Senior Seminar Mock Interview Questions
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What are three things your former manager would like you to improve on?
1. Not to spend so much extra time double and triple checking all of my work. Like I said, I'm a bit of a perfectionist who likes to get things done right the first time. 2. To be more relaxed. Sometimes I'm overly determined and need to slow my pace down, step back and fully address the situation rather than going in head first and risk messing something up. 3. Sometimes I care a little too much about people. I have a huge heart and I wear it on my sleeve. I know this could be seen as a good thing but I just need to understand that this is a job where I'm going to have to get assertive with people and physical at times if needed. I will have to pick and choose my battles.
Are you willing to relocate?
Absolutely.
Are you willing to travel?
Absolutely.
Would you work 40+ hours a week?
Absolutely.
Would you work holidays/weekends?
Absolutely.
What questions haven't I asked you?
Are you afraid of failure? No, I am afraid of not succeeding.
What was the last book you've read for fun?
Bible.
What are some of your leadership experiences?
Captain of cross-country track teams. Lead attorney of mock trial. Leader in group projects throughout school. Criminal justice major of the year for leadership qualities. Resident director so I was in charge of of 200+ resident, 100 work and learns and 20 RAs. When there was an emergency, it was up to me to get everyone where they needed to be.
What is your favorite website?
What is the name of our CEO?
For the place I'm hoping to get hired, the boss is the police chief, Sean Reynolds.
What questions do you have for me?
His accepting is the department? How's everyone's work ethic? Are they team players?
How would you fire someone?
Honestly, probably get straight to the point. If I let them down easy, it's not going to help them keep their job. I will try my best to be understanding and sympathetic but if I'm told to do it by a superior, I will do it.
Why do you want to leave your current company?
I am not currently associated with another company.
Describe yourself.
I am very genuine. Meaning I'm honest, caring and respectful. I will not treat anyone differently based on any kind of prejudice. I'm a great problem solver and a critical thinker. If conventional means will not solve the problem, I find another way. I am good at keeping my cool and am not quick to bet anger or panicked. I give my 100% best effort at anything that I do. I'm always the first person to lend a hand to anyone that needs it.
What can you offer us that someone else can not?
I bring a unique combination of abilities. I am a people person and very sociable. I am a great critical thinker who accepts the challenge of thinking outside the box. I enjoy working with others and combining ideas to reach a common goal. If someone else has a great idea, I will be the first one to give them credit for it. I'm humble and will not take this job for granted. I will work everyday to the absolute best of my ability and will never take any shortcuts. I will take the oath not because it's mandatory but because I will truly devote my life to serving my community and realizing and recognizing the very real risk of losing my life that comes with this career.
Why would we hire you?
I bring a unique combination of abilities. I am a people person and very sociable. I am a great critical thinker who accepts the challenge of thinking outside the box. I enjoy working with others and combining ideas to reach a common goal. If someone else has a great idea, I will be the first one to give them credit for it. I'm humble and will not take this job for granted. I will work everyday to the absolute best of my ability and will never take any shortcuts. I will take the oath not because it's mandatory but because I will truly devote my life to serving my community and realizing and recognizing the very real risk of losing my life that comes with this career.
Discuss your educational background.
I graduated from Salem Community High School in 2012. Will at SCHS, I received 18 credit hours of dual credit courses meaning I had a semesters worry of college classes completed before I even graduated high school. I graduated from Lindenwood University in May of 2016 with my Bachelors of Arts degree in Criminal Justice. I also graduated with magma cum lauded honors for have a 3.86 or higher accumulative GPA.
Who's your mentor?
I have a few. One would be Tammy Newell. She was my cross-country coach at Lindenwood. She always pushed me to be the best running I can be. Then of course my parents have always lead by example throughout my life and I haven't been led astray yet. They're great role models and have helped me to develop into a great mentor for other people as well.
Are you a leader or a follower?
I have some leadership traits but I also do not have an issue with superiority. I was a captain for my cross-country team and every group project I had in school, I would take the extra initiative to do extra work to ensure we got a good grade. However, I do not have an issue taking orders from my superiors. If I'm told to do something by a higher ranking officer, I will do it.
How did you hear about this position?
