10 Performance-Based Interview Questions & Answers
Below is a list of our Performance-Based interview questions. Click on any interview question to view our answer advice and answer examples. You may view 5 answer examples before our paywall loads. Afterwards, you'll be asked to upgrade to view the rest of our answers.
1. Are you pleased with your performance in your most recent position?
How to Answer
The interviewer would like an honest reply regarding your performance in your most recent position. The way in which you reply can be a bit tricky if you were terminated, or if you were laid off. Be confident in your reply and, even if there were areas for improvement, focus your answer on what you know you did best.
Answer Example
"I am pleased with my performance in my most recent role. Although I was laid off in the end, I know for sure that I was the top performer in my office with the most positive client reviews and the highest referral rate."
Admin
"I like to perform my job well so that I can ensure a good reference, should my employment status ever change unexpectedly. It's important to deliver great work and perform above expectations. Yes, I am pleased with my performance, especially in the area of customer service and juggling multiple deadlines at a time."
Manager
"As a manager, I have expectations on my performance, as well as the performance of my team. It is important to me that I lead by example. I am pleased with my performance in the workplace primarily in the areas of leadership and process."
Marketing
"Absolutely! I am very pleased with my work performance. I bring a great sense of passion to marketing and would say that my greatest strengths are in content writing, and research."
Retail
"My performance in my most recent role is something that I am proud to discuss. I received a great amount of positive feedback and customer reviews and did a great job encouraging the team during our busiest times. Also, I was very willing to pick up extra shifts and stay late, as needed."
Sales
"As a sales professional, I am pleased with the efforts that I put into my current position. The better I perform, the more I earn because it is a highly commissioned role. This commission is a great motivator for me but not the only one. I also want to perform well so that I represent my employer in the best possible way, and so that my clients are always happy with the product they are receiving."
Teacher
"I am very pleased with my performance, at all times. I take my job seriously. As an educator, I realize there are so many children relying on me. I love to see the impact that my dedication makes on my students, and I enjoy being reliable for those around me."
2. On a scale of 1-10, how would you rate your performance in your most recent position?
How to Answer
Do you feel that you are always the highest performing employee, or do you have room for growth? This question could be a tricky one as nobody shows up 100% at all times. Answer to the best of your ability and back your reply by speaking about your work ethic and how you ensure your performance goes above and beyond expectations.
Answer Example
"I would love to give myself a 10/10 for performance but truthfully - nobody is 100% 'on' all of the time. I will give myself a nine because I always do my best to be as eager and present as possible."
Admin
"I value work ethic and the delivery of solid performance more than anything. For that reason, I would rate myself as a 10/10 when it comes to performance effort because I always do what I can to deliver."
Manager
"I put a heavy focus on performance and exceeding expectations in the workplace, as well as in my personal life. Because I strive for a hearty performance on a daily basis, I will rate myself as a 10/10. My values are solid."
Marketing
"Performance and what I deliver will directly affect my clients, their projects, and their profitability. For that reason, I will rate my performance as a 9.5/10. There is always room for improvement, but I truly put my best foot forward at every turn."
Retail
"I am a very hard worker but yet not a 10/10 because I cannot say that I have never let my work slide at times. I am human, a work in progress, and not perfect. With that said, I know the importance of delivering exceptional work."
Sales
"I recently read the book 'One Second Ahead,' by Rasmus Hougaard. He suggests that we can enhance our performance at work through mindfulness. I agree with this concept which is why I strive for complete, and mindful, performance in all areas of my life."
Teacher
"I admire tenacity, I believe in giving my best at all times. As an educator, I teach this concept and work ethic every day. I rate myself as a 9/10 when it comes to performance since everyone has room for improvement."
