Well, this is the last batch of Behavioral Interview Questions that I have for ya’ll… I am quite sure it should be enough to keep any sane (and probably insane) person busy for quite some time. (http://richardstep.com)
…and who knows… maybe I’ll have a nice big Christmas present for ya’ll pretty soon. :)
Until then, enjoy another 200 whoppin’ questions to get you prepared in your carerr/job hunt – it really does help to practice… give it a shot!
Attibutes
Questions
Information Monitoring
• Tell me about a time when you failed to give your team or member of your team the information needed to do the job you asked of them.
Initiative
• Describe a time when you took the initiative to do something that needed to be done, even though it wasn’t really your responsibility. What circumstances prompted you to act?
Initiative
• Tell me about a time when you turned down a good job.
Initiative
• What projects have you started on your own recently? What prompted you to get started?
Innovation
• There are many jobs in which well-established methods are typically followed. Give a specific example of a time when you tried some other method to do the job.
Judgment/Problem Solving
• Give me an example of a time you had to make an important business decision that still affects you today.
Judgment/Problem Solving
• How do you involve your manager and/or others when you make a decision?
Judgment/Problem Solving
• Tell us about a time when you were forced to make an unpopular decision.
Judgment/Problem Solving
• What kinds of challenges did you face on your last job? Give an example of how you handled them.
Leadership
• Tell me about a strategic initiative or opportunity you identified and pursued.
How the Jungian Myers Briggs Personality Test Works
I’ve been doing some real career searching and assessment stuff here lately and it has really lead me to some life and soul-searching, too. I’m trying to figure out how to work with what I have a bit better and to get along with the folks around me.
Unfortunately, I wasn’t really sure where to go to find any help with this type of thing. Sure, I read plenty of books and talk to plenty of people. But for some reason, it seems like most folks don’t seem to be on the same mission I am.
Fortunately, nice TOOLS like the Myers Briggs [MBTI] personality assessment exist as a bit of insight into that vast powerhouse we call our minds and personality type:
“The purpose of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator® (MBTI®) personality inventory is to make the theory of psychological types described by C. G. Jung understandable and useful in people’s lives. The essence of the theory is that much seemingly random variation in the behavior is actually quite orderly and consistent, being due to basic differences in the ways individuals prefer to use their perception and judgment.” [The Myers & Briggs foundation]
What’s the Point of the Myers Briggs Personality Test?
That IS the point of this tool – understanding yourself better. There are no right or wrong answers. No one type is better than the other. And there isn’t a wrong way to do this test. Heck, if you don’t like your type, the Myers Briggs Trust folks (on their website) says you can just pick another one. How easy is that?! :)
This is a great tool to help delve a little deeper into your inner workings. I highly recommend it to everyone on their personal development journey. It is a bit more complicated that most personality type tests out there, but the results a worth the extra effort.
There are 4 Pairs and 16 Personality Types:
Here is a quick run-down of what the 4 dichotomies are (that’s a fancy word for ‘pair’) and what 4 types come out of each of the 4 pairs. 4×4 = 16. It works!
Dichotomies
Types
[E] Extraversion
[I] Introversion
ENTJ
ENTP
ENFJ
ENFP
[S] Sensing
[I] Intuition
ESTJ
ESTP
ESFJ
ESFP
[T] Thinking
[F] Feeling
INTJ
INTP
INFJ
INFP
[J] Judgment
[P] Perception
ISTJ
ISTP
ISFJ
ISFP
Read up on your personality type and start working on one change for the better. There is a ton of information all over the internet on each of the sixteen types. It can be a bit daunting to hustle through in one afternoon, but it’s all there if you’re really looking for it.
I recommend taking the information from at least 4 or 5 sites and combining it all into one big “results packet” for yourself. You can then go through each bit of the results and see what matches data from other sites and what all jives with you. Or keep reading and I’ll give you a link to all of the information you need in one place.
If you’re interested in finding out more about your type and how it can help you enhance your life today, please keep on reading. Tons more information awaits and you have the rest of your life to look forward to!
I recently finished reading “Beliefs” by Robert Dilts and a section of the book contained a script for a creativity hypnotic induction sequence. Mr. Dilts did extensive research on Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (his letters and non-musical creations) and came up with a script to model Mozart’s creative process.
