Interview Questions

Provide an example of a time in which you had to use your fact-finding skills to gain information for solving a problem.

At the trucking company I used to work for we had a constant mechanical problem with one of our trucks, and the mechanic couldn't seem to figure out what was leading to it. I looked through dozens of forums to find out that it was a sensor in another part of the engine that was linked to the problem we had. We got the dealer to replace the sensor and the frequent problem stopped.

What is your greatest strength?

My greatest strength I would say is the ability to really focus and get the task at hand done. When it is crunch time, I don't have any room for distractions and just work away. Not only that I also have a good ability to really get along with people which helps improve the general mood in a workplace and really makes work easier.

When was a time that you took a risk and it ended up being successful?

Talk about coming to Berkeley and not knowing if I was going to get into my major or not. 3 final exam on the same day etc...

Describe the most creative work-related project which you have carried out

The MIGroup had to create chart of the employees monthly goals, put faces on the charts, made it fun, creative.

What process do you use to establish priorities? Be specific.

The first thing I do to when establishing deadlines is to check the deadline of when it is due. The second thing I do is I skim over the task at hand and I try to get a sense of how difficult it is going to be for me. This gives me a good idea of how early I need to start the task I have in order to get it completed by the deadline.

What's a time you exercised leadership?

This was while I was at Macy's, our department manager and took an unexpected day off that day and one of the other managers was juggling in between her department and our department so it wasn't easy getting a hold of her. I was the one with the most experience in the department because there were two new hires working that day. Being the person with the most experience I lead them through the day successfully (build on how).

Give me a specific example of a time when you used good judgment and logic in solving a problem

When I worked for Fourway Trucking, the owner was faced with a decision of whether to repair an old truck that recently suffered a mechanical failure or to purchase a brand new truck. Since the repair wasn't too costly for the old truck I advised him to wait until the government starts to offer cash grants for old trucks. He actually listened to the advice and it turned out to be a great decision.

Tell me a time when you were on a team and one of your teammates was not pulling his/her weight. How did you handle it?

. talk about Macy's during a big sale, how co-worker was not keeping pace with the customers, I had to work harder to keep up with all of the customers. During break I caught up with her and I asked her if she was having trouble with anything, she was a new hire and she was having trouble with the returns. When we got back on the sales floor I told her to use the register next to mine and then I helped her and showed her how to handle the returns properly.

Describe a job experience in which you had to speak up to be sure that other people knew what you thought or felt.

A job experience in which I had to speak up to be sure what other people knew what I felt was in Macy's where some of the new sales associates were not doing their share of the work. I had a talk with some of the co-workers and told them that we are supposed to do go backs when there's no customers around.

Give me a time when one of your suggestions was put into practice by your supervisor.

A time when one of my suggestions was put to use was during my job with Fourway Trucking. There was a lot of paperwork associated with the billing and large cabinets would get filled quite rapidly, so I suggested that instead of making photocopies of the documents we needed to keep for reference, instead we scan them into PDF files, which for one would save a lot of office space and supply costs, and secondly we can find and access a specific document within seconds.

What did you do in your last job in order to be effective with your organization and planning? Be specific.

At my internship over the summer I had a calendar pinned right next to my computer in my cubicle. On that calendar I wrote down all the things that I needed to get done within that week and things that I should start to prepare for next week. In black ink I would write things that I would need to work on little by little every day, and in the red ink I would write the when the small projects I had had to be completed. In blue ink I would right things I should start on for next week if I had the time.

Provide me with an example of a time when you had to teach someone a new skill or procedure.

At my internship, I had to teach another intern how to make purchase orders and goods receipts using the SAP system. It wasn't hard, it just took a lot of steps and required a lot of commands in the software. What I did was to write it down for him step by step and go over it with him, and then allow him to do a couple by himself with me next to him.

Tell me a time in which you had to not finish a task because of a lack of information. How did you handle it?

At my job with Fourway Trucking, I was in charge of receivables and entering customer payments into the QuickBooks program. Some of the payments were not for the full amount that was billed, I did not want to enter the wrong information into the system. To resolve this, what I did was to find similar instances that this happened in the past and look at how it was entered in the system. To confirm my solution I sent my manager a simple text to confirm whether the way I was going to do it was the correct way.

What did you do in your last job to contribute toward a teamwork environment? Be specific.