3. Tell me about your most recent performance evaluation. Name one positive highlight, and one area for improvement.
How to Answer
The interviewer is looking for specifics from your performance evaluations or most recent conversations with your current boss. You may not have formal performance meetings. If you do not, then rely on feedback that you consistently receive from your supervisors. Your positive highlight can be big or small! Make sure that you relate your positive points to the requirements of the job posting. When you discuss one area for improvement, avoid mentioning something that would make you ineligible for the position. For instance, if you are interviewing for a business development role, you should not say that you are painfully shy. Also, be sure to discuss that you are actively working to improve this weakness.
Answer Example
"My boss recently sat me down to discuss my work performance. Overall, he was thrilled with my ability to analyze data in ways that many of my coworkers do not. I have a unique capability when it comes to data analysis. One area for improvement was to speed up my work a little bit. I am cautious with my reports and know that as I gain further experience, I will work faster."
Admin
"Although I do not have formal performance evaluations in my current role, my manager is often commenting on my ability to read between the lines and deliver what he is looking for, without a ton of direction. One thing that I can work on is my typing speed. I am accurate and type about 50wpm which isn't too bad, but I am practicing to get to 75wpm."
Manager
"I love to give feedback as a manager, and I also love to receive it. One point that my director has mentioned is that I could spend more time in the office working on my documentation. With that said, he also appreciates that I am such a hands-on manager. That is my greatest strength - the fact that I am very involved with my team and always available for them."
Marketing
"Last year, at my end of year performance evaluation, I was told that I could work on my knowledge when it comes to Facebook ad strategy. I have been taking a course on social media advertisement targeting to help improve this skill. In this evaluation, I received praise for being an excellent collaborator who is great in face-to-face client meetings. I believe this is because I am an active listener and strong trouble-shooter."
Retail
"In my most recent performance evaluation, I was praised for my excellent customer service skills and ability to smooth out customer complaints and disputes. I was asked to tap into my knowledge of the products' features and benefits a bit further. I have been studying hard ever since."
Sales
"I am a competitive performer which my sales manager took note of in my last performance review. We discussed how happy she was that I was exceeding targets. The areas to work on included improving the time between receiving, and responding to, my leads. I have improved my average time this month from 8 hours to 6."
Teacher
"In my current school, we have an evaluation once per year, usually at the end of the year. The feedback from my Principal was that she was thrilled with the connection I make with the students, their parents, and that test scores were at an all-time high. She asked for the following year that I participate in one more extra-curricular activity. I made a note of this feedback and had already planned to join the soccer team as an assistant coach."
4. Describe a change you recently made that improved the performance of your work.
How to Answer
Making a change to improve your performance shows the interviewer that you are self-driven, a go-getter, and able to correct yourself when needed. Give an example of a time when you made a choice, unprompted, to change a habit or process to improve your performance. This change could be something small like cutting out one scheduled coffee break, packing your lunch, organizing your desk, setting a boundary with a chatty colleague, or cleaning up your computer's desktop.
Answer Example
"I recently asked for a transfer to a quieter part of the office because I was finding that being to close to the kitchen was distracting to me. I am not easily distracted; however, there was always a group of colleagues gathering, and it's human nature to want to participate!"
Admin
"I took a few hours last week to reorganize the file room. Things were pretty messy in there, and I was finding myself losing time throughout the week just searching for things. This week, I have noticed a major improvement in my time spent."
Manager
"I recently created a more thorough training manual for the new employees that we onboard. The information this new manual contains is detailed, and I find that I am answering fewer questions with new hires. The average learning curve has also improved. This change has allowed me to spend my time on other important matters."
Marketing
"Not too long ago I decided it was about time for me to organize my digital files! I kept a lot of unnecessary things on my desktop. Now that it's been cleared out, I am working faster, and my computer seems to be as well."
Retail
"I recently changed the order of things behind the counter, where I am a customer service representative. Manuals that I refer to often, I moved from the back room to the top shelf of my counter, for instance. Everything that I use on a daily basis is within arms' reach. It's a small but useful change."
Sales
"Recently I decided to move my call list and other important information to Google docs so that I can access it from my tablet when I am on the road. This accessibility allows me to make cold calls even when I am away from the office. There are other documents that I plan to add as well to improve my time and efficiency further."
