Interview questions and answers

What would you do if a student or parent was upset?

1. I would be empathetic and talk in a calm way in order to bring there heightened emotions down to my level. Then ask if they could let me know what the issue is so we could work it out together.

1. What position do you prefer on a team working on a project?

I doesn't matter much for me. I love learning something new. I can become a leader when I need to be, but in order to be a great leader one must learn how to be a great follower first.

When have you worked among diverse groups of people?

I have worked with diverse groups of people during my time in my internship at Griffin first assembly during college. I am very comfortable and happy in this type of environment because it offers great learning opportunity

Why do you want to work as a financial aid advisor

I love working in finances, I have strong interpersonal skills, and enjoy meeting all kinds of people. I love working in higher education.

1. How do you see yourself in 5 years

I see myself pursuing the position of financial aid manager here. I expect professional advancement and a good future.

1. How long would you expect to work for us if hired?

I see myself staying at this college and I would like to stay as long as I feel challenged professionally

1. Why should I hire you?

If you hire me, it will be a great platform to showcase my skills. I am great with fiancés, very organized, interpersonal, and have great public speaking skills. Whatever goals I set, I ensure to complete them within quick time period and I can prove I am capable of performing well. I know the goals of this company and would love to be a part of helping reach them.

1. How do you feel about taking no for an answer?

It depends on the situation. However life is full of people saying no but it makes it more fulfilling when you accomplish a yes.

1. Do you consider yourself successful?

Yes, I have accomplished many goals I have set for myself and gained many good new relationships with colleagues.

Talk about a time when you had to work closelterm-20y with someone whose personality was very different from yours

About 6 months ago, I had a large catering event where I needed a set of helping hands, so my supervisor assigned one of the dishwashers that was not busy to help. I find that having a timely approach in order to make sure everything is done early is extremely important in case something goes wrong. However, my coworker had a much more relaxed approach. Before we began working together I asked to meet them one on one. We discussed our strengths and I created a basic outline of expectations and timelines. by taking this communicative approach right away, we were able to collaborate quite well and ensured all work was done early enough that we were able to help others with work that we were not assigned to.

Describe your ideal work environment.

From talking to your team and everything I have read about the company I discovered that your organization prides itself on being fast paced, high achieving and innovative. I thrive in those types of environments, so I would say this is really ideal place for me. Does that match up with how you would characterize the environment at your company?

how do you deal with conflict?

I actively readjust my attitude during a conflict situation. Then I listen to the other person's point of view without becoming defensive. I also attempt to move the confrontation to a private space to avoid further complications."

1. Reason behind leaving your last job?

I wanted to enhance my skills and pursue a job that helps me purse my career goals with a company that really wants to raise the bar in helping others. I want to leave my current employer becasue I'm ready for a change and want to take on a new challenge that will allow me to put my abilities and talents to good use. Working with my current employer has been a great experience for me. They've helped me to succeed in my role, and we've accomplished a lot together. however, I's like to work in a different setting for an exciting forward-thinking firm with big plans for the future, where I can contribute to the team and eventually assist the company to realize its objectives.

Describe a time when you embraced change within an organization.

In the past I my one of my supervisors left for another job. As a result a new supervisor had to come in. Prior to the new supervisor, the team of coworkers in my department had been working hard to implement the supervisors strategies. However the new supervisor briefed us all on a new strategy and where they wanted to go. This naturally had a demotivational impact on the team, as everyone had felt like their past work was going to waste. This was a stressful situation to be in but I decided to embrace the change positively and helped people within the team to try and view the change as opportunity to impress the new supervisor. I have a very positive mindset when it comes to change and I understand that if an organization is to thrive in the modern world change is very important.

tell me about your experience at your last job?

It was a great opportunity to move forward with a full time job, obtain some knowledge and skills that were challenging at times with extra schooling and event planning, but now I am looking for something that challenges me professionally and helps me improve my career. that is one reason why I am so excited for this job.

Do you have any questions for me?

Opportunities to advance? When will u contact me if hired what would you need me to concentrate on in the first few weeks of starting if I am successful? what advice would you give to the successful candidate who wants to excel in the role ​

1. What is the key to success when communicating with the public.

Stay positive and have an upbeat mindset

When faced with a problem, are you more likely to jump into solving it, or are you the type to carefully assess the issue first?

