American Literature

Interview Question Assignment

Today, you are going to practice written responses to sample interview questions. Writing the responses
versus speaking them should allow you to really practice and think through what it is you would want to
share with your interviewer.

 You need to select one sample question from EACH category to respond to (traditional,
behavioral, case, situational, and questions to ask). Look at the Sample Interview Question doc
attached to this assignment to see your choices.
 When speaking, each response should be 2-3 minutes. Since you are writing, aim for a minimum
of 5-7 sentences for each.

1. Traditional Question
a. Question Selected: What are your future career goals? Where would you like to be in 10
years?
b. Response: I personally believe that good realistic goals are the most important factor in
success. To that end, I have broken up the next couple of years into stepping stones for
my final career prospects. In my case, that final prospect is to climb my way to the top of
my chosen field, whether that is in law or politics or any number of fields in between. Of
course, such a feat is nearly impossible to achieve in just a few short years. Within ten
years, however, I believe I shall be within reach of my lofty aspirations. This job is crucial
to that pathway and as such I will do whatever it takes to succeed so that I may continue
up the ladder.

2. Behavioral Question
a. Question Selected: Tell me about a time when you had to resolve a difference of opinion
with a co-worker, customer, or supervisor. How do you feel you showed respect?
b. Response: Modern society judges the “victor” of an argument as the one who is able to
successfully destroy his opponent regardless of his own stance. The “loser” of such
arguments is seen as a failure. I propose that such thinking is quite ridiculous if you
consider the fact that conflict over a difference of opinion is best resolved by a common
understanding from both parties rather than the annihilation of one side. I tend to follow
through with such thinking as evidenced by one scenario in which my friend argued with
me over the form modern feminism takes. I argued that the core of feminism was
something I wholeheartedly supported but the radicalism taken on by some parts is not
something I can support, whereas he argued that without strong action, change is
impossible. Instead of simply attacking him and waving his argument away as stupidity,
we both listened to each other and discussed several different points and were able to
reach a consensus without jeopardizing our friendship.

3. Situational Question
a. Question Selected: What would you do if a team member was not meeting your
expectations?
b. Response: I find that building people up rather than tearing them down and replacing
them is usually the best strategy to deal with underperforming teammates/colleagues.
There are definitely situations in which the team member must be removed for the good
of the project, but for the most part the former is preferred. A team member that is not
 meeting expectations should immediately be made aware of this fact. Once this is done, it
should be instantly made clear that failure to meet expectations will result in significant
repercussions. A “tough love” method usually ensures that these team members will get
back to working at full efficiency 9 times out of 10.

4. Case Question
a. Question Selected: How many telephones are there in the U.S.
b. Response: The United States has a population of around 300 million people and a very
high standard of living ranked globally. As such, a good portion of these would likely have
cellphones, so we can estimate around 275 million of these. There are also many landlines
across the US, but these are far less common than in previous eras and as such not many
households still use them, so perhaps 50 million of these can be assessed. There are likely
some things I’ve missed here and there so I would put the total at maybe 350 million
telephones in the United States.

5. Question to ask:
a. Question selected: How would you describe the work environment? Company culture?
b. Response: It is simply not possible for most people to dedicate themselves fully to
something they cannot enjoy to the fullest. I have personally experienced such lethargy
when it comes to subject matters which are comparatively uninteresting to me. As such,
this question is vital in assessing the environment in which I will be placing myself for the
early stages of my career. Assuming that I’m applying for a job which I would take to
easily, this is the only major hurdling block for workplace efficiency and is therefore an
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