Position Name: Trust Officer
Interviewer
Candidate Name
Interview Date
Introductory Questions
– Interviewer(s) share name, role, tenure, and hand business cards for thank you messages – Share a brief overview of the company
– Give Candidate the Job Description, highlight Job Purpose, Schedule/Travel, Major Challenges & Key Decisions, and Physical Requirements
Tell us about yourself.
Walk us through your professional background.
What type of environment do you thrive in? What type of management style do you enjoy most?
What are your short and long-term professional goals?
What do you know about our organization?
Transitional & Verification Questions
– Clarify any unclear information from resume or application
– Verify availability for work hours and schedule, start date, and other important details
What interests you about this role?
What interests you about working for us?
Technical Questions
– Ask job related questions, based on skills and competencies needed for the role
– Ask open ended questions that allow candidates to tell a story about a specific example
– Ask 5-10 questions based on the role and how much time you have (~3-4 minutes per question)
– Listen for recent examples, details, consistency, the candidate’s role in the story, and teamwork
– Take notes and ask clarifying questions as follow-ups
What specific areas (related to the position) do you consider yourself the most knowledgeable? What areas have you had less experience or do not feel as comfortable with?
What has given you the greatest sense of achievement at work and why?
Behavioral / Situational Questions
– Ask job related questions, based on skills and competencies needed for the role
– Ask open ended questions that allow candidates to tell a story about a specific example
– Ask 5-10 questions based on the role and how much time you have (~3-4 minutes per question)
– Listen for recent examples, details, consistency, the candidate’s role in the story, and teamwork
– Take notes and ask clarifying questions as follow-ups. Follow up questions may include:
- Tell us more about the action you took and the outcome.
- What did you say at that point?
- How did you react to that situation?
- Explain your role in more detail.
- Tell me in detail what steps you took.
- And what was the result?
- Describe the obstacles you faced in getting it done.
- What other options did you consider?
- Why do you think you reacted as you did?
- How do you think others felt about your actions at the time?
- Were you satisfied with the outcome of your actions?
- If the same or a similar situation presented itself, what would you do differently?
Analytical/Detail Orientation
Describe the metrics to which you are held accountable. Why were these metrics chosen?
Situation:
Action:
Result:
How do you analyze and use information and data to support business decisions?
Situation:
Action:
Result:
We all have had times when we’ve found an error in our work only after it became a problem. When have you found yourself in this situation? How did you resolve the situation? What steps did you take to prevent errors from reoccurring?
Situation:
Action:
Result:
Collaboration
Describe a high-pressure work situation and how you handled it. Tell me what happened, who was involved and what you did in terms of problem solving.
Situation:
Action:
Result:
When circumstances are more difficult (i.e. tight deadline, lay off, labor negotiations, pulling a team together quickly)? Walk me through an example of how you worked with others to solve those difficult circumstances.
Situation:
Action:
Result:
Tell me about an experience when people outside your work group asked for your help in solving a problem or meeting an objective. What did you do? What was the result?
Situation:
Action:
Result:
Communication
Describe your most recent conflict within a team setting because of a miscommunication and how you were able to solve it.
Situation:
Action:
Result:
Give me an example of a time when circumstances changed the way you needed to communicate to others. What did you do and how did you do it?
Situation:
Action:
Result:
Tell me about a time when you had to give instructions to another person who was having difficulty understanding. What did you do?
Situation:
Action:
Result:
Compassion
How do you balance being empathetic towards a frustrated client while simultaneously keeping the company’s goals and objectives first?
Situation:
Action:
Result:
What is the difference between empathy and compassion in your opinion? How have you demonstrated each in your past work?
Situation:
Action:
Result:
Tell me about a time that you made a decision you knew was in the best interest of the business, its customers, or your team – but it was inconvenient and caused more work for you and your team.
Situation:
Action:
Result:
Customer Focused
Describe for me a recent time when a customer request could not be satisfied. What was the situation and how did you handle it?
Situation:
Action:
Result:
Have you ever had to go the extra mile to satisfy a customer? Tell me what you did and what was the result?
Situation:
Action:
Result:
Describe a time when you successfully handled a customer complaint.
Situation:
Action:
Result:
Decision Making
Describe a decision you had to make when you were really torn between the alternatives. How did you finally decide? What was the outcome?
Situation:
Action:
Result:
It can be difficult to use good judgment when everyone else seems to disagree with your approach. Give me an example of a time when you had to go against the wishes of a group to get something accomplished. What did you do? How did you explain your reasoning? What was the result?
