Juvenile Detention Officer Interview Preparation Guide
Download PDF

71 Juvenile Detention Officer Questions and Answers:

1 :: Top 11 Questions to Verify Experience and Credentials As Juvenile Detention Officer:

Sometimes people want a job a little too bad - and they may fudge their credentials and experience a bit.

If you've run into this problem, are worried about it, or have credentials and experience that are absolutely essential, you may need to ask a few verification questions.

If you are a candidate, you should review your resume and make sure you know all the key points, and that nothing has been misconstrued.


1. What grades did you get in college?

2. What were your responsibilities when you worked in job x?

3. How many people were on your team at your last job?

4. What will your previous manager/supervisor say when I ask where you needed to improve?

5. What was your beginning and ending salary at job x?

6. What were your beginning and ending titles at job x?

7. Are you eligible for rehire at job x?

8. What tools are necessary for performing job x?

9. Describe to me how you would perform [x typical job task].

10. What was the focus of your thesis?

11. When did you leave company x?

2 :: What are you looking for in a new position As Juvenile Detention Officer?

I’ve been honing my skills As Juvenile Detention Officer for a few years now and, first and foremost, I’m looking for a position where I can continue to exercise those skills. Ideally the same things that this position has to offer. Be specific.

3 :: Why do you want to leave your current company As Juvenile Detention Officer?

Bad Answer: Complaining about or blaming their former job, boss or colleagues. Also, having no good reason.

Good answer: One that focuses on the positives about why the job they're applying for offers them better learning or career opportunities, chances for advancement, aligns more closely to their long term goals, or is a better fit for them.

4 :: Describe your management style?

Try to avoid specific classifications, whatever it may be. Organizations usually prefer managers who can adapt their skills to different situations.

5 :: If you were given more initiatives than you could handle, what would you do?

First prioritize the important activities that impact the business most. Then discuss the issue of having too many initiatives with the boss so that it can be offloaded. Work harder to get the initiatives done.

6 :: What have you done to improve your skills over the past year As Juvenile Detention Officer?

You'll want to be prepare with some very specific examples of what you've done over the last year and what you're currently doing to improve your professional knowledge and skill set as well as anything else you're doing the shows self improvement.

7 :: Are you good at working in a team As Juvenile Detention Officer?

Before you answer, consider how you best contribute to a team:

☛ Do you get along easily with people?
☛ Are you an effective collaborator?
☛ Can you communicate with people from various backgrounds and with different personalities?
☛ Can you motivate people?
☛ Do you know how to push back tactfully?
☛ Can you mediate conflicts?
☛ Can you deal with difficult personalities?

8 :: What motivates you at the work place?

Keep your answer simple, direct and positive. Some good answers may be the ability to achieve, recognition or challenging assignments.

9 :: How long do you want to work for us if we hire you?

Here being specific is probably not the best approach. You may consider responding, “I hope a very long time.” Or “As long as we're both happy with my performance.”

10 :: If you were hiring a person for this job As Juvenile Detention Officer, what would you look for?

Discuss qualities you possess required to successfully complete the job duties.

11 :: Explain me what do you know about our company?

Bad Answer: They don't know much about the company. If a candidate is serious and enthusiastic, they should have done some basic research.

Good answer: An answer that shows they've really done their homework and know what the company does, any important current events that involve the company, and the work culture.

12 :: What would your previous employer say is your greatest strength?

Be prepared for this question. If you have to sit and think about it it's going to appear as if you're not sure or that you've never identified your own value in the work place - not good. You don't have to have a complex response. Keep it simple and honest. For example, several possibilities could be Leadership, Problem solving ability, Initiative, Energy, Work ethic, Innovative, etc., etc.

13 :: Your client is upset with you for a mistake you made, how do you react?

Acknowledge their pain - empathize with them. Then apologize and offer a solution to fix the mistake.

14 :: How did you hear about the position As Juvenile Detention Officer?

Another seemingly innocuous interview question, this is actually a perfect opportunity to stand out and show your passion for and connection to the company and for job As Juvenile Detention Officer. For example, if you found out about the gig through a friend or professional contact, name drop that person, then share why you were so excited about it. If you discovered the company through an event or article, share that. Even if you found the listing through a random job board, share what, specifically, caught your eye about the role.

15 :: What type of people do you not work well with?

