"Tell me about a time you fired someone."

Firing someone is a difficult task. Usually you will not be asked this question unless it is for a management position. You should emphasize a couple of key things when you answer this question. First, you should be very professional about firing someone. Second, you should mention the procedures you took so the action of firing is justified. I’ll give an example for someone who has never fired someone and an example for having fired someone.

"In my last position, I had four people reporting to me. One of my direct reports failed to show up on time, complete assignments, and really didn’t care about the work. I tried to encourage the employee, assign different types of work to him, and even sat down and showed him how to do things. After 2 months of trying, I had to let him go."

"Our company was down sizing and I had to let two people go. It’s easier when a person does a terrible job, but if everyone is doing there job, it’s more difficult. I had to select the bottom two performers and explained why they were being let go."

Long Answers

"During my second year as a manager, I had to fire one of my directs. I can’t say it was a difficult task because not only did he not do his job well, he didn’t want to try. Initially, we put him on probation monitoring his work, we tried to give him different types of work that he might do better at, and we even assigned a mentor to him. However, even through all this, he was a weak performer. I consulted with other management members and we all agreed it was best for the company to let him go. I got together with an HR representative and told him that he no longer has a job here. He wasn’t surprised at all. He just picked up his things and left."

"I’ve never had to fire somebody yet. I believe that a manager should mentor and lead all team members to be a solid performer. But I know that there are some people who can’t or won’t perform despite management’s best effort. So in that case, I would have to let someone go in a professional manner following the procedures set by the company."

Both of these are good answers. They mention that a manager should take actions to make the worker better, but sometimes turning something bad to something good is impossible, so the only action is to fire someone. The person with experience outlines the steps taken. For example, the probation, assigning different work, providing a mentor, etc. Then in the end he was fired. The second example shows despite experience, that he or she would fire someone in a professional manner following procedure.

If you hired somebody before, you know you could have hired someone great, or someone bad. If you have both experiences, you can ask if they want to hear a bad hire experience or a good hire experience. Sometimes the question will be, tell me about the time you made a bad hire. In that case, then you don’t have to ask. I’ll give an example of a good hire and a bad hire.

"I found a resume on the Internet that was a perfect match for one of our open positions. I contacted the person and we talked for about 10 minutes. During that call, I explained why our company was a great place to work and the opportunities we offered. After a couple more calls, he agreed to come in for an interview and we made an offer. He became a great employee."

"I received a resume but it didn’t have all our requirements. I initially thought she wasn’t a fit, but after looking over the education background and the previous work experience, I thought this person would have more potential than other candidates. After interviewing her, we extended an offer. She was a quick learner and performed at an exceptional level. Sometimes it’s important to see potential and in this instance, it was a great hire."

Long Answers

"In the last company I worked for, we had a recruiting team. They go through all resumes and submit the ones that would be a good fit for a particular team. I received a resume and after looking it over, I was quite impressed. I called him for a phone interview and after that we scheduled a full interview. He aced almost every question given to him by 5 different interviewers. We made a reasonable and fair offer. He mentioned that he was considering another company. I called him to touch bases with him and reiterated the opportunities, the great environment here, and ultimately that we all looked forward to having him join our team. I tried to make the phone call more personal and warm to show him that our group was a place to be comfortable. He joined our team and became one of our strongest performers. It took a little extra work, but it’s important to take extra steps when you see someone who is going to be great."

"I had one bad experience when hiring someone. I remember I was following procedures and verifying everything I could from past experience, checking communication skills, personality, work ethic, technical skills, and some tough logic problems. We even had 4 different people interviewing this candidate. Everything looked great. But when the person started, he had a hard time understanding new concepts. I originally thought it was because he was new and had to ramp up on many things, but as months past by, this employee was still unable to work alone. He always had to ask how to do even simple tasks. I remember going through his resume and looking over his background and even thinking about where we missed this flaw in the interview. Using this same interviewing procedure, we hired many great people. But this one turned out a little sour."

The first question is straight forward. This person took it one step farther by making a phone call and encouraging the candidate to join his team. But the second answer is an example of doing everything right, but seeing bad results. You can use something like this, but if you do, you must think of follow up questions such as, "what did you do to this employee? What happened in the long run? Did you end up firing this person?" But I recommend you think of a situation that you personally experienced. Then you can answer all follow up questions easily. But if you never hired anyone before, then simply say that. It shouldn’t hurt unless it is for a recruiting position.

