Job Interview Questions

1. Can you please tell me about the people who will look to me for supervision. A teamwork question. It’s very important to know whom you will be supervising. As well, this question also exposes the people who may not report directly to you but will nevertheless see you as a leader.
2. Would I encounter any coworker or staff person who’s proved to be a problem in the past? Oh boy, now you’re getting into dicey territory. Still, it’s worth asking. Shows you understand that every organization struggles with interpersonal issues. If the hiring manager looks around and gives you an honest answer to this question, you are looking very good. If you have your notebook out, put it away.
3. What happened to the person who previously held this job? This question launches a very important conversation. You’ll learn either that this is a new position, that the incumbent resigned or was dismissed, or that the incumbent was promoted. You can then offer any of these follow-ups.
4. The incumbent was dismissed? What did you learn from the incident? How could the problems have been avoided? You want to be seen as interested in the incident as a learning opportunity, not as a rubbernecker at a highway car crash. The issue is what the hiring manager learned and what you can take away from the incident.
5. The incumbent was promoted? I’m delighted to hear it.Would it be possible for me to talk to him or her? This is excellent news. Not only might the incumbent be made available to you, but the position seems to be a launching pad for career success. Getting the opportunity to talk to the person who held the job you want is gold. Redouble your request.

1. I’m delighted to know that teamwork is highly regarded. But evaluating the performance of teams can be difficult. How does the company evaluate team performance? For example, does it employ 360-degree feedback programs? While many companies talk about the importance of teamwork, they reward individual performance. It’s unlikely that teamwork can really be transformational unless teams are evaluated and rewarded.
2. What are the organization’s primary financial objectives and performance measures? The question combines an understanding that objectives are meaningless without measures.
3. What operating guidelines or metrics are used to monitor the planning process and the results? This follow-up question probes for specifics on how the organization determines success.
4. To what extent are those objectives uniform across all product lines? Here is a follow-up question that probes for discontinuities in the organization, not an uncommon situation in a corporation formed as the product of multiple mergers and acquisitions.
5. How does the company balance short-term performance versus long-term success? This is a tough question for every executive.
6. What kinds of formal strategic planning systems, if any, are in place? The Internet revolution relegated formal strategic planning systems such as management by objective to the sidelines, but with the dot-com meltdown, they are starting to come back.
7. Can you describe the nature of the planning process and how decisions concerning the budgeting process are made? This question is a little more granular, with an emphasis on the budget.
8. Can you identify the key corporate participants in the planning process? This is a variation of the planning question, this time in human terms.
9. How often and in what form does the company report its results internally to its employees? Look for an answer that involves the word “intranet.”
10. In the recent past, how has the company acknowledged and rewarded outstanding performance? This question can put the interviewer in a tough spot. If the company has enjoyed good results, you are asking for specific ways the company has shared the wealth with employees. If results have not been good, you are asking for an acknowledgment that there was nothing to share.
11. What are the repercussions of having a significant variance to the operating plan? You are asking how the company deals with failure.
12. Are budgeting decisions typically made at corporate headquarters, or are the decisions made in a more decentralized fashion? The answer to this question reveals how “top down” decision making is at the company.
13. I’m glad to hear that I will be part of a team. Let me ask about reward structures for teams. Does the company have a formal team-based compensation process? A big issue for companies is that they pay lip service to the team effort but reward people as individuals. Here’s an exception to the rule about not asking compensation questions before the interviewer brings up the subject.
14. Is the company more of an early adapter of technology, a first mover, or is it content to first let other companies work the bugs out and then implement a more mature version of the technology? This question tells the hiring manager not only that you are thinking about technology, but that you get a clue about whether the company is a leader or prefers to follow.
15. How does the company contribute to thought leadership in its market? This is an elegant way of inquiring about the company’s commitment to a leadership position in articulating the issues of the industry. How important is it for you to be part of such an intellectual environment? Can you contribute?
16. A company’s most critical asset is its knowledge base. How advanced is the company’s commitment to knowledge management? This question demonstrates a high level of thinking about an emerging competency: the management of actionable knowledge so that it can be used across the company.
17. I was pleased to hear you describe the company’s branding strategy. How does branding fit into the overall marketing mix? Branding is, like “quality” or “customer service,” a value that everyone in the company should be building. Be sure you have something to say about branding before you bring up a question like this.
18. How does this position contribute to the company’s goals, productivity, or profits? This is a variation on a very strong question that links the position and the company’s hot buttons in a way that lets you speak to your strengths.
19. According to (name source), your principal competitor, Brand X, is the best-selling product in the space.What does Brand X do better than your product? A provocative question, it is true, but it’s no news to the interviewer. The question shows that you have done your research and suggests that you understand the company can’t improve unless it understands what the competition does better. The hope is that you have some salient experience you can offer in this regard.
20. Business Week magazine ranks the company second (or whatever) in its industry. Does this position represent a change from where it was a few years ago? You probably should know the answer to this question, but the point is to start a conversation about the momentum of the company. Is its rank going up or down, and how does the interviewer deal with it?
21. How accessible is the CEO (name him or her) to people at my level of the organization? At some firms, CEOs meet with new employees as well as established employees. Some CEOs have an open-door policy and some are remote figures. How does it work here?
22. Does the CEO (name him or her) publish his or her email address? If you want to work for a nonhierarchical company with an open-door policy, look for a CEO who welcomes email. A CEO who does not welcome email, or, worse, does not have email, indicates a more structured organization.
23. I understand that the CEO is really approachable.Are there ground rules for approaching him or her? Even the most accessible CEO needs staff to be thoughtful.
24. Staff development is mentioned in your annual report as a measure on which executives are evaluated.What kinds of training experiences might I expect? The question indicates deep interest in the company, an understanding of the link between staff development and success, and a focus on staff development in the service of the company’s long-term objectives as much as on the individual’s development.
25. Is the department a profit center? Departments or work units organized as profit centers generate their own revenue, making them much less at risk for layoffs.

