Faculty job interview questions

18 Apr 2025 academia by Vagrant Gautam

Compiled from mostly North American internet sources and focused on tenure-track assistant professor positions, but hopefully more broadly useful.

General

Who are you? Tell me about yourself
Why do you want this position?
Why do you want to be a faculty member?
What do you know about our organization?
What do you bring? What is your greatest strength? What are your relevant strengths?
How do you see your role evolving in the next five years within the academic community?
What sort of equipment would you need?
Who are you looking to hire right out of the gate: post-doc/technician/grad student? And what kind of person would you look for?
Can you summarize the contribution you would make to our department? / How do you see your work fitting into our department?
How will you set yourself apart from your current PI?
Why are you interested in the department?
How quickly would you want your lab to grow?
What size do you envision for your lab, and makeup of graduate vs undergraduate?
What kinds of students/trainees do you envision recruiting to your research program?
What attracted you to apply for this position?
Tell us about your background as it relates to this position, pointing out key reflection points or moments where you either: 1. grew or developed a new skill or, 2. needed to create or repair a relationship with a colleague.
Provide an example of where you needed to collaborate with your colleagues on a project and what was the result. Did you face any challenges?
Tell us about a time when you have taken steps to ensure that everyone in your class or lab felt included. Describe the situation, the actions you took, and the outcome.
Tell us about a time when you responded to a colleague or student who made an insensitive remark. Describe the situation, the actions you took, and the outcome.
Why did you choose this profession/field?
Describe how your career has been enhanced by exposure to diverse people, places, or experiences.
Have you ever had a great idea but been told that you could not implement it? How did you react? What did you do?
What are three leadership competencies you possess? Please provide an example of when you have used these to provide effective leadership during a difficult time.
Have you ever experienced a situation in which you had difficulty getting people to accept your ideas? What was your approach to handling these situations?
What practices do you implement during conflict situations and are they successful?
Describe a situation in which you did all the right things and were still unsuccessful. What did you learn from the experience?
Tell us about your preferred work environment.
Describe your ideal job.
What things have you done on your own initiative to help you prepare for your next job?
Can you describe how you go about solving a problem? Please give us some examples.
Tell us about a time when you had to deal with a conflict at work. Describe the situation, the actions you tool and the outcome.
Describe a time when you helped to resolve a conflict between two colleagues or students.
What are one or two of your proudest professional accomplishments?
Do you have any concerns that would make you have reservations about accepting this position if it is offered to you?
What do you think most uniquely qualifies you for this position?
On the basis of the information you have received so far, what do you see as the major challenges of this position and how would you meet them?

Research

Tell me about your research interests.
Please give us a 5 minute presentation of your research plan.
Describe your current research (or your dissertation). What is the broader significance of your research?
How do you see your research fitting in with the department?
Where are the points of uniqueness for you compared with your PI or others in your field?
What is your research agenda?
How would you situate your work in the field?
Tell me about your research plans for the next two/five/10 years?
Do you think of your work as translational or having translational applications?
How do you contribute to the community outside of your institution?
Can you tell us about a project that you're currently working on?
How do you stay current with the developments in your field of expertise?
Could you provide an example of a successful research project you have led or been a part of?
Please tell us about your research interests and how you see them fitting with the
department's priorities.
What grants have you received and what plans do you have to fund your research?
What types of resources would you require to successfully continue your research agenda?
How would you involve undergraduate and graduate students in your research?
What changes do you see on the horizon in your area of research?

Mentoring/recruitment

Can you describe your approach to mentoring students?
How would you encourage students to pursue a major in our department?
How do you motivate students to become more engaged in their own learning process?
How would you recruit students to take courses with us?
How would you recruit graduate students?
How would you mentor graduate students? What experience do you have?
How do you see adapting your research so that it fits on short-term scale of Honors Thesis work or summer student?
How do you contribute to a collaborative work environment within your department?
Our university is working hard to integrate more undergraduate students in research activities. How could you contribute to that mission?

Teaching

Tell us about your teaching philosophy.
How do you manage a classroom?
How do you handle academic dishonesty?
How do you adapt your teaching to different learning styles?
How do you assess and measure student learning?
Describe a course you have taught in the past and how you measure the students' learning.
How do you incorporate the use of technology in the classroom?
What classes will you be able to teach with little preparation?
What is your experience working with diverse student populations?
How does your research inform your teaching?
Describe your teaching goals and/or challenges?
How do you implement inclusivity in your classroom structure?
Can you discuss a time when you had to adapt your teaching style to accommodate different learning preferences?
Describe your worst teaching moment. And the best?
What strategies do you use to engage students who are less participative in class?
How would you handle a situation where a student challenges your authority or expertise in the classroom?
Describe how you frame your syllabi theoretically.
In what ways do you incorporate student feedback into your teaching practice?
What methods do you use to ensure that you are an accessible and approachable faculty member?
Describe how you would develop a new course or curriculum in your area of expertise
How would you teach?
- a first-year seminar
- an Honors class
- a writing-intensive class
- an upper-level course in your field
- an introductory or survey class
- a hybrid advanced undergrad/MA level class
- a graduate-level course
How do you engage students in extracurricular education?
How do you feel about teaching classes online / in the evening?
What is your approach to giving feedback to students on their academic work?
Can you describe a course that you would want to teach?
What strategies do you employ to ensure academic integrity in your courses?
Discuss a time when you had to modify a pre-existing course. What changes did you make and why?
Describe your teaching style and teaching philosophy.
What do you think are the most important attributes of a good teacher?
Describe your experience in teaching and mentoring students from diverse cultures and backgrounds.
Tell us about a time when you have taken steps to ensure that everyone in your class or lab felt included. Describe the situation, the actions you took, and the outcome.
You're faced with the following situation. You've started teaching a class and ten minutes in you notice that some of the students are distracted. What would/did you do?

Service

What institutional issues particularly interest you?
How will you contribute to the community at our department and institution?
All faculty are required to participate in service activities. How do you see yourself getting involved in service on campus?
Would you be willing to serve as the faculty mentor for [insert student organization here]?
In our department, the department chair role rotates every three years. How would you begin preparing to be department chair?
Tell us about what leadership experience you have and what leadership activities you'd like to undertake at our university.

Funding

Where do you think your research fits in terms of funding sources?
What do you see as sources of funding?
Can you provide an example of a grant or funding proposal you have written and how it benefited your research or department?
Describe your experience in writing and preparing grants. What do you consider the critical factors in this process?

Interpersonal

Discuss an ethical dilemma you have faced in your teaching or research and how you resolved it
How will you balance research and teaching moving forward?
How do you handle disagreements or conflicts with colleagues?
How would you support students who are struggling academically or personally?
How do you balance your teaching, research, and service responsibilities?
What experience do you have with interdisciplinary teaching or research?
Tell me about a time you dealt with a difficult situation
Tell me about a time you failed
Tell me about a time you disagreed with a colleague
Can you give an example of a time when you had to handle a difficult student or situation?
How do you measure your success as a faculty member?
Can you describe a time when you collaborated with other faculty members on a project?
How do you respond to feedback from students, colleagues, or supervisors?
Can you describe a time when you innovated in your teaching or research?
How do you balance your personal and professional life?
Do you have any questions?

Next post: Interviewing to be a professor
Previous post: 2024 in Review
Back to the archive