  1. What was the most difficult/easiest task you had to learn on your job at_______________?
  1. How did you learn it?
  1. Describe how you have applied your knowledge about ____________ to a project/assignment.
  1. Project:
  2. Action:
  3. Result:

Assertiveness/Responsiveness

  1. Tell us about a time when something you did caused a problem for others?
  1. Situation:
  2. Action:
  3. Result:
  4. Could it have been avoided?
  1. Describe how you have determined and communicated the needs of your work group.
  2. Tell me about a situation when you had to communicate your personal needs to others in order to justify your decision.
  1. Situation:
  2. Action:
  3. Result:
  1. Describe your most recent discussion with one of your subordinates who was having or causing problems.
  1. Situation:
  2. Action:
  3. Result:
  4. How did you get involved?
  1. Tell me about a time when you had to change your priorities to accommodate the needs of someone else.
  1. Situation:
  2. Action:
  3. Result:

Building Relationships

  1. Give an example of how you developed a rapport with your co-workers and people from other departments at ________?
  1. Situation:
  2. Action:
  3. Result:
  1. Give an example of how your relationships with your co-workers and boss affected your performance at work?
  2. We all have ways of showing our consideration for others. What are some things you’ve done at ________?
  3. Tell me about a situation where you felt you shared too much information or shared information with the wrong coworker.
  1. Situation:
  2. Action:
  3. Result:
  4. Why do you think this?

Managing Time

  1. How do you schedule your time and set priorities?
  2. Give an example of what you do when your time schedule is impacted by unforeseen circumstances?
  1. Situation:
  2. Action:
  3. Result:
  1. How did you decide which customers to see/projects to work on last week?
  2. Provide me with an example of what you do when you are overloaded with work?
  1. Situation:
  2. Action:
  3. Result:

Managing Work

  1. How have you developed work objectives for yourself?
  1. Are they written?
  2. Describe your action plan to reach one of your objectives?
  1. Objective:
  2. Action Plan:
  3. Expected Result:
  1. What checkpoints or performance indicators have you established to ensure you reach your goals?
  2. Tell me how you keep track of your progress on a project using a specific and recent example.
  1. Situation:
  2. Action:
  3. Result:
  1. Describe a time you failed to reach your goal because you did not establish a realistic action plan?
  1. Situation:
  2. Action:
  3. Result:

Negotiating

  1. What was one of the best ideas you ever sold to a superior?
  1. Situation:
  2. Action:
  3. Result:
  4. What was your approach?
  1. What was one of the best ideas you tried but failed to sell to a peer?
  1. Situation:
  2. Action:
  3. Result:
  4. What was your approach?
  5. Why did it fail?
  1. Describe your most satisfying experience in attempting to gain top management’s support for an idea or proposal.
  1. Situation:
  2. Action:
  3. Result:
  1. How do you approach a negotiation situation?
  2. Describe a recent situation that required negotiating.
  1. Situation:
  2. Action:
  3. Result:
  1. Tell me about a situation when you had to work out a compromise solution.
  1. Situation:
  2. Action:
  3. Result:
  4. Did both sides compromise equally?
  5. If not, why?

Objectivity

  1. Tell me about a situation in which you had to deal with a controversial topic at work.
  2. What was your reaction the last time a person (customer, subordinate, boss) lost his or her temper?
  1. Situation:
  2. Action:
  3. Result:
  1. Tell me about the last time you took a stand on an issue that others disagreed with.
  1. What were the merits in the others’ viewpoints?
  1. Situation:
  2. Action:
  3. Result:
  1. Tell me about a situation in which you became frustrated or impatient when dealing with customers, subordinates, boss or co-workers.
  1. How did you handle it?
  1. Describe a situation at work and your reaction when someone criticized you.
  1. Situation:
  2. Reaction:

Oral Communication

  1. Give an example of one of the worst communication problems you have experienced and how you would approach a resolution?
  1. Situation:
  2. Resolution Idea:
  1. What different approaches do you use in talking with different people?
  1. How do you know you are getting your point across?
  1. At one time or another, we have all had some problems getting our point across when talking on the telephone.
  1. Give me an example when this has happened to you.
  1. Situation:
  2. Action:
  3. Result:
  1. What is the most complex topic you have had to explain to a group?
  1. Situation:
  2. How did you handle it?
  3. Result:
  1. What are some of the more complicated kinds of ideas/products you have had to explain over the phone?
  2. What are some of the different people you communicate with to perform your job?
  1. Person:
  2. Type of communication:
  3. Person:
  4. Type of communication:
  5. Person:
  6. Type of communication:

Organization Know-How

  1. Describe a situation when you had to work together with another area in your organization.
  1. Do you feel it was necessary and productive?
  2. Why or why not?
  1. Tell me about a time when you relied on another area in your organization to help you with a project.
  1. How did they approach the task?
  1. Give an example of how events in your area of the organization affect other parts?
  2. Draw an organization chart for me.
  1. Tell me whom, if anyone, you frequently come into contact with in each of these departments and for what reasons. (Look for understanding of structure)
  1. How is your particular job affected by situations beyond your control in other parts of the organization?
  1. What do you do about it?

Resolving Conflicts

  1. From time to time all of us are confronted by someone who disagrees with us at work. Tell me what you’ve done in a situation like that.
  1. Situation:
  2. Action:
  3. Result:
  1. What recent conflicts have you had with a subordinate, peer or supervisor?
  1. Situation:
  2. Action:
  3. Result:
  4. Did it interfere with getting the work done?
  5. How was it resolved?
  1. Describe a situation when you had to help people with differing viewpoints reach a constructive solution.
  1. Situation:
  2. Action:
  3. Solution:
  1. Tell us about a time when you had subordinates who did not work together well?
  1. Situation:
  2. What did you do about it?
  3. What effect did your actions have on the situation?

Resourcefulness

  1. What is one of the most imaginative or innovative things you have done in your present position?
  2. How have you made an opportunity for innovation and imagination in your present position?
  3. Describe a situation you had to handle in which old solutions did not work?
  4. Describe a problem in your organization that you handled in a different way.
  1. Situation:
  2. Action:
  3. Result:
  4. How was your approach different?
  1. Describe any significant projects, ideas, etc. you have conceived within the past year.
  1. How did you know they were needed and would work?
  2. Were they used?
  3. Did they work?
  1. Give an example of how you have gotten your employees to come up with new ideas?
  2. What ways have you found to make your job easier or more rewarding?
  3. Describe a new idea and suggestion you have made to your supervisor in the last six months that was used.

Self - Development

  1. What type of development activities are you engaged in to improve your skills?
  2. What have you done recently to develop your knowledge or abilities?
  1. How have you applied that knowledge to your present job?
  1. How does your current job relate to your career goals?
  1. Current job:
  2. Career goals:
  1. What media have you recently accessed and gotten useful, job-related information from?
  2. What company sponsored development courses have you taken?
  1. How did you get involved?
  1. How do you keep up your technical skills?
  2. Tell me about a time when you used a new skill.

Team Playing

  1. Tell me about some of the toughest groups you have had to get cooperation from.
  1. Did you have any formal authority?
  1. How frequently do you meet with your immediate subordinates as a group?
  1. Why?
  2. How do you prepare?
  3. How do you conduct the meeting?
  4. What do you do after the meeting?
  1. How often do you attend meetings with peers?
  1. What role did you play in the last meeting?
  1. What recent problems have you had in which you included your subordinates/peers in arriving at a solution?
  1. What approach did you take to get them to accomplish the task?
  1. How did you set the objectives for your unit last year? (Look for the involvement of subordinates)
  2. Describe some ways in which you contributed to a team project you worked on.
  1. Project:
  2. Contributions:
  3. Result:

Work Commitment

  1. Give an example of a project or task that needed extra time and effort to complete.
  2. Give some examples of you doing more than what was required in your job at ____________.
  3. What was a big obstacle you had to overcome to get where you are today?
  1. How did you overcome it?
  1. Can you relate an experience where you gained something because you persisted for a length of time?

Written Communication

  1. How have you prepared for writing a proposal?
  1. How did it help you in writing the proposal?
  1. Give some examples of when you have had to adjust your writing style to have your ideas more clearly understood.
  1. How did you approach it and decide on the appropriate style?
  1. Situation 1:
  2. Action 1:
  3. Result 1:
  4. Situation 2:
  5. Action 2:
  6. Result 2:
  1. What are some of the most important reports you have written?
  1. What reactions did they get?
  2. How hard were they to write?
  3. Why?
  1. What was one of the most difficult writing assignments you have been given or have taken on yourself?
  2. What are some of the easiest writing assignments you have had?