I thought it would be pretty dog-gone neat to share this script with ya’ll AND make it easy to practice it.
Check it out and GET CREATIVE!
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EXERCISE SCRIPT:
Allow yourself to just take a moment to be aware of your bodies. Be aware of feelings. Perhaps there are parts of you that you haven’t really paid too much attentiont to during the day. Notice the symmetry of your hands, your body, your feet, your left side to your right side, and then pay attention deeply inside of yourself – find a part of yourself that you have always been able to trust to be healthy that in spite of whatever illness you’ve been through you’ve always been able to count on this part of you. It’s part of your body. Maybe it’s your heart. Maybe it’s you eyes. Maybe it’s your lips. Maybe your legs. Maybe your ears. Find a part of you that when you think about it, always feels vital, always seems healthy, the part of you you most trust to stay healthy and to stay vital. And as you put your awareness on that part, as you really go into that part, feel it. Feel that part of your physiology, of your body, and as you do, begin to imagine that this part of your body is like a musical instrument and it makes a sound, a noise… (stopped transcribing @ 03:47 – to be continued)
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USE INFORMATION:
all images sorced from WIKIMEDIA COMMONS (except for outro which is mine)
?Time for the next round of Job Interview / career search Behavioral questions!
I’ve got 80 for you this time – the 2010 Thanksgiving Edition - do some Career Search homework this holiday season!!! …so let’s get to it!
Attibutes
Questions
Judgment/Problem Solving
• Give me an example of a decision that you made rapidly and one you took more time to make.
Judgment/Problem Solving
• Give me an example of a time you used a contractor or consultant for something that, in hindsight, should have been done internally.
Judgment/Problem Solving
• Solving a problem often necessitates evaluation of alternate solutions. Give me an example of a time when you actively defined several solutions to a single problem. (NOTE: Make sure they talk about the tools used–e.g., research, brainstorming–as well as how and why they used the tools.)
Leadership
• Give me an example of a time when you were able to foresee an inappropriate course of action a team was moving in and help steer them in the right direction.
Leadership
• Tell me about a time you had to have a candid discussion with one of your direct reports regarding a work-related issue.
Organizational Awareness
• Give me an example of a time you failed to align the strategic priorities of your department/team with the strategic priorities of the organization.
Organizational Awareness
• Tell us about a politically complex work situation in which you worked.
Planning & Organizing/Work Management
• Tell me about a time you were faced with conflicting priorities. How did you resolve the conflict? Was it effective? Why or why not?
Planning & Organizing/Work Management
• Tell me about the last time you missed a deadline because you were not well organized.
Searching for good YouTubers is fun! Check these folks out!
I’ve been using SocialBlade.com to track some viewer information regarding my YouTube channels and the nerd in me just really loves to see the data. They also have some cool ranking features showing what channels are in close proximity to my channel’s current rank.
I’ve been having a lot of great fun finding new people (especially up and coming people!) by going through the ranks this way. It’s like an adventure… I thought I would share the lists I put together so here goes!
NOTE: My little assessment by each channel is based off a pretty quick viewing of a couple of videos. It should be relatively accurate, but clicker/viewer discretion is advised!
Let’s face it. We all started making some fun YouTube videos on our channel. Ideas just kept flowing in left and right and making good, funny, entertaining, and shareable movies wasn’t that hard… we were propelled by passion and enthusiasm!
Until… BAAM – the video producer’s equivalent to “writer’s block”. “What do I do now?” “I need some good video ideas for my next YouTube movie!” Such a horrible feeling… all of that pent up energy ready to be turned into the next creative piece for your channel. Your subscribers are waiting for you to give them more! What to do – what to do?!!!
Video Ideas but No Video Camera?
A few people have brought up this point and dog gone-it I should address it. It really boils down to roughly two main options:
Take a bunch of still photos and put them together
Record your computer screen while you do stuff
You can do #1 with Windows Move Maker, which is installed on just about all Windows PC’s and laptops. If you have a Mac, it should have iMovie installed, which will help you accomplish the same thing.