That depends on the situation and seriousness of the problem. I will not rush in with rash decisions on a problem that has a major impact on our student or the business.

1. What would you do if you noticed a work colleague being harassed or bullied?

This depends on the situation but to begin with, I would certainly take some form of action. Bullying or harassment should never be tolerated in the workplace. I would make sure that I am informed with the company's policy before taking action. However, I would do all that I could to stop the inappropriate behavior, and that might involve informing a senior manager. I would speak to the person that is being bullied or harassed and do all that I could to support them. Sometimes those people who are acting as the bully do not realize what they are doing and the impact of their actions. Therefore, it is important to challenge the person who is carrying out the inappropriate behavior but also educate them as what they are doing wrong and the impact it is having on other people.

1. Describe a time when you had to deal with somebody in work situation who you felt was not putting their weight or working as part of the team?

While working in my current role, I was aware of a colleague who was not answering any phone calls and the rest of the team would have to cover the shortfall. Unfortunately some phone calls were missed. I decided to ask the person in a friendly manner if they had been taken off the phone service for the day becasue some phone calls were missed when all other advisors were already helping a students. Fortunately, she responded in a positive manner and realized that she had not been answer any phone calls. Since then she has been much better about helping answer phone calls. I know it is important that the teams work well together. Confrontational situations can be difficult but the best way to resolve issues like this is to be honest and tactful.

1. Tell me about a time you disagreed with a co-worker on an idea/project.

m&m desert or not situation

1. Tell me about a time when you had a tight deadline.

prioritizing the pressing timeline and whatever could be point on hold in order to get what is more important done on time

Name a time when your advice to management led to an improvement in your company or otherwise helped your employer

situation when a girls quick and figure peoples strengths in order to divide her job until a replacement found.

1. How have you changed in the last five years?

My confidence has gotten stronger, I have learned how to communicate better and have become a more well rounded individual.

1. What's most important to you in a new position?

The culture, training, and organization.

Share an experience in which you successfully shared a difficult piece of information.

I was talking with a student about what they wanted to do after college and I realized they thought they would be able to fully pay for college with loans. I knew it was hard for the student but i had to let them know there was only so much loans and help the government would give, but i told them about all the options I knew of that would help them to achieve there goals.

Walk me through your résumé

I am a financial aid professional that specializes in awarding scholarships. My early career was focused on organizing events and managing budgets. In my current role, I have been recognized for consistently taking initiative. When the workload slows down at certain times of the year I would be sure to keep getting my workload done as quickly as possible and constantly find ways to improve productivity. I have updated policies and developed new resources for new employees to use while training. I am highly effective in managing accounts and while going for my new marketing degree I have learned my passion for finding creative ways to help others. I am highly efficient at organizing a space and helping others learn. That is why your role as a Digitial marketing intern caught my eye. As a growing company, you need someone who will is creative, proactive with improvements, and knows how to work with people. It really feels like the right fit.

tell me about yourself?

I am a hard working enthusiastic person who thrives with helping others improve their lives. I would like to use my creativity, innovate spirit and problem solving skills with those trying to learn. I am looking to improve my skills and qualifications so I can excel at the highest standards possible in my role and honestly the possibility of having this position really excites me.

How do you think you can make a contribution to this company?

I am great at talking to strangers, helping cultivating others to achieve goals, I can articulate complex topics to make them sound simple, I am very disciplined, have wonderful time-management skills and I know I can be a great asset to reach he goals that company is achieving to meet.

tell me about yourself and why you want to become an operations manager

I am very well organized, consciousness and professional in relation to the tasks that I undertake at work. I have spent time reading the job description for the role of operations manager, and I am one hundred percent confident I have the necessary strong work ethics, qualities and determination to excel within the role. I already have experience of managing people operations combined, and I know how important it is not only take responsibility for everything that happens from an operational perspective, but also in respect of making sure my team hit their targets and they always maintain high standards. I want to become an operations manager simply because this is the role I am most comfortable in, and my natural skills, qualities and attributes are all geared up for becoming a highly competent and productive operations manager. if you hire me I will not let you down

1. what irritates you about other people?

