VA PBI Questions – Flashcards
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Tell me about two suggestions you have made to your supervisor in the past year. How did you come up with the ideas? What happened? How do you feel about the way things went?
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-Plumber assistance during disaster drills, several hook ups were difficult and plumbing had the knowledge, Their director approved it and it sped up disaster response time---Giving stickers to all visitor in case of a missing child. Was put in to place following the next supvr meeting aiding with finding lost children
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Tell me about a specific time when you made a suggestion to improve the quality of the work done in your unit. Tell me about a specific time when you made a suggestion to improve the efficiency of your unit.
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Reccomended that Secuirty Logs become uniform, all shift documented differently causing confusion, Process is still being implemented by the Training Officer---Reccomended that security scan security documents to patient records instead of nursing, this allowed nurses to do their job and guaranteed documentation, was the norm within a month
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Tell me about a time when a co-worker had a good idea and you agreed but no one else was willing to listen. How did you handle the situation and what was the outcome?
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Coworker developed a database to track trespassed visitors. The idea was shot down by his team leader. I spoke to our supervisor and had it implemented and it has saved us and law enforcement time
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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?
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Found an old ISMT in the attic while on Security Forces duty, Recieved funding to become a trainer and trained naval officers on marksmanship. This training allowed them to qualify instead of attending ranges, Received several letters of appreciation from field grade officers
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What projects have you started on your own? Why did you start the projects? What did you learn from doing the projects? What were the results?
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Started Marine Corps judging of the Shriners annual drill event.Saw the need for current military to judge the event after watching previously. All participants were very happy. Received a letter of appreciation from the shriner president as well as a presidential pin
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Give a specific example of a time when you had to deal with an angry customer. What was the problem and what was the outcome? What was your role in diffusing the situation?
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Tell about a situation at work where you realized a person needed help. How did you realize the person needed assistance and what did you do? What was the outcome of this situation?
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Tell about a situation where you assisted a co-worker. What was the situation? What was your involvement and what was the outcome?
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Tell me about a specific time when you resolved a difficult customer complaint. What did you do? What was the outcome?
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In your current job, who are your internal and external customers? Specifically, how do you get satisfaction feedback from your internal customers? Specifically, how do you get satisfaction feedback from your external customers? Give specific examples of how you have used both negative and positive feedback.
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Tell me specifically which co-workers in your organization are your customers. What have you done specifically to improve the service you give these internal customers?
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If you were to step back and look at the part of your organization you control, what components of a customer service program would you see? Describe each component individually and tell specifically, what your role has been in implementation and ongoing delivery.
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Give an example to illustrate how you have improved the experience of 1) your internal customers, and 2) your external customers. How did you determine improvement was needed and how have you determined the effectiveness of the improvement.
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Tell me specifically how you have communicated to line staff that they have permission to go around the "chain of command" to expedite resolution of a patient problem. What has been the result of such communication? Success stories?
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Describe a change in your work you have personally had to make in the last couple years. At the time, how did you feel about making the change? What did you do to make the change? How do you feel about the change now?
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Tell me about the last new procedure you had to learn in your job. Tell me what specifically was the hardest aspect of learning the new procedure. Tell me specifically what you liked best about learning the new procedure. How well is the new procedure working now?
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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 differently?
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Tell me about a time when you had to deal with two very different employees that could not be treated the same way. How did you deal with each? How did you decide what you were going to do? How well did your intervention with each employee work?
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Describe a major change you have made in the past two years. How did you accomplish the change? What difficulties did you encounter and how did you work through the difficulties? What personal factors assisted you in making the change? Would you do anything differently if you had to do it again?
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Tell me about a specific time when staff reductions required restructuring of the workload. How did you do the restructuring? Who specifically did you involve? How did you involve them? Why did you involve those whom you did?
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Describe an instance when you had to think on your feet to extricate yourself from a difficult situation. What caused the situation? How did your solution work?
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Describe a situation where you felt you had not communicated well. How did you correct the situation?
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Give a specific example of a time you had to deal with an upset co-worker, patient, or other customer. What was the person upset about and how did you handle? What was the outcome?
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A part of this job is documenting your work. Give a specific example of something you had to write for your supervisor in the past three months. What feedback did you get from your supervisor?
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Describe a time when you were able to effectively communicate a difficult or unpleasant idea to a superior. What made your communication work?
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How do you go about explaining a complex technical problem to a person who does not understand the technical jargon? What approach do you take in commuicating with people who do not know the technical jargon?
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Describe a time when you took personal accountability for a conflict and initiated contact with the individual(s) involved to explain your actions. What steps did you take? What was the result?
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Describe a time when you've had to work with strong-willed peers. What did you do? How did you handle them so you could influence their decisions?
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Give a specific example of a situation where the group of people you work with on a regular basis had a serious conflict. What was the conflict about? How were you involved in the conflict and what was the outcome?
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A part of this job is documenting your work. On a scale of 0 to 10 with 10 being excellent writing skills, how would you rate your writing ability? Give specific example of the types of documents you write routinely. What feedback do you get from your supervisor on your writing skills?
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Tell me about a specific time when those with whom you were working could not agree upon the course of action. How did you approach the situation and what was the outcome?
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It can be difficult to build good relationships at work but sometimes it doesn't always work. If you can, tell about a time when you were not able to build a successful relationship with a difficult person. How did you handle the situation? How did you accomplish the work?
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What is the toughest group that you've had to get cooperation from? Describe how you handled it. What was the outcome?
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What is your typical way of dealing with conflict? Give me an example. What have you learned from dealing with conflict?
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Have you ever had to "sell" an idea to your co-workers or group? How did you do it? Did they "buy" it?
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Describe the most challenging negotiation in which you were involved. What did you do? What were the results for you? What were the results for the other party?
