Behavioral Interview Question Library

This tool is aligned with McLean & Company's competency framework. It contains sample interview questions for each compet
standalone tool, or in conjunction with McLean & Company's Equip Managers to Recruit Quality Staff blueprint.

Question Library tab: Contains a complete list of sample questions aligned with McLean & Company's competency framewo

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Question Library
This tab contains behavioral interview questions for McLean & Company's complete competency framework. Click on the com
Competency and select the "Go there" link to go straight to an individual competency.

Competency Types
Core
Leadership
Human Resources
IT
Sales
Marketing
Finance

Question

Core Competencies
Organizational Awareness

Contributes to the organization by understanding and aligning actions with the organization's goals, core functions,

Describe a project where you needed to involve input from other departments.

Give an example of a time when you failed to address an issue at the right level in your organization.
Tell me about an experience when people outside your regular work group asked for your help in solving a
problem or meeting an objective.

Tell me about a time when organizational boundaries presented an obstacle in gaining cooperation.

Tell me about a time when you had to gain commitment of others in your organization to a new idea or plan.

Tell me about a time you implemented an idea or change that affected other areas of your organization.
Give me an example of a time when you enlisted the help of people outside your workgroup to improve your
group's success.
Give me an example of a time when knowledge of your organization's culture helped you make a key
decision.

Describe a time when you had to anticipate the changing needs of another department or team.
Tell me about a recent business problem you solved.

It’s impossible to always anticipate the potential implications of your group or department’s actions on other
parts of the organization. Tell me about a time when your organization took action that adversely affected
another part of your organization.
Sometimes you just have to disregard existing organizational policies to get something done. Tell me about a
time when you knowingly disregarded an organizational policy.
Tell me about a time you used organizational structure (policies, procedures) to keep pace with the changing
needs of a customer.

In order to keep a customer satisfied, sometimes feel pressed to make a commitment that might not be
realistic. Tell me about a time your organization was unable to keep a commitment you made.

Tell me about a cross-functional task force you led.

Inclusion

Contributes to an environment in which all employees feel a sense of belonging, valued for their differences and empowered to

Tell me about a time that you adapted your style to work effectively with those who were different from you.

Tell me about a time you spoke up about non-inclusive work practices or behaviors you observed.

Tell me about a time when you gave feedback to a colleague whose behavior was not inclusive of others.

Have you ever realized you had said or done something that may have been insensitive or offensive to a
colleague?
Tell me about a time when you had to adapt to a wide array of people by understanding and accepting their
different perspectives.
Describe a time when you worked to incorporate diverse perspectives into a project or event you were
responsible for.

Tell me about a time when you created a team environment of honesty, inclusion, and respect for others.

Tell me about a time when you have demonstrated leadership commitment for diversity and inclusion in your
role.

Describe the most challenging situation that you have experienced in relation to managing diversity and
inclusion.

Customer Focus
Prioritizes and takes action on the needs of both internal and external customers. Designs and delivers products an
of mind.

Give an example of a time when you built rapport with a customer.

Describe a time when you were successful in improving relations with a challenging customer.

Give an example of a time when you went the extra mile to help an internal customer.

Give an example of a time when you used your skills to address a unique customer challenge.

Tell me about a time when you dealt with an angry customer.

Describe a time you inherited an existing customer.

Tell me about a time when a client changed their requirements in the middle of a task for which you were
accountable.

Give an example of a time you went out of your way to ensure a customer received the best possible service.

Contrast times when you handled a customer complaint effectively and times when you did not.

Give me an example of a time when you used processes or mechanisms to stay informed or anticipate
internal or external customer needs, concerns, and problems.

Tell me about a time when you relied on the help of others to solve a customer's problem.

As a _____ (technician, service representative, teaching assistant, etc.), how did you ensure that you were
providing good service? Please provide one specific example.

Give me an example of a situation where you weren’t quite sure what the customer wanted. How did you
determine what was needed of you?

There aren't enough hours in the day to ensure that every customer is totally satisfied. Give me an example of
a situation where you weren’t able to meet the client’s needs due to time constraints.

Agile Methodology

Successfully applies appropriate Agile methodologies (e.g. Scrum, Kanban, XP) to develop products or manage projects in an
Agile values and principles of collaboration, self-organization, time management, agility, and flexibility.

Tell me about a recent product/project you worked on by applying [Scrum / Kanban / XP / Crystal / other Agile
methodology].
Tell me about a time you identified an opportunity to apply Agile methodology to improve product/project
delivery in your [work / team / department / organization based on level].

Agile teams may be required to participate in project planning, release planning, and sprint planning events,
however, it prioritizes responding to change over following a plan. Tell me about a time you explained the
importance of these events to a team member.

Agile values individuals and interactions over process and tools. Tell me about a time you worked with a
challenging [team member / manager / other individual] during a sprint.

Tell me about a time you struggled to meet a release deadline.

Agile principles focus on enabling face-to-face interactions, but in today’s world of work, we often work with
remote or global teams. Tell me about a time you were challenged to enable face-to-face interactions for your
team.

Many people have mixed feelings about frequent meetings. Tell me about a time you helped a team member
understand the purpose of regular meetings during a sprint.

Agile values customer collaboration over contract negotiation. Tell me about a time you worked with a
challenging customer.

Tell me about a time you acted as the [product owner / scrum master] on your team (if using Scrum).

Visualization and ongoing tracking of progress is an important aspect of multiple Agile methodologies.
Describe how you visualized and tracked progress for a project you worked on (e.g. Kanban board, sprint
backlog visualized on a scrum task board).
Agile involves an incremental approach to product development, however, perfectionism often gets in the
way. Give an example of a time you were challenged to curb perfectionism to [meet frequent delivery
requirements / deliver part of a project / etc.].

Tell me about a time you supported a team member who was frustrated by constant iterations to a [product /
project].

Describe a time when a [direct report / peer / leader] failed to deliver on their commitment, impacting the
release plan.

Agile teams seek to constantly reflect on their performance or outcomes to identify opportunities for
improvement. Describe a time you facilitated a sprint retrospective.

Teams or individuals can fall into analysis-paralysis, where they are unable to move forward due to
overanalyzing or overthinking. Tell me about a time you explained the principles of “simplicity” and “working
products” to move a [team / team member] forward.

Describe a time when you had to collaborate with other departments to achieve mutual goals.

Tell me about a time when you faced difficulty in gaining the agreement from the members of a meeting you
were leading.

Balancing regular feedback and deadlines is an ongoing challenge in Agile product development / project
delivery. Tell me about a time you helped a team prioritize feedback on product improvement while meeting
the release plan.

Tell me about a time you had to protect your [team's / team member's / direct report's] time to ensure they
were not overburdened during a sprint.

Tell me about a time the scope or requirements for a product/project you were working on drastically
changed.

Resilience
Thrives and grows in a rapidly changing and complex environment. Displays flexibility, activates networks, and adopts a contin
bounce back from adversity.

Tell me about a time you experienced a change at work that you had no control over.

Describe a time when you balanced competing pressures or deadlines at work.

Tell me about a time you had a challenging conversation with a [client/customer, manager, senior leader,
peer, direct report].

Tell me about a time you made a mistake, missed a deadline. or experienced a failure at work.

Tell me about a time you overcame a stressful situation or challenge at work.

Tell me about a time your plans were derailed by unforeseeable circumstances.

Describe a time when you recognized that based on your expertise you were not the most appropriate leader
and as such asked another individual to take on the role of leader.

Give an example of a time when you connected people because you recognized that their collective
experience would create value.

Tell me about a time you had to overcome adversity urgently to perform at work (e.g. to meet a deadline, lead
a meeting).

Tell me about a time you provided support to a co-worker.

People are sometimes resistant to change. Describe a time when you took the initiative to smooth this
process of change for employees.
Describe a time you needed to adapt quickly to a new situation.

Tell me about a time you disagreed with an important stakeholder/customer.

Situations at work can sometimes be difficult. Tell me about a time when you built rapport with a peer quickly
to meet a challenge you were facing.

Tell me about a time when you were able to cultivate positive relationships at work.
Give me an example of a time you helped [a peer / direct report] see a challenge through to completion.

Tell me about a time when you were able to turn around a difficult relationship at work.

Emotional Intelligence
Demonstrates self-awareness in identifying their emotions and regulating their behavior. Seeks to understand and empathize w
to guide their interactions.

Tell me about a time when you were able to turn around a difficult relationship at work.

Tell me about a time you found it challenging to express yourself at work.

Give me an example of how you navigated an emotionally charged situation at work (e.g. with a client,
manager, direct report).

Tell me about a time you struggled to stay motivated during a project.

Tell me about a time you found it challenging to keep your team motivated during a project.

Give an example of a time you faced an ethical dilemma at work.

We have all worked with people that are difficult to read. Tell me about a time you found it challenging to
understand someone's perspective or behavior.

Tell me about a time your communication style clashed with [client / leader / peer / direct report].

People are sometimes resistant to change. Describe a time when you took the initiative to smooth this
process of change for employees.
Tell me about a time you overcame a stressful situation or challenge at work.

Tell me about a time your plans were derailed by unforeseeable circumstances.

Give an example of a time when you connected people because you recognized that their collective
experience would create value.

Tell me about a time you had to negotiate expectations with _____ [a professor, a peer, little work
experience].
Tell me about a time when you defined and communicated shared goals or a shared purpose to facilitate
collaboration in your team.

Design Thinking
Designs solutions that prioritize the end user’s experience by executing the stages of design thinking: empathize, define, ideat
approach to designing solutions, integrating ideas or feedback generated at various stages.

Tell me about a time you trained/supported a team in applying the design-thinking process to solve a problem
or challenge.

Give an example of a project you worked on that you feel [best applied the design-thinking process / best
prioritized the end user's needs].

Tell me about a time you supported a team member who was frustrated by constant iterations to a [product /
project].

Prioritizing the user experience requires an understanding of the user’s perspective. Tell me about a project
where you used [specific method, e.g. journey mapping / an empathizing method] to understand the end
user’s perspective.

Tell me about a time your end-user research significantly altered your initial understanding of a problem.

Describe a situation where your team members did not agree on what the core problems were, leading to
difficulties in defining a problem statement(s).

Tell me about a difficult brainstorming session (or similar meeting if they have not led brainstorming sessions)
you facilitated.
Some individuals are hesitant to share their ideas due to fear of failure or judgment. Tell me about a time you
encountered this situation and how you addressed it.

Give an example of a time you struggled to engage participants in a brainstorming session (or other meeting).

Tell me about a time you had to clarify the problem statement to resolve disagreements or lack of clarity
among team members.

Give an example of a time when [ideating / prototyping / testing] resulted in a need to revisit your
understanding of the problem.

Tell me how you ensure your brainstorming/ideation sessions are productive? Can you provide an example of
these methods in action?

Tell me about a time you challenged a participant's [or peer / leader / manager] thinking during a meeting.

Prototypes are meant to be built quickly and simply, however, perfectionism can get in the way. Tell me about
a time you guided a team member to generate prototypes quickly, without getting too hung up on perfection.

Describe how you integrated feedback/outcomes from the testing phase of the process to select/modify a
solution.

Walk me through a recent project where you applied the design-thinking process.

Digital Literacy
Successfully adopts and champions new technology (digital solutions) to the relevant context. Is aware of technological trends
identifying, applying, or creating technological solutions.

Describe a time you were involved in driving the adoption of a new technology within a team or department or
across an organization.

Tell me about a time a you worked with a new technology with minimal/no training.
Describe a situation where you were involved in resolving a technological challenge.

Tell me about a time you presented a business case for the adoption of a new technology solution.