Be very careful answering this question as most organization employ professionals with an array of personalities and characteristics. You don't want to give the impression that you're going to have problems working with anyone currently employed at the organization. If you through out anything trivial you're going to look like a whiner. Only disloyalty to the organization or lawbreaking should be on your list of personal characteristics of people you can't work with.

16 :: What do you know about our company?

You always want to make sure that you're pretty familiar with the company that you're interviewing with. Nothing looks worse than a candidate who knows nothing about the company they say they're interested in working for. Find out everything you can about the company, its culture and its goals. You will also want to know how the company is positioned in its market as well as who its major competitors are.

17 :: Why did you leave your last job As Juvenile Detention Officer?

Regardless of why you left your last job make sure to stay positive. Always smile and focus on the positive reason such you were seeking the opportunity to expand your career opportunities, your interest in working with a new firm that provided greater opportunity, you desired to work in a new location, etc. Don't reference previous job problems or differences with management that caused you to leave. If you stay positive, your answer may help you. If you're negative, you will likely decrease your chances of getting the job for which you're interviewing.

18 :: Are you willing to work overtime or odd hours?

Be completely honest. You don't want to lie to get the job if you're not going to work the hours required.

19 :: What type of salary are you looking for?

This can be a very tricky question as the individual asking it is probably digging for something other than a simple answer to the question. We recommend that you don't immediately respond to the question directly. Instead, say something like, “That a difficult question. What is range for this position?” More often than not the interviewer will tell you. If the interviewer insists on direct answer you may want say that it depends on the details of the job - then give a wide salary range.

20 :: How much are you willing to sacrifice to be successful at work As Juvenile Detention Officer?

With anything comes sacrifice. The questions is how much of it are you willing to sacrifice with regards to work life balance, stress, etc?

21 :: Tell me about a time when you helped resolve a dispute between others?

Be sure to discuss a very specific example. Tell the interviewer what methods you used to solve the problem without focusing on the details of the problem.

22 :: What motivates you?

I've always been motivated by the challenge – in my last role, I was responsible for training our new recruits and having a 100% success rate in passing scores. I know that this job is very fast-paced and I'm more than up for the challenge. In fact, I thrive on it.

23 :: Give me an example of a time when you set a goal and were able to meet or achieve it?

Show that you set great goals and the process and steps you took to achieve it. Details really matter here.

24 :: How do you deal with conflict in the workplace As Juvenile Detention Officer?

When people work together, conflict is often unavoidable because of differences in work goals and personal styles. Follow these guidelines for handling conflict in the workplace.

☛ 1. Talk with the other person.
☛ 2. Focus on behavior and events, not on personalities.
☛ 3. Listen carefully.
☛ 4. Identify points of agreement and disagreement.
☛ 5. Prioritize the areas of conflict.
☛ 6. Develop a plan to work on each conflict.
☛ 7. Follow through on your plan.
☛ 8. Build on your success.

25 :: How many basketballs would fit in this room?

One. You did not ask what is the maximum number of basketballs you can fit in the room.

26 :: What are your thoughts on failure?

Failure happens. It's a part of life. The key is understanding that you can't be perfect at everything and more importantly you're going to learn from failures to come out stronger.

27 :: How do you imagine a typical day of an employee in our company As Juvenile Detention Officer?

Just do not say that you imagine to only walk and watch what people do. Rather try to show them your attention to details and proactive attitude to job. Mention that you would try to observe the problems, weaknesses as well as opportunities to improve the results and take measures according to it.

28 :: What motivates you to succeed?

Your interviewer will likely want to know the reasons why you will remain motivated to do your best during your employment with the company As Juvenile Detention Officer. Perhaps you are interested in being challenged, but you may also have interest in being recognized for your hard work in the form of the number of sales you can attain. A great example answer for this question is “I always do my best in everything, including my job. I take pride in my success, and I also want the company for which I work to be successful. Being affiliated with a company that is known for its excellence is very important to me.”

29 :: What role do you see technology playing in this role?

Technology is important to almost every job today but it's not meant to be abused. I believe it's important to increase productivity and not for personal use.

30 :: What are your presentation skills like As Juvenile Detention Officer?

Make sure you share a story that demonstrates your presentation skills in front of many people. If you are really brave, offer to give a snippet of that presentation to the interviewer. This will definitely be different from what most people do.