175 common interview questions
General presentation
1. Tell me about your self.
2. Present your background.
3. Introduce yourself.
4. Walk me through your resume.
5. Discuss your career progression.
Pre-career questions
6. Tell me about your family.
7. Tell me about your childhood (or high school) years.
8. Tell me about your college (university) experience.
9. How would you describe the environment in which you grew up?
10. What were the greatest influences in shaping your character?
11. Were you a good student?
12. Do your university grades reflect your ability?
13. In what extracurricular activities did you participate?
14. What courses did you enjoy the most? The least? Why?
15. Why did you decide to major in (subject)?
16. If you could go back in time, would you chose a different major? Why or Why not?
17. How would you describe yourself in college? Which adjectives would you use?
18. Who had the greatest influence on you at your university?
19. What student offices did you hold, if any?
20. What leadership roles did you play at your university?
21. What role did you play in your seminar?
22. Did you have any part-time jobs while a student?
23. How did your college education prepare you for your career?
24. What were the greatest benefits of your college education?
Career related questions
25. What led you to decide a career in (your profession)?
26. What attracted you to join your company?
27. Did you consider other companies (or careers)?
28. Describe your organization and the industry you work in.
29. Tell me about your job.
30. Describe a typical work day.
31. What is your position?
32. Do you supervise employees? How many?
33. What are your key responsibilities?
34. Which aspects of your job do you like the best? The least?
35. Among the positions you have held, which did you like the most? The least?
36. If you could change your career, what profession would you choose?
37. Describe the changes you would like to make in your organization.
38. If you became President of your company tomorrow, what would your plans be?
39. What improvement steps would you like to take in the management of your company?
40. What are the major problems or challenges facing your organization?
41. How will you contribute to solve these challenges? What approaches need to be tried? What results would you anticipate? Why?
42. In which ways will you contribute the most to your company’s success?
Accomplishment/Ability/Talent
43. Describe your three most notable accomplishments.
44. What was your specific role in these experiences?
45. How have you contributed to your company’s success?
46. What impact have your accomplishments had on your organization?
47. Describe your impact on groups.
48. Describe your contributions to groups.
49. How have you developed in your career? What have you learned?
50. Tell me about a time when you exercised leadership?
51. Tell me about a time when you contributed to a team?
52. Tell me about a time when you took initiative or innovated?
53. Tell me about a time when you took a stand different from the consensus view.
54. Tell me about a time when you resolved a conflict in a group.
55. Tell me about a time in your career when you solved an important problem.
56. Tell me about a team experience that was a failure.
57. Describe the hardest challenge you have faced at work.
58. How do you resolve conflict on a team?
59. What is your leadership style?
60. How do you approach leading groups?
61. What is your team style?
62. What kind of responsibility do you delegate? What kind do you reserve for yourself?
63. What do you define good management? Bad management?
64. What criteria do you use to judge good performance? Bad performance?
65. How do you counsel poor performers?
66. What steps do you take in planning a project?
Strength/Weakness
67. What are your greatest management strengths? Weaknesses?
68. In which ways could your performance improve?
69. Have you ever had a formal evaluation of your performance? What was it?
70. If managers were describing you, what would they say?
71. If colleagues were describing you, what would they say?
72. Name three words or phrases to describe yourself to others.
73. What are your personal strengths?
74. What are your personal weaknesses?
75. How are you working to overcome your weaknesses?
76. What will the Admissions Committee see as your weakness?
77. What areas do you need to develop?
78. What are the weaknesses in you application?
79. What are your developmental needs?
80. What personality trait would you like to improve?
81. When you leave for MBA studies, what will your colleagues miss least about you?
82. Describe the characteristics of a leader you have known or read about. Which characteristics do you have? Which do you seek to develop?
83. What are your managerial qualities, and how have you demonstrated them?
84. If I talked to your supervisor about you, what would he tell me?
85. What do others think of you as a manger? How do they differ in their views?
86. How would you like to change yourself?
87. What self-improvement plans have you made?
88. How do you feel about yourself? Are you satisfied with your development?
89. What one thing would you like to change about yourself?
Extracurricular
90. What do you do for fun?
91. What do you do outside of work?
92. What are your hobbies and extracurricular interests?
93. What do you like to do on weekends?
94. Do you have enough time for leisure activities?
95. Are you involved in community activities?
96. In which ways have you shown leadership in the community?
97. If you could take a day off, what would you do?
98. What did you do last weekend?
99. If you had a long vacation right now, where would you like to go?
Outlook on human nature or career
100. If you could take a year off, what would you do?
101. What does ethics mean to you?
102. Have you ever experienced an ethical dilemma? How did you resolve it?
103. Describe a significant failure in your life and what you learned from it.
104. Describe the most painful experience you have ever faced.
105. Describe the greatest challenge you have ever faced.
106. What risk have you taken in your career or private life?
Communication skill/Personality
107. What makes you angry? Sad?
108. How do you deal with frustration or stress?
109. Describe the real you.
110. How would you describe yourself: hard-driving or easygoing?
111. If three of four of your peers were here, how would they describe you?
112. Do you prefer working on your own or working in groups?
113. Describe the hardest situation you have faced in your personal life.
114. How do you handle conflict?
115. What's your communication style?
Culture/International
116. What would you like the world to know about Taiwanese culture?
117. What would you like to tell your classmates about Taiwanese business?
118. How would you compare the US approach to business and the Japanese approach to business?
119. What advice you give a Westerner coming to work in Taiwan?
120. What would you like Westerner to understand better about Taiwan?
121. Describe a government policy with which you disagree, and why?
122. What changes would you like to see in your society?
123. What role should Taiwan play in world society?
124. How did you learn English?
125. Which is better, your written or spoken English ability?
126. Tell me about a time when you experienced cultural conflict and how you handled it?
Career Goal
127. Describe you post-MBA plans.
128. What do you want to do in your career?
129. What are you short-term and long-term goals? Why?
130. What is your ultimate career goal?
131. What is the highest position that you feel you can attain your company?
MBA study
132. What do you want to do after you have an MBA?
133. Why do you want an MBA?
134. Why do you feel this is the right time for you to pursue MBA studies?
135. How will graduate business study prepare you to meet your career goals?
136. How do you feel MBA study will be different from your college experience?
137. Why do you wish to join the XXX School of Management? Why now?
138. What would the XXX School of Management do for you that no other MBA program can?
139. What are your learning goals at the XXX School of Management?
140. What would you concentrate in at the XXX School of Management?
141. What preparation will you make prior to beginning MBA studies?
142. What evidence can you present to show you will be successful at the XXX School of Management?
143. Would you feel comfortable with the case study method? Why or why not?
144. What clubs and activities would you get involved in at the XXX School of Management?
145. What will you contribute to the XXX School of Management?
146. After completing MBA studies at the XXX School of Management, how would your classmates remember you.
147. To what other schools are you applying?
148. What would you do if not accepted anywhere?
149. What would you do if accepted everywhere?
150. What alternatives have you considered other than MBA studies?
151. What concerns, if any, do you have about pursuing MBA studies?
152. If you were the interviewer, what questions would you ask a candidate?
153. Provide the reasons that make you confident you can succeed academically at the XXX School of Management.
154. If you had a minute or two to address the class at XXX School of Management, what would you say?
155. Tell me what distinguishes you from other applicants.
156. Which two qualities would you want me to highlight in the interview report?
157. What else should the admissions committee know about you?
158. Have I asked you everything? What question did I miss that you wish I had asked?
159. What do you want to discuss that we haven't covered or you were unable to cover in your application.