Hiring and Keeping the Best People 21

What is your greatest strength that would benefit our organization?
How have you positively influenced others to get a job done?
Describe a decision that you made when you did not have all the
pertinent information.
Tell me about a time you made a decision quickly.
How have you supported a new policy or procedure with which
you have disagreed?
In what ways do you motivate your direct reports? Your peers?
Describe a situation when you had to seek out information, analyze
it, and make a decision.
Describe a recent high-risk decision that you made. How did you
make this decision?
Assess a Candidate’s Style
Of all the jobs you have had, which did you like the most? Why?
How have you preferred to be supervised in your previous jobs?
What role have your past supervisors played in supporting you in
your job? Your career?
What type of organization do you prefer to work for?
Do you prefer working in groups or alone?
Describe a work group experience that you found rewarding.
What qualities do you value in your supervisor?
In what types of environments do you feel most effective?
How much direction and feedback do you need to be successful?
What is most exciting to you about change? What is most frustrating
about it?
How have you dealt with organizational changes?
How would you describe yourself as a supervisor?
How would your supervisor describe you?
What was the most difficult management decision you’ve ever had
to make?
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TEAMFLY

Team-Fly
®

What kinds of people do you like to work with?
What type of person do you find it most difficult to work with?

Why?
What things frustrate you the most at work? How do you cope with
them?
Career Aspirations and Goals
What are some of the things you would like to avoid in your next
job? Why?
Why are you leaving your present job?
How does this job fit into your overall career plans?
Where do you see yourself three years from now?
How have your career aspirations changed over the years? Why?
What would you most like to accomplish if you got this job?
Education
What special aspects of your education, experience, or training have
prepared you for this job?
In what areas would you most need (like) additional training if you
got this job?
What aspects of your education or training will be useful for this
job?
What are your educational goals?
Customer Service
Describe a time when you worked to meet a customer’s needs.What
were the customer’s needs? How did you assist the customer? What
actions did you take and what was the outcome?
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Self-Control
Describe a time when you dealt with a particularly stressful situation
or with a hostile colleague or customer. What was the situation?
What actions did you take? What did you say? What was the
response or reaction?

Critical Thinking
Tell me about a time when you had to evaluate a situation in order to
resolve a problem.What was the situation? What actions did you take?
What was the outcome? How did you know you were successful?
Results Orientation
Describe a time when you took the initiative to improve how you
worked or how something operated (a process, system, team).What
led to the situation? What actions did you take? What was the out-
come? How did you know your solution was an improvement?
Closing
Are there any additional aspects of your qualifications that we have
not covered that would be relevant to the position we are discussing?
What questions do you have about our organization?
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appendix c
Legal Landmines in Hiring
Note: This appendix applies to U.S. hiring situations only.
Employment in the United States is governed by many laws on hir-
ing, firing, discrimination, sexual harassment, benefits and pension,
and union activities, to name just a few. Hiring discrimination laws
protect job applicants from questions that are not directly related to
the applicant’s ability to do the job.
The relevant laws applying to hiring are:
•
The Civil Rights Act of 1964, which forbids the use of arbi-
trary and artificial requirements that would create de facto
barriers to employment because of a person’s race, gender,
national origin, ethnicity, or religion.

•
The Age Discrimination in Employment Act, which prohibits
workplace discrimination against persons of forty years and
older.
•
The Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978, which forbids
workplace discrimination on the basis of pregnancy or a related
medical problem.
•
The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA), which
forbids discrimination against physically and mentally disabled
people.
•
The Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986, which
forbids discrimination against individuals based on national
origin and citizenship.
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