Describe a time you helped someone learn and/or adapt to using a new technology.

Technological trends often improve efficiency and performance within teams and organizations. Tell me about
a time you introduced a technology solution (such as a new piece of software) to improve your personal
performance or your team's performance.

Describe a time you worked with a [vendor / client / internal stakeholder] to create, select, or implement the
right technology solution to solve a business challenge or need.

Describe a time you used a particular technology or software as a regular part of your job for a significant
period of time, then learned suddenly you had to adopt a different piece of technology or software.

Have you ever experimented with, or adopted, software that wasn’t required by the organization?

Planning and Results Orientation

Invests time in upfront planning to achieve organizational goals and objectives while meeting quality standards, following the a
continuous commitment.

Tell me about a project that you planned.

Tell me about a time when a project you organized did not go according to plan.

Tell me about a time when you set short- and long-term goals for yourself or your team.

Tell me about a time when you developed a project team's goals.

Tell me about a time when you had to juggle project tasks and ad hoc requests (or fire fighting).

Tell me about a time when your project plan was upset by unforeseen circumstances.
Tell me about a time when you completed a project ahead of schedule.

Tell me about a time when you made a mistake on a project that caused you to lose valuable time.

Give an example of a time when you missed a deadline.

Tell me about the most difficult project you worked on either in school or at a job (little work experience).

Give an example of a time when your team members wanted to work independently, but were unable to finish
their task/assignment on time or to the right specification.
Describe a time when you had to reallocate resources midway through a project and how you determined the
necessary adjustments to be made.
Give an example of a time when an important detail or piece of information slipped your notice.
Give an example of a time when you've forgotten to complete a task or send the right information to a
client/coworker.
Tell me about a meeting where it was critical for you to gain agreement on outcomes and follow-up actions.

Relationship Building

Develops internal and external trusting, professional relationships. Purposefully develops networks to build value through colla

We’ve all had challenging bosses. Tell me about your most challenging boss and how you approached your
work relationship with him or her.

Describe a time when you dealt with a difficult peer.

Situations at work can sometimes be difficult. Tell me about a time when you built rapport with a peer quickly
to meet a challenge you were facing.

Give me an example of a time when you failed to build or maintain a relationship with a peer.

Networking is a term applied to interactions with people outside of formal work groups. Tell me about a time
you had to build and maintain a professional network.

Tell me about a time when you reached out to people who were affected by your work in order to understand
their perspective.

Tell me about a time when you misinterpreted a message and complicated a situation.
We've all had the misfortune of working with difficult peers and missing deadlines. Tell me about the last time
you missed a deadline because one of your coworkers or peers did not complete his or her responsibility on
time.

Describe a time when you built and maintained a relationship with a business partner.
Tell me about a time when you had to influence someone other than a direct report to get them on board with
a project, process, or initiative.

Tell me about a time when you noticed that another employee did a great job.

Tell me about a time when you wished you had acted differently with someone at work.

Tell me about a time when you lead a meeting in which a participant suggested an impractical idea.

Tell me about a time when you were able to turn around a difficult relationship at work.

Tell me about a time when you were able to cultivate positive relationships at work.
Teamwork and Collaboration

Capable of working well with others both on the team and cross-functionally to achieve individual goals, team goals, departme
diverse perspectives and working with others as a way to achieve the best output possible.

Tell me about a time when you influenced and gained the commitment of an individual or group that you did
not have direct authority over in order to accomplish a task.

Think about a time when you worked on a group project for a class. How did you make sure that the other
group members were doing their share of the project (little work experience)?

Tell me about a situation in which you spent a lot of time working with a group on a project only to find that the
group disagreed with your opinion.

Describe a situation where you had to obtain resources for your team in order to complete the task/project.

Give me an example of a time when you required the involvement of all your team members to make a critical
decision/action.

Describe a time when you had to collaborate with other departments to decide on an action plan and/or
achieve mutual goals.

Information sharing is the key to success in a team/partnership. Have you ever encountered a time when
important information wasn't shared?

Give me an example of a time when you had to counsel your team members into a compromise.

Give me an example of a time when you needed a team member's cooperation to complete a task/project, but
the team member was being uncooperative.

Tell me about a situation where you involved other team members/coworkers to help solve an
internal/external customer's problem.

Tell me about a time when your ideas, goals, or preferences were not included in a final decision made by
your team.
Give an example of a time when your coworkers/team members wanted to work independently, but were
unable to finish their task/assignment on time or to the right specification.
Describe a situation where you had to convince others of the benefits/opportunities of a plan/idea to gain their
commitment.
Tell me about a time when you faced difficulty in gaining the agreement from the members of a meeting you
were leading.
Problem Solving and Decision Making

Uses critical thinking to evaluate problems, gather information, understand causes, and identify best possible solutions. Invests
drive better decisions and more efficient implementations.

Give us an example of a situation where you had to make a decision without the input of key players, and
knew that these key players would hold you accountable for the decision (e.g. superior unavailable at the
time).

Tell me about the most difficult decision you’ve ever had to make at work.

Tell us about the toughest academic decision you had to make (little work experience).

Tell me about a situation in which, after evaluation of the pros and cons, you decided not to take action
despite being under pressure to do so.

Tell me about a recent good decision made by you and one that you wish you hadn't made.

Tell me about a situation in which, after evaluation of the pros and cons, you decided not to take action
despite being under pressure to do so.

Give an example of a time when you had to weigh multiple options in order to carry out a general directive
from your manager/senior management.
Tell me about a time when you needed to establish priorities to implement a vision/directive.

Give an example of a recurring problem you encountered, and tell me how you dealt with it.

Tell me about a time when you solved a complex problem at work.

Give an example of a situation where you had to ask a lot of questions of multiple persons to get the
information needed to make an effective decision.

Describe a time when you helped your team member/coworker/subordinate solve a problem.

Give me an example of a time when you formulated a new way of thinking about problems and opportunities.
Tell me about a time when you abandoned tried and tested methods to solving a problem because you
recognized the need for a more unique solution.

Describe a work decision you made that you regret.

Creativity and Innovation

Thinks beyond the confines of traditional models to recognize opportunities and find new and better ways of doing things. Enco
a driver of innovation.

Tell me about a time when your standard approach to problem solving didn't produce the desired solution.

Give me an example of a time when you had a creative solution to a work-related problem.

Describe a project in which you felt that the conventional approach wouldn't work.

Tell me about a situation when you trusted your team to derive a new approach to an old problem.

Tell me about a time when you had to convince a senior colleague that change was necessary.

Give me an example of a project you initiated on your own.

Give me an example when you did something differently than your predecessor in the position.

Tell me about a time when you did more than was required in a course (little work experience).
Tell me about any new ideas/solutions you have suggested in the past six months that were accepted by your
peers/superiors.
Tell me about a new idea you have suggested to improve your organization’s/team's work processes and
procedures. What was your rationale behind the idea?
What was the most relevant and/or significant change that you have suggested in your organization?

Tell me about a time when you introduced an initiative to increase your productivity and efficiency.

Give me an example of a new product or service that you recommended for your organization to market.

Give me an example of a time when you formulated a new way of thinking about problems and opportunities
your organization faced.
Managing Through Change and Uncertainty
Adjusts thinking and behavior to resiliently face change, and uses experience to fuel growth. Embraces failure as a learning op
the process of change and transition while helping others deal with the effects of change.

Describe a time when you received new input into a project you were managing that caused you to change
your approach halfway through the project.

Describe a situation where you started off thinking that your approach was the best, but needed to alter your
course during the implementation.

Describe a change initiative you led and the challenges associated with it.

Tell me about your transition from high school to university (little work experience).

Describe a situation where you had to make a decision when the situation wasn’t clear and you lacked all the
information desired.

Working with people from diverse backgrounds or cultures can be a challenge. Can you tell me about a time
you faced a challenge adapting to a person from a different background or culture?

Describe a time you led a team through uncertainty.

Tell me about a time you had to meet a scheduled deadline while your work was being continually disrupted.

Sometimes we have to work under new policies we don't agree with. Tell me about the last time you
disagreed with a new policy or procedure instituted by senior management.

Tell me about a time when you helped a coworker deal with a change.

Describe a time when you acted as a change agent or champion.

Moving from ______ (position/role) to _____ (position/role) must have been challenging. What approach did
you take to transition to the new environment?
Give an example of a situation when the scope of a project you were working on significantly changed without
an extension to the deadline.

Describe a time when you had to implement a broad policy change.

Tell me about a time when your team member was attempting to change your mind about a critical
decision/action plan.
Negotiations
Negotiates in a manner that results in positive business outcomes, while maintaining strong relations with the other party.

Tell me about a time when you needed to influence a set of stakeholders with different agendas.

Tell me about your greatest sales-related achievement.

Describe a time when you convinced a reluctant customer to use your services.

Tell me about the most stressful professional negotiation in which you have been involved.

Tell us about a decision that you made that you knew would be unpopular with some stakeholders, and dealt
with the consequences yourself.

We all encounter stakeholders who are either indifferent or hostile. Tell me about one of those situations.

Tell us about a time when you prepared for a negotiation.

Tell me about a time when you were able to come to a win/win solution.

Describe a time when you approached a brand new prospect.

Tell me about a situation in which you had to arrive at a compromise or guide others to a compromise.

Tell me about one of the toughest groups from which you had to get cooperation from in a meeting.

Tell me about a time you had to negotiate expectations with _____ (a professor, a peer, little work
experience).

Describe a time when you had to collect relevant information in order to clarify issues and resolve a conflict.

Give me an example of a time when you had to persuade your team/coworkers to agree to your point of view.
Tell me about a time when you faced difficulty in gaining the acceptance/agreement from the members of a
meeting you were leading.
Communication
Effectively and appropriately interacts with others to build relationships, influence others, and facilitate the sharing of ideas and
navigate difficult situations. Relays key messages by creating a compelling story, targeted to specific audiences.

Tell me about a time when you had to present to a group with little or no preparation.

Tell me about a time when you found it challenging to communicate your ideas to a manager.

Tell me about a time when you had to use your written communication skills to get an important point across.

Tell us about a time when you failed to communicate effectively.

Describe a time when you had to communicate a message to someone, you thought you were right, and they
were reluctant to accept your point of view.

Describe a time when listening skills proved crucial to an outcome.

Give an example of a time when you needed to show empathy.

Describe a situation where you had to deal with an angry customer.

Give me an example of when you successfully influenced an individual or group over whom you did not have
direct authority.
Have you ever done any public speaking? Tell me about one of those presentations (little work experience).

Tell me about a time when you were able to effectively communication and inspire others to support your
organization's vision and values.

Give me an example of a time when you had the responsibility of helping others understand a new approach
to solving problems.

Give me an example of a time when you had to persuade your team/coworkers to agree with your point of
view.

Tell me about a situation where you faced difficulty in convincing others of your point of view.

Dynamic Learning Mindset

Continuously seeks opportunities to learn, questions the applicability of past approaches in the current environment, owns grow
opportunity.
Tell me about what you have done to upgrade and update your skills.

Tell me about a professional failure you’ve experienced.

Give me an example of sources of information you used in a former position to stay informed about
developments in your field.

Tell me about a time when you received constructive criticism from your manager.

In any new job, there are some things we pick up quickly and other things that take more time to learn. In your
job at _____, tell me about something you picked up quickly and something that took more time to learn.

It's hard to keep up with the rapid technological changes and innovations that virtually every field is
experiencing at the moment. Tell me about a particular field that has changed in a way you have yet to
understand fully.
Describe a time you were inspired to learn something new.
Being a _____ certainly requires a lot of expertise. How did you go about picking up the skills you needed for
the job?