1. Corporate culture is very important, but it’s usually hard to define until one violates it.What is one thing an employee might do here that would be perceived as a violation of the company’s culture? This question reveals a sophisticated understanding of corporate culture as a force most easily observed in its violation. Typical responses are lying and other ethical breaches, but listen for other clues.
2. How would you characterize the organization?What are its principal values?What are its greatest challenges? This profound question demonstrates your deep interest in the organization’s makeup.
3. How would you describe the experience of working here? Here’s a question that goes to the interviewer’s experience of corporate culture.
4. If I were to be employed here, what one piece of wisdom would you want me to incorporate into my work life? This is a strong question that not only asks the hiring manager what he or she considers most important but also assumes that you are already on board.
5. What are a couple of misconceptions people have about the company? Every manager is frustrated by the way he or she thinks the world sees the company. Here is your chance get two pieces of critical information: how the hiring manager thinks the world perceives the company and what he or she believes to be the truth.
6. Work-life balance is an issue of retention as well as productivity. Can you talk about your own view of how to navigate the tensions between getting the work done and encouraging healthy lives outside the office? On one level, you want to find out how workaholic your prospective manager and the company are. On another, you want a clue about how the company handles the important issue of work-life balance.
7. How does the company support and promote personal and professional growth? This is another way to ask how the company culture promotes a healthy work-life balance.
8. What types of people seem to excel here? This will engender more conversation about personality styles and attitudes that mesh well with the culture and those that don’t. You bluff your way through this question at your own risk. Why would you want to go to work where you would be at war with the prevailing culture?
9. Every company contends with office politics. It’s a fact of life because politics is about people working together. Can you give me some examples of how politics plays out in this company? It’s a slightly risky question because “politics” has such a negative connotation. But the reality is that every organization is a political organization. The politics at family-owned companies is much different than the politics of large multinational companies. The issue is, with which are you more comfortable?
10. What have I yet to learn about this company and opportunity that I still need to know? A great open-ended question for the interviewer to elaborate on an important point you might not have considered.

1. How would you describe your own management style? This is the most direct statement of the question.
2. What are the most important traits you look for in a subordinate? The hiring manager has a lot of latitude with this question. Listen for terms such as “loyalty.”
3. How do you like your subordinates to communicate with you? You’ll get a sense of how formal or informal your prospective manager prefers to be.
4. What personal qualities or characteristics do you most value? This question will solicit important information about the personal qualities that the hiring manager will reward.
5. Could you describe to me your typical management style and the type of employee who works well with you? You’re going to be working closely with this hiring manager. It’s important to know his or her management style. If there’s going to be a conflict between your styles, it’s better that you know that now.