I believe in team-work so Even if I find anything irritating. I try to avoid it unless it personally affects me. I overlook irritations and work as a team. I am patient person that can keep my cool under pressure.

1. When have you demonstrated flexibility in a work situation?

I can be very flexible employee and I fully understand my role may require me to stay later. If required I can work extra hours. I have had many times where I had to stay to work 14 hour shifts and come back early the next day. I understand that and accept it.

Do you work well under pressure?

I can work well under pressure because I keep myself calm and focus on multi tasking while being patient

Do you think honesty is always the best policy

I do feel that honesty is the best policy so long as honest comment does not come with the intentions of being hurtful

Tell me about problem you had to solve where you did not have all the information you needed

I had a last minute food service request where the form was missing the headcount for the event that was suppose to be the next day. I asked the department it was for how many the people where suppose to be at the event, but the assistant that gathered the information of who would be able to come to the event was out sick. I knew the minimum about of people the event could be for with our request forms, so I gather all the supplies that would be needed to make the food request and set it aside. I made the minimum that I never the order would be for and made my supervisor aware and told them I would be willing to move typically shift time early in order to give myself more time encase the event was larger than expected. I arrived early the next morning and contacted the assistant. The event was prepared on time. I learned the it is important to prepare with the knowledge given as early as possible and making sure that communication about ones work is important in case of an emergency/

1. Tell me about a time you made a mistake at work.

I had an event that I set up in the bulldog room. I went to analyze the request in order to double check to make sure I had all the items as requested and I noticed that I had set up the food in the wrong location. In the past I had events for this department and every event they had it had always been in the bulldog room, but this was in their actual office. I realized that I needed to move the food before the time the department needed their food. I always plan to have food for an event ready early in case something to go wrong. I learned how important every detail can be and double or triple checking work can be important at times.

Tell me about a time when you took initiative at work?

I had some spare time on Friday afternoon recently, and I had some concerns about how much we were spending as a team on office supplies, and also how often we were ordering office supplies as and when we need them, which wasn't really cost effective or efficient. Therefore, I made some recommendations to my manager that we should start ordering in bulk and we should also change supplier becasue I had managed to find one that would give us significant discounts if we increase our minimum order quantities. I presented these recommendation to my manager that we should start ordering in bulk and we should also change supplier becasue I had managed to find on that would give us significant discounts if we increase our minimum order quantities. I presented these recommendations to my manager. She thought it was a great idea and she went ahead to implement them. this change allowed the company to save over two thousand dollars per year by changing supplier and the way that we ordered office supplies moving forward

Tell me about your strengths?

I have learning confidence, emotional intelligence, strong work ethic, great with fiances and great with people. I believe I can bring a number of positive qualities to this position, but one of my main strengths is that I'm commercially aware, which means that in order for the company to accomplish its goals and grow as a company, I must preform to a high standard and meet all of the companies objectives, whether financial or otherwise. I put my clients first in all I do. I am also a dependable person and someone who is loyal. I'm looking for a job with the same company for a long time and when representing this company, I will always be a positive role model. I recognize tat change is a crucial component of business's growth, and I am someone who embraces change and would encourage other to do as well. I am the type of person who is accountable to my own personal and professional growth. I believe this distinguishes me from the other candidates since I am constantly striving to grow and expand my skills. My supervisor, for example, noted in a previous performance review that my negotiation abilities may be improved further. I decided to explore and enroll on an online negotiation course on my own. I also brought a handful of well regarded negotiation books from Amazon. After finishing the course and reading these books, I devised a strategy to put the new skills I'd gained into practice as soon as possible. my boss mentioned that she had witnessed a marked improvement and praised me for taking a positive approach to taking on board feedback and developing my own skills further.

give me an example when you worked as part of a team

I have lots of experience of working as part of a team, one situation recently comes to mind where my manager came into the office late on a Friday afternoon and he asked for five volunteers to stay behind late after work to carry out an important stock take. now, the stock take had to be done by 7:00 pm and I knew how important it was to the company. so I volunteered along with four other teams members. so we started by getting together as a team and we created a plan of action based on our manager's brief based on what he wanted us to achieve. we communicated different ideas and we then allocated tasks based on each other's individual strengths. my task was to collate the stock take figures and then quickly input them into the computer system. I'm pleased to say that we achieved the task by 7pm and this was done by supporting each other, by encouraging everyone within the team and by motivating everyone to get the task done correctly.

