Master 30 Department of Energy interview questions covering energy policy, national security, and technical expertise.
Question 25 of 30
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Kevin Downey has an extensive background in business management, recruiting, branding and marketing. He's volunteered his career coaching services at job fairs, lecturing on interview techniques and crafting winning resumes and cover letters.
This behavioral question will offer a meaningful glimpse into your personality, as well as your soft skills, and the importance you place on communication. Communication is integral to the successful operations of any business. Whether you take clear communication for granted or are accustomed to working in an environment where clear communication with others is key. Make sure you clearly communicate your answer. They phrased this question this way to extract from you any egregious errors you may have made in the past which would alert them to similar mistakes you'll make in the future.

Kevin Downey has an extensive background in business management, recruiting, branding and marketing. He's volunteered his career coaching services at job fairs, lecturing on interview techniques and crafting winning resumes and cover letters.
Avoid any examples that would frame you in a poor light. You don't have to have an example where others on your team could not govern their emotions. Focus on your soft people skills instead. Being able to non-defensively communicate with a wide range of personalities is a trait of strong leadership. Investing the time to work with employees who take more effort to get on the same page makes for a much stronger team. This brand of team collaboration enhances work relations. Exemplify your ability to communicate non-defensively.

Kevin Downey has an extensive background in business management, recruiting, branding and marketing. He's volunteered his career coaching services at job fairs, lecturing on interview techniques and crafting winning resumes and cover letters.
"Hmm. Well, all the teams I've worked with have been pretty great. We've all been emotionally grounded, so I've known none of them to get angry about anything. There was one example I can give. This was early in my position there. A coworker decided they were going to quit but were too scared to go through with it, so they called me and told me to pass it on to management that they quit. This wasn't very professional. They were having many issues, so it didn't surprise me. So I passed the information on, and we were all disappointed that this employee took this approach, and gave no notice. In the end, we found someone who was a better fit for the role and this improved the performance of our team. I think about that person now and again and hope they figured out some stuff and found work that was a better fit for them."

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Written by Kevin Downey
30 Questions & Answers • Department of Energy

By Kevin

By Kevin