1. What specific skills from the person you hire would make your life easier? This question focuses the conversation squarely on the proposition that the employer has a problem. As the potential new hire, you want the employer to tell you that you can make his or her life easier because your skills are just the ticket.
2. What are some of the problems that keep you up at night? This is another way to uncover the employer’s hot buttons, subtly suggesting that hiring you will bring immediate relief to the interviewer’s insomnia.
3. What would be a surprising but positive thing the new person could do in the first 90 days? The wording here is designed to reveal the interviewer’s “wish list” for what the new hire can offer.
4. How does upper management perceive this part of the organization? The response to this question will give the job seeker a feel for how valuable the department is to upper management, because if and when the organization goes through a financial crisis, you want to know that your department will not be the first department cut.
5. What do you see as the most important opportunities for improvement in the area I hope to join? This is another way to get some clues about what specific improvements the hiring manager desires.
6. What are the organization’s three most important goals? This answer will provide an important clue for you if you take the job, because you’ll be evaluated on your contribution to those three goals.
7. How do you see this position impacting on the achievement of those goals? This answer will give an important clue about whether the job is important. If the answer is essentially “not much,” you are being considered for a nonessential position.
8. What attracted you to working for this organization? Get the hiring manager to tell you a story. Listen carefully for clues about what makes for success.
9. What have you liked most about working here? Shared stories are what create community. Here’s another way to bond with the interviewer around a story.
10. In what ways has the experience surprised or disappointed you? Follow-up is good. If the interviewer feels safe, he or she may actually share a disappointment.
11. What are the day-to-day responsibilities I’ll be assigned? No better way to know what you’ll be doing. Notice how the question gently assumes you are already on the team.
12. Could you explain the company’s organizational structure? Ask this question if there is something you don’t understand about the organization.
13. What is the organization’s plan for the next five years, and how does this department or division fit in? Any question that implies you have the long term in mind is great. The hiring manager is thinking, “This guy aims to stick around for the long term.”
14. Will we be expanding or bringing on new products or new services that I should be aware of? Notice the use of the word “we.” This is another question that allows the hiring manager to discuss future plans and prospects.
15. What are some of the skills and abilities you see as necessary for someone to succeed in this job? This is another way to uncover possible objections or conflicts. Again, you can’t address an objection unless it’s articulated.
16. What challenges might I encounter if I take on this position? Listen carefully. The hiring manager is telling you where you are expected to fail. Is this a challenge you can take on and at which you can reasonably hope to succeed? If Superman couldn’t hack it, watch out! You’re being set up for failure.
17. What are your major concerns that need to be immediately addressed in this job? Note the emphasis on the word “your.” This is less about the organization’s agenda than the hiring manager’s concerns. They may or may not be different. It won’t serve you well to meet the organization’s goals but not your manager’s.
18. What are the attributes of the job that you’d like to see improved? This is another way of asking the hiring manager for the conditions of success.
19. What is your company’s policy on attending seminars, workshops, and other training opportunities? You want to be seen as interested in learning and gaining new skill sets. You want your organization to support those goals.
20. What is the budget this department operates with? You may or may not get a straight answer to this straight question, but asking shows you understand the power of budgets to control outcomes.
21. What committees and task forces will I be expected to participate in? Whether you like committee work or not, you should get this information to make an informed decision.
22. How will my leadership responsibilities and performance be measured? By whom? Here’s another general question that goes to how your efforts will be evaluated. It’s likely you will start a conversation about metrics such as management by objective.
23. Are there any weaknesses in the department that you are particularly looking to improve? This will provide an indication of what your first assignment will be.
24. What are the department’s goals, and how do they align with the company’s mission? This is another way to get a picture of how the department fits into the enterprise.
25. What are the company’s strengths and weaknesses compared with the competition (name one or two companies)? This question shows that you have done your research and that you are rightfully aware that success means outperforming the competition.
26. How does the reporting structure work here? What are the preferred means of communication? This set of questions goes to the heart of the corporate culture. Are reporting structures formal or informal? You will not be happy if you prefer an informal, open-door company environment and this company prefers a more rigid structure.
27. What goals or objectives need to be achieved in the next six months? Here is another question to let the hiring manager know that you want to do one thing at a time starting with the most important thing.
28. Can you give me an idea of the typical day and workload and the special demands the job has? This is a good question to get a sense of the job on a day-to-day basis.
29. This is a new position.What are the forces that suggested the need for this position? As the holder of a brand-new position, you will have a lot of freedom to shape the job. But the first thing to understand is why it was created and what problem it is designed to solve.
30. What areas of the job would you like to see improvement in with regard to the person who was most recently performing these duties? This should give you a clue about why the incumbent failed. Yes it’s true that people can learn only from mistakes, but that doesn’t mean it has to be their own mistakes. The downside is that if the incumbent left on bad terms, you risk associating yourself with some negative vibes.
31. From all I can see, I’d really like to work here, and I believe I can add considerable value to the company.What’s the next step in the selection process? Express continued interest, ask for the job, and establish a time frame for the next step.
32. How does this position contribute to the company’s goals, productivity, or profits? This question demonstrates your acknowledgment that every position must make a direct contribution to the company’s bottom line. Follow up with a commitment to doing just that.
33. What is currently the most pressing business issue or problem for the company or department? This is an opportunity to get into a very useful conversation about the challenges you will be expected to face.
34. Would you describe for me the actions of a person who previously achieved success in this position? This question gives the hiring manager an opportunity to reflect on his or her criteria for success.
35. Would you describe for me the action of a person who previously performed poorly in this position? This question gives the hiring manager an opportunity to reflect on his or her criteria for failure.

