Interview Questions and Answers
1. Tell me about an accomplishment you are most proud of.
Out of all of the accomplishments I have made in life, one of the most memorable is the day I broke my high school’s pole vault record. I came into track as a freshman not having any clue on what I would do, until my friend said he was going to pole vault. I had no clue that pole vaulting was a thing that high schoolers could do, but I just had to try it. I watched my teammate break the school record my freshman year and set my goal on breaking that record. I broke all of the class records up to my junior year where I finally broke the record after three years of hard work and countless hours spent on the smallest bits of technique.
2. Who do you look up to/ who is your mentor?
I look up to a long term coach and now friend, K.C. Lopata. He has been my football kicking coach since I was in sixth grade and has taught me a great deal about life not only on the field, but off of it as well. Lessons about coming back from failure and ways to stay calm and peaceful in high pressure situations are applicable in all places of my life. His overall attitude about life and his goal to constantly improve is inspiring in a way like no other.
3. How do you handle pressure/ stress?
I handle stress by taking part in activities like playing the piano, meditation, and yoga. I try to leave some time for all three of these everyday before bed to help relax. As a plus I’ve found it makes my body overall feel better and makes it easier to fall asleep at night. Another way I like to reduce pressure and stress is by always being ahead on assignments with upcoming due dates. This way I can have it finished early and review it as the due date arrives, making revisions as needed instead of creating the whole thing.
4. What wakes you up in the morning?
Everyday my biggest motivator to get out of my bed is the want and drive to improve. Whether that means I’m getting educated in school or learning as I work on a car, I want to learn the most I can and have some fun doing it. The thing that keeps me waking up is seeing the growth in those things that I am learning, from not knowing how to change oil in a car to doing it in a timely fashion. Finally the thing that truly wakes me up everyday, is my iPhone’s alarm function.
5. How would you like to be challenged by a job?
I would like a job to challenge me in both my skills and capabilities. Challenging my skills would provide new experiences to learn from so the next time I am more readily prepared. Also challenging my capabilities is a must so it can make me regularly realize that I must keep on improving to be ready for anything thrown at me, rather than becoming stagnant and stopping that growth.
6. Tell me about a time you participated in a team, what was your role?
One of the most memorable teams I took part in is the L.E.A.D. Mentor program at South Lyon East High School. The program consists of upperclassmen that meet with freshman to take part in activities and talk to them about any questions or problems they have had so far in high school. I was the role of mentor to my own group of freshman, in my time being a mentor I always tried to be honest and give them all the insight that I wish I was given when I was in their shoes. I believe that my role as mentor will provide beneficial for that group if they do take my advice and apply it to their lives, so hopefully, they are ready to take on the rest of high school.
7. What are your weaknesses?
My biggest weaknesses include the following; I get too invested in my work, I spend too much time trying to make things as perfect as they can get, and I easily get frustrated with my peers. While getting invested in work is good sometimes I do it in an obsessive like amount, where I just work on that one thing all the way through until it is done. Making things perfect or close to it once again is good, but sometimes I spend a little too much time on minor details that don’t really matter all that much in the big picture. Finally I get frustrated with many of my peers because I see them not putting in the amount of work and effort that they should be.
8. What are your pet peeves?
Truthfully there isn’t too many things that irritate me that people do. Cleanliness is one of the few things that bothers me, I feel like it just is not professional if one is not clean and looks presentable. One of the other things that bothers me is people that don’t focus and are always getting off task causing distractions. Finally, I can’t stand people that aren’t respectful when another person is trying to talk, the people that cut off other people and don’t pay attention or even look at the speaker.
9. What have you learned from the mistakes on the job/in training or school?
I have learned excellent time management from my time spent in school and volunteering. In school I have faced many big tasks that have timed tests and short due dates, these tasks have helped me learn where and how to properly allot time to the proper things. My volunteer work at the local hospital taught me how to better judge how long it will take to perform a task along with, once again, reinforcing proper time management during my volunteering shifts. School also taught me a lot about problem solving in different situations from professional to very casual.
10. What kind of work do you enjoy the most?
The kind of work I enjoy the most is that of being hands on with people and what I am doing as a whole. I really enjoy helping people, so doing things in which I get to pursue helping others is very intriguing because seeing that person happy with me is a great feeling. Also being able to create new things and fix broken stuff has been one of my passions, I just finished restoring a car with my father and it was a blast. The most rewarding thing about fixing stuff is not just the finished product, but also the knowledge gained from going through the process.
