Resident Director Interview Preparation Guide

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Try to talk about a book related to the industry, for example, if you're applying for a role related to business, cite a business book.

Candidates without specific examples often do not seem credible. However, the example shared should be fairly inconsequential, unintentional, and a learned lesson should be gleaned from it. Moving ahead without group assistance while assigned to a group project meant to be collaborative is a good example.

In this question the interviewer is basically looking for a real life example of how you used creativity to solve a problem.

Typically the first 30 days are designed for you to learn as much as possible As Resident Director. Work hard to get to know your teammates, how they work together, and how you can make the biggest impact.

Remain optimistic and do not be too specific. Good attributes include moral character, honesty, and intelligence since managers usually believe they possess these qualities.

The best managers are strong but flexible, and that's exactly what you want to show off in your answer. (Think something like, “While every situation and every team member requires a bit of a different strategy, I tend to approach my employee relationships as a coach...”) Then, share a couple of your best managerial moments, like when you grew your team from five to 15 or coached an underperforming employee to become the company's top employee.

Talk about specific work related experience for the position you're interviewing for. Make sure the experience is relevant. Don't talk about previous experience that is not related to the position in question. If you don't have specific career related experience speak about prior experience that has helped you develop the specific knowledge and skills required for the position you are applying for.

State a business case to your manager / leader as to why you need the tools and make the request for them.

Talk about the potential career development, your career aspirations, your work relationships and the learning you'll receive.

You could discuss the company's vision, culture and solutions/services as reasons for wanting to join it.

This question seems simple, so many people fail to prepare for it, but it's crucial. Here's the deal: Don't give your complete employment (or personal) history As Resident Director. Instead give a pitch—one that’s concise and compelling and that shows exactly why you’re the right fit for the job. Start off with the 2-3 specific accomplishments or experiences that you most want the interviewer to know about, then wrap up talking about how that prior experience has positioned you for this specific role.

Keep your answer simple, direct and positive. Some good answers may be the ability to achieve, recognition or challenging assignments.

Hopefully you've never had to do this, but if you did, talk about how hard it was personally to fire anyone but that you did it objectively.

Bad Answer: Candidates who ramble on about themselves without regard for information that will actually help the interviewer make a decision, or candidates who actually provide information showing they are unfit for the job.

Good answer: An answer that gives the interviewer a glimpse of the candidate's personality, without veering away from providing information that relates to the job. Answers should be positive, and not generic.

Along similar lines, the interviewer wants to uncover whether this position As Resident Director is really in line with your ultimate career goals. While “an GGL star” might get you a few laughs, a better bet is to talk about your goals and ambitions—and why this job will get you closer to them.

Again, this question could get you in trouble so tread carefully. Some good answers might be that your previous job didn't provide any room for growth, that you were laid off due to a mandatory reduction in staff, that they closed their office in your state and required you to relocate, etc. Make sure not to mention anything negative about the people you worked with, the company in general or the job itself.

Don't vent or focus on the negative with brutally honest answers such as "My boss was a jerk," or "The company culture was too politically correct," or "They just weren't giving me the opportunity to take my career to the next level." Instead, keep the emphasis on the positive, even though there are sure to be things you weren't happy about.

Do not show your fear or uneasiness in handling pressure. Everyone likes to have a worker who can handle pressure calmly and with a clear train of thought. Show how you would logically come to a conclusion in a pressure filled situation.

Think of three major characteristics that demonstrate your best qualities related to work and then have quick stories to describe why.

An important part of research before the interview is what the company does and how the job role relates to that. This includes the company philosophy and working methods. Questions such as this seek to find out how a candidate will fit into the organisation As Resident Director. Answer positively; including practical examples of how you anticipate you would perform in the new role.

Discuss how you've improved yourself through work experiences, books you've read, classes, club(s) / extracurricular activities and describe the process on how it's happened. For example: I've improved my presentation skills tremendously because I've had to do 2 presentations this year for my communications class.

It should be very important if you want a long standing career. Remember, you're investing your time, energy and earnings potential into a company so you want to make sure it's a sustainably successful company that will grow with you over the long haul.

If you're not, then say you're not. Don't lie about it just to get the job. There's no point if you won't move for the job anyway and lying is unethical. If you are open to relocation As Resident Director, let them know which areas you'd be willing to relocate to.

Drinking at the water cooler together is not the best example. Think of how you can collaborate with teammates to generate new ideas, to create initiatives to impact the business' success for the better (specifically in the department that you're applying for). For example, if you're applying to marketing, collaboration could mean discussing new ways of social media advertising to reach an audience of over a million people to strengthen the brand awareness of the company.

Think again about the job specification and the skills needed for this role As Resident Director. Have a paragraph prepared highlighting how you will be able to do the job and what you can bring to the team. It goes without saying that this paragraph should be positive.

Make sure you share a story that demonstrates your presentation skills in front of many people. If you are really brave, offer to give a snippet of that presentation to the interviewer. This will definitely be different from what most people do.

Think of your top 3 mentors and what attributes they exhibit that you want to emulate. Common attributes include passion, desire, will, leadership, ability to influence others, intelligence.

Two things businesses need to pay attention to in their industries are what their competition is doing and the customers. You may not always agree with your competitors but it is important to be aware of what changes they are making. Very well. I have been in the industry for over 6 years.

If you have a professional network, discuss it detail (# of contacts, people you know, their positions and what you've learned from them or how you've worked with them). If you don't have one, discuss how you would develop one (career fairs, networking events for that industry, through your existing friends, etc)

Describe honestly the regretful action / situation you were in but then discuss how you proactively fixed / improved it and how that helped you to improve as a person/worker.