If you are a good worker, then you probably haven’t failed to complete an assignment on time. But if you have a lot of experience, you might have some situations where external factors caused you to miss a deadline. This is what my example will be about. But if you have an example where you failed to complete an assignment, make sure you give clear reasons why you failed and what you learned from it. Also, if you can’t think of any, then use an example from your university days stating. But if you do, make sure you tell them that so far in your job experience, you completed all assignments on time or ahead of schedule.

"One time, I had a project that was due on Tuesday. On Friday I analyzed our progress and I was ahead of schedule. I didn’t have to work over the weekend to complete the assignment. On Monday, my manager was sick so I had to attend several meetings that took all day. Because of that, I didn’t complete my assignment until Wednesday. Now, I try to finish my assignments a day or half a day early because something unexpected could come up."

"With proper planning and good execution, I think it’s hard to fail at meeting a deadline. But I remember one time in the middle of the project, our clients wanted to change one aspect of the assignment that we already completed. I analyzed the change request and told them that we wouldn’t be able to make the date. I estimated that it will take three additional days. They insisted that we finish on the agreed upon time schedule. I told them we’d try but could not promise anything. Even with hard work and overtime, we missed the due date. We did however, finish one day late. In this situation where I didn’t feel we could reach the deadline, I specifically told them that we couldn’t, I continually sent updates on the progress to keep the clients informed. Since we missed the deadline, they were not too happy, but overall they were satisfied because I effectively communicated the progress regularly."

I like this answer because they want a situation that should make you look bad. Instead, you gave them a scenario where you failed to complete an assignment, but really it wasn’t your fault. In the end, this answer makes you look good because you did everything right from communicating properly, giving them a new time frame, and reaching the goal two days ahead of schedule despite missing the original date by one. But just in case they ask what you could have done better, you can say something like, "I feel I should have been more firm with the three additional days I requested. I like to meet difficult deadlines, but I knew the additional work was too large to finish on time."
10."Tell me about a time you found a solution to save the company money."

This question is also for a management level position. If you are not in management, then you probably won’t face this question. But just in case, here are a couple of answers. If you are not in a position to save the company money, then you could think of something small.

"Hmmm… I wasn’t really in any position to save the company money, but I have one small example. When we were a smaller company, we didn’t get a significant corporate discount on our hardware. After we grew in size, we qualified for the larger discount, but nobody realized that we now met the quota. I pointed this out and we started saving 5% more on our hardware."

"We were outsourcing a portion of our work to a 3rd party company. We had two phases for this project. After the first phase, I was given the task to complete the work because the original worker responsible for this project left our group. I quickly got up to speed on the details of the work. I analyzed the information and realized that one portion of the work given to them could’ve been done by our group because we already had the infrastructure in place. So I only spent half a day to set this up and in turn, we were charged 35% less for the second phase from the first one."

This is a simple story of an experience. It doesn’t include every detail on the type of work that was outsourced, or what I specifically did during the half days of work. If they choose to ask this, then I will be prepared to answer it, but this answer gives enough details to allow the interviewer to understand how you contributed in saving the company money. Also, depending on the field of work, answers will vary. If your job specifically oversees the finance, then it is probably important to think of a much better answer specifically for that position. Think of some scenarios, write them down, and feel free to ask us if the grammar is correct.
11."Tell me about a time you aimed too high."

This is another question where you can turn this answer into a good experience. I am going to be using the answer as the one where you failed to complete an assignment on time. This is good practice to use a similar answer by changing only a few sentences to answer another tough interview question. But first, I’ll give an example of a different short answer.

"We had a new project that I was interested in. Even though I was busy, I volunteered to take on the assignment. I had to work so much more. Although I managed to complete the assignment, it really burned me out. I feel I aimed too high and I would have benefited by doing a better job on my current assignments instead of wanting more challenges."