Out of all of the accomplishments I have made in life, one of the most memorable is the day I broke my high school’s pole vault record. I came into track as a freshman not having any clue on what I would do, until my friend said he was going to pole vault. I had no clue that pole vaulting was a thing that high schoolers could do, but I just had to try it. I watched my teammate break the school record my freshman year and set my goal on breaking that record. I broke all of the class records up to my junior year where I finally broke the record after three years of hard work and countless hours spent on the smallest bits of technique.
2. Who do you look up to/ who is your mentor?
I look up to a long term coach and now friend, K.C. Lopata. He has been my football kicking coach since I was in sixth grade and has taught me a great deal about life not only on the field, but off of it as well. Lessons about coming back from failure and ways to stay calm and peaceful in high pressure situations are applicable in all places of my life. His overall attitude about life and his goal to constantly improve is inspiring in a way like no other.
3. How do you handle pressure/ stress?
I handle stress by taking part in activities like playing the piano, meditation, and yoga. I try to leave some time for all three of these everyday before bed to help relax. As a plus I’ve found it makes my body overall feel better and makes it easier to fall asleep at night. Another way I like to reduce pressure and stress is by always being ahead on assignments with upcoming due dates. This way I can have it finished early and review it as the due date arrives, making revisions as needed instead of creating the whole thing.
4. What wakes you up in the morning?
Everyday my biggest motivator to get out of my bed is the want and drive to improve. Whether that means I’m getting educated in school or learning as I work on a car, I want to learn the most I can and have some fun doing it. The thing that keeps me waking up is seeing the growth in those things that I am learning, from not knowing how to change oil in a car to doing it in a timely fashion. Finally the thing that truly wakes me up everyday, is my iPhone’s alarm function.
5. How would you like to be challenged by a job?
I would like a job to challenge me in both my skills and capabilities. Challenging my skills would provide new experiences to learn from so the next time I am more readily prepared. Also challenging my capabilities is a must so it can make me regularly realize that I must keep on improving to be ready for anything thrown at me, rather than becoming stagnant and stopping that growth.
6. Tell me about a time you participated in a team, what was your role?
One of the most memorable teams I took part in is the L.E.A.D. Mentor program at South Lyon East High School. The program consists of upperclassmen that meet with freshman to take part in activities and talk to them about any questions or problems they have had so far in high school. I was the role of mentor to my own group of freshman, in my time being a mentor I always tried to be honest and give them all the insight that I wish I was given when I was in their shoes. I believe that my role as mentor will provide beneficial for that group if they do take my advice and apply it to their lives, so hopefully, they are ready to take on the rest of high school.
7. What are your weaknesses?
My biggest weaknesses include the following; I get too invested in my work, I spend too much time trying to make things as perfect as they can get, and I easily get frustrated with my peers. While getting invested in work is good sometimes I do it in an obsessive like amount, where I just work on that one thing all the way through until it is done. Making things perfect or close to it once again is good, but sometimes I spend a little too much time on minor details that don’t really matter all that much in the big picture. Finally I get frustrated with many of my peers because I see them not putting in the amount of work and effort that they should be.
8. What are your pet peeves?
Truthfully there isn’t too many things that irritate me that people do. Cleanliness is one of the few things that bothers me, I feel like it just is not professional if one is not clean and looks presentable. One of the other things that bothers me is people that don’t focus and are always getting off task causing distractions. Finally, I can’t stand people that aren’t respectful when another person is trying to talk, the people that cut off other people and don’t pay attention or even look at the speaker.
9. What have you learned from the mistakes on the job/in training or school?
I have learned excellent time management from my time spent in school and volunteering. In school I have faced many big tasks that have timed tests and short due dates, these tasks have helped me learn where and how to properly allot time to the proper things. My volunteer work at the local hospital taught me how to better judge how long it will take to perform a task along with, once again, reinforcing proper time management during my volunteering shifts. School also taught me a lot about problem solving in different situations from professional to very casual.
10. What kind of work do you enjoy the most?
The kind of work I enjoy the most is that of being hands on with people and what I am doing as a whole. I really enjoy helping people, so doing things in which I get to pursue helping others is very intriguing because seeing that person happy with me is a great feeling. Also being able to create new things and fix broken stuff has been one of my passions, I just finished restoring a car with my father and it was a blast. The most rewarding thing about fixing stuff is not just the finished product, but also the knowledge gained from going through the process.