• Get ready for your career in science
• You and the job you want
• Employers and the labour market
• Practical Skills to Find Work
  • Job searching techniques
  • The hidden job market - (Networking, Direct canvassing and Information Interviewing)
  • Self employment
  • Writing job applications
    • Employer forms
    • Addressing selection criteria
    • Cover letters (includes sample)
    • Resume (includes sample)
  • How to write a career objective
  • Interviews
  • Sample interview questions
• Useful Resources

Practical Skills to Find Work

Interview questions

How would you respond if you were asked the following questions at a job interview?

• What influenced you to study the course you did?
• What are the skills and attributes that make a good chemist/environmental scientist/food technologist/administrator in public health/technical analyst?
• What area of chemistry/public health/environmental issues are you most interested in?
• What do you know about our organisation?
• Why do you want to work here?
• What laboratory techniques are you familiar with?
• This job requires a passion for “hands on” laboratory work.  What makes you a good technician in the laboratory?
• Can you give an example of when you identified an OHS issue and resolved it?
• What are important OHS factors to be considered when working in a laboratory?
• Tell me about some of the written work you do in your course.  What is the best assignment you wrote and why?
• Tell me about a time when you worked well in a team.  What was your role?  What did the team achieve?
• Tell me about a time you had to convince someone of your point of view.  What was the situation?  How did you persuade them?
• Tell me about a time you delivered excellent customer service
• Can you give me an example of when you used your initiative to solve a problem?
• Tell me about a time you used good judgment to solve a problem.
• What motivates you?
• Describe a situation where you had to deal with a difficult person.  What was the situation and how did you handle it?
• How do your organize your time and plan activities?
• What are 3 issues confronting the state/federal government over the next 5 years?
• What are your strengths and weaknesses?
• What does team work mean to you?
• What has been a significant achievement for you?
• What would be an example of you giving an assignment or piece of work your best effort and being disappointed by the outcome?  What would you do differently?
• What are your career goals?
• How do you feel about doing more study?
• Tell me about yourself.
• Is your academic performance an indicator of how you will perform in this job?
• Tell me about your time at university.  What did you enjoy the most?
• Give me an example of when you set a goal and achieved it?
• What subjects have you done best in at university?  Why?
• What part time jobs have you had?  What did you learn from them?
• This job requires the ability to work autonomously.  Do you think you can do that?
• Tell me about previous experience handling chemicals/completing impact studies/use of modelling equipment/applying IT skills.
• Tell me about fieldwork you have done.
• Why do you want to do research?
• Tell me about presentations you have done.  Describe one of the best.
• What do you think is important when keeping records of testing?