Interviewing Structures
The following questions are examples of possible interview questions and possible answers that follow the STAR format. The STAR format goes as follows:
S (Situation): briefly telling the situation (30 seconds)
T (Task): highlighting what task you were assigned (15 seconds)
A (Action): what action you took (30 seconds)
R (Result): how your action had a powerful impact & how you can apply the same skills to the company you are interviewing with (30 seconds)
Practice Questions:
Tell me about a time when you went above and beyond the requirements for a project.
For a project I was overseeing, we did not have a budget but required participation from faculty and staff in our building. To find volunteers, I gave advance notice and the best accommodations for participation and clearly communicated the situation with full transparency before commitments were made. I kept consistent and open lines of communication so that all participants felt comfortable. After their participation, I hand-wrote and delivered Thank you’s to show appreciation. This built intrapersonal relationships and created trust between me and the faculty. They felt more comfortable allowing me to work closely with them on personally important marketing projects and campaigns. I care about people and understand that building personal relationships will positively impact the overall quality and flow of work.
Tell me about your leadership experiences.
I am the lead on a project to refilm a recruiting video for the School of Business. I need to write, map, coordinate, and schedule meeting and filming times between 15+ people. To keep myself organized, I have created a shared folder where I regularly update spreadsheets and send out email updates to keep everyone on track and on the same page. Keeping a timeline is important and something that I have learned takes a lot of time to complete big projects. The result has been a smooth-flowing process and the opportunity to build relationships with other department campuses. I have also gained more insight on what it takes to manage a large project to confidently do so in the future.
Tell me about a time when something went wrong. How did you handle it and what did you do?
As I was switching into a new position on a marketing team, I experienced confusion and had many questions on how to best fill my role. There was a mix-up during one of our meetings and the assignments on a time-intensive project. Because of a missed email correspondence and lack of communication on my part, some of the work was being duplicated and the tasks were not properly separated. I asked my supervisor for help and guidance and made the correct correspondence as soon as I realized my mistake. The result was better planning and communication on my part and a team effort to organize and complete the work in the proper time frame. I learned how to work under pressure and a skill that I would bring to your company.
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