Students are encouraged to book an advising appointment for a mock interview to prepare for interviews, but you can also use these questions for self-study. With the participation of a friend, they can ask you a sample question while you answer to practice interviewing.
- How have your past experiences prepared you to work in this job?
- Based on your knowledge of the organization and this role, what is one project that you are interested in working on? What strengths do you think you could bring to this project?
- What do you think is the role of an urban planner in the private and public sectors?
- What role should sustainability play in urban and community planning? Why?
- Describe a problem that your community is currently facing and a potential solution to alleviate this problem.
- Dealing with different stakeholders is an important aspect of the planning profession. What skills do you possess that make you able to successfully do this?
- Do you think collaboration is important in the planning profession?
- How would a team member describe the role you played and your contribution to a recent project that you worked on?
- Please describe a project you worked on where you had to lead and organize a team.
- If you were faced with performing a task you have never done before, how would you handle the situation?
- Tell me about a project you worked on that included using land use data.
- Tell us about a time when you misinterpreted an engineering drawing or a soil report. Who discovered the mistake? How did you correct your mistake?
- Tell us about a time when you worked on a project that had issues with budget or cost management. How did you deal with the issues? What was the outcome?
- Give me a specific example of a time when you used good judgment and logic to solve a problem.
- Describe the steps you take when preparing for a presentation.
- Have you ever held a position or worked on a project where your role or project was publicly criticized? How did you deal with this situation?
- How would you determine a recommendation for a zone change in this region?
- Tell me about an obstacle you faced that was preventing you from completing a project and what you did to get around it.
- In your opinion, what will be the biggest challenge that our community will face in the upcoming years?
- If you could improve a public service in our community, what would it be and why?