MEDIA
EMPLOYER & CANDIDATE QUESTIONSMEDIA
EMPLOYER & CANDIDATE QUESTIONS
I. Educational Background1.
What did you like best about school?
Least? Why?
2.
What are you most proud of achieving during your school years?
3.
Do you feel you did your best in school? If not, why not? If yes, what motivated you?
4.
Describe your most rewarding high school/college experience.
5.
What was your major? How did you
choose your major?
6.
If you had it to do over again, would you have chosen the same course
of study? Why or why not.
7.
Are your grades a good indicator of what you learned?
8.
Which school year was the most difficult? Why?
9.
Have you ever cheated or been tempted to cheat on a test? Tell me about it.
10.
If you had it to do over, what would you do differently in school?
11.
Did you ever fail a class? If yes, what was the reason?
12.
What would your instructors say about you?
13.
Were your favorite teachers easy or demanding?
14.
Tell me about a time when you had difficulty getting along with a
teacher.
15.
What extracurricular activities did you participate in?
16.
Give me an example of something that you can apply to your career that
you learned as a result of participating in extracurricular activities.
17.
What extracurricular activity did you not participate in that you wish
you had?
18.
Have you ever tutored another student?
If so, what did you gain from that experience?
19.
How did you select the college you attended?
20.
How has high school/college prepared you for the “real world?”
21.
What makes you unique as a result of your educational experiences?
22.
What are your plans for further educations?
23.
If you were hiring a college graduate for this position, what qualities
would you look for?
24.
How would you describe the ideal job for you following graduation?
25.
What do you see as the advantages of your career? Disadvantages?
26.
How is your education related to your career?
27.
What training beyond your formal education makes you qualified for this
position?
28.
What have you learned from the jobs you held while in school?
29.
What criteria did you use to select a course of study and make a career
decision?
30.
Tell me about three areas that you have excelled in and how that
knowledge makes you qualified for this position.
31.
Describe your activities during a typical day on your last or current
job.
32.
What were your major responsibilities?
33.
What were some of the toughest parts of that job?
34.
Whom did you report to and who reported to you?
35.
What responsibilities/tasks took most of your time?
36.
Describe the most significant project you have worked on so far?
37.
How much time did you spend working alone in your last or present job?
38.
What did you like most about your last or most recent job?
39.
What special skills and knowledge did you need to perform your duties
in your previous jobs?
40.
Give me two examples of things you’ve done in previous jobs that
demonstrate your willingness to work hard.
41.
How have you benefited from your work with your last company?
42.
What could your past employers count on you for without fail?
43.
In what ways have your previous jobs prepared you to take on more
responsibility?
44.
What kind of career progress did you make in your last job?
Prior Work Experience continued…45.
What was the most disappointing aspect of your last job?
46.
In your last job, what problems did you identify that had previously
been overlooked?
47.
How do you feel about how your last organization was managed?
48.
Tell me about the most boring job you ever had.
49.
Describe a time when you encountered obstacles in your last job while
you were in pursuit of a goal. What
happened?
50.
What did you do in your last job that made you more effective?
51.
If you were to hire someone to replace you in your last job, what kind
of person would that be?
52.
What would you expect of your replacement during the first 30 days on
the job?
53.
What suggestions did you make in your last job to increase profits,
improve morale, cut costs, and increase output?
54.
How many hours per week did you find it necessary to work to get the
job done?
55.
How long have you been out of work?
56.
What is your reason for the decision to make a job or career change at
this time?
57.
How has your present or last job changed while you’ve held it?
58.
Give me an example of a time when you helped a staff member accept
change and make the necessary adjustments to move forward.
59.
Have you thought about leaving your present job before? If yes, what held you back?
60.
What does this job offer you that our last job did not?
61.
Tell me about a time when you assisted someone who worked for you adjust
to change.
62.
Share with me a change on the job that was a major challenge for you.
63.
Tell me about a time when you and your previous boss disagreed but you
still found a way to get your point across.
64.
How did your previous employers treat you?
Management
continued…
65.
Tell me about a time when your last supervisor asked you to do a job
that was not part of your job description.
How did you respond?
66.
Describe your ideal boss.
67.
What policies or procedures of your last company did you disagree with?
68.
How would you describe your relationship with your last supervisor?
69.
What do you think your previous employer(s) would say about you?
70.
In what ways do you feel your previous supervisor found you to be a
good worker?
71.
What would your references say about you?
72.
How has your current supervisor contributed to you choosing to leave
your present job?
73.
What could your last employer have done to convince you not to leave?
74.
What will your boss say when you resign?
75.
Which of your ideas and actions helped you move up in your
present/prior company?
76.
What risks did you take in your last or present job? Tell me about it.
77.
Tell me about a project that you initiated.
78.