"I believe aiming high is a good practice. Aiming high keeps me focused and forces me to grow by trying to reach high goals I have set for myself. But I know there are times where aiming too high is not good. For example, one time in the middle of the project, our clients wanted to change one aspect of the assignment that we already completed. I analyzed the change request and told them that we will not be able to make the date. I estimated that it will take three additional days. They insisted that we finish on the agreed upon time schedule. I told them we would try but we could not promise anything. Even with hard work and overtime, we missed the due date. We did however, finish one day later. I challenged myself to complete on time, but with the large change request, it was too high of a goal to reach. In this case, I really aimed too high. I should have been more firm telling them that we will need a few more days."

This is a similar experience we already used, but you changed the beginning and the end to tailor it to this question. Remember that you can use one answer for multiple questions. This answer should make you look good instead of looking like you made a terrible mistake.

12."Tell me about a time you aimed too low."

I have never been in sales, but the example answer I want to give is an example of answering the question while displaying good traits. Remember to be clear when explaining your experience and don’t assume that they will understand everything. You should explain it step by step.

"There was a new project that I was interested in. Because I had other responsibilities, I didn’t volunteer. I wasn’t too busy, but I was worried I wouldn’t complete the assignment on time. I realized I missed a wonderful opportunity because I aimed too low."

"When I was selling cell phones for Verizon Wireless, I had a great month where I reached the quota in just two weeks. My goal is to always break quota by more than 10 percent, and this month, I new it was going to be easy. I scheduled to take a week off to relax, and at the end of the month I surpassed the quota by 31%. I had an opportunity to break the location’s record, but I didn’t jump on the opportunity. I was basically thinking that having achieved my original goal of 10% was sufficient. But I think when opportunities arise, I should be flexible and willing to change my goal. I aimed too low and I missed a rare opportunity."

This is not a bad mistake. You can say you were burned out, or needed to take some time off, or wanted to rejuvenate yourself. This answer doesn’t show a failure, but shows a great success. In this example, aiming too low resulted in great numbers and great results at the end of the month, so there is no harm done. In the end you are indicating that you could have done even better, that you are willing to re-evaluate your goals, and that you are now able to see and jump on opportunities.
13."Tell me about a time you made a great sale."

This is similar to the question, "what does it mean to make a great sale?" You can change the words a little and use the answer for both questions. The key to this answer is explaining what it means to make a great sale, and then giving a good example of a great sale that you made.

"I had a customer come in that was a little rude. He had many questions and cut me off very frequently. I stayed patient and explained everything to his satisfaction. He ended up representing a medium sized business that required a large order. I feel this was a great sale because I treated this customer with respect and patience."

"Making a great sale can be measured by how much the company made, but I think making a great sale is how satisfied the customer is. A satisfied customer will return and continue to be a valued customer, so it’s important to make sure that the customer is satisfied. One day, a customer was debating on two different types of watches. One was $1200 and the other was $400. This was a huge difference. I believe I could have sold him the $1200 watch, but instead, I laid out all the pro’s and con’s for him, and asked him questions to find out the purpose of the watch, if it was for casual wear or formal wear, and eventually helped him realize exactly what he was looking for. He ended up buying the $400 watch. Some people might think that was not a great sale, but I felt as a salesman and a person representing the company that I did a great job in satisfying this customer. In the next couple of years while I was working there, he came and bought many more items and had other friends come in to buy more products. I can confidently say that the $800 in missed sale resulted in thousands more for the company."

This example has several key points. First, this answer is telling the interviewer what you believe is a great sale. Second, it is giving a good example. Finally, it is showing a good sign of an employee by saying, "a person representing the company." All salesman or someone who works with customers is representing their company in some way. Saying this casually in an example is definitely powerful.

14."Tell me about a time you went over budget."

If you go over budget, it is a bad sign. It can mean you are not organized, do not plan well, or are not good with finance. So when you think of an answer, make sure you justify it with a good reason. Here is an example of what I am talking about.

"During our marketing campaign, we realized how many customers we were gaining through the radio advertisements. Although we didn’t have budget for more radio advertisement, I still made the decision to place our ad on three more stations. We increased sales by 25% for that month, but I ended up going over budget by 5%."