Teacher
"I moved my classroom around not too long ago and organized it all. I had a lot of unnecessary materials and clutter in the classroom. The class now has an airier, more minimalistic feel which I appreciate and I think the kids do too."
5. What was your area of excellence in your most recent position?
How to Answer
The interviewer would like to know, from your point of view, what you did best in your most recent position. Likely, you are going to mention the skills that you also enjoy performing the most! Think of two to three skills that you are strong in, that the interviewer will most likely want to hear. Look back into their job posting or job description to generate some ideas.
Answer Example
"In my most recent position, data analysis was my area of expertise. I am solid with numbers and like to take data and come up with future trends based on past and current happenings. I see in your job description that you are looking for someone who has a natural ability with numbers. That description certainly sums me up."
Admin
"If I had to choose a couple of areas of expertise I would say that scheduling and organization are my two strongest suits. What attracted me to your job description is the fact that you are in need of someone to revamp your calendar process, which I have successfully done before, and then keep it clean and organized. This position speaks to my strengths."
Manager
"I have a couple of areas of strength. One is motivating my team to deliver their best work every day. The second is to gain buy-in from my team members when it comes to the company's vision and mission. I ensure they are aware of the benefit to them when it comes to delivering exceptional work. I know you mentioned you are struggling with team motivation and retention at the moment. I am very confident I can help with this."
Marketing
"My area of excellence was the initial intake with our new marketing clients. I have a keen ability to ask the right questions that dig deeper, really discovering our clients' exact need. This skill also allows me to find other potential needs, and upsell them from their original commitment. This skill will be put to great work at your startup agency, as I will be able to gain more significant financial commitments from your clients at the start of every project."
Retail
"Without a doubt, my area of excellence is in customer service and dispute resolution. I have a solid ability to calm a situation down and turn an unhappy client around. This skill will help me to quickly increase your customer reviews and gain momentum when it comes to repeat customers."
Sales
"I have a powerful ability to have a great conversation with nearly anyone. This skill means that you can send me on calls to a huge range of clients, and feel safe knowing that I am very likely to make a solid connection with them immediately."
Teacher
"One area of excellence is my ability to take complicated concepts and make them easy to learn. I have many years' experience teaching hundreds of students who range in age, and ability level. I can assure you that I will be able to make an impact on your students' learning, and increase test scores, at the same time."
6. How was your performance measured, in your most recent role?
How to Answer
The interviewer would like to understand better the key performance indicators you needed to meet in a more recent role, and how precisely those KPI's were measured. A good interviewer will recognize that the top candidates ALWAYS understand how they were measured, and where they landed in regards to their performance against others in a similar role.
It is a red flag to an interviewer if the interviewee responds with "I don't know," or worse yet - "My company didn't measure my performance in any way." Every company pays attention to employee performance metrics; it's just that some ways are more evident than others.
Some ways that your employer might measure your performance:
- The rate of absence, late days, and sick days
- Setting specific objectives for you, related to a task
- Amount of defective work submitted, or amount of work returned
- Human Capital ROI
- Error counting
- Timed tasks
- Employee retention rates (for managers)
- Revenue Per Employee or Profit per FTE (Full Time Equivalent)
- The willingness of clients to recommend you or your work
- Feedback provided by coworkers and management
- Number of sales
- Scheduling errors
- Safety days
- First- call resolution or call quality and handling (primarily for call-center environments)
- Quality of contacts generated
Answer Example
"I don't know,"
Admin
"In my most recent role, as an administrative assistant, my performance was measured by customer feedback, amount of scheduling errors, and call time. I always exceeded expectations especially in the area of positive customer feedback."
Manager
"As a production manager, my performance was measured by employee retention rates, production rates, and safety days. The most important metrics for that company included the safety of the employees and the quality of the manufactured product."