I heard about this position from doing my internship with the department as well as from some of the officers that I was friends with before I even did my internship and got to know everyone.
How would you deal with an angry or irate customer?
I would address the situation and quickly determine what may be the most effective means of handling the situation. I understand that this is a career where everyone isn't going to be your friend and that we will have people who are upset or angry on a regular basis. I would try to stay calm and respectful in an attempt to calm down the other person. I have a lot of patience so that should prove useful in these situations.
Why are you looking for a new job?
I'm not looking for a new job. I'm looking for a lifetime career. I want to do something that I feel passionately about and this is it.
What's your availability?
I'm very flexible
What are your coworker pet peeves?
If talking about my pet peeves regarding coworkers- Coworkers who nag and bad talk people behind their backs. If talking about coworkers themselves - maybe taking orders? Like to complain when given orders? .. Wing this answer I guess.
Where do you see yourself in 5 years? 10 years?
In 5 years I see my self as a full time police officer with the Salem police department. I will be married and potentially have at least one child by then. In 5 years or even 10 years for that matter, I see myself as continuing to be the best example that I can for my wife, children, coworkers and community. I see myself continuing to work hard and not take any easy ways out of as well as continuing to be an uplifting and caring member of the community that I will still serving as a police officer.
Who are our competitors?
In this line of work, we're a brotherhood. Our competitor is crime. All the departments are on the same team.
Tell me how you handled a difficult situation.
Lindenwood brawl outside the dorm
Why was there a gap in your employment between [insert date] and [insert date]?
Most likely the answer is school.
What do you like the most and least about working in this industry?
Most- Helping people would be the easy answer but every cop should want to help people. I'm more interested in taking on a career that most people want to avoid. I like taking the oath less traveled and pushing myself to do things most others either can't or won't. I enjoy the challenges. Least- life-threatening possibility. It just comes with the badge and is a risk we have to take. I understand that risk and am willing to accept it. Also, any death is never a good thing, especially kids.
What are your weaknesses?
My biggest weakness is that I am a bit of a perfectionist. I am very hard on myself when I do something wrong. I've also had a lot of self-discipline and when I mess something up, I tend to stress out about it. But like I said, I do take responsibility for my actions so when I get knocked down, I'll get back up and keep working to do better for myself and for those around me.
What are your career goals?
My career goals are to stay within the law enforcement/criminal justice realm my entire life. I understand that I cannot save the world but I know I can make a difference to at least a small part of it. I would like to always be positive and continue to advance through the ranks. I want to be able to retire one day knowing that I gave it my best shot and had a positive and honorable demeanor about me throughout my career.
What is your dream job?
My dream job is to be a police officer in Salem, Illinois. I would like to eventually make it to sergeant and finish out my entire career in Salem.
What motivates you?
My family and anyone close to me. Not only are they pushing me to be the best that I can be but I want to make them all proud. By knowing I have the ability to make someone happy is all worth it to me. I also like to face challenges head on. The feeling of success after conquering a tough situation is also what helps to motivate me.
What are your strengths?
My strengths include my determination, motivation and self confidence. I am a very hard worker and I give my 100% best effort at anything that I do. I also know how to talk to people and have good critical thinking skills. I could see this being useful when it comes to addressing and deescalating tense situations in the field. I am also very detail oriented and work things out very thoroughly. I am also very reliable. If I say I will do something then I will do it. Another big strength is that I take responsibility for my actions. If I make a mistake, I will own up to it, correct it and try to do better next time.
What are your salary requirements?
Negotiable.
Tell me about an accomplishment you are most proud of.
One accomplishment that I am most proud of would be receiving the Criminal Justice Major of the award from Lindenwood University. This award is given to a single criminal justice major to displays exemplary academic skills as well as leadership both inside and outside of the classroom. I was pretty honored to receive this.
Tell me about a time you made a mistake.
One time that I made a mistake was when I was the Resident Director of a dorm at Lindenwood University. I was nervous when I first took the position and I was overthinking things. For example, I tried to get absolutely everything organized for my dorm for the entire semester before the semester even started. I view this as a mistake because a lot of what I did was useless and the majority of the organization didn't come up up until the time it was actually needed. We had to put names of residents on every door and I shouldn't have done that until after people moved in because there were several people who wanted to switch rooms or were listed in the wrong room. This just caused a little bit of confusion for the housing department but by viewing my mistakes I was able to learn from it and do it right in the following semesters.