"There was a project that had a strict 4 month deadline. I didn’t have enough employees to complete the task, so I had to hire temporary workers. I was given a budget to either hire three extra heads for four months or to hire four extra heads for three months. Because of the importance of the project and the strict deadline, I chose to hire 4 temporary workers for 3 months to give us a time cushion at the end. We had a couple of unexpected obstacles and it turned out that we needed the temporary workers for another two weeks. We completed the project on time and everything turned out well, but in this instance, I went over budget by 5%. Due to the importance of this project, I didn’t want to risk slipping the date. Even though everyone was congratulating me on this accomplishment, I feel I could have done better if I calculated a cushion for unexpected obstacles."

This answer is admitting to going over budget, but the reason was good enough. The answer indicates that by saying how everyone was happy and making sure to say how important the project was. In the end you say you learned something. But you can change this answer a little. If you want to be more clear on the importance of the project, you can say a monetary value, like it was a two million dollar deal, and going over budget by $10,000 was acceptable by upper management.


School Related Interview Questions
1."What extracurricular activities were you involved in?"

If you don’t have any work experience, then a company wants to know what extra activities you did in school to see if you are active. It is best to list a couple of things describing what the group is and what role you had in the group. If you were not a part of any group, it might be ok to make something up. It is hard to verify this so they will not find out. But it could back fire, if the interviewer happened to be in the same group at the same university.

"I was involved in our school newspaper. I was one of the writers for three years."

"I was very active in our university politics. In my senior year, I was the vice president of the University."

"Besides studying, I played baseball for our school. I really like to study and to stay physically active."

"I was involved with a group that helped awareness of environmental problems such as pollution. I was on a team that educated people about driving alternatives such as buses and carpooling."

Long Answer

"I was very active in the university magazine committee. I was a member of that group for four years. I helped write articles about events occurring in school. In my senior year, I was the editor and did less writing and more managing in regards to the magazine structure, what contents to add, and distributing work among the junior members of the group. I really enjoyed my experience there and learned about working closely together as a group to deliver a quality magazine."

If you don’t have work experience, then you will need to say something to show them that you learned some valuable lessons such as team work. I suggest you to reflect on what you did during school and create a list of what you learned.
2."Why did you choose your major?"
"Why did you choose to major in History?"

If you are a computer science major interviewing for a computer position, then they will not ask you this question. But if you are an English Literature major and interview for a computer position, then they might want to know why you chose to major in English Literature. To create an answer for English Literature, you can say things learning to be a better communicator, having better reading comprehension, and say how skills learned from English Literature can be applied towards many fields. But something like History is different. Unless you are going to be a Historian, it’s hard to justify how your major is going to help you in your job.

"I majored in History because I enjoyed learning about the past. I always try to apply my history knowledge in many things I do. This knowledge allowed me to study many different experiences."

"I majored in English because it was a major that would make me more skilled in reading, writing, and communicating. I believe English is a tool that is used everywhere, so I thought it was the best major for me."

"I majored in Psychology because I was interested in seeing how the mind works. I also found it useful because it helped me to work with people better by understanding differences in everyone."

"I majored in Biology because I initially wanted to go to med school. Although I decided not to go to med school, I still wanted to complete my bachelor’s degree."

Long Answer

"I majored in History because I always had a strong interest in historical facts. I grew up very close to history and chose this major because I really enjoyed the subject. I planned on becoming a high school history teacher or even a professor, but then I started to get into computers. It’s totally different from history but it really fascinated me. Now, instead of looking in the past, I’m always looking into the future through all the technological changes."

It doesn’t connect the major to the job but at least it gives an explanation. It’s not bad to say you majored in something because you liked the subject. The only bad answer is to say you didn’t know what else to do and you couldn’t get into a better department.

3."If you redo college again, what would you major in?"

I already explained this a little in another question about restarting your career. You can use the same answer here if you want, but I will give one more example of not changing your major in the long answer section.

"I didn’t realize I was so interested in computers until I graduated college. So if I could select a different major, I would major in Computer Science."

"I liked the fact I completed my degree in English. But if I could redo college again, I would like to double major in English and Business."

"I would liked to have majored in Engineering. I have a strong interest in hardware so I believe Engineering would have helped."

"I would choose to major in Marketing in the Business School. I really enjoy this type of work and having more background would have helped me to excel more."