Behavioral Questions Flashcards
(34 cards)
Describe a situation in which you persuaded others to see things your way on a sensitive point.
Describe a difficult decision you’ve had to make in your business life and how you went about doing it.
Give me an example of a problem you faced on the job and how you resolved it.
Spinning off the HIE from Mohawk into a non-profit due to the negative impact of Mohawk on its growth and sustainability.
or
Transitioning the HIE from a CIN to an HIE.
Tell me about a time you set a goal and achieved it. How did you accomplish it and what did it teach you?
Tell Me About A Time When You Used Research Or Fact-Finding Skills To Contribute To The Solution Of A Problem.
Compulink implementation improvement story
Tell me about a time you were able to successfully get a job done even when you were working with a person you had conflicts with.
Angela and the provider credentialing story
Give Me An Example Of When You Resigned From A Company And Why
Give An Example Of A Time When You Resigned From A Company And Why You Did So.
Thomas Eye Group - no growth story
Describe Your Style In Dealing With Irate Customers.
Remain calm. But don’t let them be abusive. That only makes situations worse.
Make sure they know that I am there to help, that we are partners in working through the situation.
Usually if a customer is that irate it’s because they feel frustrated and that they have lost control of the situation. So, provide a productive framework for them to share their concerns, and try to understand what their goal is. That gives them buy-in into making the situation better; gives them a sense of control while fostering a cooperative attitude rather than us vs them.
Never blame the customer, even if it is their fault. Always take the high road and make sure that the customer has what they need to get through this situation.
Tell Me About A Time When You Made A Mistake That Affected A Client Adversely And How You Coped With It.
I really don’t want to tell you this. It still horrifies me, but here goes.
- (Situation) I accidentally copied an already irate client on an email in which I expressed my frustrations about his behavior and his treatment of me and my staff.
- (Task) Had to mitigate the situation to keep it from getting any worse and to save face.
- (Action) I immediately owned up to it and proactively addressed it. I apologized, but also used the opportunity to share my concerns that if he and I couldn’t come to a place of respect and cooperation that neither of our problems would be solved. I tried to make lemonade out of lemons and flip the situation around to be a positive one.
- (Result) It actually did end up being positive. I was not disrespectful or rude in anything I said, but certainly I would not have been so “blunt” communicating with him directly. He actually wasn’t upset at what he read and I think it kind of surprised him. He also apologized to me and we ended up having a very good working relationship. It’s best to just own up to mistakes. I’m also glad that I have a policy of always keeping my comments professional, which helped. And now I’m much more diligent about quadruple checking my emails and who I’m sending them to.
Describe a time when you had several projects due at around the same time and had to postpone one in order to do the others on time and the process you used to determine which one you postponed.
- (Situation) Implementing EMR. Couldn’t do the entire company at once, so I triaged the different units based on size and ease of implementation.
- (Task) What I had to do.
- (Action) How I did it.
- (Result) What the results were
Tell Me About A Time When You Were Asked To Take Sides Regarding Another Employee And You Remained Neutral.
I honestly don’t think I’ve ever been in a situation like this. I try to avoid office politics and only bring up concerns if I am certain they are accurate and they will negatively impact the organization. And even then I try to remain as professional and objective as possible.
- (Situation) What was the problem.
- (Task) What I had to do.
- (Action) How I did it.
- (Result) What the results were
Recall A Time When You Used Logic To Save Your Company Money.
- (Situation) What was the problem.
- (Task) What I had to do.
- (Action) How I did it.
- (Result) What the results were
Describe A Time When You Felt Compelled To Speak Up For Compliance Reasons.
First thing to know is that I’ve been a HIPAA compliance officer, so this has been a part of my job.
- (Situation) Compulink – a tech changed some code in a client’s database that ended up sending out text messages with names and appoint times on a few hundred mental health patients. Leadership felt that we did not need to do a notification because only appointment times are not considered PHI. I pointed out that there is a higher standard and increased sensitivity with mental health. I also pointed out that any recipient would have enough information to show up and see who those people were, and how would they feel if that happened to them. We also needed to do the notification because it was our fault and not the client’s, and they were the ones who were shouldering the blame unless we took ownership of it.
- (Task) What I had to do.
- (Action) How I did it.
- (Result) What the results were
Describe A Time When Your Work Environment Changed In A Way You Didn’t Like And How You Adjusted To It.
When I started working at Resurgens, I had no office or desk. When I went in to work each day, I had to find a desk where someone was not in the office that day so that I could have a place to work; this went on for about four months. I turned it into a positive by trying to find different places in different units, so that I got to know the people and what they did better. This really helped me learn more about the organization and how I could help them. Even after I got an office, I still tried to make sure I spent time in each department on a regular basis.