1. When have you completed a difficult task or project?

I recently successful completed 2 online courses, in order to grow I my knowledge and improve my management skills. The semester had taken around 3 months to complete and I carried out all of the studying in my own time while holding a full time job, and keeping up with personal disciplines. The biggest obstacle I had to overcome was finding the time to complete the work to the high standards that I wanted to achieve. I decided to manage my time effectively and allocated time every day of the working week, in which to complete studying required. I found the time management relatively easy to manage as I structured my day accordingly. This structured approach enabled me to complete the course quickly and to a high standard. I am pleased to say that I passed both courses with A's and now I have gained experience with accounting and human resources. Whenever I approach a work related task I always focus on persistence, being organized and having determination to complete the job competently and professionally.

1. What type of personality do you work best with and why?

I work well with many types of people. I am more of an extroverted so I just like to be around people.

Give me an example of a time you faced a conflict while working on a team. How did you handle that?

I worked on as task where a college and I had to work together to reform an outdated website. We pitched our ideas and my former coworker made some snide remarks about my ideas. This made me upset but i realized I needed to readjust my attitude in order to not say anything that would be offensive in return. I asked if they could elaborate their idea better so that I could understand. I worked towards listening to their point of view without becoming defensive. Then I made sure the confrontation was in a private area of the office to avoid further complications. Afterwards we were able to work out our differences and updated the website in a very appealing way.

1. When given an important assignment, how do you approach it?

I would evaluate the steps that it takes to accomplish the task prioritize what is most important and how long it will probably take and try to get the assignment done before it has to be done to make sure if something goes wrong I have time to go back and fix it.

1. What has been your biggest failure to date and how did you deal with it?

I would say my biggest failure is failing an educational course that happened approximately 9 years ago during my freshman year in college. The reason why I failed the course was primarily due to my substandard time management skills. However, I learned from my mistake. I worked hard to improve my time management skills because I know the impact it can have if time gets away from you. After that semester in college I was determined to not only get passing, but getting high grades so that I could improved GPA. I am happy to say that I was put on the academic deans list afterwards for good grades I realize is very important to reflect on your own performance and now I like to look at failure as an opportunity to improve and develop.

What has been your favorite job and why?

I would say my current role.it has been a great opportunity to move forward with a full-time job, obtain some knowledge and skills.while obtaining another degree. Now I am looking for something that challenges me professionally and helps me improve my current career goals. That is one reason why I am so excited about this job.

1. Tell me your weaknesses?

I would say that I always have an opinion on everything. I do not mind sharing my opinions because I like bouncing off of people that way. In certain situations that is great, I can brainstorm really well. However, I have realized it can look overbearing when in every meeting when a question is asked I am the first to answer. I can see where that gets hard for others that may be needed a minute to internally prosses and think through there answer and possibly wanted to share something else, but now feel like they can't. as a result of that. I now intentionally do not answer first in meeting and I give people a breath. I wait and try to hear a couple of people's answers before giving my own. I want other people to be able to feel heard as well. I know that there are always going to be people that I have a skill that I do not, but I have a very high work ethic and I know that I will work harder to reach the same if not better goals than others. My biggest weakness is ____. ___ can be intimidating for me, and it's not something I'm naturally comfortable with. However, this is an area in which I am eager to grow and improve. I recently acquired _____(book name) , which is a top rate _____ book. This has already had a significant impact on my confidence while speaking to large gatherings of people. However, I recognize I still have a way to go before I am fully comfortable in this area. Also, if there is any possibilities to cultivate public speaking skills inside this organization, such as making group presentations, I would love to take advantage of them to challenge myself and improve my public speaking skills further.

Why should we hire you?

If you hire me, it will be a great platform to showcase my skills. I am great with teaching children, very organized, creative, and have great graphic design skills. Whatever goals I set, I ensure to complete them within a quick time period and I can prove I am capable of performing well. I know the goals of this company and would love to be a part of helping reach them.

