Career Development
Access information and opportunities for career exploration
Understand and articulate the importance of transferable skills in the job search process
- Why are you applying for this job?
- Why is this job the next step in your college experience?
- How would this job prepare you for your future career?
Creativity
Challenge existing ideas in creative ways to develop new possibilities
- Often requires informed risk taking
- Describe a time when you had to think “outside the box” and how did you go about it?
- Can you give me an example of a situation where you used creative or innovative thinking to eliminate frustration with a product or process.
- Tell me about a time when you have had to develop a creative approach to problem solving in order to get the job done.
- What is the most creative idea or project you have generated in your current role? How was it received?
Critical Thinking & Problem Solving
Identify important problems and questions
- Gather, analyze, and evaluate information from diverse sources before forming a strategy, decision, or opinion
- Tell me about a problem that you had to solve in a unique or innovative way. What was the outcome?
- Give an example of a time you identified and fixed a problem before it became urgent.
- How do you weigh the pros and cons before making a decision?
- When you are faced with a problem, what do you do?
Digital Proficiency
Use technology to communicate, problem-solve, and complete tasks in a responsible manner.
- What online resources do you use to help you do your job?
- How do you keep your technology skills current?
- Which operating software systems are you familiar with?
Global Context
Demonstrate an understanding of diverse people, cultures, and systems
- Understand actions have local and global implications for the future
- How have you incorporated the viewpoints and perspectives of underrepresented groups into your work? Please provide a specific example.
- Describe any awareness, knowledge, or skills you have gained from working with someone of a different background or identity than your own.
- What steps have you taken to reduce bias and champion diversity understanding in your classes (or in your current job)? Please provide a specific example.
- Tell us about a time when you changed your style to work more effectively with a person from a different background.
- What is your approach to dealing with discussions about potentially difficult topics. Please provide a specific example.
- Please describe how you work to create a campus environment that is welcoming and inclusive? Please provide a specific example.
- Describe the most difficult colleague, classmate, student you’ve ever had to deal with at work / class. Why were they challenging? What did you do?
- How do you adapt your working style to meet the different culture and learning styles?
- Tell us about a time when you showed empathy toward another individual or group. Describe the situation, the actions you took, and the outcome.
Inclusive teamwork
Join with individuals and teams from diverse backgrounds to pursue a common goal
- Often requires negotiating and
- What is the “best” team you were a part of? What made this team great to be a part of?
- Describe where you had to provide constructive feedback to someone. What was your approach? What was the outcome?
- In what ways have you encouraged your work team to be more creative and innovative?
- How would your colleagues describe you?
- What are the qualities of a successful team?
Leadership
Situational judgement and informed risk taking
Resiliency to challenges
- Motivate and encourage participation to work towards a shared purpose and vision
- How do you like to be supervised?
- Provide an example of a challenge you faced. How did you address it? And what was the outcome?
- Who is someone that you look up to? Why do you look up to them?
- Describe a time when you faced an unexpected challenge at work.
- Recall a time you successfully used crisis-management skills.
Personal Accountability
Demonstrate integrity, honesty, dependability, responsibility
- Accepts guidance and develops effective work habits
- How do you know when to solve a problem on your own or to ask for help?
- How do you prioritize your work? How do you stay organized?
- Do you consider yourself coachable? Provide an example that demonstrates why.
Self-Reflection
Evaluate, understand, and communicate personal skills and abilities
- Learns from past mistakes through feedback to become more flexible and gain new insights and understandings
- Describe a time where you received constructive feedback? What was the feedback and how did you respond?
- What motivates you?
- What is the best piece of advice you received at work? How did you apply this to your work approach?
- What is your greatest failure? Why makes it your “greatest failure”?
Verbal & Written Communication
Respond to needs of diverse audiences through flexible writing and speaking methods
- Develop ideas through written and oral forms of expression
- Give me an example of when someone presented an innovative new idea you you that was a bit unusual. How did you react? What did you do?
- Describe a time when you had to solve a problem, but didn’t have all the necessary information about it beforehand. What did you do?
- Tell us about the last presentation you gave.
Our interview question library is a growing document. Please share any interview questions you would like to share with supervisors across campus.
Interview Questions Library Suggestions
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