Marketing
"In my previous role as a content marketer, I was measured by a range of social media analytics, client feedback, and overall satisfaction, as well as project churn rate. My KPI's were always sitting about 20% above expectations."
Retail
"We had online customer surveys in my most recent role. Another KPI was the number of items sold per transaction. I was consistently in the top 10 out of 100 for our region."
Sales
"In sales, there are many KPI's to be considered. In my most recent role I was measured by the number of cold calls made per week, the number of aged-accounts made active, average sale amount, and client referral percentage."
Teacher
"There is some controversy surrounding the measurement of teacher performance. My current school measures my performance on test results and parent feedback. Could you share with me the ways that you measure performance at your school?"
7. Do you perform better in a group setting, or when working alone?
How to Answer
It is okay to lean one way more than the other when answering this question; however, the key to a firm answer is to show that you are capable of performing well in either setting. Discuss the environment in which you currently function, and how you ensure that you are successful in your day to day performance.
Answer Example
"Currently, I perform most of my tasks in a group setting. I am a strong collaborator and know how to gain buy-in from my team, gaining their excitement when it comes to new projects. With that said, I am also very capable of generating great ideas when I work on my own."
Admin
"Much of my work is independent, so I lean towards saying that I perform better alone, simply because that is the bulk of my experience. At the same time, I am a highly collaborative person, and look forward to joining our company where more teamwork is involved."
Manager
"I work best in a team setting when I have a dynamic group of people to lead! Of course, I can remain productive when working on my own but, as a manager, I perform exceptionally well in a group setting."
Marketing
"I love group settings and would choose a team based role over an independent role any day. I can certainly deliver on my own - in fact, I spent many years as a freelancer; however, my preference is to work in a collaborative environment."
Retail
"I collaborated very well and did so, quite often, during my time in University; however, when it comes to working in a retail setting, I like to work one on one with my customers so that I can ask them deeper questions to further discover their needs."
Sales
"Sales is all about the perfect balance between a team effort and independent drive. Can I say both? There are aspects of the sales process that I prefer to do independently such as pipeline building, and contract negotiations. However, when it comes to research and goal setting, I prefer working in a group function."
Teacher
"As a teacher, I experience a healthy blend of group work and independent duties, on any given day. I also encourage group work in the classroom to give my students exposure to collaboration. When I was in University, I did prefer to complete major projects on my own. I like to work at a pace comfortable for myself but can also act as a pacesetter on larger group projects."
8. Are you able to remain productive even when working remote, or from a home office?
How to Answer
The position you are interviewing for may offer the option to work from home on occasion. This position may even be a full-time home-office based role! More and more companies are choosing the nix the expense of having physical offices and are training employees who can be productive from a remote setting. If you have experience working remote, or from a home office, be sure to discuss that experience and express how you were productive.
Answer Example
"Although I have not worked from a home office I do have some experience taking work home when tight deadlines are present. I keep myself productive by setting mini goals for myself, which are attached to a specific time frame. I am confident in my ability to remain productive, even in a remote or work-from-home setting."
Admin
"I can remain productive in any setting. I held a position about two years ago where I was a freelance virtual assistant. The work was pretty fun, and I have a solid reference from that role. I met all deadlines and had a private office set up in my home, which minimized distractions."
Manager
"As a senior manager, I often take my work home, when it comes to tweaking training programs, or writing employee performance reviews. I am happy to work from home as needed and am still very much focused on the task at hand, even in a remote setting."
Marketing
"In my current role, we are encouraged to work from home on Friday's. Most people only come into the office if it's imperative to the project. I can remain on task and can tune out distractions. It's nice to have some variety in my work scenery from time to time."
Retail
"I have not worked from home but am confident that I would perform well in any setting. I am a go-getter, and that will not change because of my work setting."
Sales
"I have held a couple of territory sales roles where I am working from my car, the plane, and my hotel room. With my smartphone, tablet, and laptop - I can get anything done, from anywhere!"
