Three Interview Questions

What accomplishment has given you the greatest satisfaction?

In high school and college I ran Track and Field. While participating in this sport, our 4x100 meter relay and 4x200 meter relay took first place at State Track and Field. I felt most satisfied with these accomplishments, not because of the win, but because of the fact that my team worked hard to perfect their hand-offs and their times in the relays, thus attaining a win at state. It was the team effort and accomplishment after the hard work they had put into the relay that made me feel the most satisfied.

What are your greatest strengths and weaknesses? 

My greatest strengths are that I value the team above self; I would rather see all of us succeed rather than just myself, even if I do not get a lot (or any) of the credit for it. I am also capable of completing a task in a reasonable amount of time with a team; I can get them focused, assign tasks, and get the entirety of the task finished well while working as a team.

My greatest weaknesses would be that I have a tendency to talk a lot, so I know that sometimes others may feel undermined and not as valued with their opinions, thus not willing to share them as readily as they would be if I were not present. To combat this, I purposefully consider all of those in the room with me when we are working or if I am talking. I make it a point to ask people their opinions and ideas before offering my own (while still giving my input, too). I also make it a point to consider all of the options put on the table from everybody and not just my own thoughts and ideas before making a decision, because I know that not all of my ideas will be best. It's a team effort, even if I am at the back of it.

Can you perform well under pressure? How do you know this?

Yes, I can perform well under pressure. I know this because, in high school, I ran in relays where I was the anchor (in other words, I was the last runner in the relay team; I crossed the finish line). Due to this, since I was the one who was to cross the finish line, if we were behind in a race, it'd be up to me to catch up and "take the win." My team would tell me things like, "If we are behind we won't worry, because you are anchor, so you will catch up." That put a lot of pressure on me because they were basically putting all of their faith in my running ability to win the race for them if they messed up. That's alright, though, because we won both of those relays at state.