These questions are real examples and are a good way to prepare for interviews because they use a very common model of interview questioning called the competency model.
Leadership interview questions
- Would you give me an example of how you typically respond to criticism? Rejection of your ideas?
- Give me an example of a time you trusted a pier or employee to do something that was important to you. What happened and did you get the result you wanted?
- How have you handled a situation in which you had difficulty working with someone? What did you learn from that?
- Think of a tough situation on the job where you are angry. What was the situation and what did you do to resolve IT?
- Tell me about a situation where you didn't think you got a fair deal.. How did you handle it?
- If I spoke with your present / previous manager, what would s / he say are your greatest strengths and your greatest areas of development?
- Have you found ways to make your job easier or more rewarding?
- Can you think of some projects ideas (not necessarily your own) that were sold, implemented, or carried out successfully primarily because of your efforts?
- What are some of the characteristics of the best people you've worked with and the most difficult?
- Give me an example of a situation that demonstrates your willingness to be direct and candid about both your feelings and opinions.
- What changes have you tried to implement in your area of responsibility? What have you done to get them under way?
- Tell me about some projects you generated on your own. What prompted you to begin them? How did you sell them to your manager or peers?
- What have you done when you submitted a good idea to your manager and he or she procrastinated?
- Can you relate an experience where you feel you held out too long for what you believed was right?
- Can you relate an experience where you felt you gain something because you held out for what you believe was right as long as you could?
- Describe an experience you have had where you were not tenacious enough. What happened? How could you improve the outcome?
Competency based interview questions
Competency focused questions are designed to help draw out a person's experience by asking for examples of when they have performed a function or have shown that they have a skill/competency. This style of questioning is popular because it is more likely to draw out whether a person has the competencies to perform a role.Models that used closed questions like 'tell me what x means' tend to exclude younger or less experienced candidates and won't necessarily identify a person who has the right competence - experience of x doesn't mean you were good at x.