Job Interview Questions

1. If I were a spectacular success in this position after six months, what would I have accomplished? This is a very bold way to understand the “dream list” of accomplishments you will, on some level, be expected to fulfill.
2. Do you foresee this job involving significant amounts of overtime or work on weekends? It’s a fair question, so ask it straight.
3. I understand the company has experienced layoffs within the last two years. Can you review the reasons why they were necessary? It will make the interviewer uncomfortable, but the interviewer expects questions about layoffs.
4. How were the layoffs handled in terms of notification, severance, outplacement services, etc.? You want to know how your termination, should you be downsized, will likely be handled.
5. Are there formal metrics in place for measuring and rewarding performance over time? The impression you want to leave is that you are good and you want the metrics to recognize it.
6. How effectively has the company communicated its top three business goals? If the interviewer cannot articulate them, you have your answer.
7. I am a hard worker. I expect to be around other hard-working people.Am I going to be comfortable with the level of effort I find here? You are asking the interviewer if you will find the kind of hard-working environment in which you thrive at this position. If the interviewer hedges at all, you have your answer.
8. Is the company’s training strategy linked to the company’s core business objectives? The most sophisticated companies do link their training and education investments to core business objectives.
9. How does your firm handle recognition for a job well done? The way an organization rewards achievement tells you a lot about its culture.
10. When was the last time you rewarded a subordinate for his or her efforts? What token of appreciation did you offer? This question goes from the general to the specific. You are now asking about the manager’s practices in rewarding subordinates.
11. How does the firm recognize and learn from a brave attempt that didn’t turn out quite as expected? Many companies say they have a nonpunitive attitude toward managers who make mistakes, but few live up to the attitude. Ask about a time when the lessons from a mistake were widely disseminated across the organization.
12. How much freedom would I have in determining my objectives and deadlines? This question goes to how much authority you will have to do your job in the manner you see fit versus working to someone else’s preferences.
13. How long has this position existed in the organization? Has its scope changed recently? Information about the history of the position and its recent evolution can influence your decision.
14. What are the greatest challenges I will face in this position in furthering the agenda of the organization? The question asks the interviewer to identify the obstacles, impediments, and other land mines that people occupying every position in an organization must confront. If the interviewer suggests there are no such obstacles, you know it’s a lie.
15. Are my tasks limited to my job description, or will l be performing duties outside the described job scope? If there is a job description, it is frequently ignored. If you’re going to be doing your job as well as someone else’s, you should know now, before you accept the job.

Even if you are unemployed, resist the temptation to take the job just because it is offered. You may be in the frying pan now, but the fire is surely hotter if you accept a job you don’t fully understand. So ask away.

While you never want to ask questions that spoil your rapport with the interviewer, make it clear that you expect candid answers to your queries. Actually, there is an advantage to being real at this point. Most interviewers expect you to look out for your interests. If you can’t speak up for your own interests, they will figure, how can you be expected to speak out for the best interests of the organization?

Here is where your research protects your interests. You need to know why the company is losing money, why the prior incumbent quit, and what are the relocation plans for the department. It is perfectly appropriate to ask to speak with potential subordinates and colleagues. They are excellent sources of information; they know what is going on and are most likely going to be straight with you. You may ask these people about the informal power structure, the unwritten priorities, what it really takes to be successful, and what they most want to change.

• 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.

Many of the questions in this blog are appropriate for public and private companies, but the following questions are targeted for private companies only:

• Is the company profitable?
• How is the company funded?
• Who are the investors?
• How are corporate decisions made?
• How is the company organized?
• What is the company’s burn rate?
• How much money does the company have in the bank?
• What are the growth opportunities?
• Has the company considered filing for an IPO (initial public offering)?
• Is private stock available to me? What about stock options?
• Has the company been approached for a merger or takeover?
• What was the company’s reaction to the merger or acquisition overture?
• Has that attitude changed?
• Where do you see the company (or function) going in the next three years?
• Can you tell me about the company’s roots?

As former president Ronald Reagan would say, “Trust, but verify.” Asking these questions is just the first step. Confirming the accuracy of the answers is the second.

Business history shows that few company founders have the skills to manage the company when it gets past a certain size. Few such managers, however, acknowledge this reality. One of your main goals in the interview, then, is to try to determine how you will be able to work with this individual and, by extension, his or her heirs, all of whom have a stake in the business. To satisfy yourself of the viability of the situation, you are entitled to a much greater degree of latitude.

Company founders and owners have tremendous pride in the success of the organizations they built. They will generally resist sharing their organizations with anyone else. The big issue, then, is how willingly the company founder or owner is prepared to adjust the company’s balance of power and, perhaps, ownership. The questions that follow are designed to give you a clue about how flexible the company founder or owner might be. The questions assume the candidate is interviewing for a senior executive position, perhaps the COO to the founder’s CEO. Use these wordings as the basis for customizing questions to your unique situation:

1. What are the success factors that will tell you that the decision to bring me on board was the right one? This question starts the conversation off on the success factors that you will bring to the organization.
2. How would you describe the company you’d like to leave your heirs in terms of sales, size, number of employees, and position in the industry? This opens the conversation about heirs and what impact they may have on the negotiations.
3. Have you considered the degree to which you want your heirs to have strategic or operational influence in the company until one of them is ready to assume the role of COO or CEO? If there is an heir waiting in the wings, this is a good way to start a conversation about it.
4. If for any reason you were unable to function as CEO, how would you like to see the company managed? Is this known, understood, and agreed to by your heirs? Is it in writing? Transition strategies, or more frequently the lack of them, derail many organizations. If a transition strategy exists in writing, you can have some confidence that the organization is relatively mature in its governance.
5. To make our working relationship successful-something we both want-we’ll need to be sure we have good chemistry together. How might we determine this, and then what action would you see us engage in to build that relationship? This question alerts the CEO that one of your success factors is the relationship between the two of you.
6. If you and I were developing some sort of philosophical difference, how would you want to go about resolving it? Here is a refreshingly candid question that goes to how inevitable differences will be resolved.

1. What is the company’s customer service philosophy? Customer service is the mantra of most companies, and this high-level question can open a conversation about customer service. If you ask this question, make sure you have something valuable to say about what you can deliver in this area.
2. Could you tell me about a time when the team/company went out of its way to provide knock-your-socks-off service? People love showing off if they are coaxed. Listen carefully to the story, and be prepared to offer a similar story where you were the hero.
3. The best companies rely on rich customer data to fuel personalized content and services. How is the company doing in personalizing its offerings? The question demonstrates your understanding of how the Internet has changed marketing and customer service. Be prepared to demonstrate how you can advance the company in its personalization objectives.
4. Customers are expecting companies to protect their data. Does the company have a privacy policy for its Web initiatives, and how does the company balance the momentum for ever-increasing personalization with rising concerns for privacy? If you ask this question, be sure you have some concrete experience in this area.
5. How empowered are employees? How much of the company’s money can your people (including the ones with single-digit pay grades) spend on their own recognizance to satisfy a customer or address a workprocess issue? You are asking for evidence that the organization pays more than lip service to employee empowerment.
6. How often would I come into direct contact with real, living, breathing, paying customers? This question goes to how much the organization trusts its employees. Exposing customers to employees can be risky, but without significant customer contact, no employee can appreciate what it really means to be successful.