Tough Interview Questions #37: Behavioral Interviewing: Ambition

1. How many hours a day do you put in at work (or what were your study habits like in school)?

2. Who is the greatest influence in your self-development?

3. Describe the ideal organization that you would like to work for.

4. Describe a project that was implemented primarily because of your efforts. What was your role and what was the outcome?

5. How do you feel about working for a company of this size? What do you see as the benefits and drawbacks?

6. Why should we hire you?

7. Tell us about a time when you had to go above and beyond the call of duty to get something done professionally.

8. Tell me about a time where you made a suggestion that went beyond the call of duty.

9. Who is or was the greatest influence in your self-development?

10. Describe a time that you pushed through something you believed in.


Jeff Altman 
The Big Game Hunter
www.TheBigGameHunter.us

JeffAltman@TheBigGameHunter.us

© 2008 all rights reserved.

Tough Interview Questions #36: Behavioral Interviewing: Attention to Detail

Behavioral interviewing is a relatively new style of interviewing that was developed in the 1970's by industrial psychologists. Behavioral interviewing asserts that "the most accurate predictor of future performance is past performance in a similar situation."

It is one of the current fashions in human resource and management interviewing because it is designed to focus on behaviors and attributes that would allow a new employee to be successful in a new position.

Although I believe that it is often misused, because it is part of the current fashion (much like some of the other questions I have been coaching you for that reflects a previous style of interviewing), it must be paid attention to and prepared for.

In this section, we focus on offering you attention to detail questions that will allow you to be prepared when this line of inquiry begins.

Please give me some examples of things you have done on previous jobs that have demonstrated your ability to pay attention to detail. What resulted from your actions?

Please give me an example of where you may have found an error in some aspect of work that others may have overlooked. What was the error, how did you find out, what actions did you take, and what resulted from your actions?
Do you notice the quality of detailed thought they are looking for in the questioning? it goes beyond that to seeing how you interact with others. Do you create conflict or solutions? Are you cooperative or argumentative?

Here are a few more:

Tell about a time when you needed to develop and use a detailed procedure to successfully complete a project.
Tell us about a job or setting where great precision to detail was required to complete a task. How did you handle that situation?

How did you go about making the changes (step by step)? Please answer in depth or detail such as “What were you thinking at that point?” or “Tell me more about meeting with that person”, or “Lead me through your decision process”.
Please describe your experience in past jobs that required you to be especially alert to details while doing the task involved.

Some people consider themselves to be “big picture people” and others are “detail oriented”. Which are you? Give an example of a time when you displayed this.
This has danger associate with it because you need to understand the nature of the job and the corporate culture to answer it to the interviewer's satisfaction.
Here are a few more to prepare for:
Describe a situation where you had the option to leave the details to others or you could take care of them yourself.

Tell us about a situation where attention to detail was either important or unimportant in accomplishing an assigned task.
Tell us about a difficult experience you had in working with details.

These are all questions that require you to dig a little deeper and reveal facets of your personality as it pertains to attention to detail.

REMEMBER: What does your potential answer tell them about you in the context of the job being discussed?

Jeff Altman 
The Big Game Hunter
www.TheBigGameHunter.us

JeffAltman@TheBigGameHunter.us

© 2008 all rights reserved.

Tough Interview Question #35: Why Should I Hire You Instead of an Internal Candidate?

When answering this question, you need to understand that they have already made that decision by interviewing you and other external candidates. They have already considered internal candidates and found them deficient in some way. That should ease some pressure from you and offer you a gateway to answering the question powerfully, yet kindly.

Acknowledge the situation.

"It is a great organization that wants to acknowledge give its internal staff opportunities for promotion and advancement. It's a wise one that evaluates all of its options to decide what serves the organization best."

"After interviewing me and, perhaps other internal candidates, you may decide that an internal candidate offers the best choice for serving the needs of the organization. At the same time, it is critical to make a decision that best serves the organization and its needs, instead of being loyal to someone who may not be capable of delivering what is needed."

"Now, I don't know the experience and capabilities of the internal candidates, but you have given me an idea of what you are looking for in someone to fill this position."

You have spoken of . . . .

Now review the job description and how your experience fits the role so that you can help them see what an easy decision it is to choose you.



Jeff Altman 
The Big Game Hunter
www.TheBigGameHunter.us

JeffAltman@TheBigGameHunter.us

© 2008 all rights reserved.