Give An Example Of A Situation In Which Personality Conflicts Threatened To Derail A Project And How You Coped With That.
Use the same Angela and credentialing story
- (Situation) What was the problem.
- (Task) What I had to do.
- (Action) How I did it.
- (Result) What the results were
Tell Me About A Situation When A Company You Worked For Showed Interest In Your Professional Growth And How You Took Advantage Of That Interest.
Give An Example Of A Situation In Which You Took Specific Steps To Further Your Career.
Thomas Eye –- I approached the CEO about getting my CPHIMS certification and they sponsored it.
- (Situation) What was the problem.
- (Task) What I had to do.
- (Action) How I did it.
- (Result) What the results were
Give An Example Of A Risk You Took In An Employment Situation And How It Panned Out.
- (Situation) What was the problem.
- (Task) What I had to do.
- (Action) How I did it.
- (Result) What the results were
The hiring manager is trying to discern your risk profile and assess your good judgment.
EXAMPLE ANSWER “When my mother became seriously ill and needed someone with her at all times, I approached my boss about working from home. None of the company’s workers worked from home; it was strictly an onsite workplace. Yet my boss had always been pleased with my work and did not want to lose me as an employee, so she took the time to go over my workload with me in detail. This was a situation in which a certain amount of calculated risk would need to be taken. We both realized that I could work from home via computer and there would be nothing amiss in my work. I was glad I took the risk of approaching her about my situation. Until Mom died, I was able to be at her home all day, every day, and still stay abreast of my work and my career. As a side note, I know that your company is leaning toward an increase in telecommuting and I believe that this experience shows that I am prepared for this challenge.”
DO:
• Quality: calculated risk-taking
• Multiplier: telecommuting
• People have all different levels of risk tolerance. Tell a story that shows you are capable of taking well-thought-out, calculated risks
• Recount a risk that turned out positively that is within your risk tolerance level.
DON’T:
• Don’t talk about anything that was extremely risky or extreme in any way: “I decided to single-handedly change the secret recipe at Coke and see if anyone would notice and if customers would like my version best!”
• Don’t talk about something that really involved no risk: “I asked the boss if we could have the company picnic at a different park next year.”
Describe How Your Very First Job Benefited Your Career Path.
- (Situation) What was the problem.
- (Task) What I had to do.
- (Action) How I did it.
- (Result) What the results were
The hiring manager may want to know if there is a rhyme or reason to your employment history (a direction, in other words) or if it has just been random.
EXAMPLE ANSWER “My first job was as a cashier at a big discount department store. It had just opened, there were fifteen cash registers, and even then the lines were to the back of the store. I became a fast and accurate cashier, which developed my keyboard skills and led me to an interest in a career in IT. In this industry, efficiency is the name of the game and this is the skill I developed at the department store.”
DO:
• Quality: efficiency
• Show that you respect and value employment of any sort, including your first job, and how well you are able to make connections and see the silver lining in any job experience.
• Connect your first job to skills you are using now.
Describe A Time When A Non Work-Related Experience Taught You Things You Might Find Useful In This Job.
Shepherding my elderly parents through the healthcare system.
- (Situation) What was the problem.
- (Task) What I had to do.
- (Action) How I did it.
- (Result) What the results were
Tell Me About A Situation Where You Had To Work In Your Supervisor’s Place And How You Managed It.
Make up something about having to delivery a critical report to a client.
- (Situation) What was the problem.
- (Task) What I had to do.
- (Action) How I did it.
- (Result) What the results were
Describe A Time When You Had To Bring Two Departments Together To Work More Effectively With Each Other.
Compulink – sales and impelmetnation teams were at each other;s throats over who was responsible for clients dropping out and leaving the company before they made it to go live.
- (Situation) What was the problem.
- (Task) What I had to do.
- (Action) How I did it.
- (Result) What the results were
Describe A Time When You Had To Let A Friendly Co-Worker Go For Poor Job Performance And How You Did It.
Lily – a lovely person, but had extensive personal problems. She was missing excessive amounts of work, and an already over extended department was struggling to keep up with her work as well as their own.
- (Situation) What was the problem.
- (Task) What I had to do.
- (Action) How I did it.
- (Result) What the results were
Tell Me About A Time When You Managed An Individual Who Was Technically Competent But Who Lacked People Skills.
Shelby
- (Situation) Receiving multiple complaints about Shelby hanging up on internal customers and/or refusing to help them because she didn’t like them or thought their questions were stupid.
- (Task) For various reasons, I needed to keep Shelby on staff. I couldn’t just let her go at that time and there was nowhere else for me to place her, but I also couldn’t let her continue in that manner. I had to hold her accountable for behavior while helping her develop pathways she could rely upon for dealing with these situations, which she found very stressful.