As far as #2, put all of what you’re planning on doing in something like a PowerPoint presentation (or heck, just Microsoft Word, the free OpenOffice Writer, or the free Paint.Net photo editor), and then use CamStudio (which is a free screen capturing program) to record the stuff happening on the screen. You can then either just upload it as is or bring it into Windows Movie Maker and do some fancy stuff to it.
I’m sure you’ll come up with some even fancier ways to make movies if you’re still working on getting a video camera.
Explore these Simple YouTube Video Ideas and Make some Movies!
I know you’re looking to get right down to making some movies and I can’t wait to help you. So here goes my brand-spankin’ new (FREE) ebook to help you get move views, subscribers, and to have more fun doing it!
There are pages of ideas, plenty of movie making tips, and a few surprises. Hope you like it!
Thought I would share a couple of pretty decent Career Assessment, Aptitude, Placement tests links as I’ve been looking around for some good research information. Pretty decent quizzes, but I recommend using the results as a “spring-board” to focusing your career search efforts.
For instance, just because a test says you are INTJ doesn’t mean you should discount jobs / functions that are related to other types that are close. I am almost always N and J so I am also checking out INTJ, INFJ, ENTJ, & ENFJ.
I have a couple of idea generation assist tools laying around, and I figured I would throw out a few posts based on the random goodness that comes out on occasion.
So, here is a list of 61 random items from the tool. The idea is to think about how the Item # 1 and Item # 2 entries for each row relate, don’t relate, or just simply stimulate ideas for new products of maybe even video ideas.
Pick one or two and just see how you could MAKE IT WORK and not how it wouldn’t work… it’s a brainstorm assistive list! Check it out!
The brain the brain... words and all... let's talk to each other a bit better, eh?
I’ve recently gone through some of Chris Howard’s NLP Training material and the following Complex Meta Program questions, and associated responses / actions, were very interesting to me.
The point of asking these particular type of questions to the interviewee is to see how the think and would handle situations related to the though processes tested during the interview. A kind of litmus test for personality / thinking styles / behavior tendencies for the situations relevant to the tailored questions… a GREAT resource for HR folk who have some difficult decisions to make in the hiring process.
These are also GREAT hints into the whole “behavioral interview” process that is very common in the career search arena. If you think about what information the interviewer is trying to garner from you, then the questions / answers don’t matter so much. So stop being so nervous! :)
Here are some notes I took while listening to this portion of the training session / audiobook:
???COMPLEX META PROGRAMS / Discovery Questions:
[01] What do you want in a car? What’s important about a car to you?
- looking for language cues, do they speak with “toward” or “away” language?
[02] Why are you choosing to do what you are doing?
- for possibility or necessity?
[03] How do you know when you are doing a good job?
- frame of reference check: internal, external, balanced, internal with external check, external with internal check
[04] How do you know when someone else is good at what they do?
- Convincer representational filter: see it, hear it, read about it, do it with them to witness
[05] How often does someone have to demonstrate competency to you before you are convinced?
- Convincer demonstration filter: automatic, number of times, period of time, consistent
[06] Do you know what you need to do to be good at a job? What about someone else? Do you find it easy or not so easy to tell someone?
- Management direction filter: good at managing self only (don’t know what others need to do, self+other, others, self but not others (know what others need but don’t like)
[07] When you come into a situation do you usually act quickly after sizing it up or a complete study of all consequences and then act?
- Action filter: active, reflective, both, or inactive (stuck in the consequences & no action)
[08] Tell me about a work situation in which you were the happiest / a one-time event?
- Affiliation filter: independent, team, or management player
[09] Tell me about a work situation in which you were the happiest / a one-time event?
- Work preference filter: things, systems, or people
[10] What’s your favorite restaurant? / Tell me about your favorite restaurant?
- Primary interest filter: people, place, things, activity – check for sort order and ‘poundage’; can future-pace and use same order
[11 ] If we were going to work on a project together, would you want to know the big picture or the details first?
- Chunk filter size: global to specific, specific to global
[12] What’s the relationship between these three coins? (1 quarter facing up, other 2 facing a different direction)
- Relationship filter: some sort for sameness (tend to stay on a job for a long time, but do not like a lot of change), some sort for differences (need much variety – short time at same job), some sameness with some exception (up to 7 years – need some variety)
[13] Tell me about a situation (context related) that gave you trouble / one time event.