Managing Results

Analysis

  1. Describe a complex problem you have worked on lately which required in-depth analysis.
  1. Problem:
  2. How Analyzed:
  3. Result:
  4. What factors or variables did you consider?
  1. Describe the biggest problem you have faced in the last six months and how you handled it.
  1. Problem:
  2. How Handled:
  3. Result:
  1. What sources of information do you use to keep aware of problems within your department? (Look for the use of different sources.)
  1. Tell me about a time you relied on those sources to inform you of a problem?
  1. Describe a significant project, idea, etc., you have conceived within the past year.
  1. Situation:
  2. How did you know it was needed and would work?
  3. Was it used?
  4. Did it work?

Budgeting

  1. Take me step-by-step through how you determined the budget for your unit.
  1. What information did you use in preparing the budget?
  2. What information was lacking?
  1. Describe how you have estimated the costs of a project.
  1. What determined the priorities?
  2. Give an example.
  1. How have you allowed for unexpected expenses when preparing a budget?
  2. How did you control your department’s budget?
  1. What action did you take when expenses exceeded it?
  2. Give an example.

Managing Change

  1. Tell me about a new policy or new idea you recently implemented which was considerably different from the former procedure.
  1. What approach did you take to get your employees to go along with it?
  1. Describe a situation when you had to gain the support of your peers in order to effectively implement a new procedure.
  2. What was the biggest obstacle you had to overcome in order to incorporate a new idea to process in your work unit?
  1. Why was it an obstacle?
  2. How did you overcome it?
  1. Describe a situation where you “got the most mileage” out of a procedure or policy change you had to introduce to your subordinates.
  1. How did you take advantage of the opportunity provided by the change?

Monitoring/Controlling

  1. What methods do you use to keep informed of what is going on in your area of supervision?
  2. Are there any procedures which you find helpful for keeping track of things so problems can be prevented?
  1. What are they?
  2. Tell me about a time when you have used the procedure.
  1. Give a specific example of how you addressed a time when you found that your techniques for monitoring activities were loosely adhered to by your subordinates?
  1. Situation:
  2. Action:
  3. Result:
  1. Describe a situation when you had to act quickly to correct a problem.
  1. Could it have been prevented by closer monitoring?
  2. What did you do?
  3. What was the result?

Organizing

  1. When organizing a project, how do you determine which resources to use? (Look for efficiency, priorities and the type of resources used)
  1. Give an example of one project that worked well.
  2. Tell us about another project where you did not plan your resources appropriately.
  1. What have you done to address the work backlog in your unit?
  2. Describe a situation at _______________ that required several things to be done at the same time.
  1. How did you handle it?
  1. Tell me about a time when you reorganized your work group.
  1. What prompted you to do that?
  2. What was the outcome?

Planning

  1. How often is your schedule upset by unforeseen circumstances?
  1. What have you done to improve the reliability of your schedule?
  1. How have you stayed attuned to potential obstacles to achieving your goals or accomplishing your work?
  2. How do you set your work plan for the year? (Listen for planning)
  1. What were your objectives for last year?
  2. Were they achieved?
  1. What are your long- and short-term plans for your department?
  1. Are they in writing?
  2. Describe how you have addressed them.
  1. Give me a specific example of the steps you have taken when planning a new assignment.  

Problem Solving/Decision Making

  1. Give some examples of difficulties you have in establishing actions to take in your job.
  2. What was the most difficult decision you have made in the last six months?
  1. What made it difficult?
  1. What organizational resources (services) do you most commonly use?
  2. What type of training or information about these resources do you give your subordinates?
  3. With whom do you work to accomplish your objectives?
  1. How have you ensured that you get cooperation?
  1. How did you keep your employees informed of what was going on in the organization?

Leadership

Building Teams

  1. Tell me about some of the toughest groups you have had to get working as a productive team.
  1. What did you do?
  1. What recent problems have you worked on as a team with your subordinates?
  2. How often do you attend meetings with your peers?
  1. What role have you played in the meetings?
  2. Tell me about a meeting and how you participated.
  1. How do you improve the decision making process in your group?
  1. What was the situation before the improvement?

