1. How would you describe yourself?

Sample Response:

My background to date has been centered around preparing myself to become

the very best financial consultant I can become. Specifically, I am an
undergraduate student in finance and accounting at ———— University. My past
experiences have been in retail and higher education. Both experiences have
prepared me well for this career.

See also this page of our Job Interviewing Tutorial.

2. What specific goals, including those related to your occupation, have you
established for your life?

Sample Response:
I want to be working for an excellent company like yours in a job in which I am
managing information. I plan to contribute my leadership, interpersonal, and
technical skills. My long-range career goal is to be the best information systems
technician I can be for a great company.

See also this page of our Job Interviewing Tutorial.

3. How has your college experience prepared you for a business career?

Sample Response:

I have prepared myself to transition into the work force through real-world
experience involving travel abroad, internship, and entrepreneurial opportunities.
While interning with a private organization in Ecuador, I developed a 15-page
marketing plan, composed in Spanish, that made recommendations about the
company could more effectively promote its services. I also traveled abroad on
two other occasions in which I researched the indigenous culture of the Mayan
Indians in Todos Santos, Guatemala, and participated in a total-language-
immersion program in Costa Rica. Learning Spanish, I felt, would allow me to be
a more versatile marketing professional. As you can see from my academic,
extracurricular, and experiential background, I have unconditionally committed
myself to success as a marketing professional.

See also this page of our Job Interviewing Tutorial.

4. Please describe the ideal job for you following graduation.

Sample Response):

My ideal job is one that incorporates both my education and practical work
skills. Namely, I’d like a position that combined my education in finance
with my working knowledge of customer-service operations, entrepreneurial
abilities, computer skills, and administrative skills. I want to utilize my analytical
expertise to help people meet their financial goals. This is exactly why I am
convinced that I would be a very valuable member of the Merrill Lynch team.

See also this page of our Job Interviewing Tutorial.

5. What influenced you to choose this career?

Sample Response:

My past experiences have shown me that I enjoy the challenge of making a sale.
Without a doubt, once I have practiced my presentation and prepared myself for
objections, I feel very confident approaching people I don’t know and
convincing them that they need my product. Lastly, I like sales because my
potential for success is limited only by how much of myself I dedicate toward my
goal. If any profession is founded on self-determinism, it surely must be sales.

See also this page of our Job Interviewing Tutorial.

6. At what point did you choose this career?

Sample Response:

I knew that I wanted to pursue information-systems technology during my

sophomore year in college when I realized that my that my hobby –
computers – was taking up most of my time. My favorite courses
were IT courses and I realized that I so enjoyed the computer-oriented work-
study I was doing that I would have done it for free.

See also career choice sample interview questions.

7. What specific goals have you established for your career?

Sample Response:
My goals include becoming a Certified Financial Advisor so I can obtain a better
working knowledge of financial research analysis. That background would
enable me to contribute to my client base as a better financial consultant since I
would have that extra insight into the companies they seek to invest in. I could
then be a portfolio manager or even branch office manager.

See also this page of our Job Interviewing Tutorial.

8. What will it take to attain your goals, and what steps have you taken
toward attaining them?

Sample Response:
I’ve already done some research on other workers at [insert company
name] to see how they achieved similar goals. I know that [company name]
encourages the pursuit of a graduate degree and will reimburse for tuition. I plan
to pursue an MBA to give me an even more extensive knowledge of business and
financial analysis.

11. Who would you talk to if you discovered that a co-worker was disclosing
confidential information that should not be divulgedSample excellent response:
I would first sit down privately with my co-worker and let him or her know what
is happening. I would make it a dialogue rather than a lecture — with the goal of
helping the co-worker realize what a serious mistake he or she is making and
how it could impact both the company and his or her personal life — and the
lives of family and friends. If nothing comes of the meeting — either the co-
worker is defensive and denies it — or does not agree to stop divulging
confidential information, then I would be forced to go directly to my manager
with the proof that I have of the unethical activities.
12. When would it be appropriate to bring in your supervisor while dealing with
an angry customer?

Sample excellent response:

As an employee it is my job to explore all the possible options to satisfy
customer demands. However, if I see the customer is angry with me personally it
is better to bring in a supervisor because he or she is more likely to listen to my
supervisor than me. Also it is important to stay friendly and always stay
respectful and polite when dealing with customers in the face of frustration. 
[contributed by Alexis]
13. How would you attempt to make changes in the process if you felt a policy of
your organization was hurting its members/workers?

Sample excellent response:

I would ask my co-workers if they felt the same way. I would want to make sure
that I am not the only employee who feels like the policy is hurting
members/workers. If others agreed with me, I would try to set up a meeting with
a supervisor or someone who is in control of changing the policy and explain my
concerns. I would then develop an alternative solution and present the problem
with my developed alternative solution to the head of the organization. 
[contributed by Alexis and Danielle S.]
14. What would a good manager do to build team spirit?

Sample excellent response:

Most importantly, any plan to build team spirit has to be authentic. We’ve all
seen — or experienced — work environments like in Office Space or The Office.
Anything less than authenticity will be seen as simply rah-rah — or going through
the motions.
A good manager brings the team together — perhaps even a retreat — to foster
communications and develop common goals and objectives. During this meeting,
the manager should also show how all the team members play a role in making
the team successful — and that only by working together and respecting each
other can the team fully succeed.