Situation:
Action:
Result:
Do you tend to make decisions quickly and instinctively or more slowly and methodically? Tell me about a time when your method did not achieve the results you expected. What happened and what did you do?
Situation:
Action:
Result:
Emotional Intelligence
Describe a time when you needed to react to an emergency situation. How did you respond? What was the result?
Situation:
Action:
Result:
What has been the most difficult criticism for you to receive?
Situation:
Action:
Result:
Initiative
What self-development activities have you done on your own during the last three years?
Situation:
Action:
Result:
Describe for me a recent time when you could not solve a job-related problem. What did you do?
Situation:
Action:
Result:
Tell us about a time that you went above and beyond the call of duty.
Situation:
Action:
Result:
Integrity
Tell me about a time you were new to a company or work group. What steps did you take to build trust with coworkers and/or staff?
Situation:
Action:
Result:
Describe a time where you had to challenge assumptions or take a position. What was the outcome?
Situation:
Action:
Result:
We generally recognize that policies and procedures are necessary for workplace efficiency. Tell me about a time when you had to work under a policy or procedure you did not agree with. What did you do?
Situation:
Action:
Result:
Judgement
Share a time when you were in possession of sensitive or confidential information that you weren’t sure you should have or what to do with it.
Situation:
Action:
Result:
Tell us about a time that you had to exercise significant control and decision making.
Situation:
Action:
Result:
Planning & Organization
What tools do you use to plan your day? How do these help you determine priorities? How do you keep others informed?
Situation:
Action:
Result:
Tell me about a time when a coworker did not report to work and you had to take on extra duties to help out in that absence. How did you plan your day? What did you do?
Situation:
Action:
Result:
Describe a situation that didn’t go as planned. What would you have done differently?
Situation:
Action:
Result:
Problem Solving
Have you ever had to fix a problem twice? Describe the situation.
Situation:
Action:
Result:
Tell me about a time when you encountered a problem and your supervisor was not available to help you. How did you handle the problem?
Situation:
Action:
Result:
Describe a problem you solved before anyone realized it was a problem.
Situation:
Action:
Result:
Quality
Tell me about a quality improvement that you initiated and implemented. How did it improve the organization?
Situation:
Action:
Result:
What methods or techniques do you use to monitor the quality of your work? Give me an example of when using these methods enabled you to correct a problem or error that otherwise would not have been identified.
Situation:
Action:
Result:
Relationship Building
How does one go about building rapport quickly and maintaining successful business relationships? Give examples of how you made these work for you.
Situation:
Action:
Result:
Tell us about a customer relationship that was challenging to establish and maintain. How did you resolve the situation?
Situation:
Action:
Result:
Tell us about a time when you built rapport quickly with someone under difficult conditions.
Situation:
Action:
Result:
Sales
How do you prepare to call a past or current customer?
Situation:
Action:
Result:
What has been your most difficult sales situation?
Situation:
Action:
Result:
Share a time when you or the company could not deliver on a promise to a customer.
Situation:
Action:
Result:
Self Awareness & Development
How do you measure your own success?
Situation:
Action:
Result:
Describe a time when you volunteered to take on something new so that you could learn from it.
Situation:
Action:
Result:
What are your strengths? Opportunities for improvement?
Situation:
Action:
Result:
How do you keep up with current business trends?
Situation:
Action:
Result:
What are you doing to develop personally as well as professionally?
Situation:
Action:
Result:
Teamwork/Team Building
Tell me about a time you worked on a project with a team that resulted in a successful outcome, what contributed to the success of the project?
Situation:
Action:
Result:
What role do you enjoy playing when working on a team?
Situation:
Action:
Result:
Time Management
Where do you tend to get bogged down? Provide me an example of how you’ve worked to overcome that.
Situation:
Action:
Result:
When was the last time you missed a deadline? What were the circumstances?
Situation:
Action:
Result:
How do you structure your day? Your week?
Situation:
Action:
Result:
Candidate’s Questions
– Be sure to leave time for their questions, generally 1-3
– Paint a positive but honest view of the pros and cons of the work and culture
Notes
Closing Questions
– Describe where you are in the process, next steps, and when they can expect to hear back
– Ask if they have any final remarks
What is one thing I should know about you that I haven’t asked?
What do you hope to find in our organization that you don’t have now?
Interviewer Assessment
Enter your overall assessment about the candidate’s knowledge, skills, abilities, and fit for this position.
Would you recommend this candidate advance in the process?