Influencing Others

  1. What are some of the best ideas you have ever sold to a peer?
  1. What was your approach?
  1. What was one of the best ideas you tried to persuade to a superior but failed?
  1. What was your approach?
  2. Why did it fail?
  1. What steps did you take to make ______________________________ sale?
  2. Describe a situation when you had to convince your peers of your opinion.
  1. Tell me exactly what you said to convince them.

Initiating Change

  1. Tell me about a project you generated on your own because you saw a need for it.
  1. What have you done to set it up?
  2. Did others also see a need for the project?
  1. Describe a change you have had to explain to other people.
  1. Did they understand your vision of the situation?
  1. What changes have you tried to implement in your area of responsibility?
  1. What have you done to get them underway?
  1. Describe a situation when you initiated a change that would affect many people.
  1. How did you involve those who would be affected by the change?

Managing People

Business Judgment

  1. Give me an example of the most practical decision you have made in the last six months.
  1. What were the alternatives?
  2. Why was it practical?
  1. What are the most important business issues you have addressed in the last year?
  1. Tell me what you did about them.
  2. What was the result?
  1. What was the biggest risk you had to take while at _______________________________?
  1. Why was it risky?
  2. Why did you take it?
  3. What was the outcome?
  1. In your job at _____________________________ when did you have to use common sense?
  1. Tell me about the situation and the result.

Coordinating

  1. What other departments do you frequently have to deal with in your current job?
  1. How often and under what conditions?
  2. Tell me about a time.
  1. What other departments did you have to check before making a major decision?
  1. Can you tell me about a time when you had to make a decision before you were able to check with them?
  2. What was the result?
  1. How have events in your area of the organization affected other parts of the organization?
  1. Give examples.
  1. Have you ever made a decision that affected departments other than your own?
  1. What was the situation?
  2. What was the result?

Managing Development

  1. If you are promoted tomorrow, do you have a replacement?
  1. What did you do to help develop him or her?
  1. What are the major training and development needs of the people in your department?
  1. How did you identify them?
  2. What are you doing about them?
  1. How are you helping your subordinates develop themselves?
  1. Give examples.
  1. Are there any techniques you have found useful in identifying particular subordinate needs and potential?
  1. Tell me how they worked with a particular person.
  1. What techniques have you found most useful in developing subordinates?
  1. How do you use them?

Managing Performance

  1. How have you oriented and trained your new employees?
  2. How have you established work objectives with subordinates?
  1. Are they usually reached?
  1. How have you handled giving an employee feedback and rewards?
  2. Describe how you handled a situation where a subordinate did an outstanding job and what you did when a subordinate had a performance problem.
  1. What was the result in each situation?
  1. Situation 1:
  2. Action 1:
  3. Result 1:
  4. Situation 2:
  5. Action 2:
  6. Result 2:
  1. Give an example of how you have used feedback to encourage good performance?
  2. How do you know if the feedback you gave an employee was effective?
  3. How do you keep your employees informed about what is going on in the organization?

Staffing

  1. Have you written any job descriptions?
  1. If yes, can you describe what you included and how you used it? (Ask for a copy, if available)
  1. Could you cite an example where you were faced with delegating authority and/or responsibility?
  1. How did it work out?
  1. When looking at applicants, how do you select the best person?
  1. Have you had any problems with this method?
  2. If yes, what were they?
  1. Describe how you hired your last subordinate.
  1. How well is the person doing in the job?
  1. Describe a recent work related problem and the actions you took to solve it.
  2. What was a challenging business decision you have recently faced? How did you decide what to do?
  3. When, if ever, have you delayed decisions to give yourself more time to think?
  1. Describe the situation and outcome.
  1. What kinds of decisions do you make rapidly and which ones do you take more time on?
  1. Give examples.
  1. When have you declined to make work related decisions?
  1. Why?
  1. Describe a situation at _____________________________________ when you were faced with obstacles.
  1. How did you handle it? (Look for planning of alternatives)

Additional Questions

  1. How does this position fit into your career path?
  2. What in your work history led you to apply for this position?