SUCSS: Test Prep

On a scale of 1 to 10 (10 being a perfect match for the job), how would you rate yourself from a technical standpoint? What would make you a 10?
Where would you need the most support, structure or direction in your first 90 to 180 days?
Are you more quality-driven or quantity-driven? Where do you fall in that spectrum?

Personality Match Questions

How do you prefer to accept constructive criticism?
Do you prefer more structure, direction and feedback on a day-to-day basis, or do you prefer more autonomy?
What work pace do you typically prefer:

moderate, controllable, predictable;
fast-paced with deadline pressure;
hectic with constant deadlines?

What would your references say about your:

listening skills,
follow-up abilities,
inclination to confront problematic situations head-on?

What was your favorite position and what role did your boss play in your career at that point?
What was your least favorite position and what role did your boss play in your career at that point?
Which three adjectives would describe you best?

Achievement Questions

What makes you stand out among your peers?
What have you done in your present/last position to increase your organization’s top-line revenues, reduce expenses, or save time?
How have you made your current organization a better place?
Tell me about your reputation at work: what are you known for?
Tell me about the greatest achievement you have ever had in your career.

Pressure Cooker Questions

Tell me about your last performance appraisal: in which area were you most disappointed?
Tell me about me: What about my management style can you glean from this interview?
From an interpersonal standpoint, where do you disagree with your boss most often? What kind of constructive feedback would you give your boss if he/she were here right now?
What do you know about our organization?

Questions To Reveal Integrity/Honesty/Trustworthiness

Discuss a time when your integrity was challenged. How did you handle it?
What would you do if someone asked you to do something unethical?
Have you ever been at a loss as to doing what is right?
Have you ever asked for forgiveness for doing something wrong?
Are there any business situations in which you feel complete honesty would be inappropriate?
What would you do if you saw a co-worker doing something dishonest?

Questions To Reveal Personality/Temperament/Ability To Work With Others

If you took out a full-page ad in a newspaper and had to describe yourself in only three words, what would those words be?
How would you describe your personality?
What motivates you the most in your work life?
If I call your references, what do you think they will say about you?
Do you consider yourself a risk taker? Describe a situation on the job in which you had to take a risk.
What kinds of responsibilities would you like to avoid in your next job?
What are two or three examples of work tasks that you do not particularly enjoy doing? Indicate how you remain motivated to complete those tasks.
What kinds of people annoy you?
Tell me about a work situation that irritated you.
Have you ever had to resolve a conflict with a co-worker or client? How did you resolve it?
Describe the appropriate relationship between a supervisor and subordinates.
What sort of relationships do you have with your associates at all levels?
How have you worked as a member of teams in the past?
Tell me about some of the groups you have had to get cooperation from. What did you do?
What is your management style? How do you think your subordinates perceive you?
As a manager, have you ever had to fire anyone? If so, what were the circumstances, and how did you handle it?
Have you ever been in a situation where a project was returned because of errors? What effect did this have on you?
Which of your previous jobs was the most satisfying and why?
Which of your previous jobs was the most frustrating and why?
Tell me about the best boss you have ever had.
Now tell me about the worst boss. What made it tough to work for him or her?
What do you think you owe to your employer?
What do you think your employer owes you?

Questions To Reveal Past Mistakes

Tell me about an objective in your last job that you failed to meet and why.
When is the last time you were criticized on the job? How did you deal with it?
What have you learned from your mistakes?
Tell me about a situation where you “blew it”. How did you resolve or correct it?
Tell me about a situation where you had to abruptly change what you were doing.
If you could change one (managerial) decision you made during the past two years, what would that be?
Tell me of a time when you had to work on a project that did not work out the way it should have. What did you do?
If you had the opportunity to change anything in your career, what would you have done differently?

Questions To Reveal Creativity/Creative Thinking/Problem Solving

When was the last time you “thought outside the box” and how did you do it?
What have you done that was innovative?
What was the most unconventional idea you had in the past year? What did you do with it?
Give me an example of when someone suggested a new idea to you, particularly one that was odd or unusual. What did you do?
If you could do anythingin the world, what would you do?
Describe a situation in which you had a difficult (management) problem. How did you solve it?
What is the most difficult decision you have had to make? How did you arrive at your decision?
Describe some situations in which you worked under pressure or met deadlines.
Were you ever in a situation in which you had to meet two different deadlines given to you by two different people and you could not meet both? What did you do?
What type of approach to solving work problems seems to work best for you? Give me an example of when you solved a tough problem.
When taking on a new task, do you like to have a great deal of feedback and responsibility at the outset, or do you like to try your own approach?
You are on the phone with another department resolving a problem. The intercom pages you that a customer is on hold. Your manager returns your monthly report with red pen markings and demands corrections within the hour. What would you do in this situation?
Describe a sales presentation for which you had the right product/service and the customer wanted it but wouldn’t buy it. What did you do next?

Miscellaneous Good Questions

How do you measure your own success?
What is the most interesting thing you have done in the past three years?
What are your short-term or long-term career goals?
Why should we hire you?
What responsibilities do you want, and what kinds of results do you expect to achieve in your next job?
What do you think it takes to be successful in a company like ours?
How did the best manager you ever had motivate you to perform well? Why did that method work?
What is the best thing a previous employer did that you wish everyone did?
What are you most proud of?
What is important to you in a job?
What do you expect to find in our company that you don’t have at your present job?
Is there anything you want me to know about you that we have not discussed?
Do you have any questions for me?