Tell me about a time when you coached or developed someone else.

Give an example of a time when you received critical feedback about your ideas or performance.

Can you give an example of a time you embraced failure as a learning opportunity?

Influence

Impacts others' thinking, decisions, or behavior through inclusive practices and relationship building. Drives action through influ

Tell me about a time when you influenced someone else to change the way they did something.

Sometimes we need help influencing others. Can you give me an example of a time you’ve leveraged an
existing relationship to help influence an individual or group?
Describe a time you were able to read another person and use your understanding of their needs to direct
your actions.

Give me an example of a time you’ve had to communicate a difficult or unpleasant policy or decision.

Tell me about a time you spoke up to communicate something that was important to you.

Describe a time you met with resistance when implanting a new initiative or policy. How did you deal with it?
Have you ever had to introduce a change to an individual or group? How did you go about doing this?

Describe a time you had a difficult time getting others to accept your ideas.

Tell me about a time when you adapted a message so it resonated with your audience.

Can you describe a time when someone else changed your perspective on an initiative or idea you were
working on?

Leadership Competencies
Strategic Leadership and Execution
Applies vision to think beyond the immediate situation and explores multiple potential paths. Invests time in planning, discovery
more efficient implementation. Ensures that business goals are met by executing, monitoring, and adjusting the organizational

Tell me about a time when you defined a vision for your team.

Describe how your role related to the overall strategy and goals of the organization in your current role.

Tell me about your short-term and long-term goals in a previous leadership role that you held.
Describe a time when you anticipated the future needs of the organization and made changes to current
operations to meet them.
Tell me about a time when you defined the standards of success for your team.

Describe a situation in which your results did not meet your boss' or your company's expectations.
Give me an example of a recent decision you made that was not in line with an organizational policy,
procedure, or system.
Tell me about a time when you delayed a decision because you knew your organization was changing.
Have you been in a situation in which you were able to have a significant effect on your organization's
business direction?

Describe the last time you had to make a difficult decision on behalf of your team or department.

Describe an initiative you took to make your organization's vision and values meaningful to others.

Describe some strategies you have used to communicate major directives from senior management to
employees.
Tell me about a time where you found out that your coworkers or direct reports were not supporting the
organization's vision and values.
Tell me about a time when you successfully coached your direct reports on garnering support for the
organization’s initiatives from their own direct reports.

Tell me about a time you resisted making a quick decision to gather more information.
Describe a time when you had to reallocate resources midway in a project.
People Leadership
Inspires, motivates, and empowers people to achieve organizational goals. Coaches, mentors, and manages employee experi
mindful preparation. Creates space for others to lead.

Tell me about a time when you managed a cross-functional team.

Tell me about a time when you had to coach a direct report to develop a new skill or complete a difficult task.

Tell me about a situation where you created and carried out a development plan with one or more of your
employees.
It is not always easy to devote a lot of time to each person who works for you. Think of a time you missed an
opportunity to help others develop.
Tell me about a leadership position you have held in a club or organization (for little work experience).

Tell me about initiatives you have taken to recognize employees whose performance supports the
organization's vision and values.
People are sometimes resistant to change. Describe a time when you took the initiative to smooth this
process of change for employees.
Give an example of a situation where a change in the organization's business plan affected the performance
expectations for your direct reports.

What was your most challenging employee?

Give an example of a time when your coworkers/team members wanted to work independently, but were
unable to finish their task/assignment on time or to the right specification.

Have you ever experienced a situation where you had to address the poor performance of an employee?

Describe a time you delegated a high value task.

Others do not always react positively to our efforts. Tell me about a situation in which you received negative
feedback from the members of a team you were leading.
Tell us about a situation where you made a decision that had an unintended but negative impact on other
people in your organization.

How do you incorporate more planning and reflection into decision making?

How do you ensure that you continually learn?

Describe a time when you yourself recognized that based on your expertise you were not the most
appropriate leader and as such asked another individual to take on the role of leader (for a particular project /
situation).

1Give an example of a time when you connected people because you recognized that their collective
experience would create value.

Culture Management
Models the organization's values and reinforces the desired culture in support of the achievement of organizational goals.

Describe a time when you brought the mission, vision, and values of the organization to life.

Describe a time you led individuals to embody organizational values in their work.

Tell me about a time one of your direct reports was not modelling the organization’s values.

Tell me about a time when knowledge of the organization's culture supported your decision making process.

Tell me about a time when you gathered your workgroup's point of view as input to make a decision.

Describe a time when you were unable to implement a new vision or idea.

Tell me about a time you communicated a major new directive of the organization to employees.

Describe a time you had to modify work procedures to align with new culture or values.

Tell me about a time you established a reward structure or incentives to help accomplish a major new
directive.
It has been said that culture eats strategy for breakfast. As a leader, tell me about a time that you realized
your organization's culture was limiting its ability to execute on your strategy.
We often meet with resistance when trying to implement change. Describe a time other leaders in your
organization were not pleased with your efforts to implement change.
Tell me about a time you realized that you were behaving in a way that was not aligned with the desired
culture of your organization.
Risk Management
The ability to assess and mitigate the degree of risk in plans or actions. Makes contingency plans to limit the magnitude of risk
Describe a time you had to make a decision without fully understanding all of the variables that would impact
the outcome.

Describe the risks that were involved in a recent project.

Tell me about the risks you expected when you accepted your last position.

Give me an example of a new idea, method, or procedure that you introduced.

Give me an example when you took a risk on a work assignment and it did not work out.

Give me an example of a time you took action despite having slim chances of success.

Tell me about a situation that required you to make or avoid a high-risk decision.

Describe the riskiest professional decision you have had to make.

It is impossible to predict the exact outcomes of a risky decision. Tell me about a risky decision you wish you
had made but did not.
Describe a time you supported someone else's idea that carried a high degree of risk.
Describe a time you decided to try an untested approach to handle a problem.
We have all had times when we had a decision to make and friends or coworkers advised us to avoid risk.
Describe a time you rejected this advice and made a risky decision.
Describe a time you had to make a decision and you had several options (some risky) from which to choose.

Human Resource Competencies

Program Planning and Development
Develops, implements, evaluates, and owns various HR programs.
Tell me about a time when your view of HR’s role in supporting the business affected your approach to a
problem.
Tell me about a program that you were responsible for leading or supporting.

Describe a time when you needed to implement a change to a policy or practice.

Walk me through a situation in which you served as a consultant, assisting a line manager in the development
of an HR solution or a people related solution.

Describe a time you made changes to a program. What steps did you take and why?

Needs Analysis
Conducts internal and external organizational analyses to determine root causes of issues and provide solutions. Considers or
industry trends.
Tell me about a time when you needed to gather internal, and even external, information in order to devise
and recommend a solution to a problem or opportunity.
Walk me through a situation in which you served as a consultant, assisting a line manager in the development
of an HR solution or a people related solution.

Tell me about a time when you analyzed an issue or program to determine the root causes of any problems
associated with it?
Describe a time you applied your knowledge of HR best practices to identify either a problem or solution.

Walk me through a time you evaluated a portfolio of HR programs to determine if they were meeting the
strategic needs of the organization.
Conflict Management
Investigates and resolves conflicts by applying conflict resolution methodologies. Preserves relationships throughout the resolu

Please tell me about the most difficult employee relations situation you have had to manage.
Tell me about how you managed your relationship with a challenging client.
Describe a time when you had to communicate a difficult message to a challenging audience.
Tell me about a time you managed conflict, either between you and another person or as a third-party
mediator.
Often when we are involved in a conflict, it is difficult to maintain your composure. Tell me about a challenging
situation you wished you had handled differently.
Facilitation
Takes an objective stance when guiding a group through a process to achieve defined objectives, enable collaborative knowle

Describe the most challenging situation you’ve encountered as a facilitator.

Describe a time when you had to communicate a difficult message to a challenging audience.

Tell me about a successful presentation you delivered.

There are a variety of facilitation techniques. Tell me your favorite one and describe a time you’ve used it with
great success.
Tell me about a time you were facilitating a session and the participants became sidetracked with an issue
that wasn’t relevant.
Branding and Marketing
Includes managing branding of the employee value proposition (EVP), the ability to plan and develop communications content
mediums, including social media. Effectively communicates and promotes HR programs and initiatives.
Describe a situation where you leveraged the employee value proposition in your HR role.
Tell me about creating a marketing/branding campaign to promote an HR initiative (either internally or
externally).
Walk me through a situation where you analyzed data (employee, candidate, etc.) to better understand
behaviors or preferences.
Tell me about a time you created content or messaging to support a marketing campaign.

Describe a time you created or modified an employee value proposition (EVP).

Technology Enablement
Leverage existing and seek out new technologies to navigate, create, and share information in order to deliver more effective,
Walk me through a situation in which you put together an HR metrics report for the organization you served.

Tell me about a time you worked with a vendor to resolve a technical issue or challenge.

Describe a time you used [system] to accomplish [outcome].

Describe a situation in which you helped evaluate vendors as part of a selection process.
Tell me about a time you helped drive adoption of a tech solution, either among fellow HR employees or the
broader client base.
Business and Financial Acumen
Makes decisions based on a solid understanding of the business and the wider industry. Maximizes results by understanding a
goals, core functions, needs, and values. Applies financial knowledge to address organizational needs.

Tell me about a time when your view of HR’s role in supporting the business affected your approach to a
problem.
Walk me through a situation in which you measured the business impact of an HR initiative.

Describe a time you created an HR solution to a business issue.

Tell me a time you changed, or challenged, an HR project because it wasn’t aligned with business needs.

Describe a situation where you created a business case for an HR initiative.

Tell me about a time you supported workforce planning by reconciling budgets with headcount
plans/forecasts.
Coaching
Assists individuals to achieve objectives by applying the appropriate level of direction ranging from high-level guiding questions

Walk me through a situation in which you served as a consultant, assisting a line manager in the development
of an HR solution or a people related solution.
Tell me about a time you coached a manager on how to handle a challenging issue with one of their
employees.
Describe a time a manager or leader came to you for guidance on how to handle a complex people issue.

Tell me about a time you provided advice or guidance to a coworker or direct report.
There are many different ways to go about coaching someone. Can you describe a situation where you had to
change the way you were coaching someone?
Project Management
Manages the delivery of projects within the appropriate scope, time, and budget. Includes management of resources and risk.
Walk me through a situation in which you served as a consultant, assisting a line manager in the development
of an HR solution or a people-related solution.
Please tell me about a project plan you created to complete an initiative (for entry level ask for a plan created
to complete a task).
Describe a time you evaluated risks and prepared contingency plans as part of an initiative.

Tell me about a time when a project you were involved with had issues with scope creep.

Describe a time when a project you were in charge of failed to reach an objective or milestone.
Technical Expertise
Demonstrates in-depth knowledge in specific HR areas. For example: training, recruitment, strategic workforce planning, divers
wellness, policy & governance. Is able to communicate and apply relevant HR expertise to create and maintain effective huma

Please tell me about the most difficult employee relations situation you have had to manage.

Tell me about a program that you were responsible for leading or supporting.
Describe a situation where you leveraged the employee value proposition in your HR role.

Tell me about a time when you were the sole recruiter for a difficult-to-fill position.

Tell me about a time when you developed and executed training for employees at your company.

Walk me through a situation in which you put together a “people metrics” package for the organization you
served.
Data Analysis
Analyzes and draws insights from relevant data to identify organizational challenges and opportunities. Uses storytelling to effe
data-informed recommendations.
Describe a time you had to identify a set of metrics to track the success of an initiative.

Tell me about a time you analyzed a set of data.

Can you describe a time you were able to identify a pattern in a set of data.

