Job Interview Questions

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.

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