What would you like to have done more of in your last job? What held you back?
79.
What did you do to make your last job more interesting?
80.
What three things about your last job gave you the most
satisfaction? Why?
81.
Tell me about your efforts to sell a new idea to your supervisor.
82.
Tell me about a suggestion you made on the job to improve the way
things worked. What was the result?
83.
Tell me about a time when you reached out for additional
responsibility.
84.
What have you done in your last job that makes you feel proud?
85.
What motivates you to put forth your best effort?
86.
Can you give me an example of how you have been creative?
87.
Why do you think taking initiative is important?
88.
In what areas do you feel you would like to develop further? How will you do that?
89.
What aspirations do you expect to satisfy by accepting this position?
90.
In your opinion, what does it take to e a “success?”
91.
What does it take to challenge you?
92.
What have you done that shows initiative?
93.
What have you done about your professional development in the last five
years?
94.
Are you better at initiating many things or are you better at working
on and getting results on a few specific things? Please give me two examples that illustrate.
95.
How would you decide whether job applicants had enough initiative?
96.
What have you done to make your job easier or more rewarding?
97.
On a scale of 1 to 10, where is your energy level?
98.
Tell me about a time when you surpassed all job expectations by going
the “extra mile.”
99.
Describe the pace at which you usually work (slow, moderate or fast)
and the circumstances under which your pace varies.
100.
What methods do you use to carry through on assignments to assure their
completion?
101.
If your manager got sick and you had to step into his or her job for
six months, what is the first thing you would do?
102.
Tell me how you keep your manager advised of the status on projects.
103.
What will you do if I don’t hire you?
104.
How do you expect to keep yourself motivated?
105.
If I offer you a job, how do you plan to get off to a good start?
106.
How long do you think it will take you to start contributing to our
company?
107.
Describe two specific contributions you would expect to make during the
first six months if you join our company.
108.
How would your performance in this job be any different than on your
last job?
109.
What do you hope to be doing in five years from now? How do you plan to get there?
110.
How would the people who work for you describe you?
111.
Tell me about a time when you conformed to a policy with which you
disagreed.
112.
What motivates you to lead others?
113.
Describe your leadership style?
114.
What personal characteristics are necessary for success as a leader?
115.
What makes you an effective leader?
116.
What leadership skills do you have that might account for your success
thus far?
117.
What single skill or ability is your greatest asset? How did you develop this expertise?
118.
How have you used your position as a leader to get what you want?
119.
What would it be like working for you?
120.
What do you think could potentially interfere with your effectiveness
as a leader?
121.
Describe the relationship you feel should exist between the manager or
supervisor and those reporting to him or her.
122.
What does being a leader mean to you?
123.
In what kind of environment are you most comfortable?
124.
What kind of hours do you typically work?
125.
Describe a project you were responsible for that required a high amount
of energy over a long period of time.
126.
Tell me about a time when you were asked to complete a difficult
assignment even though the odds were against you. What did you learn from that experience?
127.
What aspects of your job do you consider most critical?
128.
What do you enjoy most about being a leader? Least?
129.
How do you reward people who work for you?
130.
How do you define “teamwork?”
131.
How do you go about delegating?
132.
How do you keep your staff focused?
133.
As a leader, what advice do you have for followers?
134.
What people skills would you bring to this job that others would not?
135.
How do you use praise?
136.
How do you monitor the performance of your staff?
137.
What is your greatest strength?
Weakness?
138.
What is your most important job as a leader?
139.
What has your staff criticized you for?
140.
Tell me about your best and worst hiring decisions.
141.
How do you see your job relating to the overall goals of your
present/prior company?
142.
Gaining the cooperation of others can be difficult. Give a specific
example when you had to do that.
143.
How do you think the people who work for you might find you difficult
to work for?
144.
Tell me about a specific time when you had to handle a tough morale
problem.
145.
How do you make your feelings known when you disagree with your boss?
146.
What type of employee do you find the most difficult to manage?
147.
Tell me about a time when you had to take disciplinary action with
someone you supervised.
148.
If you discovered a co-worker was cheating on expense reports, what
would you do?
149.
How do you reprimand people who work for you?
150.
Have you ever fired someone?
What were the reasons and how did you handle it?
151.
Before you would fire someone, what factors would you take into
consideration?
152.
Tell me about a time when you worked on a team in an effort that
failed.
153.
What has been your experience with major expansions or reductions in
work force?
154.
What have you found to be the most difficult aspect of being a leader?
Why?
155.
What do you do when you know you’re right and your supervisor disagrees
with you?
156.
Describe a leadership situation that you would do differently if you
had it to do over again.
157.
How much turnover have you had in your last department, and what
accounted for it?
158.
What have you learned from your mistakes as a manager?
159.
