Job Interview Questions

• To whom would I report?
• How many direct reports will I have?
• What is the background of those I would supervise?
• Would it be possible to meet the people who work in the department?
• What is the average turnover in the department I hope to join?
• How many new hires per year does it take to keep the department fully staffed?
• How would you describe the corporate culture (or work environment) here?
• What do you like best/least about working for [manager’s name]?
• How responsive is management to employee ideas?
• How much interaction do you have with supervisors and other coworkers?
• Do you work more on an independent basis or in a team environment?
• How would you describe the corporate culture (or work environment) here?
• How does your organization differ from its competitors?
• What are the company’s plans for future growth?
• What problems is your organization facing?
• What do you like most about working here?
• What is the size of the division, its sales volume, and its current earnings?
• What is the 5- to 10-year company plan?
• How are you positioned in relation to your competitors?
• What kind of support does the company provide for research and development?
• What do you like about living in this community?
• Does the company have structured pay levels?
• What percentage of my time would be spent in the various functions you described that this job involves?
• How much contact is there between departments (if a large organization)?
• How would you describe the culture of your organization?
• What’s the best way to become familiar with corporate policies, practices, and culture?
• Where does this position fit into the structure of the department and the organization as a whole?

1. What is the commission structure, and what is my earning potential in 1, 3, 5, or 10 years? Every salesperson needs to understand how commissions and related compensation work.
2. If you put all the salespeople in a line from your best to the merely acceptable performer, what are the earnings of the 50th percentile? The 25th? The 75th? This is a good way to understand your earning potential if you join the company.
3. What percentage of salespeople attain objectives? Every salesperson has a quota. If a larger percentage of salespeople fail to meet quota, it indicates that either the quota is too high or the sales team is inadequate.
4. What percentage of the current people are above and below their set goals? In other words, how does the company handle underperforming salespeople?
5. Can you describe the performance of the sales team? You want to know whether you will be joining a team of superstars or also-rans.

1. Will I receive my assignments from IT or from the business unit? This is a critical question that goes to the very DNA of the information technology resource in the company. Organizations in which the business units have significant input into the technology agenda are generally much more responsive to market conditions than organizations in which IT is more insulated from business realities. On the other hand, the IT function can be a lot more volatile. Which environment do you prefer?
2. Do developers have little contact with the business unit or significant contact? This variation of the above question looks at IT contact with business units as a measure of how responsive IT is.
3. Does the company have a Net-use policy? May I see it? The answer to this question will give you a good clue about what levels of trust operate in the company. An overly retroactive Net policy may point to a company that is uncomfortable with the uncertainties of the Net.
4. To whom does the chief information or technology officer report? If the CIO reports directly to the CEO, this indicates a company that places high strategic value in the IT function.
5. What are the biggest technical challenges ahead for this department/ company? Get a sense of how the hiring manager defines the technical challenges and be prepared to sell yourself against those outcomes.
6. Traditionally, companies have used IT to reduce bottom-line costs. But I am excited about the use of IT to advance top-line opportunities such as creating new products and identifying new markets. Can you talk about how IT is used in this company to create top-line value? Do you want to work in a company where IT continues to be an inwardfacing function?
7. What structured strategies for software testing have you found effective here? Note that this is a question that makes sense only with an interviewer who has a passion for software testing.
8. Does the company use an IT steering committee? The question demonstrates understanding of how some companies develop IT funding and strategies.
9. Do you have a formal development change management process, or is the process more informal? Many developers hate formal, structured processes or standards; others welcome the structure. Be clear about the environment you are considering joining.
10. After months of working long hours, the morale of IT workers can plummet.What rewards have you found effective in recognizing and rewarding exceptional work? This question can be made more perceptive if you actually have some concrete suggestions for monetary as well as nonmonetary methods for recognizing performance. Who knows, you may end up on the receiving end of what you suggest.

1. May I see a job description? What are the most important responsibilities of the job? A good place to start is to ask for a job description.
2. How much time should be devoted to each area of responsibility? This question asks the interviewer to identify what is most important and then to prioritize. Often interviewers will find this question very difficult because they don’t really know. But how can you succeed without agreements on what’s most important?
3. What initial projects would I be tackling? Like the question above, this is another attempt to prioritize, this time looking at projects.
4. What is my spending/budget authority? This question goes to how much responsibility you will have before bumping into someone else’s responsibility.
5. What are you hoping to accomplish, and what will be my role in those plans? You want to know what the company’s strategic goals are and how the company hopes you will contribute.
6. Presuming that I’m successful on this assignment, where else might I be of service to the company? First things first, of course, but the question will tell the interviewer that you have a long-term perspective.
7. Can you please describe the management team to me? This is the most general question about the management team you will report to.
8. Can you show or sketch me an organizational chart? An organizational chart is a road map to the company’s structure and how much authority you will have.

Of course, no one would ever ask all these questions in one job interview, but you want to get a good understanding of four aspects: the job, the people, the management, and the company. Before your next interview, select four or five of these questions and reword them to meet the unique requirements of the individual interview.