Discuss your resume.
Review resume/cover letter.
Why are you interested in working for the Salem Police Dept.?
Salem is my home town. I love my town. I did a 300 hour internship with the Salem PD and it really opened my eyes to a side of my own community that I've never seen before. After witnessing some of the things that occur in my community, I am determined to do my best to strive towards correcting these issues and creating the most positive environment possible.
What are your hobbies?
Sports, video games, running, a ,or of various outdoors activities.
What are your biggest failures?
The fact that I am afraid of failing is one of my biggest failures. I've been so afraid of not succeeding that I have missed out on some potentially great opportunities. For example, there was a group project in college that my group did very well on. We had the opportunity to go to Chicago to present it at a conference and potentially have it published. I opted out of going because I did not want to embarrass myself in front of all those prestigious people. But after thinking hard about that, I now know that I should not let a fear of failure make me miss out on things like that. When an opportunity that big presents itself, I need to act on it and be confident the entire time.
What gets you up in the morning?
The fact that today can be a good day as long as I make it a good day. Attitude is everything. You have to wake up positively and your actions will follow.
How do you handle pressure?
The number one thing is to not panic. I've panicked before and things just got worse. I need to try to keep your cool so I can focus and think more clearly. By keeping my head on straight, I can process situations a lot more clearly. However, in this line of work I understand that this process is going to have to happen quickly and be able to think on my feet because sometimes there just isn't enough time to break it all down. I will have to use discretion and my best judgement to attempt to handle any situation thrown my way.
Give a time when you went above and beyond the requirements for a project.
There are several group projects in college where I took charge and did all the organizing and delegating. I brought it upon myself to do the extra leg work to ensure the project was done accurately and correctly. I can be a leader when I need to be but I also have no issues following orders from my superiors when they are given to me.
If I called your boss right now and asked him what is an area that you could improve on, what would he say?
To not get so stressed out. I used to stress out about a lot of little stuff because I wanted everything done right. Sometimes I felt overwhelmed with a massive work load but now I know that things can be a lot easier if I stay positive and confident. A lot of things are dos ke when I put my head down and truly focus to get it accomplished.
What makes you uncomfortable?
Wanting to help someone or do something but not being able to. Meaning like trying to do something that I simply have no know,edge of and feeling a feeling of helplessness.
What would your dirt reports say about you?
Well, when I was a little kid I stole some candy from Walmart. I don't think it'll show up in any report though and I did go back and pay for it. I've never been arrested and have never been in trouble at school. I'm nowhere near perfect but I've just always walked a straight line and done my best to follow rules and he law. I've on,y been pulled over my the police one time and received a written warning for speeding.
What were your bosses/ strengths/weaknesses?
When I was the Resident Director of Lindenwood, my boss had awesome determination and a great work ethic. She got stuff done. Her weakness would have to be that although she was getting stuff done, sometimes it wasn't in the best fashion. Occasionally she would make executive orders that weren't really the best decisions. A lot of this had to do with policies she wanted implemented in the dorms that I knew wouldn't work from being a residing resident of the dorm. For example, we had an issue with resident throwing trash in the lobbies and really overflowing the trash cans. The policy was put in place to remove the cans completely with the thought that the residents would be forced to take their trash outside. This simply didn't happen that way and instead, all the trash just got thrown in the lobby floors where the trash cans used to be placed at.
Tell me about a time when you disagreed with your boss.
When I was the resident director of a dorm at Lindenwood University, I used to disagree with my boss over a lot of scheduling for the RAs in my dorm. We disagreed because she would tell me what she thought was work and sometimes I disagreed because I knew it wouldn't work due to the fact that I actually lived in the dorm and she didn't so I felt I had a better grasp on how it would work more efficiently. Sometimes she was right and I was wrong and other times I was right and she was wrong. Eventually we got on the same page with each other and things began working a lot more smoothly.
What would you look to accomplish in the first 30 days/60 days/90 days on the job?
Within the first three months, I would like to have all the basics down packed. By this I mean knowing what to say on the radio, how to work the computer programs and to be familiar with the department policies and protocols.