- (Action) I wanted to make sure that we dealt with the situation together, and from multiple angles. So we set up a performance improvement and accountability plan with measurable and attainable goals. I connected her with internal and external customer service training options that she could do on company time. I made sure that there were several options so that she could choose which one worked best for her. I also encouraged her to take advantage of the EAP program to help her learn how to deal with these kinds of stressors in more productive ways. And we had weekly meetings to discuss her progress, which then changed back to our normal monthly one-on-one meetings as she made progress.
- (Result) Her performance did improve, but not to the degree I had hoped. She was never a stellar employee and never had strong relationships with any of her coworkers, but she got the job done in an acceptable manner. She had very strong technical skills and was very knowledgeable, but had trouble relating to other people. I tried to provide resources to address the issue from several angles, but in the end she chose to not really take advantage of them and ended up leaving the company. I think it was just a bad fit. If I were in that situation again, I think I would try harder to find a role that would allow us to leverage her skillset, but not have to interact with others as much.
Give Me An Example Of A Time When You Counseled An Employee To Improve His Or Her Performance, But Your Efforts Failed.
Shelby
- (Situation) Receiving multiple complaints about Shelby hanging up on internal customers and/or refusing to help them because she didn’t like them or thought their questions were stupid.
- (Task) For various reasons, I needed to keep Shelby on staff. I couldn’t just let her go at that time and there was nowhere else for me to place her, but I also couldn’t let her continue in that manner. I had to hold her accountable for behavior while helping her develop pathways she could rely upon for dealing with these situations, which she found very stressful.
- (Action) I wanted to make sure that we dealt with the situation together, and from multiple angles. So we set up a performance improvement and accountability plan with measurable and attainable goals. I connected her with internal and external customer service training options that she could do on company time. I made sure that there were several options so that she could choose which one worked best for her. I also encouraged her to take advantage of the EAP program to help her learn how to deal with these kinds of stressors in more productive ways. And we had weekly meetings to discuss her progress, which then changed back to our normal monthly one-on-one meetings as she made progress.
- (Result) Her performance did improve, but not to the degree I had hoped. She was never a stellar employee and never had strong relationships with any of her coworkers, but she got the job done in an acceptable manner. She had very strong technical skills and was very knowledgeable, but had trouble relating to other people. I tried to provide resources to address the issue from several angles, but in the end she chose to not really take advantage of them and ended up leaving the company. I think it was just a bad fit. If I were in that situation again, I think I would try harder to find a role that would allow us to leverage her skillset, but not have to interact with others as much.
Tell Me About A Time When You Conducted A Training Seminar And How Your Presentation Skills Came Into That.
Your prospective job may include training and presentation skills and the hiring manager wants to know how well you will do at that.
- (Situation) Training for TEG EMR go live
- (Task) Computers, classroom space, undivided attention, buy-in, and a measurement tool
- (Action) Organized audiences into operational groups, had them do basic self-training assignments so that it wasn’t completely unfamiliar, set up offsite training in a computer lab so that everyone was hands-on and not worrying about what else was going on that day in clinic, and used “real world” scenarios to train. Asked them questions as we went along and let them choose what the appropriate steps would be. Took a test at the end that I made hard enough that they would need to pay attention, but not so hard that they would be intimidated by the change.
- (Result) Everyone did very well and scored very well on their testing. They felt confident going into their first live day on the new system, and the only issues were forgetting how to do more obscure things, but nothing overwhelming. The software company adopted my approach into their training department.
Tell Me About A Time When You Contributed To Employee Morale.
Tell Me About An Occasion When You Were Positive About An Outcome While Others Around You Were Negative About It.
COVID hit and client wanted us to stop calling on providers because it just seemed disingenuous. Team was very disheartened and feared it would be the end of the HIE. The Cures Act had just hit, so I put together a guide on it for the team and helped them all see how this was a great opportunity for us to develop new ideas that we could have lined up and ready to go as soon as we were given the okay to start working with providers again. To get them interested, we started an informal contest for who could come up with the most interesting idea.
- (Situation) What was the problem.
- (Task) What I had to do.
- (Action) How I did it.
- (Result) What the results were
Tell Me About A Mistake You Made And What You Learned From It.
Putting Shelby on a performance improvement plan, but then not putting a time frame on it or properly documenting it. She applied for the management training program, and when I was asked to approve her application, I had to let them know that she was on probation. This wasn’t fair to Shelby, it embarrassed her, and it made it look like I didn’t want to help her. It also wasted company resources. I learned about making sure that my plans had measurable goals and timeframes, about being more clear in my communications, and making sure that the other person understood.
- (Situation) What was the problem.
- (Task) What I had to do.
- (Action) How I did it.
- (Result) What the results were