At my last job, in order to contribute to a teamwork environment was to effectively communicate and coordinate tasks with my co-workers. The billing process consisted of me first inputting data into an excel workbook, and then into SAP, after which I would hand it off to one of my co-workers who would then double check and finalize it.

Describe the process you went through to make one or two of the most important decisions of your professional life.

Describe how I wanted to get into pharmacy, paid money for pharmacy tech school but ended up doing Economics

Give me an example on any job in which you faced a problem and tell me how you went about solving it.

During Fourway Trucking. In the trucking business, just like in every business, you face problems everyday. One of the common problems we faced were trucks braking down enroute to pickup a load for a customer.

Tell me a time when you had to carefully analyze a situation in order to be effective in guiding your actions.

During my job at Fourway Trucking, i had a driver who wanted to make sure he didnt miss his daughters bday. so everything i did i tried to make sure he would get home on time for his daughters bday.

Can you tell me a time when you were able to effectively "read" another person and guide your actions by your understanding of their individual needs or values?

For a short time at Macy's, I was placed in the woman's handbags department. I had some knowledge of bags (only because I have 2 sister-in-laws who are in love with them) and an elderly gentlemen came in looking for a handbag for his wife as a gift for Christmas. I was able to tell after a little conversation with him that he was looking for something that had quality but wasn't too hard on the bank account. I was able to get him a great quality handbag at a great price we had because of a sale, he was greatly pleased and told me I was the best sales person he's ever encountered at a retail store.

Give an example when you persuaded management to do something they were first reluctant to do. What was the result?

Fourway Trucking going paperless

Tell me a time when you had to implement change in your area of responsibility. What did you do to get them underway?

Fourway Trucking going paperless

Have you ever been the latitude to make a decision for your boss? If so under what circumstances?

Fourway Trucking, helped him make a better educated decision about whether adding another rig to the fleet was worth it or not, told him about the government trade in's for new rigs that it was going to implement in the future.

Give me a time in which you had to set an important goal in the past and tell me about your success in reaching it.

I had set a goal to get into UC Berkeley when I was in high school, i did not get into any of the uc's i wanted. So I decided to go through community college and work hard to get into UCB.

Why do you want an internship position at Kaiser?

I want this internship position at Kaiser because I think it is a great opportunity to work on real world projects and get a hands on learning experience that is hard to beat. Also, by working at Kaiser I will have the opportunity to network and get great career advice and knowledge from experienced professionals. And last but not least, I will have the chance to hopefully stay with the company and advance further up the career path.

Why do you want this job?

I want this job because I feel that having a background in economics would make me a good fit for this position. I have past experience in gathering data and analyzing it by creating graphs and charts and looking for trends. Also, I want this job because of the job security and the potential for career development.

What does Innovation mean to you? Describe a time when you were innovative.

Innovation to me means to make improvements in something that you do to make completing the task more efficient. Use Fourway trucking going paperless as an example.

What is the biggest risk you've ever taken?

Investing my own money in stocks.

By providing an example, tell me when you have had to handle a variety of assignments. Describe the results.

It was my first day on the job at the trucking company, I knew that I would have to wear a lot of different hats on this job, but actually doing it first hand was tough. The first day did not go so well, I was overwhelmed. I felt like I wouldn't be able to handle this job, but I kept at it day after day and got used to the workload and the different type of work I had to do until it became a routine and it wasn't difficult for me.

What do you know about kaiser?

Kaiser was founded by Henry Kaiser, with roots beginning right here in Oakland. It is the largest managed care organization in the US with almost 10 million members and 200,000 employees

What is your biggest weakness?

My biggest weakness I would say is public speaking. (Talk about giving a presentation during 7th grade). The ways I have tried to improve this is by taking more chances to speak up in public, for example in a class room try to be the first one to introduce yourself. I feel like by putting myself in that type of position more often I will conquer my weakness. I am still doing the best I can to improve on that today. 2nd biggest weakness, working too fast

Tell of a time when your active listening skills really paid off for you -- maybe a time when other people missed the key idea being expressed.

My final in my Economics class in college was a project that I had to present to the class and I was graded on not only the actual project but how smoothly I presented it and my ability to answer any of the questions the class or professor might ask. The professor asked questions everytime and I noticed people misunderstood what he was trying to ask

Why are you looking for an internship position instead of a full time job?

My goal is to work for a company such as kaiser that I feel has the most opportunities for career development and a sense of job security. Coming straight out of college with not a lot of experience makes it hard to get a full time job offer into a company like that. So I feel that by interning at Kaiser, it will open the door for me and will hopefully lead to a career with Kaiser.

