66. What motivates you?

Other than looking into your past experiences….Times when you were motivated and times when you were not… no one but you has this answer. Find concrete examples when you had to pull it all together and get motivated to get the job done; what does it for you?

This is a personal trait that only you can say, but good examples are: Challenge, Achievement, and Recognition

You would think that because I am interested in sales, only financial compensation would motivate me to achieve. Although monetary rewards are important to me, I am driven to succeed internally. More than anything, I want to be respected by my friends and coworkers for being the best at what I do. Whether I am considered to be the best car detailer in my hometown or the best columnist for my college newspaper, I want to be recognized as the best.

67. What things make a good team member?

Consider first the situational context of the question. What is the team environment of the organization that you are interviewing—do they have a strong, organized team-based work environment or is it based on informal authority and fluctuating teams? Ideally, you should have had an opportunity to research and ask some questions about the organization to determine how they operate (and if indeed you want to work in that environment.) Model your responses to the organization. Obviously, you are describing yourself = good team member. My ideas of what makes a good team member may be very different from yours—and from the organization. Also depends on where you are in the team—new member, leader, support. How do you see yourself? How do you make yourself fit into a new team? How do you elicit cooperation from other team members? What do you think the organization’s biggest problem is relative to teams and team-building? And, what solution could you provide?

68. Why do you feel we should hire you for this position?

Before you submit a resume or draft a cover letter and certainly before you go to an interview you should do 2 things: Research the job and the organization. What do they need? What are the requirements for the position? What role does this job play in the overall goals of the organization? Research yourself. What skills and experiences and interests can you offer? How will you add value to the organization? How can you prove that you have the required skills and experience needed for the job? Do a skill matching exercise: The organization/job needs... (skill/experience) and I have it because I did ….. The organization needs….. And i can provide….. Be certain to have specific examples of how you have added value in the past and be enthusiastic on how you can add value to this organization. Do not forget… the organization is looking to solve a problem and you are selling yourself as a solution.

68.What do you expect your starting salary to be?

Discussions of salaries and compensation should not be held until an offer is made. With that said, let’s look into the real world when this is not the case most of the time. Employers are shopping, trying to guess your price tag. This is one of those screening questions used to either screen in or screen out… so a response is important. Have you done your homework? What is the price for this job in the marketplace? Have you checked out classified ads or online ads for similar positions? Are you within the range, given your level of experience? Pegging yourself mentally to the right price is the first step. Second step is sharing this information correctly. Do you have enough information about this new job to determine your salary? If not… state it and ask for the information that is needed. “Before I can discuss salary, I would like to know the reporting requirements and how many people I would be supervising. In addition, what are the skill levels and experience of my staff?” You can also ask “What are others in similar positions being paid?” When you can no longer stall or seek additional information… “Based on what you have told me and exclusive of other compensation elements I feel that the position would warrant a salary range of $_______ to $___________” Name a range such as $40,000 to $45,000 to give both sides some wiggle room and allow for some give-and-take when benefits and other compensation is considered. If you know what you are willing to accept as salary and what the market pays, using a salary range should permit you to be negotiable.

70. When did you decide on this career?

I decided to pursue this career while studying art during my freshman and sophomore years in college. The decision to focus on design came naturally as I took as many of the fine arts and graphics course electives that the schedule would allow; I really did not have to think about it, it just happened. I was always interested in art, and found myself much more suited for the "structure" of graphic design versus the fine arts courses I was taking. I always admired magazines and catalogs for their layout even before I knew much about the profession of graphic design. Though I enjoy fine arts very much, I found graphic design to be the perfect fit for my half left brain, half right brain personality!