Tell me about the last time that you lost your temper at work.
160.
In a new position, how did you feel when you first met the people who
would report to you?
161.
Tell me about a time when you had to tell a staff member that you were
dissatisfied with his or her work?
162.
What is the most difficult work situation you have ever faces? How did you handle it?
163.
What kinds of people do you get along with the best?
164.
What kinds of people irritate you?
165.
How would you describe yourself as a communicator?
166.
Tell me about your creative solution to a problem between two
employees.
167.
Define “good communication.”
168.
Tell me about the toughest proposal you’ve ever written.
169.
What have you done to improve your verbal communication skills?
170.
On a scale of 1 to 10, how well do you think you listen?
171.
On a scale of 1 to 10, how well do you think your employees would say
you listen?
172.
What are you doing to improve your listening skills?
173.
How do you handle employees with an attitude problem?
174.
How do you communicate with a shy or nervous job applicant during the
interview?
175.
Explain the importance of good communication in your present job.
176.
What kinds of things do you enjoy teaching others to do?
177.
How does your manager get your best out of you?
178.
What do you do to encourage others to do their best?
179.
For what advice or assistance do your co-workers turn to you?
180.
Tell me about a time when you had to handle a highly emotional
employee.
181.
How would you handle an employee who changed from a reliable,
hardworking employee to a problem employee?
182.
How do you attempt to persuade others to your way of thinking?
183.
What would you do if you found yourself working for someone who could
not control his or her temper?
184.
Tell me about a time when you caused a breakdown in communication at
work.
185.
What would you do if a co-worker was depressed and talked of suicide?
186.
Tell me about a recent success you had with an especially difficult
employee.
187.
Tell me about a time when your supervisor criticized your work.
188.
How do you assert yourself in order to get what you need?
189.
What would you say to an employee who is frequently late for work?
190.
How would you discuss your job dissatisfaction with your supervisor?
191.
What do you do when an employee comes to you with a personal problem?
192.
How would you recognize and reward a team player?
193.
What do you do to help your employees manage stress?
194.
What would you do if you caught an employee stealing?
195.
How do you handle unanticipated expenses?
196.
How do you handle a poor performer?
197.
What would you do if a co-worker came to work under the influence of
drugs or alcohol?
198.
How would you build a team from scratch?
199.
If you joined our company and inherited a staff, what would you do
first?
200.
How do you prepare for performance appraisals?
201.
Under what circumstances do you feel a manager should discipline an
employee?
202.
How would you determine that your staff was under too much pressure? What would you do about it?
203.
How do you communicate priority projects to your staff without making
them feel overwhelmed?
204.
How do you and your staff celebrate success?
205.
How many levels of management did you interact with in your last
job?
206.
How do you get cooperation from someone in another department?
207.
What does “open door policy” mean to you?
208.
How do you like to see a staff meeting run?
209.
Have you demonstrated your loyalty to your current organization?
210.
Describe a time when “office politics” impacted your job.
211.
Tell me about a time when someone was pressuring you to complete your
share of the work for a project in another department.
212.
Describe a project you were responsible for that required a lot of
interaction with people over a long period of time.
213.
Tell me about a politically complex work situation in which you worked.
214.
Jobs have pros and cons. What do
you see as the pros and cons of selling?
215.
What qualifications do you have that make you a successful sales
person?
216.
What can you contribute to our sales team?
217.
How many accounts do you prefer to handle at one time?
218.
In what kind of work environment are you most comfortable?
219.
If I hired you, what kind of training do you think would be needed to
improve your skills?
220.
How motivated are you by money?
221.
Tell me about the most important account on which you have ever worked.
222.
How does this position fit in with your long-term career goals?
223.
We have all failed to meet a company quota at one time or another. When you don’t meet your goals, how do you
handle it?
224.
What was the sales volume in your territory when you took over? When you left?
225.
Tell me about the most difficult sale you ever made.
226.
How would your customers describe you?
227.
What kinds of customers upset you?
228.
How much job-related travel is too much?
229.
What do you get from selling that you couldn’t get from any other work?
230.
How do you handle rejection?
231.
Which type of selling gives you greater satisfaction: frequent, small successes, or many turndowns
followed by a big success?
232.
How do you think you measure up against your competition?
233.
Why can you sell for us in a way that no one else can?
234.
What do you know about our media sales effort?
235.
How would you go about selling our media?
236.
What kinds of products and/or services have you sold in the past?
237.
What benefits do you stress when selling your current media?
238.
Tell me about an advertising campaign you developed.
239.
Tell me about a time when you turned an occasional buyer into a regular
buyer.
240.
By what percentage have you increased the sales volume in your
territory?
241.
What should a sales person know about each customer?
242.
Describe the most creative sales presentation you’ve ever made?
243.