- Emotional Stress Response: attune sensory acuity to responses: Visual, feeling, chooser
[14] What direction is the past and what direction is the future for you?
- Time storage filter: they will tell you, they will point, and you will find out if the time-line runs through them (in-time=perceiver) or is all out in-front (through time=judger)
[15] What was the last thing you said to yourself just before you got out of bed this morning?
- Modal Operator Sequence: utilize response sequence to influence behavior
[16] Watch person during story telling / doing other things for tendencies toward “downtime” or “uptime”
- Attention Direction: those in downtime during other people talking might not be great for customer service positions, for example
[17] When you need to work through a problem/challenge in your life, is it absolutely necessary to talk about with someone else or work through it by yourself only?
- Information processing style: force the answer into one of the two choices – no maybe’s: external processors or internal processors; useful in couples
[18] If someone you knew quite well said to you “I’m thirsty”, would you find the comment ‘interesting’ but probably do nothing about it or would you feel really compelled to do something about it?
- Listening style: literal (acknowledge & not act) or inferential (feel compelled to do something)
[19] If you felt that someone around you was not performing as well as they should, would you: (1) come to the point and tell them directly or (2) hint, imply, and give them clues
- Speaking style: literal (tell directly) or inferential (hints and clues)
Time for the next round of Job Interview / career search Behavioral questions!
I’ve got 80 for you this time… so let’s get to it!
???
Attibutes
Questions
Initiative
• Give me an example of an important goal you have had and tell me about your success in achieving it.
Initiative
• Give me an example of something that you have done to make your job easier or more interesting.
Initiative
• Tell me about a time when you demonstrated too much initiative?
Initiative
• What sorts of projects did you generate that required you to go beyond your job description?
Innovation
• When is the last time you had to introduce a new idea or procedure to people on the job? How did you do it?
Interpersonal Skills/Influence
• Have you ever had to persuade a peer or manager to accept an idea that you knew they would not like? Describe the resistance you met and how you overcame it.
Interpersonal Skills/Influence
• How do you get a peer or colleague to accept one of your ideas?
Leadership
• Describe a time you were able to provide your boss with recognition for the work he performed.
Leadership
• Tell me about a time you had to motivate a group of people.
Leadership
• Tell me about a time you refrained from saying something that you felt needed to be said. Do you regret your decision? Why or why not?
Leadership
• Tell us about a time when you influenced the outcome of a project by taking a leadership role.
Leadership
• Think about a time when setting a positive example had a highly beneficial impact on people you worked with. How did you determine that a strong example was needed? What did you do? What was the effect on the people?
I’ve been using SocialBlade.com to track some viewer information regarding my YouTube channels and the nerd in me just really loves to see the data. They also have some cool ranking features showing what channels are in close proximity to my channel’s current rank.
I’ve been having a lot of great fun finding new people (especially up and coming people!) by going through the ranks this way. It’s like an adventure… a real MMORPG or something lol! So, I thought I would share the lists I put together after I create a “check these out today” list.
I cannot endorse these channels (as I haven’t checked, yet), but these are the channels that showed growth that I wanted to check out.
So click at your own risk… just like I will be doing later tonight. :)
Running Up The Subscriber #’s Stats: ————————————–
I just got finished reading “The 4 Hour Workweek by Tim Ferriss” [check out his blog] and have a little list of “take-aways” I wanted to share will you fine people. Overall an inspiring and informative book – check it out!
[Notes / Take-Aways]
Continually Ask Yourself: · What would excite me? Not what I want or what is my goal…
· What would I do with $100,000,000?
· What would make me most want to jump out of bed?
· Am I inventing things to avoid the important?
General Goodies: 1. No paralysis by analysis! 2. doing something unimportant well, does not make it important 3. requiring a lot of time does not make a task important 4. WHAT you do is infinitely more important than HOW you do it 5. It takes 3-6 months to become 95% effective at something & 20-30 years to achieve the 98% level 6. Don’t just try to fill the blank spaces with work… 7. Define a “what to do” and “not to do” list… 8. Have 2 primary goals, AT MOST, for any given day. 9. Do the 80/20 principal backwards… what 20% is causing most problems / issues / slowing down? Find inefficiencies and eliminate them.
