Stumped on potential interview question

[HelloIDistance]

I have an interview coming up (it's in the finance/accounting field) and I am going over potential behavioral questions to prepare. How would you answer, "Tell me about a time when you made an ethical decision"? I am stumped on what I should talk about. What is this question trying to gauge? Any advice?

Obviously I should talk about a time when I made an ethical decision, however I'm still in college and failing to come up with something.

 

[Redwoood]

"Just 2 seconds ago I made the ethical decision not to lie to you and tell you a bs story about how we decided to take grandma off life support."

 

[HelloIDistance]

I don't think that will go over well.

 

[Master-Classter]

I think it's a tricky question that you have to effectively answer both ways too... I'm guessing that they want to know you're ethical and have a high moral standard since it's accounting so they don't want to to go fudge with numbers.... BUT that being said it's GAAP and all that so there's always discretion. So tell a story and add in how you recognized there was an ethical issue at hand, you thought about and made your decision, but you made sure to put it in front of someone more senior before acting on it and only made the call once you had another person agree/not. Ie I can make my own decisions but you won't have to worry about me going all whistleblower on your ass.

 

[Redwoood]

Originally Posted by HelloIDistance

I don't think that will go over well.
What could possibly go wrong? Seriously though, I don't see how anybody could answer this for you. Only you know what decisions you've made. Unless you want to go the 'I make ethical decisions every single day' route. ETA: I would keep it professional if possible, i.e., professional/academic decisions

 

[globetrotter]

"I have been pretty lucky - my family gave me a very good ethical background and, as I have found that when faced with options, I really haven't had to make any hard ethical decisions, it always has been clear to me what to do."

 

[Eason]

Originally Posted by globetrotter

"I have been pretty lucky - my family gave me a very good ethical background and, as I have found that when faced with options, I really haven't had to make any hard ethical decisions, it always has been clear to me what to do."

*whistles*

 

[Matt]

Originally Posted by Redwoood

I don't see how anybody could answer this for you. Only you know what decisions you've made.
Unless you want to go the 'I make ethical decisions every single day' route.

ETA: I would keep it professional if possible, i.e., professional/academic decisions

this.

Are you changing jobs or a graduating student? (or Other. Please Specify)

Originally Posted by globetrotter

"I have been pretty lucky - my family gave me a very good ethical background and, as I have found that when faced with options, I really haven't had to make any hard ethical decisions, it always has been clear to me what to do."

you lying sack of ****

 

[Dinhilion]

Originally Posted by Matt

this.

Are you changing jobs or a graduating student? (or Other. Please Specify)



you lying sack of ****

Op says he is in college.

 

[Matt]

ah sorry, readin' fail.

ok - any work experience while you were studying? I sold suits back in the day, anything like that where you could pull out a customer service ("she walked away and left a hundred bucks on the counter&quot kind of story?

 

[HelloIDistance]

Originally Posted by Matt

ah sorry, readin' fail.

ok - any work experience while you were studying? I sold suits back in the day, anything like that where you could pull out a customer service ("she walked away and left a hundred bucks on the counter") kind of story?

Not really I asked a few friends of mine and they say they went with a story about how someone wanted to cheat off them and they said no basically. I guess I'll have to come up with something.

 

[ter1413]

Originally Posted by HelloIDistance

Not really I asked a few friends of mine and they say they went with a story about how someone wanted to cheat off them and they said no basically. I guess I'll have to come up with something.

just don't make it sound too prepared.....

 

[HelloIDistance]

Originally Posted by ter1413

just don't make it sound too prepared.....

I won't. I'm basically just trying to associate a topic or story to questions so I'll have something to go off of.

 

[Joffrey]

Originally Posted by HelloIDistance

I have an interview coming up (it's in the finance/accounting field) and I am going over potential behavioral questions to prepare. How would you answer, "Tell me about a time when you made an ethical decision"? I am stumped on what I should talk about. What is this question trying to gauge? Any advice?

Obviously I should talk about a time when I made an ethical decision, however I'm still in college and failing to come up with something.

Guaging your ability to deal with pressure, think on your feet. Come up with a situation that highlights an organizational issue at your old job, how your peers/bosses or both dealt with it and how you stood above the fray or rose to the task and helped resolve it. Something like that.

 

[zarathustra]

Tell them about that time that you got the girl in your dorm room all liquored up and were going to ravage her love cave, but then decided that you probably shouldn't as she was passed out. As a middle ground, you decided that a little buttsechs would be an ethical compromise.