Tell me about a time you’ve changed a decision because of what the data was telling you.

Tell me about a time you’ve looked at data and insights from multiple sources to reach a conclusion.

Describe a time you used [software/tool] to analyze data.

Tell me about a time you advocated for a certain decision based on data analysis you had done.

Tell me about a certain technology you have used to analyze data and what you accomplished with it.

IT Competencies
Project Management
Includes knowledge of: IT project frameworks and their corresponding lifecycles; project management concepts, tools, and bes
developing project plans.

Tell me about the most complex IT project you have managed.

Describe a time you evaluated risks and prepared contingency plans as part of an initiative.

Tell me about a time when a project you were involved with had issues with scope creep.

Describe a time when a project you were in charge of failed to reach an objective or reach a milestone.
Requirements Gathering
Includes ability to identify stakeholders and knowledge of requirements gathering techniques (e.g. brainstorming, document an
surveys, observation, reverse engineering, and workshops).
Tell me about a time when you translated business needs into IT requirements.

Stakeholders are defined as those with a vested interest in a particular project. Thinking of a specific project
you’ve worked on, please discuss how you identified and managed stakeholders.

Describe a time you used multiple techniques to gather user requirements.

Business Analysis
Includes knowledge of business functions and processes, business decision-making processes, and business case methodolo

Tell me about a time when you translated business needs into IT requirements.
Describe a time you were able to use technology to help solve a business problem or achieve a business
objective.
Tell me about a time you created a business case for a technology solution.
Documentation and Measurement
Includes knowledge of documentation procedures and the ability to track changes, make updates, and relay other important in

Describe a time when you tracked or documented systems issues, changes, or requirements.

Describe a time you tracked or documented system and network issues occurring in the organization.
Troubleshooting and Support
Includes knowledge of troubleshooting and support processes, knowledge of troubleshooting techniques, and the ability to be

Tell me about an IT outage you responded to.

Tell me about a particularly challenging IT issue that you addressed.

Describe a situation where you had to solve an IT issue that wasn’t common and didn’t have a documented
solution.
Policy and Compliance
Includes knowledge of relevant external policy and compliance procedures, and relevant organizational policy and compliance
Provide an example of a time when you had to modify your work activities to accommodate a law, regulation,
or policy.
Tell me about a time you helped others to understand policy or compliance issues.

Describe a time you helped develop an IT policy.

After developing or adjusting internal policies, it can be a challenge to ensure they are successfully
implemented. Tell me about a time you implemented a policy.
Security and Data Protection
Includes knowledge of relevant security legislation and laws, security procedures and practices, and information management
accuracy, and integrity).
Describe a time you helped develop and execute a plan to test a security threat.

Tell me about a time when you used your knowledge of security to improve a system or process.

Describe a time you participated in disaster recovery planning.

Modeling
Includes knowledge of: tools and methodologies (UML, BPMN, etc.); systems and business architecture modeling; and modeli
systems, system integration, and data.
Describe a time when you modelled an application or system.
Tell me about a time you created [case diagrams/case sequence diagrams/class diagrams/state chart
diagrams/sequence diagrams].
Describe a time you were able to identify how individual objects interact with the user?
Programming
Includes knowledge of relevant programming languages and programming abilities for: application development (C++, java), w
development (SQL), etc. Further, knowledge of problem and system decomposition, along with code organization and the abili
Tell me about the most complex programming you’ve done.
Describe a project you are proud of that used [SQL/other language].
Tell me about a time you worked with a programming team and had issues with errors in the process.
Testing and Quality Assurance (QA)
Includes the ability to test for quality assurance and control, and the ability to develop test cases, strategies, methodologies, an
different types (volume, unit, stress) and develop testing tools (scripts, reports).
Tell me about a time when you applied testing or QA techniques to a project or problem.
Describe a time you’ve created test cases to be used at the system/application level.
Tell me about a time where your testing/QA led to the identification of a critical issue before a system went
live.
Installation and Integration
Includes knowledge of installation and integration procedures, and knowledge of common installation and integration tools and
Describe a system rollout you led or were a part of.
Provide an example of a time you installed and integrated a new technology solution.
Vendor Selection and Management
Includes knowledge of the process to get information on: vendor offerings, vendor management, and vendor selection.
Tell me about a time you worked with a vendor to resolve a technical issue or challenge.

Describe a situation in which you helped evaluate vendors as part of a selection process.

Tell me about a time when you were able to negotiate cost savings with a vendor.
Data Analysis
Analyzes and draws insights from relevant data to identify organizational challenges and opportunities. Uses storytelling to effe
data-informed recommendations.
Describe a time you had to identify a set of metrics to track the success of an initiative.

Tell me about a time you analyzed a set of data.

Can you describe a time you were able to identify a pattern in a set of data.

Tell me about a time you’ve changed a decision because of what the data was telling you.

Tell me about a time you’ve looked at data and insights from multiple sources to reach a conclusion.

Describe a time you used [software/tool] to analyze data.

Tell me about a time you advocated for a certain decision based on data analysis you had done.

Tell me about a certain technology you have used to analyze data and what you accomplished with it.

Sales Competencies
Business and Industry Analysis
Includes knowledge of common pricing and promotions, forecasting competitors' behavior, industry trends and forecasting, and
We've all lost sales because the competition provided a customer with what appeared to be a unique offering
that we also could deliver. Tell me about a time this happened to you.
Tell me about a time a customer asked you about the strengths of a competitor's product or service.
Tell me about a time you obtained information about a key competitor and how you used it.
Product Analysis
Includes creating organizational product offerings, taking in product feedback, crafting the organizational value proposition and
competitors' offerings.
Tell me how you prepared for a sales call for a new client in a recent sales position.
We don't always feel comfortable about selling our product or service to every external customer we
encounter. Tell me about a time when you felt uncomfortable about selling a product or service to a customer.

Describe a competitive sales situation in which you were able to successfully differentiate your offering.
Tell me about a time you obtained information about a key competitor and how you used it.
Client Onboarding
Includes knowledge of the client-organization onboarding, creating a smooth client transition to the organization's account man
It seems every salesperson has made the mistake of placing an order and just assuming that the order would
go out correctly. Tell me about a time you assumed an order would be executed correctly but wasn't.

When we get excited about closing a big sale, we sometimes accidentally offer the customer a little more than
we can actually deliver. Give me an example of when this happened in your work.
Tell me about a time you were able to obtain a referral from a client and translate that into additional sales
opportunities.
Overarching Sales Delivery
Includes ensuring service delivery quality, having knowledge of the sales process, responding to client queries, working throug
performing data collection, ensuring data integrity, performing activity management, and working through client satisfaction sur
Tell me how you prepared for a sales call for a new client in a previous sales position.
Describe your most difficult sales experience.

Tell me about a time you helped a colleague make a sale or handle a difficult prospect.
Demand Generation
Includes working through sales prospecting, handling sales calls, researching and identifying sales opportunities, and ensuring
Tell me about an experience making cold calls in a previous sales position.
Sometimes, in order to make a sale, it is necessary to approach a customer in a new and creative way. Tell
me about a customer situation in which you successfully used an innovative approach.
Describe a time when you had to approach a brand new prospect.
Generating new sales prospects is never easy. Tell me about the last time you were trying to develop some
new prospects but were repeatedly rejected.
Development of Leads to Sales
Includes handling objections, qualifying opportunities and gauging the client's stage in the buying process, and working throug

Tell me about a time when a customer asked you about the weakness of your product or service.
Tell me about a particularly difficult negotiation with a prospect.
Prospects usually have objections to purchasing your product. Tell me about a time when you overcame an
objection to complete a sale.
Sales Closing
Includes the ability to close the sale. Further, it includes the ability to cross-sell and upgrade or up-sell products where appropr
Closing sales is a unique challenge. Tell me about a time you made an extra effort to win a particular sale.
Give me an example of how you successfully influenced a customer to buy a different product or service than
they originally wanted to buy.
No salesperson closes all of their sales. Tell me about the last time you expected to win a large sale but
didn't.
Growing Accounts
Includes upgrading or up-selling (or cross-selling) clients' accounts, handling objections, and working through negotiations in th
Tell me about one of your accounts in which there was a change with your key contact.
We've all had customers who think they know exactly what they need to buy, but after they receive what
they've ordered, they realize they really need something else. Tell me about a time this happened to you.
Give me an example of how you successfully influenced a customer to buy a more expensive product or
service than they originally wanted to buy.
Renewing Accounts
Includes reviewing all accounts, asking the client to renew, and handling difficult renewals.
Tell me about one of your accounts in which there was a change with your key contact.
Describe a time when it was particularly important to establish a good relationship with an external customer.
Tell me about a time you analyzed client renewal data to identify areas of opportunity.
Data Analysis
Analyzes and draws insights from relevant data to identify organizational challenges and opportunities. Uses storytelling to effe
data-informed recommendations.
Describe a time you had to identify a set of metrics to track the success of an initiative.

Tell me about a time you analyzed a set of data.

Can you describe a time you were able to identify a pattern in a set of data.

Tell me about a time you’ve changed a decision because of what the data was telling you.

Tell me about a time you’ve looked at data and insights from multiple sources to reach a conclusion.

Describe a time you used [software/tool] to analyze data.

Tell me about a time you advocated for a certain decision based on data analysis you had done.

Tell me about a certain technology you have used to analyze data and what you accomplished with it.

Marketing Competencies
Industry Analysis
Includes the ability to forecast industry growth and examine trends in global and local markets. Further, it includes the ability to
segmentation analyses, collect competitor intelligence where possible, and have knowledge of the product lifecycle, product su

Describe a time you analyzed industry trends to identify an opportunity for your organization.
Tell me about a time you analyzed a competitors' offering to understand how you could better differentiate
your product.
Tell me about a time you examined customer segmentation across your industry.
Consumer and Customer Analysis
Includes the ability to identify target market selection, conduct analysis on consumer trends and buying power, develop insight
demand.
Tell me about a time when you altered standard proposals or marketing materials to better address the
special needs or interests of prospective clients .
Describe a time you examined your target market to identify trends or changes.

Tell me about a time you examined customer data to identify which factors where driving demand.
Campaign Planning and Execution
Includes the ability to plan and develop marketing content, use different promotional mediums, disseminate marketing messag
assessments around risk adoption, and manage external agencies where needed through an analysis of all campaign costs, b

Tell me about a successful marketing campaign you recently developed.

Describe a time when you had to develop marketing collateral or a marketing communication plan.

Tell me about a marketing campaign that did not work as well as expected.

Marketing Operations
Includes the ability to analyze and report on performance metrics, skills in customer relationship management (CRM), knowled
maintenance standards and integrity, and ability to develop project timelines, identify scope, and create budget.

Describe how you used metrics to inform a process, recommendation or approach to a client.

Tell me about a time you’ve leveraged CRM data to make a change in your marketing strategy or approach.

Ensuring data in a CRM is accurate and up to date can be a challenge at times. Tell me about a time you’ve
run into problems ensuring the data is up-to-date and how you dealt with it.
Demand Generation and Lead Management
Includes developing, qualifying, and nurturing promotions; identifying how to develop demand and lead management processe
customer purchasing; and knowledge of when to offer promotional discounts to incent buyers.

Describe a program or approach you developed for generating customer loyalty / renewals.

Tell me about a time when you were challenged with generating leads for yourself or the sales team.

Tell me about a time you created a promotion for a product or service.

Sales Support
Includes knowledge of sales collateral and pipeline acceleration (i.e. accelerating the purchasing process for the buyer).

Tell me about a time when you were challenged with generating leads for yourself or the sales team.