Tell me about you leadership qualities and how those help you with leading your students.term-20

Leaders can be viewed as many things I think it is important a leader is emotionally intelligent, enthusiastic, adaptable, transparent and embodies being the example others should follow. A leader wants to nurture others to their fullest positional and I have enjoyed this since my childhood. I love helping others to better themselves and I have gone through leadership and emotional intelligence classes that would help me in doing this.

What are three positive character traits you don't have?

Living in the present can be hard at times because I am always thinking about how to improve in the future. Taking risk by making quick decisions can be difficult because I don't want to be too hasty. I would describe myself as a person with strategic focus, as transformational and committed. As a person with strategic focus, it means that both as an individual and a team leader I will always work according to the company's vision and the business's commercial and financial goals that you want to achieve. I am a transformational manager, which means I will ensure that the team I am responsible for always adheres to and accepts changes in a positive way. an I will create an environment that enables the team to develop and flourish creatively. Finally, as a loyal person, I will take the time required for me to be fully competent in this role and I will treat the organization as if it were my own business. commercially aware, compassionate, results-driven, open-minded/ evolving, honest/ loyal, self-starter, resilient/resourceful, enthusiastic, self-motivated, flexible, dependable, car/kind

How would your boss or your co-worker describe you?

My boss would describe me as a resourceful and diligent person because there was a time when we lost an important members of our team on short notice. The department was already short staffed and the team started to get stressed due to the already existing work load. I decided to help take on other peoples workloads. I felt like someone had to act positively if we were going to keep things running smoothly. I know it was important for us to utilize our strengths, so I figured out who would be the most efficient person to take over each of the job duties. I shared my delegation evaluation with my supervisor. Then when it was implemented, I saw people were able to relax a little more when the work load was distributed more efficiently. Until my supervisor was able to get a replacement things were difficult, but we all worked hard to support each other. My boss was able to see how I remained positive, focused on the task and I was able to help find a solution.

what is one of your weaknesses?

One of my weaknesses is that I hear people, but at times I do not listen as carefully as I should. In my office with my current job, I have staff meetings every two weeks. During these meetings we are often asked for our option on things that could be improved. In these meetings I tend to be quick to answer. I love to help brainstorm ideas with others, but if I do not listen as carefully as I should, I miss a small detail that they wanted to communicate. After having this realization, I now intentionally do not answer first in meetings. I focus on listening carefully to capture all details before I respond. If there comes a time that I need clarification I am not afraid to ask questions and I am eager to learn. Now that I work towards focusing on all the details someone is trying to convey when talking, I have less follow up questions in our meetings.

tell me about yourself?

Thank you for inviting me to be interviewed for this position today. Through my career today, I have developed a variety of transferable skills and experience that I believe will enable me to excel in this role. I am someone who is industrious, positive, organized and I always strive to maintain the highest of standards at all times. I consider myself to have an impressive track record of achievement. For example, in my previous role, I was praised by my supervisor for helping the company to find ways to save money by getting discount on bulk orders. I have proven track record of working well alone and as a part of a team with excellent communication and people skills. I am confident in person, via telephone and also via digital communication. This will enable me to communicate with clarity to all students, staff, and facility. I truly believe if you hire me, you will quickly see a positive return on your investment and honestly the possibility of having this position really excites me.

The most difficult was how would you respond if your 6pm appointment came in at 4pm and your 4pm appointment was already there. What would you do?

The answer was multitasking since they have multiple privacy cubicles to handle more than one person.

1. Why do you want to work for our company?

There are many qualities that I admire about the company such as the effort to have Affordable learning Georgia and all the way back in 1889 the company was empowering women. Now with men included the college works toward teaching students to have a lifelong passion for learning that serves the students well regardless of the career paths they choose. For the student this is a foundation for a lifetime of leaning. I have loved being apart of the and would love to be apart of the team.

Why did you choose your major?

There are so many opportunities in marketing. Marking calls for people to be innovative and to evolve. I am very creative person that is great at persuading others like me can thrive in an environment like that.

