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CAREER GUIDE 2016–2017
CLEMSON UNIVERSITY
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QUESTIONS ASKED BY EMPLOYERS
Personal:
1. Tell me about yourself.
2. What are your hobbies?
3. Why did you choose to interview with our organization?
4. What can you offer us?
5. What do you consider to be your strengths/weaknesses?
6. Have you ever had any failures? What did you learn from
them?
7. Of which three accomplishments are you most proud?
8. Who are your role models? Why?
9. How does your college education or work experience relate
to this job?
10. What motivates you most in a job?
11. Have you had difficulty getting along with a former
supervisor/co-worker? How did you handle it?
12. Why should we hire you rather than another candidate?
13. What do you know about our organization (products,
services and history)?
14. What was the most useful criticism you ever received,
and who was it from?
15. Where do you want to be in five years? Ten years?
Education:
1. Why did you choose your major/college/university?
2. In which campus activities did you participate?
3. Which classes did you like best? Least? Why?
4. Do your grades accurately reflect your ability? Why or why
not?
5. Describe your leadership style.
Experience:
1. What job related skills have you developed?
2. What did you learn from these work experiences?
3. What did you enjoy most about your last employment?
Least?
4. What are your team-player qualities? Give examples.
5. How do you think a former supervisor would describe your
work?
6. What frustrates you most?
Behavioral:
Before you begin interviewing, think about these questions and
possible responses and discuss them with a career adviser.
Those questions asking for a story should be portrayed in a
positive light, and include specifics of the situation, your action
and the results. Conduct mock interviews and be sure you are
able to communicate clear, unrehearsed answers.
1. Describe a time when you kept other individuals informed
about projects or things that impacted their job or role.
2. Tell me about a time when you communicated technical
or field-related information to individuals outside of your
area of expertise.
3. Describe how you have contributed to your organization’s,
department’s or employer’s goals.
4. Tell me about a time when you worked on a team. What
was your role and how did you ensure you met your
commitments to the team?
5. Tell me about a time when you delegated work to
others. How did you decide what to delegate to different
individuals?
6. Tell me about a time when you worked with a group on
establishing a plan to reach a goal.
7. What do you do when priorities change quickly? Give an
example of when this happened.
8. Describe a time when you failed and had to demonstrate
resilience.
9. Describe a time when you made a suggestion to improve
the work in an organization/company/etc…
10. Describe a time when you had to analyze information and
make a recommendation. What kind of thought process
did you go through and what was your reasoning behind
your recommendation?
11. Give an example of a time where you introduced someone
else to a new technological approach to solving a
problem.
12. Tell me about a time when you disagreed with a manager
or boss. How did you handle the situation, and in looking
back, would you do anything differently?
13. Tell me about a time when you were under extreme
pressure. How did you handle the situation?
14. Give a specific example of a time when there was no rule
or precedent to help you attack a problem.
15. Tell me about a time when you had to handle a tough
problem which challenged fairness or ethical issues.
16. Give an example where you adjusted your approach to
working with a team after receiving feedback from a peer
or co-worker.
17. Describe what has impressed you about a previous
supervisor or colleague and how you have tried to emulate
that quality in your work.