Teacher
"As a teacher, I have worked from home setting many times. This work includes marking papers and completing report cards. I have a huge kitchen table that I spread my tasks out on, and I get to work with some tea and my favorite Spotify playlist."
9. How fast do you respond to customer emails and web inquiries? What timeline do you feel is appropriate?
How to Answer
The interviewer would like to know what you interpret as a fast turnaround when it comes to responding to your customers. You should take note of how quickly you are responded to, by this organization, if you are a past customer. This question also offers the opportunity for you to ask the interviewer what their company policy or expectation may be. You don't want to say '3 days' when it's 24 hours!
Answer Example
"In my current role we have a rule that our inbox needs to be cleared out every three days. So, 72 hours I suppose is the maximum amount of time. With that said, I do try to respond to everyone within 48 hours. Could you share with me your policy?"
Admin
"I would love to know what your policy is here. My personal goal is to return all phone messages the same day, and email messages within 48 hours."
Manager
"My response time may vary depending on urgency; however, I never leave my clients hanging more than a day. Do you have a preference here?"
Marketing
"Marketing is fast moving. For that reason, my clients are never left waiting more than a few hours. What is your timeline like here?"
Retail
"We have a three-day, unspoken rule, in our company that I follow but I do try to deliver responses a bit faster than that. With that said, I suppose it also depends on the volume of inquiries. In slower times I can return my customers' inquiries within a day. In the holiday season, 72 hours is more reasonable. Is that acceptable for your timeline?"
Sales
"My customers often need speedy responses. Between my sales assistant and I, we almost always return inquiries within 8 hours. Could you share with me your expectation here?"
Teacher
"Parent inquiries need to be answered on the same day, in my opinion. I want my students' parents to know that I care about their questions, and I encourage them."
10. On a scale of 1-10, how would you rate your technical abilities?
How to Answer
The interviewer would like to know how you rate your technical skills. Likely, they will mention specific tech skills in the job posting or job description. First, on a scale of 1-10, discuss how skilled are you in their tech requirements. Try to avoid giving yourself a 10, since nobody is perfect, and you do not want to come across as overly confident or someone who has no room for feedback and improvement. Alternately, avoid giving yourself too little credit. You do not want to paint the picture that you are a tech dud! Try to remain in the 7.5-9.5 range while staying honest and accurate. Be sure to list which programs, apps, or systems in which you shine!
Answer Example
"I rate my technical skills as a 9/10 as I will, on occasion, have times when I am not as savvy as I would like to be. My supervisor and co-workers will attest to my ability to pick up new tech very easily. I would say I'm strongest in GIS and AutoCAD."
Admin
"I will rate myself an eight because I value strong technical capabilities but, just like most people, I have things to learn. My strongest technical skills are in the Microsoft Office suite including Word, Excel, and PowerPoint."
Manager
"I will rate myself an 8.5 because I consider myself tech savvy, but not an expert. I am always striving to be better with our systems so I will take every opportunity to attend a webinar on the matter, or ask for help from a senior manager when needed. You mentioned proficiency in Red Prairie as well as SAP, which I certainly possess."
Marketing
"Technology, social media, and apps are at the heart of what drives our projects. We have to communicate messages through technology, stay in touch with our clients and team, and always be in-the-know when it comes to the latest and greatest apps. I am exceptional when it comes to staying up to date with the latest marketing tech and will rate myself as a 9/10 and always improving."
Retail
"I will rate my technical skills a 7.5/10. I am newer to my career, but I have gone through a great deal of training in handling transactions through a Point of Sale system. I plan only to become better! If you have recommendations for online training, I would love to hear them."
Sales
"I should not rate myself as a 10/10 because I do not believe that one can be perfect, but I am truly the most tech-savvy person that I know. I am great with all PC and Mac related products as I use both at home, and work."
Teacher
"Teachers need to be savvy when it comes to smart boards and the latest parent communication apps! I have trained myself in the use of may tech options for the classroom and would rate myself 9/10 and continually improving!"