What is your greatest professional achievement?

My greatest professional achievement is when I was the leading sales associate to open the most Macys cards for two consecutive months. (Give some background and build more on this, how I at first was struggling, etc..)

Tell me about yourself.

My name is Harvind, I'm a senior Economics major at Cal. Being an economics major at Cal, and going through a challenging program really develops your quantitative skills. Also, along the way you sharpen some skills that you have already gained through your professional career, such as time management skills, and your ability to communicate effectively with others. Throughout my professional career, I have been in a very small office environment where I had to manage many tasks, I have been in a sales environment where I excelled in sales goals and opening credit accounts, and also during my most recent internship I worked with a lot of data in excel and SAP (build on this).

How does this job fit into your career plans?

One of my goals is to work for a company for which I feel is good enough (in terms of job security and career development) and I feel like ______ is a good fit for that. That being said, this position would be a good fit for me in terms of my career plans because it will give me all of the skills and knowledge I would need to advance in this department.

What's a time you disagreed with a decision that was made at work?

Rite aid pharmacy extern can't use the register (give background and build, how it got really busy with only one pharmacist able to use the register) , then talk about how I dealt with it.

What trait do you need to work on?

Self-awareness. Sometimes I underestimate myself and my abilities, and then when I finish something I look back and say wow I actually did that. Talk about having 3 finals in one day back to back.

What is success to you? How do you achieve that success?

Some people may define success in monetary terms, but I define success at accomplishing the goals you created for yourself. Whether they are short term goals such as simply getting your work done for the week, or getting good grades this semester, or long term goals such as getting into the career you want

How do you deal with pressure or stressful situations?

Tackle the problem head on, do not put it off because that is not going to make it less stressful. Then take a little break, go to the gym, relax your mind then go back to solving the situation. Sometimes you start seeing other ways that you can approach the problem.

By providing an example, how did you handle a time where others on your team were negative.

Talk about Macys during a big sale and how co workers were always negative and complaining, talk about how I made them look at things with a positive attitude ( you were having a hard time meeting sales goals, now you can meet all of your goals because it is busy)

Describe for me a situation when you failed to meet a deadline. What things did you fail to do? What did you learn?

Talk about PSET due at 12am on a certain day, I thought it was 12pm. I learned to pay attention to the details. It didn't hurt me because we were allowed to drop one pset at the end of the semester.

Everyone has to bend or break rules sometimes. Recall an example of when you had to do this.

Talk about Rite aid externship, and how externs weren't allowed to use register, then talk about how we got around it.

Tell me about an accomplishment that you are very proud of and why it means so much to you.

Talk about how I used to struggle with sales and opening credit lines and how I improved.

Tell about a time you failed

Talk about personal failure of not getting into any of the UC's I wanted to get into out of high school, after working so hard to get good grades.

Tell me something about yourself that you would not put on your resume.

Talk about the time I would go to the flea market when I was little to help my aunt and uncle sell blankets, talk about how I had to be aware of my environment. It taught me how hard you have to work to make ends meet and it taught me to respect people's hard work.

What is your dream job?

Talk about trip to India where I first encountered and saw little children are begging. My dream job would be to have the ability to reach out and help those people and give them resources and guidance to help them better their lives.

Tell me a time in which you felt it was necessary to change your actions in order to respond to the needs of another person.

Talk about when I worked at macy's handbags department and elderly gentlemen came in to buy a purse for his wife. I couldn't approach him like I would the typical shopper in that department. (similar to other question)

What kind of decisions do you find most difficult to take?

The kind of decisions I find most difficult to take are personal decisions that once I commit to I can't turn back and undo them. For example, picking which school I went to was a big decision for me (talk about getting into major). So before I make any decision like that I take the time and thoroughly think it through.

Can you tell me a time in which you felt you were able to build motivation in your co-workers or subordinates?

This was at Macy's when we had our black Friday sales, it was early morning and the store was just packed with customers and all of my co-workers had headaches and I can tell were just demotivated to work that day. I told them that this was the perfect opportunity to meet all of the sales and credit goals, so they can take it easy for the next two weeks.

Give me an example of a specific occasion in which you had to conform to a policy with which you did not agree.