Remember, most hiring managers aren’t skilled interviewers. They have little or no training in this area, and that lack of training will frequently show. If they seem nervous, ask you inappropriate questions, or are rude, try not to take it personally.

Most hiring managers don’t like interviewing. They regard it as an intrusion on their precious time that prevents them from attending to their primary responsibilities. In addition, they don’t like to say no. As a result, they generally don’t prepare very well and are often nervous. The more you can set hiring managers at ease and persuade them that you can start making their lives easier, the better your chances.

If you want a job, the important thing is to have a conversation with someone who has the authority to give you one.

1. Why do you enjoy working for this company? Go for a personal relationship right away. Show the HR person you care about his or her experience and opinion. Plus you’ll get some useful information about the company and its culture.
2. What attracted you to this organization? Everybody likes to talk about themselves. Maybe the HR person will tell you a story about how he or she got there. That means that person trusts you.
3. Can you describe the work environment here? This is another way of asking about how the company works.
4. How do you describe the philosophy of the company or organization? It’s great to ask the HR interviewer’s perspective on this point.
5. What do you consider to be the organization’s strengths and weaknesses? Again, it’s the interviewer’s opinion that is at the heart of the question.
6. Can you tell me more about my day-to-day responsibilities? Listen for items that are emphasized or repeated. These are the hot buttons, and you will want to tailor the discussion of your skills relating to these areas.
7. How soon are you looking to fill this position? Get a sense of the company’s time frame.
8. How do my skills compare with those of the other candidates you have interviewed? It’s worth a shot to ask, although you probably won’t get a straight answer. Be prepared for the counter, “Why do you ask?”
9. I have really enjoyed meeting with you and your team, and I am very interested in the opportunity. I feel my skills and experience would be a good match for this position.What is the next step in your interview process? This is a very strong concluding question to an interview with HR. It expresses interest, reinforces confidence, and puts the ball into the interviewer’s court.
10. Before I leave, is there anything else you need to know concerning my ability to do this job? This is another positive way to end the interview, emphasizing your commitment to action.
11. In your opinion, what is the most important contribution that this company expects from its employees? Notice how the question solicits the interviewer’s opinion.
12. Is there a structured career path at the company? Some large companies and government agencies have career ladders, grade levels, and other formal steps for people to advance.
13. What are my prospects for advancement? If I do a good job, what is a logical next step? Some companies have more or less formal career progressions-for example, programmer to systems analyst to team leader to project manager to project director, in that order.
14. Assuming I was hired and performed well for a period of time, what additional opportunities might this job lead to? This tells the interviewer that you are looking past this assignment, that you are thinking of sticking around. HR people like that, because it makes them look good when one of their hires stays for a while.
15. Do the most successful people in the company tend to come from one area of the company, such as sales or engineering, or do they rise from a cross section of functional areas? This question immediately tells the interviewer you are sophisticated. The culture of most companies invariably favors employees from one department or another. Technology companies frequently favor employees from engineering. The CEOs of financial companies frequently come out of finance. Most industrial CEOs come out of sales. Perhaps the interviewer will go through the five most senior officers of the company with respect to their origins. Your goal is to note whether the department you plan to join is one of the favored developing grounds for the corner offices.
16. I know that for the position for which I am interviewing, the company has decided to recruit from outside the organization. How do you decide between recruiting from within and going outside? This question lets the interviewer talk about the relative merits of promoting from within and bringing in new ideas and talent (hopefully yours!) to meet the needs of the company. A good answer is that the company is growing too fast for internal promotions to support its challenges.
17. How does this position relate to the bottom line? This is an inquiry into the significance of the job or department. If the job has only an indirect impact on the bottom line, when times get tough it can be considered an expense center rather than a profit center.
18. What advice would you give to someone in my position? Don’t lay it on too thick, but this kind of question can make an HR person’s day.
19. How did you get into your profession? Remember, “profession,” not “job.”
20. What major problems are we facing right now in this department or position? Note the use of the inclusive “we.”
21. Can you give me a formal, written description of the position? I’m interested in reviewing in detail the major activities involved and what results are expected. This is a good question to pose to the screen interviewer. It will help you prepare to face the hiring manager.
22. Does this job usually lead to other positions in the company? Which ones? You don’t want to find yourself in a dead-end job. But also be sure you don’t give the impression that you want to get out of the job before you are in it. Remember, the HR manager wants to see stability tempered by “long-termism.”
23. Can you please tell me a little bit about the people with whom I’ll be working most closely? What a powerful question for finding out about your team!
24. As I understand the position, the title is ____, the duties are ______, and the department is called ________. I would report directly to _________. Is that right? This is an exercise in getting to “yes” plus demonstrating that you have command of the facts.
25. Can you talk about the company’s commitment to equal opportunity and diversity? Possible follow-up questions include, What’s the percentage of women or minorities in the executive ranks? Does the company have a diversity officer?
26. Who are the company’s stars, and how was their status determined? This indicates you want to be a star, as well.
27. How are executives addressed by their subordinates? You are asking about the formality of the organization.
28. What can you tell me about the prevailing management style? This is an inquiry into the management style favored by the senior executives.
29. If you hired me, what would be my first assignment? Message: Setting priorities and goals is key to you.
30. Does the company have a mission statement? May I see it? Mission statements are an important reflection of an organization’s culture. To be fair, they are generally meaningless, but the fact that the company went to the trouble to formulate one is a positive sign, and asking for it makes you look thoughtful and introspective. Be careful, though. Don’t ask for a mission statement if it is posted on the company’s Web site. That would make you look lazy.

