Sample SAR story:

Situation (S): Advertising revenue was falling off for my college newspaper,the Stetson Reporter, and large numbers of long-term advertisers were not renewing contracts.

Action (A): I designed a new promotional packet to go with the rate sheet and compared the benefits of Reporter circulation with other ad media in the area. I also set-up a special training session for the account executives with a School of Business Administration professor who discussed competitive selling strategies.

Result (R): We signed contracts with 15 former advertisers for daily ads and five for special supplements. We increased our new advertisers by 20 percent [quantities are always good] over the same period last year.

Staff Assistant

1. What is your typical way of dealing with conflict? Give me an example. What have you learned from dealing with conflict?

2. Tell me about a time you had more to do than you had time to get done. How did you decide what to do first? What process did you use to prioritize the rest of the things you had to do?

3. Give examples to illustrate how you have generated ideas that represent thinking “outside the box.” How were your ideas received by others? What became of the ideas?

4. Tell me about a meeting in which you had to tell others things they did not want to hear. How did you communicate those ideas to them? What was the result of that communication? If you could do it again, is there anything you would change in what you communicated, or the way in which you communicated it? Why would you make those changes?

5. SCENARIO: You have tasked with improving the flow of paperwork between the VA and the housing authorities to expedite the case management assignment and voucher issuance process. Explain the approach you use for performance improvement. Explain specifically how you identify problems, what strategies you incorporate to measure the impact of the problems, how you deal with the problems, and how you measure success or failure. Track one problem you have dealt with from identification to closure.

6. Describe a situation where you were responsible for getting others to make a change. What role did you play and what actions did you take? What was the outcome? If you had to do it again, would you do anything different?

7. Tell me about a time when you had to adapt to an uncomfortable situation. How did you cope with the changes?

8. Tell us your experience in leading a multidisciplinary group of people. What was your goal with the team and how did you get involved in meeting the goal? What was the outcome of the effort?

9. Give me an example of when you had to work with a customer/ co-worker that was difficult to work with. Why was this person difficult? How did you deal with that person?

10. Tell us about a time when your supervisor was absent and you had to make an important decision. Specially, what was the situation you faced and what was the outcome of your decision?

11. What is an example of a situation where you made significant improvement in a work area for which you were responsible.

12. Provide us with a recent change in your organization which directly impacted areas you worked in or were responsible for. How do you personally manage he change? How did you work with others and what was the outcome?

Sample SAR story:

Situation (S): Advertising revenue was falling off for my college newspaper,the Stetson Reporter, and large numbers of long-term advertisers were not renewing contracts.

Action (A): I designed a new promotional packet to go with the rate sheet and compared the benefits of Reporter circulation with other ad media in the area. I also set-up a special training session for the account executives with a School of Business Administration professor who discussed competitive selling strategies.

Result (R): We signed contracts with 15 former advertisers for daily ads and five for special supplements. We increased our new advertisers by 20 percent [quantities are always good] over the same period last year.

Human Resource Interview Questions

1. Tell me about a time you had to handle multiple responsivities. How did you organize the work that you needed to do? Given that same situation, how would you organize the work differently to have achieved even greater success in the handling the multiple responsibilities?

2. Tell us about a time when your supervisor was absent and you had to make an important decision. Specifically, what was the situation you were faced with and what was the outcome of your decision?

3. Give an example of a time you had to go above and beyond the call of duty to get a job done.

4. What did you do in your last job to be effective in your organizing and planning? Be specific. What one thing you have done to be even more effective?

5. Tell me about a time you had more to do than you had time to get done. How did you decide what to do first? What process did you use to prioritize the rest of the things you had to do?

6. What is the most pressure packed situation you have ever worked in? What did you do to cope with the pressure in that situation? How would you change what you did if confronted with that situation today?

7. Tell of the most difficult situation you ever faced in getting along with a supervisor and/or subordinate employee. How did you work through the situation and what was the outcome?

8. Tell me about a situation where a team effort was heading for an unsuccessful conclusion and you are able to turn the impending failure into success. What did you to change the direction of the group? What made your efforts successful?

9. Tell us specifically what professional and personal activities you engage in last year to enhance your knowledge and skills.

10. Tell me about a difficult situation when it was desirable for you to keep a positive attitude. What did you do?