Sometimes, too, when the team is from different departments or backgrounds,

it’s important for the manager to address this issue from day one — if possible. I
was once put in a team with a mix of marketers and accountants, and the
manager sat us all down and told us a story of a successful competitor and how
their accounting team thought like marketers and how their marketers
understood the importance of return on investment for new marketing initiatives.
Using the story of a successful competitor helped us realize that we had more in
common than we had differences and that we could come together as a team
and succeed.

15. How would you organize the steps or methods you’d take to define/identify a
vision for your team or your personal job function?

Sample excellent response:

I believe a good team vision starts first with a strong understanding of the
organization’s mission. So, my steps would be as follows.
First, review my organization’s vision.

Second, develop some rough ideas of how I would word a team vision statement
in preparation for a team meeting to discuss the issue.

Third, I would call a meeting of the team and have a discussion of what we do
best, how what we do fits with the organization. Then I would discuss the
organization’s vision and ask for ideas and suggestions for the team’s mission. If
asked, I would mention some of my thoughts on our team vision.
Fourth, following the meeting, I would craft a vision statement — perhaps with
the help of one or two other team members — and then distribute it to the team
and ask for feedback.

Fifth, I would finalize the vision statement from the comments and feedback
from the team… and then post our vision statement in places where all the team
members could see it on a regular basis.

16. How would you react if two teammates were embroiled in a conflict that kept
the team from completing its task?

Sample excellent response:

To build team spirit, it would be important that all team members are on the
same page and agree on a common goal. Team-building exercises bring a team
closer together and strengthen team spirit. For example, there’s an exercise
called "Hammeroid" that involves comparing a hammer, string, ruler,
and table to work-style preferences. Participants are tasked with bringing a
team in conflict into harmony by perfectly balancing the hammer, string, and
ruler on the table. Team members should also be made to feel like their opinion
matters and their input/ideas are valued by their manager. 
[Contributed by Alexis]
17. You don’t have the information you need to prioritize your projects. Your co-
workers and supervisor are unavailable for you to ask for assistance. How do you
handle the situation?

Sample excellent response:

This is a great question because in all my work experience, I have never faced
this issue. Whenever I’m given a new task to accomplish, I immediately seek to
understand its importance and priority given my other projects and assignments.
So, my first inclination would be that I would sit down and review all the projects
and examine a couple of key issues — things like deadlines, potential impacts,
and involvement of others. Obviously, projects that are mission-critical and have
the shortest deadlines need to be addressed first.

If I wer still stumped — and my manager and team members were truly
unavailable — rather than sitting there paralyzed, I would probably consult a
mentor within the organization and seek his or her advice — more as a sounding
board for my own thoughts than seeking a solution from them.

18. As a supervisor, you’ve made an unpopular decision. What action would you
take so that morale in the department is not negatively affected?
Sample excellent response:
I would call for a meeting to let my employees know that their opinions about my
decision are valued, however I would also explain to them why the decision
needed to be made. Sometimes people are more empathetic once they know the
reasons for a certain action. I would also ensure employees that positives are to
come from this decision and reinforce that their opinions and ideas are valued,
but that this was a decision that needed to be made. 
[Contributed by Alexis]
19. In a team-leadership role, you discover that a team member has gone
"over your head" to propose an idea or complain about an issue
without talking to you first. How do you handle the situation?

Sample excellent response:

Too often something like this happens when an individual feels his or her
opinions or ideas are not being heard, so rather than assume the person is
simply trying to make some sort of power play or make you look bad to your
boss, you first need to get the details of the situation. Sometimes someone does
deliberately does go over your head, but sometimes these things happen
because of a chance meeting between the person and your supervisor, and the
conversation is spontaneous, not malicious.
If you discover the discussion was in fact a planned action, the first thing you
need to do is evaluate how you — and your team — have treated this person.
Next, I would call a private meeting with the person and simply have a
conversation about the situation and how and why it happened — and how this
person can get his or her voice back within the team so that the situation will
not repeat itself.

Finally, if it turns out the person is simply a disgruntled employee and there is
little that can be done to change his or her future actions, and you’ve exhausted
all options to bring the person back into the team and the organization, then you
need to meet again with your boss and then with the person and have a
discussion about possible consequences of future occurrences.

20. You been placed in charge of a project team for a new project. What are your
first steps to get the team going and complete the project?

Sample excellent response:

I would call the team together for an initial meet and greet — and make sure we
all know each other on some basic level — and to set some initial expectations
for the team. Once the team has been established, I would move ahead with the
project in these basic steps:
First, make sure we fully understand the problem and task at hand. We need to
define the problem that will be solved by the project.
Second, we need to brainstorm possible solutions to accomplish the project.

Third, we get back together and choose the best path/process to completing the
project.

Fourth, we divide the process into smaller parts and assign individual team
members parts to complete — based on their individual skill sets — assigning
deadlines and budgets.

Fifth, we execute the plan and deal with any circumstances that arise as we
move forward toward completion.

Sixth, we complete the project — as planned, on deadline and budget (hopefully)

— and meet as a team one final time to discuss any unanticipated problems or
issues that arose and how we can prepare and better address them in the future.

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