Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist

You may say that you thrive under certain types of pressure. Give an example that relates to the type of position applied for.

Mention pressures you face on the daily, such as dealing with deadlines on a regular basis.

Try not to use an example where you created the pressure yourself, by waiting too long to start something, or by handling a task irresponsibly at the beginning. For example, working under pressure to meet a customer's deadline could be a good example, but not if you had waited too long to start the project.

Pressure is actually a catalyst to my work. When there is an imperative deadline, I refocus my energy into my work which in fact, has helped me to produce some of my best works. (Give examples) I guess you can say I thrive under pressure.

• How did you gain the technical knowledge you need to do your job?

• How long did you have to study before you took your [Name of Specific License] exam? How many times did you take the test?

• Give me an example of an especially difficult assignment or project. What was your role? What did you do?

• Have you received any commendations for your performance?

• It says on your application that you have used specialized computer software. Describe a typical project.

• What do you think is the most important development in your field today? What impact do you think it will have?

• How do you keep informed about what's happening in your field?

• To what job-related organizations do you belong?

• What job-related publications do you normally read?

• Have you recently attended any conferences or seminars in your field? What did you get out of them?

• What are some of the most important documents you have written? What kinds of problems did you have writing them? What kind of reception did they receive?

• What is the most difficult writing assignment you have undertaken recently? Why was it so challenging? How did you handle it?

• Have you ever written instructions to be followed by employees or customers? What did you do?

• Recall an important report you had to prepare. How did you go about planning and organizing it?

• To what kind of audience do you address most of your written work? What level of language do you use?

• Have you ever had to write technical material for lay people? Please give me an example.

Some questions don't fit neatly into a job competence category, but are commonly-asked to give you a better feel for the candidate. These questions routinely focus on applicants' abilities to perform a self-analysis of their skills and on their expectations coming into the job.

• What skills do you enjoy using most? Why?

• What is your greatest strength, and how do you take full advantage of it?

• What's the greatest asset you currently bring to your company?

• What is your greatest weakness, and what have you done to overcome it?

• Why should I hire you?

• What makes you stand out among your peers?

• If you started working for us tomorrow, what could you contribute immediately?

• Are you familiar with the corporate culture here? How do you think you'll fit in?

• What would be the ideal way you'd envision spending your first day here?

• What do you feel an employer owes its employees? How about what employees owe their employers?

• Paint a picture of the corporate culture you'll create if we hire you. Do you operate under a more centralized and paternalistic agenda with power centralized in the hands of a few, or do you constantly push responsibility and accountability down the line?

• How would you define a good job in your line of work?

• What personal performance standards do you set for yourself? What have you done to meet them? What do you do if you find yourself falling short of a standard?

• Do you make extra efforts to meet deadlines? Describe what you have done to complete a project or report on time.

• If you were going to evaluate your own performance, what factors would you consider most important?

• What are the important things your department has contributed to the organization in the last year?

• Are you satisfied with your department's performance? Why or why not?

• What's your definition of the word success? And how about failure?

• Have you ever had to get a point across to different types of people? What approach did you take?

• Give me an example of how you would explain a complicated procedure to someone who was new to the situation.

• Have you ever given instructions to someone, and then learned he/she did it wrong? Why do you think that happened?

• Describe a decision you made based largely on data you obtained by asking questions.

• How do people react when you ask questions? How well do they seem to understand what you want to know?

• Can you give me an example of a time you had to pitch a proposal to a group of your superiors or co-workers? How did you do? Why do you think things went that way?

• Have you ever done any public speaking? How did you handle the assignment? How did it work out?

• Give me an example of your ability to facilitate progressive change within your organization.

• Tell me about the last time you inherited a problem unit - one suffering from poor productivity or low morale. What was the scope of the project, and how were your direct reports affected?

• Did you create a culture of open information, sharing, and increased accountability by giving responsibility to your subordinates, or did you focus more on establishing their parameters and controlling the decision-making process?

• How do you typically stay in the information loop and monitor your staff's performance?

• How do you typically confront subordinates when results are unacceptable?