Tell me about a time you were able to change a customer's mind when they told you "no."
Tell me about a time you created sales collateral.
Distribution Channels Support and Analysis
Includes the ability to analyze and support the distribution network, maintain distribution channel relationships, and support sal
channels.

Tell me about a time when you leveraged sales channels to meet or exceed sales targets.
Tell me about a time you analyzed a distribution network to help understand distribution channels and better
support sales divisions.
Describe a time you collaborated with the sales team to drive growth in one part of the pipeline.
Customer Experience and Engagement Creation
Includes planning initial customer onboarding, developing word-of-mouth (WOM) initiatives, spearheading customer data initia

Describe a program or approach you developed for generating customer loyalty / renewals.

Tell me about a WOM (word-of-mouth) initiative you created.

Describe a time you analyzed the customer experience or engagement marketing data to help understand the
success of previous marketing initiatives.
Product Planning and Development
Includes planning for new and existing product or service development through analyses of pricing, product packaging and des
product lifecycle, and knowledge of merchandising and placement.

Tell me about a time when you were responsible for managing a product launch.

Describe a time you led, or participated in, the packaging design for a new product.
Tell me about a time you were able to use your knowledge of a product's positioning to make a marketing
decision.
Communications Development
Includes the ability to communicate internal/corporate marketing, external communication skills, crafting the organizational ima
campaigns, developing partnerships and sponsorships, and working with advertising agencies to aid in advertising developme

Describe a time when you had to develop marketing collateral or a marketing communication plan.

Tell me about a time you’ve managed a relationship with a third-party marketing agency.
Tell me about a time you developed the content and chose the medium for internal or external
communications.
Event Planning and Development
Includes planning event logistics, vendor management, coordinating with organization and party management, and working wi

Describe a time you helped plan an event.

Tell me about a time you organized a third-party tradeshow, conference appearance, or other speaking event.
Tell me about a time you evaluated events vendors or venues to decide which would be most appropriate for
your organization.
Brand Development
Includes knowledge of brand development and positioning tactics, brand awareness and integrity, inventory of branded items,
measuring brand loyalty.

Tell me about a time when you were responsible for managing a product launch.
Describe a time you helped analyze customer brand loyalty.
Tell me about a project, campaign, or analysis that you undertook that led to repositioning a product so it was
aligned with the brand.
Online Channel Support and Analysis
Includes social media marketing, knowledge of digital platforms and processes (webinars and teleconferencing), search engine
mobile marketing, web development skills, and knowledge of marketing automation (email marketing, lead management autom

Tell me about a time when you leveraged digital sales channels to meet or exceed sales targets.

Describe a situation in which you used technology to help solve a marketing challenge.

Give me an example of a time you used different technologies to reach your clients.
Data Analysis
Analyzes and draws insights from relevant data to identify organizational challenges and opportunities. Uses storytelling to effe
data-informed recommendations.

Describe a time you had to identify a set of metrics to track the success of an initiative.

Tell me about a time you analyzed a set of data.

Can you describe a time you were able to identify a pattern in a set of data.

Tell me about a time you’ve changed a decision because of what the data was telling you.

Tell me about a time you’ve looked at data and insights from multiple sources to reach a conclusion.

Describe a time you used [software/tool] to analyze data.

Tell me about a time you advocated for a certain decision based on data analysis you had done.

Tell me about a certain technology you have used to analyze data and what you accomplished with it.

Finance Competencies
Professional Accounting Standards, Requirements, and Procedures Understanding and Compliance
Includes knowledge of professional accounting standards, requirements, and procedures related to the business (e.g. IFRS or

Describe a time you performed a critical analysis of account balances in order to assess adherence to IFRS.
Organizational Finance Policies Compliance and Maintenance
Includes knowledge and ability to develop policies such as travel, expenses, bad debt, refunds, and internal compliance.
Describe a time you analyzed the impact of a proposed change to the organization's financial policies.

Tell me about a time when you partnered with business leaders to set the policies and procedures for internal
control.
Tell me about a time you encouraged others to comply with an organizational regulation, policy or financial
process.
Financial Accounting
Includes numerous skills: financial statement preparation, compliance, and analysis; reconciling operational processes and the
includes knowledge of processes supporting general accounting (e.g. sales/receivables/collection and purchase/payables/paym

Tell me about a time when you had to prepare a financial statement and analyze it for compliance.

Tell me about a time when you had to analyze or interpret numerical or financial data.

The end of an organization's fiscal year can be a stressful and trying time. Tell me about a time an
unexpected issue, such as a discrepancy or accrual issue, arose during a year or quarter end.
Management Accounting
Includes features such as cost management, revenue and profitability management, working with various accounting systems,
measurements, and results benchmarking (both internally and externally).
Tell me about a time when you assisted in the analysis of the internal performance or profitability of a product
or service.
Tell me about a time when you aggregated the financial information of a competitor to assist in the
benchmarking of the organization’s performance.
Tell me about a time you performed an analysis on internal key performance indicators (KPIs), or on KPIs for
the organization’s target customers.

Describe a time that you had to present financial data to a non-financial audience.

Tell me about a time you evaluated organizational performance using industry best practice frameworks .

Sometimes it can be difficult to communicate the possible risks or potential downside to a

project/plan/initiative. Describe a time when you had to do just that.
Internal Control
Includes knowledge of and ability to work with different types of control systems. Further, it includes the ability to identify fraud
the ability to communicate all internal audits and compare them to external audits.
Tell me about a time when you conducted a medium term (6-12 months) internal scan to identify barriers and
opportunities related to the organization’s internal compliance controls.
Tell me about a time when you partnered with business leaders to set the policies and procedures for internal
control.
Describe a time you had to address an audit report’s recommendations.

Tell me about a time you helped a business leader respond to an audit report.

Describe a situation you encountered where accruals didn’t match actuals?

Finance
Includes knowledge of working capital management, cash management, capital structures, treasury management, financing so
deals, valuations, risk management, foreign exchange management, and macroeconomic analyses.
Tell me about a time when you partnered with business leaders to set a working capital strategy or cash
management policy.

Tell me about a time you conducted a long term (12 month+) environmental scan to identify areas of
opportunities or barriers for the organization’s financing initiatives.
Describe a time you helped analyze a possible M&A deal .
Financial Planning
Includes skills such as budget development, forecasting, and analysis ; also includes the ability to set financial goals and mana

Describe a time you assisted a department in producing an accurate budget.

Tell me about a time you helped leaders set financial goals in the medium term (6-12 months).

Describe a time you helped create contingency plans for “overspending” within departmental budgets.
Tell me about a time you conducted the financial analysis for a business case?
Describe a time you created a forecasted model?
Taxation
Includes skills surrounding tax: compliance, audits, knowledge of implications of different business decisions, classes of tax, ta

Describe a time you evaluated the organization's current taxation processes.

Share an example of a time when you were given data that needed to be reconciled.

Tell me about a complex tax strategy that you’ve worked to help an organization achieve (consider classes of
tax, tax accounting, taxation law, and implications of different business decisions).
Data Analysis
Analyzes and draws insights from relevant data to identify organizational challenges and opportunities. Uses storytelling to effe
data-informed recommendations.

Describe a time you had to identify a set of metrics to track the success of an initiative.

Tell me about a time you analyzed a set of data.

Can you describe a time you were able to identify a pattern in a set of data.

Tell me about a time you’ve changed a decision because of what the data was telling you.

Tell me about a time you’ve looked at data and insights from multiple sources to reach a conclusion.

Describe a time you used [software/tool] to analyze data.

Tell me about a time you advocated for a certain decision based on data analysis you had done.

Tell me about a certain technology you have used to analyze data and what you accomplished with it.
ramework. Click on the competency type to navigate straight to that section, or use the drop-down menu under

Competency Link (click for competency)

Problem-Solving and Decision-Making Go there
Strategic Leadership and Execution Go there
Branding and Marketing Go there
Security and Data Protection Go there
Overarching Sales Delivery Go there
Marketing Operations Go there
Management Accounting Go there

Follow-up questions

n's goals, core functions, and values.

How did you identify that need? How did you ensure buy-in from
relevant stakeholders?
How did you realize you'd made a mistake? How did you handle
the situation?
What did you do? What was the outcome?

What did you do? Why? What was the outcome?

What did you do? Why? What was the outcome?

What prompted the idea or change? How did you approach it?
Why did you enlist their help? How did you get their
participation? What was the outcome?

What did you do? Why? What was the outcome?

Why did you enlist their help? How did you get their
participation? What was the outcome?
 How did you use knowledge of the organization’s structure,
organization culture, etc. to solve the problem?

How did you recognize the potential conflict?

What actions did you take?
What was the outcome?
Why did you choose to disregard the policy?
What happened?
How did you use your knowledge to solve the problem?
What happened?

What happened?
What did you learn from this?

How did you understand and balance the varying needs of each
function?
Was the task force successful?

fferences and empowered to participate and contribute freely.

What was unique or different about their needs?

What changes did you make to your approach?
What was the outcome?
How did you convey your concerns?
Was your input used to make positive change?
Is there anything you would do differently?
Were they receptive to the feedback?
How did you communicate the feedback?
What was the outcome?
How did you come to that realization?
How did you respond?
What was the outcome?
Who comprised the audience or group?
Based on this experience, what did you learn?
How did you source these diverse perspectives?
What was the outcome?
What was the scope of your responsibility?
Describe the actions you took.
What was the outcome?
In what ways did you demonstrate this?
How was it received by others?
What was the outcome?

What was most challenging about it?

What action did you take?
What was the outcome? Would you do anything differently?
s and delivers products and services with the customer experience top

What did you do to gain their confidence?

What was the outcome?
What did you do?
What was the outcome?
What would you do differently?
Why did you do it?
What was the outcome?
What went well?
What was the outcome?
What would you do differently?
What did you do?
What was the outcome?
What steps did you take to establish rapport with them?
What did you do to gain their trust?

What motivated the change in requirements?

What did you do?
What was the outcome?
What did you do?
What was their reaction?
What challenge did you face?
What did you do?
What did you learn from this?
What processes did you use?
What information did you seek out?
How did you use the information?
How well did this work?
What was the outcome?
What would you do differently?
What was the problem?
What did you do?
What was the outcome?
What did you do?
What was the outcome?
What did you learn from this?
What challenge did you face?
What did you do?
What was the outcome?

cts or manage projects in an iterative and incremental approach. Practices

ility.

What was your role?

What were the deliverables?
Can you elaborate on your role in [specific event, e.g. sprint
planning]?
What methodology was used?
What was your rationale?
How was it received?
Did you face any resistance? How did you overcome it?
What was your role?
Did the application of Agile impact product delivery? How?
What challenges did you face?
What would you change?

What was your rationale?

How was it received?
If you faced pushback, how did you respond?
What was your approach?
How was it received?
What was the outcome?
What would you change?

What challenges did you face?

What was the outcome?
Did you discuss it in the sprint review?
How did it change your approach to your next project?

What were the challenges?

What did you do?
Did you use any specific technology or techniques? Why?
How was it received?
What would you change?

What was your approach?

How was it received?
What was the outcome?
What were the challenges?
How did you resolve them?
Did you seek any support?
What was the outcome?
What would you change?
How did you manage [specific artifact, e.g. product backlog if
product owner]?
What challenges did you face?
What was the outcome?
Can you describe [specific part, e.g. criteria for task completion]
further?
How often?
Who was involved?
How did you hold your team accountable for progress (if
leadership)?
What challenges did you face?
Do you have any preferred methods? Why?
What challenge(s) did you face?
How did you address them?
Did you seek support?
What was the outcome?
What would you change?

What was your approach?