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Explain a specific situation where you met resistance from your staff or work group about a directive that was mandated. Explain your role by describing dialogue related to the situation. Specifically what measures did you incorporate? What did you learn about group resistance? What was the ultimate outcome?
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Think about a specific time when you had to negotiate with several service chiefs to obtain their cooperation to implement a specific initiative. Tell me specifically how you negotiated with them to attain the desired cooperation and how the implementation of the initiative went.
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Give two examples of things you've done in previous jobs that demonstrate your willingness to work hard.
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There are times we work without close supervision or support to get the job done. Tell us about a time when you found yourself in such a situation and how things turned out.
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Give an example of a time you defended your organization. How did you feel about doing it? How did you go about doing it? What was the response of the other party/parties?
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Tell me about a specific time when people outside your organization were criticizing it unfairly. What did you do or say? How successful were you in changing minds or attitudes? What evidence suggests that level of success?
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List two characteristics that you feel you possess that make you a sensitive, effective leader. Give a specific example for each to show how you applied them to your work setting
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Describe a time when you worked as a member of a team to accomplish a goal of your organization. What role did you play? Describe how the team worked together. What was the outcome?
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Describe a time when you were working with a group and there was conflict in getting a job done. What was your role? Were the conflicts resolved? If yes, how were they resolved? If no, what were they not resolved?
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Tell me about a specific time when a co-worker was experiencing significant personal problems that were affecting their work. What did you do to assist the co-worker and help them with their situation? Were your efforts successful? How did you know they were or were not successful?
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Describe a time when one of your staff or your work team was working above work expectations. What was your response? How did the other party/parties respond?
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Describe a time when one of your staff or your work team was working below work expectations. What was your response? How did the other party/parties respond? What was the ultimate outcome?
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List three characteristics you feel you possess that make you a sensitive, effective leader. Give a specific example to illustrate the application of each to your work setting.
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Tell me about a specific time when a subordinate had a personal need that conflicted with the needs of your organization. How did you address the conflicting needs? What was the result of the way you handled the situation?
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Tell us about a job or setting where great attention to detail was required to complete a task. What steps were involved? How did you handle that situation?
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Name three things you have done in the past two years to grow in your job.
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Describe a time when you received negative feedback and turned it into something positive.
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What self development activities are you currently engaged in?
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Describe a time when you anticipated potential problems and developed preventative measures.
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Tell us how you keep your job knowledge current with ongoing changes.
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Developing and using a detailed procedure is often very important in a job. Tell about a time when you needed to develop and use a detailed procedure to successfully complete a project.
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Give me a specific example of a time when you used good judgment and logic in solving a problem.
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Tell us about a time when you had to analyze information and make a recommendation. What kind of thought process did you go through? What was your reasoning behind your decision?
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Describe a negative work experience you learned from. Describe the circumstances and give an example to show you applied the learning to a work situation.
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Describe a situation where you can take credit for the growth and development of a staff member or co-worker. Be specific about your role in terms of interactions and the outcome.
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Tell me specifically what self-development activities you have participated in during the last year.
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Tell me about a time when you delegated a project effectively. What steps did you take to empower others to work on the project? How did you track progress of the project?
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In a supervisory role, have you ever had to discipline or counsel an employee? What was the nature of the discipline? What steps did you take? How that make you feel? How did you prepare yourself?
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Everyone has made some poor decisions or has done something that just did not turn out right. Give an example of when this happened to you. What did you learn? What would you do differently?
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Describe a time when you disagreed with an evaluation or feedback you received about your performance. How did you handle the situation? What impact did it have on you? What did you learn?
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Specifically, what are you doing to keep up with changing concepts in healthcare management? What attributes do you possess that make you able to keep up with the times? Give an example to convince me that you can keep up with these changing, chaotic times.
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Tell me specifically about the professional activities in which you are currently engaged to enhance your professional capabilities.
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How does the work you are currently doing affect your organization's ability to meet its mission and goals? Do you think your work is important? If yes, why? If no, why not?
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Describe a time when you went over and above your job expectation. What motivated you to put forth the extra effort? How did you feel when the job was finished? Did others realize you had put forth the extra effort? What feedback did you get for your effort?
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Tell me about a time when you had to take on extra duties or make some other sacrifice (such as changing your duty hours) in order for an overall improvement in the service of your unit to its customers to occur. How did you feel about making the change? What did you say to co-workers and supervisors about the change? How do you feel about the change now? Has it produced better service to your customers?
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Tell me about a specific time when others in your work group were having difficulty understanding how their work interfaced with the work of other units, and the impact changes they made had on those other work groups. What specific things did you do to assist your co-workers to better understand the relationship of your work to that of others in the organization? What specific things did you do to ensure that changes within your group were not detrimental to other work groups?
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Describe a change you are responsible for that improved the performance of your work area or organization. How did: 1) you come up with the idea for the change, 2) you go about implementing the change, 3) staff respond to the change, and 4) you measure the outcome of the change? In looking back, what things would you do differently?
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Tell me about a specific time when you had to assist your staff in understanding the relevance to the organization of an aspect of their work. What mechanisms did you use to communicate with them? How effective was the communication? How did you evaluate that effectiveness?
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Give me an example of a time when you used good judgment and decision-making in solving a problem.
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Rate yourself on a scale of 0 to 10 with 0 indicating no knowledge or skill and 10 indicating above average knowledge and skill on the following areas: (would have approximately 10 areas of knowledge or skill specific to job—would range from specific job skills such as typing/work processing to higher level skills such as negotiation and conflict resolution).
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Give an example of how you have used a technical skill in your field in you current position.
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Compare what you know about the job you are interviewing for and your own knowledge and skill. What areas of development do you feel you will need to meet the job expectations?
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