1. Describe a stressful situation at work and how you handled it?

There was a time when we lost an important member of our team at short notice. The reason for her leaving was not made clear to us; however the impact on the team was significant. The department was already short staffed and replacing her on short notice was going to be difficult. The team started to get stressed because they often missed breaks and worked over time to accomplish what needed to be done. I decided to help because I felt like someone had to act positively if we were to keep things running smoothly. I discovered what my colleague had been contributing in her shifts. I thought it was important to work to people strengths so I found those that where great in parts of the job that she did and I found what I had time to contribute and helped make suggestions of the best solution to my supervisor. I was able to see people relax when the work load was distributed more efficiently. Until my supervisor was able to get a replacement things where stressful and difficult but we all worked hard to support each other. I learning it is always important to have a positive mindset in stressful situations. By remaining calm and focused on the task, I was able to help find a solution. Then I learned how to better incorporate my Time management skills and teams work best when everyone is able to play to their own strengths.

1. Explain a time where I went over and beyond for someone.

There was a time where I had a catering event that I set up. I like to get my work done before it needs to in order to have extra time before an event so if something goes wrong I have time to fix it. However the woman that was over the department the event was for did not arrive to the event until a very short amount of time before it started. Once she got there was some decoration pieces that she wanted for the event and forgot to right it in the request form that I received. In the situation I could see that there was hardly any time until the event and the item that the supervisor wanted where on the other side of campus. So I started to do a full on sprint to the other side of campus and called my coworker that was assigned under me for this large event to get the supplies that were requested together by the time I got back to the building. Then I was able to just grab the supplies and run back. I learned that no matter what stressful situation I am placed under I just need to stay calm, asses the issue and work towards solving it.

Where do you see yourself in five years?

This role presents new challenges for me and I want to spend the next few years gaining a deep expertise in the marketing space. After I build up my credibility in the next couple of years at your company, I hope to see myself in a position where I will be recognized for my accomplishments, I am being challenged and I like what I am doing.

What motivates you?

Using problem solving skills, hard work, and perseverance to overcome a challenge is personality satisfying. Successfully completing a task accurately and on time gives me a sense of accomplishment and motivates me to do a good job I am motivated by lots of different things. first of all, I am motivated by health, happiness, and feeling like I'm moving forward in both my work and my personal life. I'm also motivated by doing a good job for my employer because this gives me job satisfaction and also a sense of achievement. I want to be in a role where there is opportunity for me to grow and stay with the organization long-term I'm also motivated by goals. so, if I have several tasks and projects that I'm responsible for at any one given time, then this ensures that I am motivated, and it makes me feel like I'm continually learning and moving forward

tell about a time you had to make a quick decision?

back when I worked at Shane's there was a day where my manager had just stepped out to take a break and a woman came up to me very upset complaining that she had been waiting for her food for over 30 minutes. I knew that she had been there a long time and the cook in the back was a new employee and was backed up. I was not allowed to go back into the kitchen itself and normally I would have to explain the situation to my manager and ask if I could give a refund. however since he was on break I needed to take care of it myself. I thought I would rather take care of this and have it taken out of my paycheck if I needed to so I apologized to the women, I went to get her order and made sure the new cook knew the best way to keep the orders in order of what time they had been submitted and refunded her the money and also gave her a coupon for the next time she came. and when my manager came back I filled them in on the situation. they're said I made the right call and actually complimented me for taking initiative and make sure our customer was happy. she actually came back multiple times after that point so she seemed satisfied with the service.

what are your salary expectations

before coming to the interview today, I carried out some research to establish the average salary range for this role within this industry and that figure was between 45 thousand and 86 thousand dollars. now although I genuinely believe I am worth 60 thousand dollars based on my skills, qualities and experience

1. Give me an example of when you thought outside of the box. How did it help your employer?

figuring out a how to make our old worn out hot boxes look better for an event. I got a table cloth

1. What would you do if it were a minute until your shift was over and you had a call coming in?

going over and beyond even if you do not necessarily want to.

1. Tell me about a piece of constructive feedback you recently received from a manager or peer.

learning howto ask for help situation

why do you want the position

the operations manager role is the glue that keeps a company operating efficiently and effectively and it requires an ability to take responsibility seriously, operate with high levels of consistency, whilst also following organizational rules, polices and procedure