How did you describe the purpose of an iterative approach?
How was it received?
What was the outcome?
Would you do anything differently?
What would you do differently if the individual was a [senior
leader / individual not reporting into you ]?

What did you do?

Did you raise the issue?
Did it change how you approached projects?
What was the outcome?
What would you change?
What facilitation techniques did you use?
How did you ensure learnings from the previous sprint were
reflected in the next?
What was your approach?
How was it received?
What was the outcome?
What would you change?
What did you do?
What were the challenges?
What was the outcome?
What would you change?

How did you tackle this problem? What was the outcome?

What was your approach?

How was it received?
Did you meet the deadline?
Were you satisfied with the outcome?
What was the outcome?
What would you change?
What was the situation?
Did you proactively step in or was a concerned raised by a team
member?
What was the outcome?
What would you change?
What was the situation?
What was the impact of the changes?
What was your approach?
Were you/your team members provided with additional time or
resources?
Did you request additional resources?
What was the result? What would you change?
etworks, and adopts a continuous growth mindset to learn from mistakes and

How did you address the change?

Did you reach out to anyone for support or use any tools?
How did you cope with the change?

How did you prioritize or manage your work?

What was the result?
Would you do anything differently?
What was your approach?
Was the outcome what you expected?
Would you do anything differently?
How did you cope?
What was your approach to overcoming it?
Would you do anything differently?
How did you cope?
What was your approach to overcoming it?
Would you do anything differently?
What was your approach?
Was the outcome what you expected?
Would you do anything differently?

How did you recognize that you were not the most appropriate
leader?
How did you identify who should become the leader?
How did you ensure that others would follow this individual,
despite them not being a designated leader?
How did you handle accountability for the project?

How do you develop a deep understanding of the capabilities of

your network?
How do you identify when to connect members of your network,
rather than just passing on information?
What was the situation?
What was your approach?
Would you do anything differently?
Did you offer support or did they ask for support?
What went well?
What would you do differently?
What did you do?
What worked and what didn't?
What was the situation?
How did you respond?
Did you address it? How?
What was the outcome?
What would you change?
What went well?
What was the outcome?
What would you change?
What did you do? Why?
What was the outcome?
 What was the situation?
What type of guidance did you provide?
How did you encourage them to persevere?
What would you change?
What made it a difficult relationship?
What was your approach?
What was the outcome?

understand and empathize with others’ emotions, needs, and perspectives

What made it a difficult relationship?

What was your approach?
What was the outcome?
Why? What was your approach?
What did you do? What went well?
What would you change?
What did you do?
What went well?
What would you change?
What was the situation?
Did your approach vary for different individuals?
What did you do?
What went well?
What would you change?
How did you approach the situation?
What was your decision-making process?
What went well?
What would you change?
Did you address it? How?
What was the outcome?
What would you change?
What was the clash?
Did you try to change your communication style to address the
challenge?
What did you do? What worked and what didn't?
How did you cope? What was your approach to overcoming it?
Would you do anything differently?

How did you reflect on the situation and actions to take?

Did you reflect on the impact on yourself and others?
What was your approach?
Was the outcome what you expected?
Would you do anything differently?

How do you develop a deep understanding of the capabilities of

your network?
How do you identify when to connect members of your network,
rather than just passing on information?
What was at stake?
What did you do?
What was the outcome?
 What challenges did you face?
What steps did you take?
How was it received?
What would you change?

ng: empathize, define, ideate, prototype, and test. Adopts an iterative

What did you do? Why?

Did it differ significantly from their regular approach to problem
solving?
Did you face any resistance?
What was the result?
How? What was your role?
What was the project?
What was the result?

What was your approach?

How did you describe the purpose of an iterative approach?
How was it received?
What was the outcome?
Would you do anything differently?
What would you do differently if the individual was a [senior
leader / individual not reporting into you]?

Can you further describe [specific part] of your process?

Have you used [other method, e.g. empathy mapping]?
In what contexts have you applied [method]?
Are there situations where you think it wouldn't work?
What challenges have you experienced? Has your approach
changed?

How? What was the result?

What did you learn?
Has it changed your approach?
Have you explained this scenario to [e.g. team members] to
describe the purpose of user research?

What was the situation?

What was your role?
How was it resolved (if not resolved, what steps did you take)?
How did you address the disagreement?
What was the outcome?
How did the team move forward?

What made it difficult? How did you approach it? What

method(s) did you use? What was the outcome? What would
you change?
 What was the situation?
What steps did you take?
Did you address it with the individual, the group, or both?
What was the outcome?
How was it received?
What would you do differently?

Why?
What was your approach?
Did you change your approach?
What was the outcome?
What would you change?

What was your approach?

Was this due to additional insights during the process?
How was it received?

What changed?
How did you handle this change?
How did you rationalize this change to team members?
What was the result?

Can you further describe [specific part] of your process?

Do you have any preferred method(s)?
What contexts do you apply them to?
Are there contexts where [method] would not work?

How did you approach the situation?

What was your relationship with the participant?
What was the outcome?

Did you have formal authority over the project / team member?
What was your approach?
How was it received?
What would you change?

Can you further describe [specific point]?

What method(s) did you use?
How did you generate feedback?
How did you select a solution? Were there disagreements?
How did you communicate the chosen solution?

What was your role?

What was the process?
What was the result?

ware of technological trends and improves or solves business challenges by

What was your role?

What were the challenges?
What was the outcome?
What was your approach?
What was the outcome?
 What did you do?
Were there any challenges?
What was the outcome?
What was your process?
What was the audience?
What was the outcome?
What training did you provide/enable?
How did you provide guidance?
What was your relationship with the individual?
What was the outcome?

Did you try to scale the use of the technology across the
organization?
How did you make your case? Who was the audience?
What was your involvement in the project?

What was your process?

What criteria did you prioritize?
Did you encounter any challenges?
What was your immediate reaction?
How long did it take you to learn the new technology?
Did you help others adopt the technology?
What need were you trying to address and was the technology
successful in doing so?
If so, did you help others adopt it? How?

ty standards, following the appropriate processes, and demonstrating

What was the project?

How did you break down the project into smaller tasks?
What tools/techniques do you use to monitor the progress of
projects/tasks you assigned?
What was the outcome?

What went well?

What was the outcome?
What would you change?

How did you break down the goals into manageable tasks?
How did you organize and schedule the tasks?

What was the project?

How did you break it down?
How did you get buy-in from your team?
What was the outcome?
What challenges did you face?
How did you go about it?
What was the outcome?
What steps did you take along the way to ensure
accountability?
What was the outcome?
 How did you go about it?
What challenges did you face?
What was the outcome?
What would you do differently?
What practices would you implement again?
What was your biggest learning?
What did you do?
What was the outcome?
What did you learn?
What was the project?
How did you prioritize tasks?
What did you do?
What was the impact of your response on the project?
What did you do? Why?
What was the outcome?
Why did it happen?
How did you rectify this?
Why did this happen?
How did you rectify the situation?
What approach did you use and how well did it work?
What did you learn?

s to build value through collaboration.

What challenge did you face?

What did you do?
What was the outcome?
What challenge did you face?
What did you do?
What was the outcome?
What went well?
What was the outcome?
What would you change?
What went well?
What was the outcome?
What would you do differently?
What did you do?
What was the outcome?
What did you learn?
What went well?
What was the outcome?
What would you change?
What did you do?
What was the outcome?
What did you do?
What was the outcome?

What went well?

What was the outcome?
What would you change?
 What did you do?
What was the outcome?
What did you learn?
What did you do?
What was the outcome?
What did you do?
What happened?
What would you do differently?
How did you respond?
What happened?
How did you do it?
What was the outcome?
What did you do? Why?
What was the outcome?

goals, team goals, department goals, and/or organizational goals. Values

What did you do?

What was the outcome?

How did you handle it?

What was the outcome?

What was your role?

What steps did you take?
What was the result?
How did you go about doing this?
How did your actions benefit the team?
What did you do?
What was the outcome?
What did you learn?
What did you do?
What was the outcome?
What would you change?
What happened?
What was the outcome?
What would you change?
How did you approach it?
What was the outcome?
What would you change?
What did you do?
What was the outcome?
What did you learn?
What was the problem?
How did involving them help solve the problem?
What was the outcome?
What was the problem?
What did you do?
What was the outcome?
 What was the problem?
What did you do?
What was the outcome?
Which methods worked and which ones didn't?
What happened?
How did you tackle this problem?
What was the outcome?

st possible solutions. Invests time in planning, discovery, and reflection to

Did you have all the information you needed?

What did you do?
What was the outcome?
How did you collect the information you needed?
What did you do with the information?
What was the outcome?
What factors did you consider?
How did they help you reach your final decision? What was the
outcome?
What factors did you consider?
How did they help you reach your final decision?
What was the outcome?
What thought process did you use to reach each decision?

What factors did you consider?

How did they help you reach your final decision?
How did others react?
What did you do?
What factors did you consider?
How did they help you reach your final decision?
What factors did you consider and why?
What was the outcome?
How did you identify it as a problem?
How did you collect information to solve the problem?
What did you do with the information?
What was the outcome?
How did you approach it?
Did you consider any alternatives?
What did you do?
What was the outcome?
How did you determine who to approach?
What questions did you ask?
What did you do with the information?
What challenge did they face?
What was your role in the solution?
What was the outcome?

Did you consider other alternatives?

How did this change your work processes/productivity?
 What challenge did you face?
How did you know that you needed a new approach?
How did you go about developing it?
What was the outcome?
What challenge did you face?
What did you do?
What happened?
How would you do things differently?

er ways of doing things. Encourages experimentation and accepts failure as

What was the challenge?

What did you do?
What was the outcome?
What was the challenge?
How was your solution different from previous approaches to
the problem?
What was the outcome?
What was the challenge?
What did you do?
What was the outcome?
What was the challenge?
What role did you play in implementing the idea(s) they
prioritized?
What was the outcome?
What was the challenge?
What was your idea?
What did you do? What did you say?
What did you do?
What was the outcome?
What did you learn?
How did you assert your point of view?
What was the outcome?
What did you do?
What was the outcome?
What strategy did you use to gain acceptance? What was the
outcome?
Was it accepted? If so, did it work?

Why was it relevant and what was the result?

What prompted you to do it?
What did you do?
What was the outcome?

What encouraged you to recommend this product or service?

How did others react? What was the outcome?

How did this change your work processes/productivity?

aces failure as a learning opportunity for themselves and others. Enables

What was your initial reaction to the input?

How did the change impact the final project?
What was the outcome?
What was the challenge?
What was you initial approach?
Why did you alter course?
What was the outcome?
How did you get others on board?
Where there any unexpected challenges?
What was the outcome?
What did you do?
What was the outcome?
What went well?
What would you change?
What information do you wish you had?
Was it the right decision?
What was the outcome?
How did you decide how to approach it?
What did you do?
What was the outcome?
What did you do?
What was the outcome?
What went well?
What would you change?
What did you do?
What was the outcome?
What went well?
What would you change?
What did you do?
What was the outcome?
What went well?
What would you change?
What did you do?
What was the outcome?
How did the coworker react to the change?
What would you change?
How did this change affect others?
What did you do to help others adapt it?
What did you do?
What was the outcome?
How did you cope?
What were the results?
What was your plan?
How did you lead the change?
What was the outcome?
What was the issue?
How did they try to persuade you?
How did you respond?
ns with the other party.

How did you determine their interests?

What did you do with the information?
What was the outcome?
What product or service were you selling?
How did you present it to the customer?
How did you deal with objections?
What was the outcome?
What was the service?
Why was the customer reluctant?
What did you do?
What was at stake?
Why was it stressful?
How did you cope?
What was the outcome?
What was the decision?
Why was it unpopular?
How did you negotiate the issue with stakeholders?
How did you feel about this?
What did you do? Why?
What was the outcome?
Describe the positions and the interests of the parties involved.
What did you do?
What was the outcome?
What did you do? Why?
What was the outcome?

