Standardized Interview Questions

Example Questions for Different Key Factors:
Specific Job/Skills:
1.	Can you recall a time your electrical/plumbing/[field specific] work was criticized?
a.	How did you proceed?
2.	How do you feel about confined spaces, working from heights, working in and around hot and cold environments, around noise, moving equipment and an ever changing work environment?
3.	Why are you interested in this field?
4.	Tell us about your most challenging work sites/projects to date.
5.	What would you do if you saw a coworker break safety protocol?
a.	What do you think are the key factors to maintaining a safe workplace?
6.	What do you think are the three most important skills to work in [the field], and how you have demonstrated them in the past?

Teamwork:
1.	Suppose you had an idea for a change in procedure to enhance work quality, but some members of your work team were against any type of change.
a.	What would you do in this situation? Why?
b.	What factors would you consider?
c.	Who would you involve?
2.	Consider a situation where you and a co-worker are working on a project together. You both agreed on how the work was to be divided up. However, your co-worker fails to do her/his share of the work. What would you do?
3.	What was the biggest difference of opinion you ever had with a co-worker?
a.	What did you do to try to resolve it?
b.	What was the outcome?

Behaviour:
1.	Describe how you managed your work schedule the last time you had competing deadlines to meet.
a.	What steps did you take to make certain that you would manage your time most effectively?
b.	What was the result?
c.	What feedback did you receive?
2.	Describe a time when you took personal accountability for a conflict and initiated contact with the individual(s) involved to explain your actions.
3.	What do you do when you are faced with an obstacle to an important project? Give an example.
Financial Management (if required):
1.	Tell us about a time when you were required to make a difficult budget decision:
a.	How did you go about analyzing the issue and making a decision?
b.	What was the result of your decision?

Specific Situations:
1.	What would you do if you were solely responsible for managing a large scale project with very tight deadlines?
2.	Describe a major change that occurred in a job that you held. How did you adapt to this change?
a.	Tell us about a situation in which you had to adjust to changes over which you had no control.
b.	How did you handle it?
3.	Give a specific example of a time when you had to address an angry customer. What was the problem and what was the outcome? How would you asses your role in diffusing the situation?

Questions To Avoid:
Any questions that may discriminate against applicants on the basis of any of the following grounds are prohibited: race, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, age, sex (including pregnancy or childbirth), sexual orientation, marital status, family status, disability, and conviction for which a person has been granted pardon.

Acceptable Follow-Up Questions 
Usually used when the applicant is vague, or not detailed enough:

What:
• What was the [situation/issue/problem]?
• What were the [results/outcomes]?
• What actions did you decide to take, and when?
• What was your role?
• What part did you play in making the decision?
• What did you say, or do that [did/didn’t] work?
• What was the message you were trying to convey?
• What were you trying to convince or persuade them of?
• What techniques did you use to keep yourself and your work organized?
• What did you do when your work started to get behind?
• What was the deadline?
• What actions did you take to ensure you met the deadline?

Who:
• Who else was involved?
• Who else helped you with this situation?

When:
• How long ago did this happen?
• When did all this take place?

Where:
• Where did this take place?

Why:
• Why was this situation a particular challenge?
• Why do you think this person was difficult?
• Why did you take that approach?

How:
• How did you develop this idea?
• How did you convince your supervisor to adopt it?
• How did it help the organization?
• How did you prepare for it? How did you size up the situation?