Time Saver: Any time I am asked anything (like where do you want to eat, want to do, et cetera):
- do **NOT** reflect it back with “well, what do you want to do?” – offer a solution and stop the back and forth
- can I make a suggestion? I propose… I suggest that… Let’s try ___ and then try something else if that doesn’t work.
Ideas – hard work already done: - http://www.gutenberg.org/ — ebooks in PD
- http://librivox.com/ — audiobooks in PD
- http://hotrecorder.com/ — records phone calls and can be used with Skype
- http://inventright.com/ — licensing ideas for royalties
- http://uspto.gov/ — trolling patents for unexploited ideas
- http://autm.net/ — lic. tech – view “all listings” under ‘tech transfer offices’
- http://expertclick.com/ — profile for media to see… costs money!
Books:
- The Magic of Thinking Big – David Schwartz (Ferriss book mentioned Steve Key?)
- How to Make Millions with Your Ideas: An Entrepreneur’s Guide by Dan S. Kennedy
- The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don’t Work and What to Do About It by Michael E. Gerber
- Walden by Henry David Thoreau
- Less Is More: An Anthology of Ancient & Modern Voices Raised in Praise of Simplicity by Goldian VandenBroeck
Like infographics? Wikipedia defines this style of information delivery as such:
“Information graphics or infographics are visual representations of information, data or knowledge.”
…and I think using infographics is a great way to show data… especially in this highly visual day and age.
Here is a short list of websites that contain infographics:
Here is a method of eliminating the use of the terms ‘um’ or ‘uh’ from your speaking. These “brain fart” “bridge terms” tend to lessen credibility and are not needed. Try these tips on for size!
[1] Breathe in every time you normally say ‘um’. You can’t make the sound when you inhale.
[2] Close your mouth when you would usually say ‘um’. You can still make the sound, but just changing your mouth position will stop you from making the sound.
You may feel a little silly doing these exercises, but you’ll feel much better when you stop saying ‘um’!
Productivity is just a matter of looking for the right things to do!
Want to boost productivity, enjoy more time off, and jump-start your career? Focus on these easy ways to work smarter—and get the job done.
1. Waste Your Coworkers’ Time! [sorry... this is funny - lol]
Take 15 minutes a day to talk about the ball game, ask about their kids, make plans for lunch. People with friends at work are better communicators (which is good for productivity, good for the boss, and good for your career).
2. Ask for an Office.
A study in the Journal of Applied Psychology found that people who work in cubicles have higher levels of stress hormones than those who work in offices with doors. More important to your bottom-line boss: Open offices increase morale and efficiency.
3. Sweat Through Lunch. [ewwww…]
We are more productive when we exercise. Those who exercise at any intensity for 2 hours a week (just 17 minutes a day), are 61 percent less likely to feel stressed. While working out will boost any bad mood, it has the biggest benefit when it’s done outside.
4. Stand When You’re on the Phone.
It has a magical way of shortening calls, according to Lyle Sussman, professor of management at the University of Louisville in Kentucky. “You’re less likely to shoot the breeze, and you get to the point faster,” he says.
5. Arrive 45 Minutes Early and Stay 15 Late. [I’d say 15 min early / 15 min late]
Use the 45 to knock one big thing off your daily agenda, and the 15 to plan out tomorrow. You’ll undergo your own productivity boost by tapping into your best morning energy and end the day with a burst of organization.
6. Play Your Favorite Music at Work. [Big time… and maybe an audiobook]
Researchers found that workers who listened to their favorite music improved their job performance and productivity by 10 percent. Music can boost your mood as well as drown out chatty coworkers.
7. Act Immediately on Messages [Do it now, date activate it, delegate it, or delete it – 4 D’s]
If you can complete the task in 2 minutes, do it right away. Remember that your “delete” key can be the best organizer of all.
8. Bring a Tennis Ball to the Office
When reading, squeeze the ball in your right hand. This is supposed to stimulate the left side of your brain, which processes work.
Some useful tips – incorporate a few when you get a chance!
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Here is a method of eliminating the use of the terms ‘um’ or ‘uh’ from your speaking. These “brain fart” “bridge terms” tend to lessen credibility and are not needed. Try these tips on for size!