How did you analyze their interests?

How did you use the information to present your own position?
What was the outcome?

What was at stake?

What did you do?
What was the outcome?
What was at stake?
What did you do?
What was the outcome?
What was at stake?
What did you do?
What was the outcome?

How did you know what kind of information you needed?

How did you find reliable sources?
What did you do with the information?
What was the outcome?

What approaches did you use?

How well did it work?
Did you have formal authority?
How did you tackle this problem?
tate the sharing of ideas and information. Uses tact and diplomacy to
fic audiences.

What obstacles did you face?

How did you handle them?
What was the outcome?
What did you do?
What was the outcome?
What did you do?
What was the outcome?
What challenges did you face?
What did you do?
What was the outcome?
What challenges did you face?
What did you do?
What was the outcome?
What challenges did you face?
What did you do?
What was the outcome?
What obstacles did you face?
How did you handle them?
What was the outcome?
What obstacles did you face?
How did you handle them?
What was the outcome?
How did you approach it?
What was the outcome?
How did you approach it?
What was the outcome?
What message were you trying to convey?
What challenges did you face?
What approach did you use?
What was the outcome?
What message were you trying to convey?
What challenges did you face?
What approach did you use?
What was the outcome?

What approaches did you use and how well did it work?

What was your point of view?

What challenge did you face?
What did you do?
What was the outcome?

rent environment, owns growth, and embraces failure as a learning

 What challenges did you face?
What did you do?
What was the outcome?
What was the impact?
What did you learn?
What would you do differently? The same?

Tell me about a situation in which you used these sources.

How did you decide which sources to use?
How did you use them?
What was the outcome?

What was the situation?

What did you do with the feedback?
What was the outcome?

What skill/competency are you still struggling with?

What did you do? Why?

What was the outcome?
What did you do to learn this?
Was it easy? What were the challenges?
What did you do? Why
What was the outcome?
What was the outcome?
How did you end up in a coaching role?
What were the challenges?
How did you respond to this feedback?
What was the outcome?

What was the failure? What did you learn?

g. Drives action through influence, often without authority.

How did you help them change?

What was the outcome?
Why did you choose the influencer?
What was the nature of your relationship?
What was the outcome?
What was unique or different about their needs?
What was the outcome?
What did the audience find difficult about the decision?
How did you address their concerns?
Did the audience listen to your concerns?
Was the outcome changed based on your input?
What was the source of resistance?
Why were they resisting it?
What was the outcome?
 Was the change positively or negatively received initially? Why?
What did you do to champion the change?
What was the outcome?

Why were they resistant to the idea?

What did you do to try and convince them?
What did you change about the message and why?
What was different about the audience that made you change
the message?
What was the result?
What was your relationship with the person. Did this impact your
perception of the message?
Why did they change your mind?

cies

ts time in planning, discovery, and reflection to better drive decisions and

adjusting the organizational action plan.

What challenges did you face? What steps did you take? How
was the vision received?
How did you determine the linkages?
What did you do? Why? What was the outcome?
What did you do? Why? What was the outcome?
What challenges did you face? What did you do? What was the
outcome?
What standards did you set? Why? What was the outcome?
What went well? What would you change?
What missed the mark? What did you do? What was the
outcome?
What was the decision? What role did you play? What was the
outcome?
Why did you delay the decision? Was it the right move? What
was the outcome?
What was the contribution? What role did you play? What was
the outcome?

What did you do? What was the outcome?

What was the organization’s vision and values? What challenge

did you face to making them meaningful? What did you do?
What was the outcome?
What strategies did you find worked best and what did not work
as well?
What motivated their lack of support, and what action did you
take to counteract the situation?
What steps did you take? What was the outcome?
Why did you decide to wait? What did you do to gather
information? Was waiting the right decision? What was the
outcome?
 How did you determine the necessary adjustments you needed
to make? What was the outcome?

d manages employee experience and employee performance through

What was the project? How did you delegate tasks? How did
you track progress? How did you communicate with the relevant
stakeholders? What was the outcome?

What was the skill or the task? What did you do? How did you
track the person’s progress? What was the outcome?
How did you handle the situation? What was the outcome?
What did you learn from it?
What challenge did you face? What did you do? What was the
outcome?
What challenge did you face? What did you do? What was the
outcome? What would you change?
What were the initiatives? What effect did this have on said
employee(s) and the department or the organization?

What did you do? What worked and what didn't?

How did you guide them and manage these expectations? What
was the outcome?
What made them challenging (high or low performance)? How
did you manage them? What was the outcome?

How did you address the situation? What was the outcome?

What steps did you take? What was the outcome? Was there
anything you would do differently?
Why did you decide to delegate? How did you know the
employee was capable of executing? How did you support
them? What was the outcome?
What was the task? What feedback did you receive? What did
you do? What was the outcome?
What task were you working on? What decision did you make?
What impact did it have? What did you do? What was the
outcome?

How do you overcome a bias to action? How do you incorporate

the perspectives and experiences of others into your decisions?

How do you solicit continuous feedback? Do you purposefully

plan your learning? How? How do you view failure?
 How did you recognize that you were not the most appropriate
leader? How did you identify who should become the leader?
How did you ensure that others would follow this individual,
despite them not being a designated leader? How did you
handle accountability for the project?

How do you develop a deep understanding of the capabilities of

your network? How do you identify when to connect members
of your network, rather than just passing on information?

of organizational goals.

What did you do? What was the outcome?

What challenge did you face? What did you do? What was the
outcome?

Why is this important? What did you do? What was the
outcome?

What challenge did you face? What did you do? What was the
outcome?

Describe how their input influenced the final decision.

How was this challenging?

What did you do? Why? What was the outcome?

What approach did you take? What challenges did you face?
What was the outcome?

What did you do? Why was the old way? What was the biggest
resistance to the change? What was the outcome?

What did you do? Why? What was the outcome?

How did the culture have to change? What did you do? What
was the outcome? What were the biggest challenges?

What did you do? Why? What was the outcome?

What did you do? How did you try to change your behavior?
Why was this important? What was the result?

to limit the magnitude of risk.

How did you go about making your decision? What was the
outcome? What would you do differently?
How did you address them? How did you make decisions? How
did you know that your decisions were correct?
 Did the actual risks match your expectations? What did you
learn from the experience?

How did you introduce it? To whom? Why?

What would you do differently? Why? What was the outcome?

Would you take the same risk again?
What was your thought process behind this decision and what
was the result?

What did you decide on and why? What was the result?
How long did it take you to gather the information to make the
decision? How long after that to make the decision? What was
the result?
How long did it take you to gather the information to make the
decision? How long after that to make the decision? What was
the result?
Why did you support the idea? What happened?
Why did you support the idea? What happened?
What did you do? Why?
What was the outcome?
How did you determine which option had the greatest payoff
and which one had the least payoff?

tencies

What did you do? Why? What was the outcome?

What did you do? Why? How did you measure the success of
this initiative? What was the outcome?
Why was the change required? What was the outcome? How
was the change received?
What research did you do to prepare? How did you help the
manager prioritize the objectives and link them to other roles
within the company?

Did you assess the strengths and weaknesses? How? What did
you find? How did this change your approach going forward?

ovide solutions. Considers organizational direction when identifying relevant

What did you do? Why? What was the outcome?

What research did you do to prepare? How did you determine
that the proposed solution would address the issue? What other
possibilities did you consider?

How did you perform the assessment? What did you find?
What was the outcome?
 What did you do? Why
What was the outcome?
What were the strategic needs? What change or
recommendation did you make?
What was the outcome?

nships throughout the resolution process.

What made it so difficult? How did you resolve the issue?

What did you do? Why? What was the outcome?
Why was it challenging? What did you do? Why?
What techniques did you use to understand the others point of
view? What was the outcome?
What was the cause of the conflict? What would you have done
differently? What did you learn from the experience?

enable collaborative knowledge transfer, and encourage participation.

What was the issue? Explain the steps you took to address the
issue. What was the outcome?
What did you do? Why? What was the outcome?
How did you get the audience involved? What were the key
points? How did you reinforce these? How did you structure the
presentation? Why?
What other methods might have been appropriate? Why was
the one you chose the best fit?
What did you do? Would you change anything about the
session to prevent this from occurring?

lop communications content, and disseminate key messages using different

ives.
What did you do? Why? What was the outcome?
What did you do? What channels did you choose? Why?
What was the outcome?
What did you do? What did your analysis reveal? What were
the results used for?
What did you create?
What was the outcome?
How did you determine what the EVP was? How was the EVP
used going forward?

er to deliver more effective, efficient solutions.

 What did you do? Why? How did you figure out which metrics to
include? How where they presented? What was the outcome?

What were the challenges? How was the root cause of the
issue determined? What was your role? What was the
outcome?
What did you do? What were the challenges working with
[system]?
What process did you follow? What did you do? Did you make
the right decision?
What did you do? What were the challenges? What was the
outcome?

s results by understanding and aligning actions with the organization's

eeds.

What did you do? Why? What was the outcome?

What did you do? Why? How did you figure out which metrics to
examine? What was the outcome?
What was the issue? Solution? Did you consider other solutions
and if so why was the one selected superior? What was the
outcome?
What wasn’t aligned? How was this received? What should (or
was) changed?
What was the business case? How did it align with the broader
business needs and objectives? What was the outcome?
What did you do? Were they aligned? If not, what did you
recommend? What was the outcome?

high-level guiding questions to specific instruction.

What were the managers concerns? How where they different

from HRs? How did you help support them in creating the
solution?
What did you do? What were the challenges? What was the
outcome?
Why did they come to you? How did you help them?
How did you help them? Did you follow up later? What was the
outcome?
What methodology did you start with? Change to? Why was it
more appropriate to their situation?

ment of resources and risk.

How did you structure the design and implementation of the
solution?
What did you do? What were the challenges? What would you
do differently? What was the outcome?
 How did you evaluate the risks? Were any of the contingency
plans used?

What did you do? What was the outcome? What caused the
scope creep? Could it have been prevented through better
planning or was it the result of unforeseen circumstances?

What caused the failure? What could you have done differently?

gic workforce planning, diversity & inclusion, compensation, health &

and maintain effective human resource management practices.

What made it so difficult? How did you resolve the issue?

What best practices did you apply? What was the outcome?
What did you do? Why? What was the outcome?
How did you source candidates? Did you try to source passive
candidates? How? How did you communicate with candidates
to generate interest?

What research did you do to prepare? How did you identify and
prioritize the objectives? What techniques did you use for the
course? How did you pilot the course? What was the outcome?

What did you do? Why? How did you figure out which metrics to
include? How where they presented? What was the outcome?

ities. Uses storytelling to effectively communicate insights and actionable,

What did you do? What metrics did you consider and
disregard? Why?
What did you do? What insights did you find? What was the
outcome?
What did you do? What was the pattern? What was the
outcome?
What was your original decision? Why did you change your
mind? What was the outcome?
What did you do? Why? What was the outcome?

What did you do? What did you find? What was the outcome?

What did you do? What did you find? What was the argument
for not making that decision? What was the outcome?

What did you do? What did you like about the technology?
What were its limitations?
ment concepts, tools, and best practices; project reporting standards; and

How did you approach the project? What steps did you take to
assess risk? What tools did you use to manage the project?
What did you do to ensure the success and quality of the
project? What challenges did you encounter? How did you
overcome those challenges?