This was at Rite Aid, pharm tech interns were not allowed to ring customers using the register because we were technically not hired by the company. Sometimes there would only be myself, another intern and a pharmacist working at the pharmacy and it would get really busy. So what we did was scan the prescriptions (not ring them) so to help the pharmacy get to the customers quicker.

Provide an example of how you resolved a conflict with you and another person when you disagreed with each other.

This was during college when I had to pair up with a classmate and work on a project together. I didn't really know anybody in that class so the person I got paired up with was random. The guy I got paired up with didn't read the book at all. He told me that he was working while taking 3 classes this semester. He wanted me to do the whole project on my own. (build on this and talk about how I told him I am taking 18 units and working part time, that I am willing to help him out but he has to put in some effort).

Relate a time in which you had to use your verbal communication skills in order to get an important point across.

This was in Macy's while I was a sales representative, I was faced with a customer who tried to use a macy's card that was not his. He said it was his wifes, but it is against company policy to let a customer use a card that is not his. I had to just calm him down and tell him why it was against store policy, and that I can lose my job if I accept that card. I told him I will make sure to hold his merchandise until tomorrow.

Describe a situation in which you felt it necessary to be very attentive and vigilant to your environment.

This was when I would go to the flea market with my uncle and aunt who used to sell blankets and decorative ornaments, there would be a lot of theft so I would always have to be aware where all the customers were at all times

Tell me of a time when you had to take initiative to develop an innovative project to achieve better results.

When I used to work at Fourway Trucking, there was a lot of paperwork. I helped to initiate the turn into digitalize all of the paperwork.

Tell me an example of a time when you had to go above and beyond the call of duty in order to get a job done.

When I worked at Fourway Trucking, a couple of cases of product got rejected at the delivering site, instead of bringing the whole truck back I had to drive to Livingston, where the driver was unloading and bring the cases all the way back to Union City. This was not part of my job description, but I knew it had to be done.

Describe a time on any job in which you were faced with stresses which tested your coping skills. What did you do?

While I worked at Macy's, during holiday season it would get very stressful satisfying all of the customer's needs and wants because there were so many shoppers. What I did was just take a deep breath, relax and help each customer one by one. I would tell the customer that it is really busy and I'm sorry for the wait and I will help you as soon as I can.

Why should we hire you?

You should hire me because I have past experience, both professional and academic, with working with large amounts of data and then analyzing it by creating charts and graphs and looking for trends. Also academically, being an economics major makes me more quantitavely orientated which I presume will greatly help with the work that will be given in this position. Apart from this, I am a great team player, I always get along with my co-workers and have a positive attitude.

What ways have you found to make your job easier or more rewarding?

don't think of it as just another day at work, do the best you can at every task so you can be rewarded for your efforts and move up quickly. Have fun with your co workers and get to know them.

Tell me about a time when your supervisor was not satisfied with the quality of your work. What actions did you take?

during my internship I hate to make a spreadsheet that contained overdue payments from customers. I wasn't informed on how the required formatting for all the spreadsheets were, so when I emailed her the spreadsheet, she called me over and told he this isn't how we format this, I then informed her that I wasn't told on how to format them, she then showed me how the formatting was.

Give an example of a time in which you had to be relatively quick in coming to a decision.

give example of fourway trucking when on phone with a customer and had to close out a deal on a load.

Describe for me a job experience when you had to serve as the leader in order to accomplish a goal.

macy's I was in a department with mostly new hires, during closing time I had to make sure everything in my department was clean and the registers were closed, since I was the experienced one in my department I guided the new hires on what needed to be done and what to do first.

Describe a job experience when you successfully communicated with someone that did not personally like you.

talk about working at Macys how someone didn't like me since my first day on the job, but then on a busy holiday being the only two working in the department we had to successfully communicate with one another to get through the day, by the end of the day her whole attitude towards me changed.

By providing an example, tell me of a situation where you had to use your ability to negotiate.

this was during when I worked with Fourway Trucking, I was on the phone with a customer who had called me asking if I had any trucks in LA coming up north. I told him I did have a truck ready to get loaded, and we started to discuss the price. He tried to get the cheapest price ($650), but I knew there was a shortage of trucks in LA that day. I was able to tell that he really needed to get this load covered today, and after going back and forth I was able to get an extra $75 out of him.

Give me two examples of when you did more than was required in any job experience.

when i was with fourway trucking, driving 45 minutes away to get products that were rejected .helped other managers at The MIGroup when my manager didn't have work for me to do (with my managers permission).