In other words, your strategy in interviewing with HR is to satisfy your interviewer that if he or she passes your file to the hiring manager and you subsequently get the job, there will be no possibility that you will embarrass him or her. To do that, you need to persuade the HR person of three things:

• That you are qualified to do the job
• That you want to do the job
• That if given the job, you will fit in

If you do, your application will move to where you want it to be: in front of the hiring manager, the only one in the organization with the power to give you the job you want.

Many HR people are informed, empathic, and professional, and they want you to succeed. Most of them are willing to assist you in refining your résumé, cover letter, or interviewing techniques. Many of them have gone out of their way to help me with this blog. If you are fortunate enough to get one of these folks on your side, they can really make the interviewing process much more productive and enjoyable.

HR people need to be respected, says Joel Hamroff, president of Magill Associates, Inc., a staffing service in Levittown, New York. “Remember that the person sitting on the other side of the desk at one time sat where you are sitting and they are at least as smart as you are. Human resources folks need a reason to exist, so the more you can ask about their experiences and opinions, the more it will endear you to them.”

But the bottom line remains: HR people cannot give you the job you want. Nor can they give you the facts-on-the-ground important information you need to make a good career decision. For the most part, HR people are well informed in a general sense about the company and its benefits policies. But they probably don’t have a lot of the specific information you want about the position and the people you will be working with.

THE CARE AND FEEDING OF HR PEOPLE

Your job search will likely include working with HR screeners, so you should know a few things about their care and feeding. If you keep their agenda in mind, play it straight, and make it easy for them to do their jobs, you will be able to advance your application to the hiring authority. The questions in this chapter are designed to give the HR screener maximum confidence that he or she will not regret endorsing your application.

The central truism about HR people is that, as a profession, they are highly risk-averse. A nightmare for HR people is that the candidate they endorsed will melt down in the next interview or, worse, be hired and then turn out to be a lemon. When that happens, guess who gets clobbered? Right. The poor HR screener who missed the candidate’s signs of pathology that, in retrospect, were as glaring as a Times Square billboard. The result? If an HR screener has the slightest hesitation about you or your interview, she (HR screeners are overwhelmingly women) will simply go on to the next candidate. Given the economy and the large number of qualified candidates competing for each position these days, HR people won’t hesitate to move on if you give them any reason to question your desirability as a candidate.

So your first strategy is to not give them any doubt about your application. To do that you must be immediately interested, positive, and likable. Confidence is important, but avoid cockiness. Remember, your starting salary will always be higher-sometimes dramatically higher-than the salary of the interviewer. Don’t give the interviewer another excuse to dislike you.