PPD Interview - Project Assistant

What is your biggest strength?

Ability to Multi-task

Questions for the interviewers: ALWAYS ASK THEM QUESTIONS!!!!

What does success look like in this role? What does a typical day in this job look like, or is there such thing as typical day? Can I expect growth in this department/ room to advance?

Where do you see yourself in 5 years?

I hope to move up within the Clinical Administration department. Maybe becoming a CRA or a Principal Project Assistant position.

What is your biggest weakness?

Perfectionism.

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

SItuation: A claimant filed a claim for property damages for a tablet that was damaged during the crash. Goal: To indemnify this man for his loss. Action: I asked the man various questions about the tablet, when was it purchased, how much was it purchased for, what is the model number of the tablet ect. I then took that information and tried to value the tablet at the time of the loss. I did some research to find the estimated life expectancy of a tablet, and one of the sources came to the conclusion of 5.5 years. So I used the model number to find the cost of the device brand new. I then calculated how long he's owned the tablet. I then divided total cost by 5.5 and multiplied by the time he's owned the device and wrote a check for that amount. Result: The man was satisfied that he received a check. My manager was satisfied with my thought process.

Tell me about a time when you had to work with a difficult person?

Situation- Ibn- Goal- Keep the department running smoothly and keep customers flowing Action-

Give me an example of a time when you had to make a split second decision.

Situation:

When was a time you made a mistake and how did you respond to it.

Situation: A client had called a claim in where she had left her keys on the roof of her car. The keys fell off of her car while driving and she had to have a repair company visit her home where she parked the car to re-program another key. well the first company couldn't do it for some reason and a second company had to come out. At the end of the day she had newly programmed key, but one of the two companies damaged the electrical system in the car... I wasn't sure which form of coverage this would fall under, whether it would be comp or collision, but both forms of coverage on her policy had a $1,000 ded. I said I would get back to her regarding which it fell under and proceeded to send out an appraiser. Well with collaboration with my manager this particular incident didn't fall under either form of coverage. Goal: Have the customer understand the situation immediately. Action: Inform the customer. Result: She was upset due to the new information, but she understood the reasoning once I walked her through the terms of the insurance agreement. I learned to be more mindful of my choice of words and to not make assumptions of information that I'm not confident about.

Describe a situation in which you were able to use persuasion to successfully convince someone to see things your way.

Situation: At National General Insurance it is important to explain insurance rules and decisions in a persuasive manor. One of my insured's was decided to have been 20% at fault for an accident she was involved in. This decision was agreed upon between myself and a colleague as well as the other insurance company. Goal: Make them understand why the decision was made. Action: Made contact with the insured and explained the reason for the decision. Provided empathy and reiterated the evidence that put her partially at fault. Result: She ultimately understood our decision and recognized it as final.

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

Situation: At National General when one of our teammates is out for a day or longer their mail and some of their assignments is divided up between team members and it is asked that these assignments be completed by the end of the day. I had noticed that a large amount of the workload was unfinished close to day end. larger than I could assume for myself and finish by day end. Goal: Complete the assignment our manager has assigned to us in the allotted time frame. Action: I decided to take it upon myself to complete the additional assigned workload by staying after and working overtime. On one particular occasion this meant staying after approximately 3 hours. Result: The assignment was finished. I assisted my fellow co-workers workload and made my manager happy by completing and assigned task on time.

Give me an example when you showed initiative and took the lead.

Situation: When I signed up to be a part of Geek Squad Academy, I signed up to be a helper. I received a call from the organizer of the event and was informed that they were in need of an instructor and would like to know if I would accept. I accepted the new role as instructor, without really knowing what I was getting myself into. Goal: Assist GSA any way I could. Action: resulted in me accepting the INstructor role. Resulted: Me having a learning experience of being a teacher to a bunch of young children and teaching them about 3D virtual space.

Give me an example of a time when you motivated others.

Situation: When I worked at best buy, different departments would have competitions for sales goals. The winners of these competitions would get various gifts or rewards. Goal: not only focus and improve my own sales, but lift up fellow colleagues to improve the sales and experience of the entire store. Action: Engage with team members. Result: We had fun as a team working together, sales techniques were working and were always higher in situations where team members engaged positively with each other.

Tell me about a recent situation in which you had to deal with a very upset customer or co-worker.

Situation: Working at an insurance company this is very common. Goal: Action: Result:

Tell me about a difficult decision you've made in the last year.

The most difficult decision I've made this year was leaving my job at National General. I did appreciate the opportunity I was given, and I absolutely enjoyed the level of difficulty the job presented. What I didn't like was my ultimate feeling of loneliness in Winston-Salem. Goal: Is ultimate happiness in finding a career in an a more familiar area. Action: Remove myself from the organization and move back to my hometown where I was paid the same salary to work with my dad's company. Result: I did feel a lot better after the move, I was disappointed that I was leaving my job, but I had always intended on finding a new one in a better location.