If you were selling for us, what do you think your closing ratio would
be?
244.
How do you go about establishing rapport with a prospect?
245.
What percent of your sales presentations result in a sale?
246.
Where do you expect to get your leads?
247.
Describe your typical customers.
248.
Describe a typical day in the field.
249.
How do you manage your paperwork when you would rather be selling?
250.
How do you plan and organize for major sales efforts?
251.
What do you do first when you get a new sales position?
252.
Selling can be stressful; how do you manage stress?
253.
How would you train a new sales associate to be a top seller?
254.
What has your experience been in supervising other sales people?
255.
Tell me about a time when you were making a sales call and you put your
foot in your mouth.
256.
If your largest account stopped doing business with you, how would you
replace the business?
257.
Have you ever made a quick decision that cost you money? Tell me about it.
258.
Tell me about the most unusual objection you ever got and how you
handled it.
259.
How many calls do you make to a prospect before you stop trying?
260.
Tell me about a sale you lost that really hurt.
261.
What media contacts do you have that would help us market our media?
262.
Tell me about a time when you met an especially difficult
prospect. How did you determine his or
her needs? What was the result?
VIII. Problem-Solving/Decision-Making
263.
What steps do you take to solve a problem?
264.
How do you enlist the help of others in solving a problem?
265.
What do you want your staff to do when they encounter problems?
266.
Tell me about a specific time when you eliminated or avoided a
potential problem before it happened?
267.
Tell me about several unconventional methods that you have used to
solve problems.
268.
What criteria do you use to make decisions?
269.
How long does it typically take you to make a decision?
270.
What is the last major decision you made before leaving your present or
last company?
271.
What kinds of decisions are the most difficult for you to make and why?
272.
Describe the way you handled a specific problem involving people in
your last job.
273.
What kinds of problems are you best at solving?
274.
What is the biggest error in judgment you have made in a previous
job? Why did you make it? How did you correct the problem?
275.
If a co-worker needed help in solving a problem, but you did not have
the time to help, what would you suggest?
276.
To whom did you turn for help the last time you had a major problem and
why did you choose that person?
277.
Tell me about at time when many people were counting on you and you
failed to solve the problem.
278.
Tell me about a recurring problem in your current/last job, that you
wanted to resolve but didn’t.
279.
Give me two examples of decisions you had to make on your last job.
280.
Tell me about an experience in which you had a limited amount of time
to make a difficult decision.
281.
What do you do when priorities change quickly? Give me an example.
282.
Tell me about a decision you made while under a lot of pressure.
Problem-Solving/Decision-Making
continued…
283.
Tell me about a decision you made but would do differently if you had
it to do over.
284.
If you saw a staff member or co-worker about to make a bad decision,
what would you do?
285.
What do you do when you need to make a decision and there are no
procedures in place?
286.
Tell me about a time when you made an emotional decision and after you
made the decision still felt uneasy.
287.
How do you set goals for yourself?
288.
What was the turnover in your department for the last two years and
what have you done to reduce turnover in the future.
289.
How long were you with your last or present company?
290.
What were your three most important responsibilities in your last or
present job?
291.
Would you prefer to be a small fish in a big pond or a big fish in a
small pond? Why?
292.
If I offered you this job, how long would it take you to make a
decision?
293.
What other day-to-day activities were you involved in that we haven’t
discussed?
294.
Have you ever been passed over for a promotion? Explain.
295.
We all miss opportunities. What
opportunities did you miss on your last job?
296.
If you joined our organization, how long do you think you would stay?
297.
How do you manage to get away for interviews when you are still
employed?
298.
What have you done in the past to prepare yourself for success?
299.
What is your level of interest in this job?
300.
What else should I know about your qualifications for this position?
301.
If you had a choice of any job and company, what would you do and where
would you go?
302.
Knowing what you know about our organization, what would you change?
303.
How can you best contribute to our organization?
304.
Why do you feel you are qualified for this position?
305.
What three things are the most important considerations to you in a new
job?
306.
Are there any additional aspects of your qualifications that I have not
covered?
307.
What criteria are you using to evaluate the company for which you want
to work?
308.
Of all the things you’ve done in your career, when have you been the
most successful?
309.
If you joined our organization, when would you expect a promotion?
310.
How much money are you looking for?
What would be the least you would be willing to accept as a starting
salary/wage?
311.
Tell me about a program that you introduced to improve morale.
312.
Is there anything that would prevent you from getting to work on time?
313.
What other companies are you considering?
314.
What two questions do you not want me to ask?
315.
Is there anything that would prevent you from accepting an offer from
our company?
316.
How long have you been looking for a job?
317.
Are you considering any job offers at this time?
318.
How did you prepare for this job interview?
319.
May I check your references?
320.
Do you have any questions?