How did you evaluate the risks? Were any of the contingency
plans used?

What did you do? What was the outcome? What caused the
scope creep? Could it have been prevented through better
planning or was the result of unforeseen circumstances?

What caused the failure? What would you have done

differently?

brainstorming, document analysis, focus groups, interviews, prototyping,

What did you do? Why? What was the outcome? What did you
learn?
What was particularly challenging about that process? How did
you successfully overcome those challenges?

Which techniques? Why were those chosen? What did each

technique offer that the others didn’t? What did you do?

nd business case methodologies and measurement.

What did you do? Why? What was the outcome? What did you
learn?
What did you do? How did you identify the problem or
objective? What was the outcome
What did you do? What was the business issue the technology
was addressing? What was the outcome?

and relay other important information related to IT systems.

How did you approach the task? What was the outcome?

What was your role? What was the outcome?

niques, and the ability to be responsive to key issues.

What challenge did you face? What did you do? What was the
outcome?
What challenge did you face? What did you do? What was the
outcome?
 What did you do? What was the outcome?

ional policy and compliance procedures.

What was the situation? What did you do? What was the result?
What was the situation? What did you do? What was the
outcome?
Why was the policy needed? What did you do? Was the policy
followed? What was the outcome?
What was the change and why was it made? What did you do?
What was the outcome?

nd information management (e.g. information quality, accessibility, security,

What was your role? What was the threat? What was the
outcome?
What did you do? Why? What was the outcome?
What was your role? What were the situations being planned
for? What was the outcome?

ecture modeling; and modeling abilities for applications, IT systems, business

What did you do? Why? What was the outcome?

What did you do? Why? What was the outcome?
What did you do? What events could transpire with the objects?
What was the outcome?

development (C++, java), web design (HTML), database and warehouse

de organization and the ability to develop readable code.
What did you do? Why? What was the outcome?
What was the outcome? What were the challenges?
What did you do? What was causing the errors? How was this
resolved? What was the outcome?

trategies, methodologies, and standards. Further, includes the ability to test

What did you do? Why? What was the outcome?

What did you do? Why? What was the outcome?
What did you do? What QA methodology did you use? What
was the outcome?

ion and integration tools and techniques.

What did you do? Why? What was the outcome?
What did you do? What was the outcome?
nd vendor selection.
Tell me about a time you worked with a vendor to resolve a
technical issue or challenge.
What process did you follow? What did you do? Did you make
the right decision?
What instigated the discussions? What did you do? What was
the outcome?

ities. Uses storytelling to effectively communicate insights and actionable,

What did you do? What metrics did you consider and
disregard? Why?
What did you do? What insights did you find? What was the
outcome?
What did you do? What was the pattern? What was the
outcome?
What was your original decision? Why did you change your
mind? What was the outcome?
What did you do? Why? What was the outcome?

What did you do? What did you find? What was the outcome?

What did you do? What did you find? What was the argument
for not making that decision? What was the outcome?

What did you do? What did you like about the technology?
What were its limitations?

y trends and forecasting, and client needs and forecasting.

What did you do? Why? What was the outcome?

What did you do? Why? What was the outcome?

What did you do? Why? What was the outcome?

ational value proposition and client-product alignment, and knowledge of

What did you do? Why? What was the outcome?

What did you do? Why? What was the outcome?

What did you do? Why? What was the outcome?

What did you do? Why? What was the outcome?

e organization's account manager, and working through all referrals.

 What did you do? Why? What was the outcome?

What did you do? Why? What was the outcome?

What did you do? Why? What was the outcome?

lient queries, working through customer relationship management (CRM),

hrough client satisfaction surveys and individual feedback.
What did you do? Why? What was the outcome?
What did you do? Why? What was the outcome?

What did you do? Why? What was the outcome?

s opportunities, and ensuring data integrity in the search process.

What did you do? Why? What was the outcome?

What did you do? Why? What was the outcome?

What did you do? Why? What was the outcome?

What did you do? Why? What was the outcome?

process, and working through negotiations with buyers.

What did you do? Why? What was the outcome?

What did you do? Why? What was the outcome?
What did you do? Why? What was the outcome?

sell products where appropriate.

What did you do? Why? What was the outcome?

What did you do? Why? What was the outcome?

What did you do? Why? What was the outcome?

ng through negotiations in the account growth process.

What did you do? Why? What was the outcome?

What did you do? Why? What was the outcome?

 What did you do? Why? What was the outcome?

What did you do? Why? What was the outcome?

What did you do? Why? What was the outcome?
What did you do? Why? What was the outcome?
ities. Uses storytelling to effectively communicate insights and actionable,
What did you do? What metrics did you consider and
disregard? Why?
What did you do? What insights did you find? What was the
outcome?
What did you do? What was the pattern? What was the
outcome?
What was your original decision? Why did you change your
mind? What was the outcome?
What did you do? Why? What was the outcome?

What did you do? What did you find? What was the outcome?

What did you do? What did you find? What was the argument
for not making that decision? What was the outcome?

What did you do? What did you like about the technology?
What were its limitations?

cies

rther, it includes the ability to identify opportunities, conduct consumer

product lifecycle, product substitutes, and design best practices.

What did you do? What was the opportunity? What was the
outcome?
What did you do? What did your analysis find? What was the
outcome?
What did you do? What did you find? What was the outcome?

uying power, develop insights on customers, and accurately forecast

What did you do? Why? What was the outcome?

What did you do? How did this impact your product offering?
What was the outcome?
What did you do? What did you find? What was the outcome?
seminate marketing messages, conduct profitability analysis, plan for internal
ysis of all campaign costs, both internal and external.

What medium mix did you choose? Why? How did you assess
the effectiveness of the campaign? What was the outcome?

What product or service were you marketing? What challenge

did you face? What did you do? Break down the plan step by
step. What was the outcome?

What was the challenge? What was your contribution? What

was the outcome? What did you learn?

anagement (CRM), knowledge of data collection methods, knowledge of

reate budget.

What was the process? What metrics did you use? Why? What
was the outcome?
Why did you start this? What did you find? What was the
outcome?
Why was there an issue? Why was it important to collect that
data? What did you do? What was the outcome?

lead management processes; knowledge of how to increase the speed of

What product or service were you marketing? Why was a

customer loyalty program necessary? What challenge did you
face? What did you do? What was the outcome?

What product or service were you marketing? Why was it

challenging? How did you approach the problem? What was the
outcome?
What did you do? How did you measure the impact? What was
the outcome?

rocess for the buyer).

What product or service were you marketing? Why was it
challenging? How did you approach the problem? What was the
outcome?
What did you do? Why? What was the outcome?
What did you do? Who did you work with? What was the
outcome?

elationships, and support sales divisions with both direct and indirect sales

What product or service were you marketing? What were your

sales targets? What sales channel did you use? What was the
outcome?
 What was the process? What metrics did you use? Why? What
was the outcome?
What did you do? What were the challenges? What was the
outcome?

heading customer data initiatives, and developing customer loyalty programs.

What product or service were you marketing? Why was a

customer loyalty program necessary? What challenge did you
face? What did you do? What was the outcome?

What did you do? What alternative approaches did you

consider? What was the outcome?
What did you do? What did you find? What was the outcome?

, product packaging and design, product positioning, knowledge of the

What product or service were you marketing? What challenge

did you face? What did you do? What was the outcome?
What did you do? What was the outcome?
What was the positioning? What did you do? What was the
outcome?

afting the organizational image, creating public and media relations

aid in advertising development.

What product or service were you marketing? What challenge

did you face? What did you do? Break down the plan step by
step. What was the outcome?
What were the challenges? What did you do? What was the
outcome?
What did you do? Why did you make the choices you did? What
was the outcome?

anagement, and working with third-party events.

What did you do? What was the event? What was the
outcome?
What did you do? What were the challenges? What was the
outcome?
What did you do? Why did you select the one(s) you did? What
was the outcome?

inventory of branded items, brand stewardship, and developing and

What product or service were you marketing? What challenge

did you face? What did you do? What was the outcome?
 What did you do? What did you find? What was the outcome?
What did you do? How was the product aligned or not aligned?
What was the outcome?

conferencing), search engine marketing (SEM, SEO, and paid searches),

ng, lead management automation, and enterprise marketing management).

What product or service were you marketing? What were your

sales targets? What sales channel did you use? What was the
outcome?
What challenge did you face? Why did you opt for this particular
technology as a solution? What did you do? What was the
outcome?
What did you do? Why? What was the outcome?

ities. Uses storytelling to effectively communicate insights and actionable

What did you do? What metrics did you consider and
disregard? Why?
What did you do? What insights did you find? What was the
outcome?
What did you do? What was the pattern? What was the
outcome?
What was your original decision? Why did you change your
mind? What was the outcome?
What did you do? Why? What was the outcome?

What did you do? What did you find? What was the outcome?

What did you do? What did you find? What was the argument
for not making that decision? What was the outcome?

What did you do? What did you like about the technology?
What were its limitations?

es
mpliance
o the business (e.g. IFRS or GAAP).

What was the outcome?

d internal compliance.
What did you do? Why? What was the outcome?

What did you do? Why? How did you ensure policies were
aligned with organizational objectives? What was the outcome?
What did you do? Why was there a need for encouragement?
What was the outcome?
perational processes and their underlying financial transactions. Further, it
and purchase/payables/payment).

What did you do? Why? What was the outcome?

What did you do? Why? What did you learn? What was the
outcome?
What did you do? What were the challenges? What would you
change? What was the outcome?

various accounting systems, reporting organizational performance

What was the product or service? What did you do? What was
the outcome?
What challenges did you face? What did you do? What was the
outcome?
What did you do? Why? What was the outcome?

How did you go about finding the information you needed? How
did you present the information so that it was relevant to the
audience? What was the outcome?

What framework did you use? What financial and non-financial

data did you draw on? Did you identify new initiatives to
improve the organization’s financial performance?

How was the information you provided received? How were you
able to get others to acknowledge the risk and modify their
plan/actions?

s the ability to identify fraud and errors while conducting internal audits, and

What did you do? Why? What was the outcome?

What did you do? Why? How did you ensure policies were
aligned with organizational objectives? What was the outcome?
What did you do? Why? What was the outcome?
What did you do? Why? What were the challenges working
directly with a business leader? What was the outcome?
What did you do? What caused the variances?

ry management, financing sources and initiatives (e.g. debt and equity), M&A
s.
 What challenge did you face? What did you do? Did you get the
chance to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the
organization’s receivable and payable processes? What was
the outcome?

What did you do? Why? What was the outcome?

What did you do? What was your recommendation? What was
the outcome?

set financial goals and manage financial resources.

What did you do? What was the department’s budgetary

process? How could it be improved? Did you make those
recommendations?
What did you do? What were the challenges? What was the
outcome?
What did you do? What was the plan? Was it used? What was
the outcome?
What did you do? What was the outcome?
What did you do? How did the model work? Was it accurate?
What was the outcome?

decisions, classes of tax, taxation law, tax planning, and tax accounting.
What did you do? What changes or modifications did you
recommend? What was the outcome?
How did you go about identifying and resolving the variances in
data?
What was the strategy? What did you do? What was the
outcome?

ities. Uses storytelling to effectively communicate insights and actionable,

What did you do? What metrics did you consider and
disregard? Why?
What did you do? What insights did you find? What was the
outcome?
What did you do? What was the pattern? What was the
outcome?
What was your original decision? Why did you change your
mind? What was the outcome?
What did you do? Why? What was the outcome?

What did you do? What did you find? What was the outcome?

What did you do? What did you find? What was the argument
for not making that decision? What was the outcome?

What did you do? What did you like about the technology?
What were its limitations?