Job Interview

Interviewer: Good morning. What’s your name?

Applicant: Good morning. My name is Cozma Laura.

Interviewer: Sit down, Ms. Cozma. How old are you?

Applicant: I am 20 years old.

Interviewer: Tell me about yourself.

Applicant: I am in the second year of the Faculty of Mathematics and Computer Science of the
University of Bucharest, Computer Science Department. I am a detail-oriented person and can
juggle between tasks. I have interned with a few mid-size companies and was able to work
closely with their mobile developers. I also have a lot of experience with online code
repositories, and I love to contribute as much as I can. I have always wanted to work with a
startup owing to the learning opportunities it offers, and I believe I can bring my skills on the
table for this position.

Interviewer: What is your greatest strength?

Applicant: I have a solid work ethic. When I'm working on a project, I don't just want to meet
deadlines. Rather, I prefer to complete the project well ahead of schedule. Last year, I even
earned a bonus for completing my three most recent reports one week ahead of time.

Interviewer: What is your greatest weakness?

Applicant: In the past, I have found it difficult to work with aggressive personality types. While
I understand diversity in personalities makes a business strong, I tend to quiet my own ideas
and opinions around louder colleagues. To combat this, I have made it a point to spend more
time with colleagues I feel uncomfortable working with. By learning more about them, their
communication style and their motivations, I am better able to collaborate with these personality
types so that we both equally contribute our strengths and skills.

Interviewer: How do you work under pressure?

Applicant: I am not naturally efficient under pressure, but it is something that I have learned
with experience. I had quite a few exams in college where pressure got to me and I did not
perform to the best of my abilities. After realizing that I needed to improve, I actively looked
for stressful situations in my career, with the purpose of getting better in these circumstances.
I’ve developed several personal strategies, and I now see pressure as a motivating factor and a
challenge, so when these situations arise, I approach them with a positive mindset.

Interviewer: Why should we hire you?

Applicant: I have a passion for application development that’s grown stronger over the course
of my career. The company’s mission aligns with my personal values and I can already tell this
is the sort of positive culture in which I would thrive. I want to work for a company that has the
potential to reshape the industry, and I believe you’re doing just that.

Interviewer: What did you like most about your last position?

Applicant: What I liked most about my last position was the ability contribute in a collaborative
way with other teams. Each team member was encouraged to bring new ideas to the project
which were respectfully considered by all. For example, we once worked with a client who was
relying on us to solve a critical issue. Our team met to discuss the situation. After I
recommended a plan to resolve the issue, we took time considering the pros and the cons of the
solution, building on how to make the idea better and more comprehensive. When we
implemented it, it worked better and faster than everyone expected. The client was very pleased.

Interviewer: What motivates you?

Applicant: I’m a goal-oriented kind of person. I regularly set challenging but attainable goals,
and I push myself to complete them by the deadline. At my last position, I was in charge of a
software development team, and we were working on a huge project. I broke down the project
into manageable weekly tasks and divvied up the work equally between all of us. My
management kept our team ahead of schedule, and we were able to release our product well
within our deadline. Seeing a project to completion is always the biggest motivator for me.

Interviewer: Do you have any questions for us?

Applicant: Yes, I have a question. What are the current goals of the department?

Interviewer: We want to expand our services and operations in order to serve a larger market
with new products and service offerings.

Applicant: When can I expect to hear back from you?

Interviewer: We will send you an email in less than a week. Thank you, Ms. Cozma.

Applicant: Thank you for your time!