General Start-up Questions
- Draw the organizational chart of your present company, including your specific department. What is your role?
- What indicators measure your performance within your current position?
- Were you ever in a situation where you had too many things to do in the time available? How did you handle it?
- What kinds of decisions are most difficult for you?
- Do you discuss important decisions with anyone?
- Imagine a situation where you find yourself without the specific technical knowledge to perform a task essential to a project. What would you do?
- Imagine you are asked to set up a task force to investigate the advantages of using temporary office workers in your company. If there were no precedent for establishing such a task force, how would you do it?
- If you had to interview someone for a position on your staff, and you lacked the technical depth to understand their competence, how would you handle the interview?
- What major problems have you identified in your current position that were previously overlooked, and what have you done about it?
- What kind of people do you feel represent a challenge to work with and how do you best deal with them?
- What was your biggest challenge this last year at work, and how did you reach a solution?
- What was your worst mistake during the last year, and what did you do about it?
- What has been the toughest decision you have made in your career?
- In terms of problem resolution would you describe yourself to be more analytical or intuitive? Give specific examples.
- How do you react if someone criticizes the work you have done? Give specific examples.
- What notable successes have you had in problem solving for your company?
- How would your boss describe you?
- How would your closest friends and family describe you?
- How would you describe yourself in terms of weaknesses and strengths?
- In considering important career questions, what impact does your closest family play in the decision making?
- What do you do for relaxation, or what means a lot to you, besides work?
- If you could start again, what would you do differently?
- Do you consider yourself to be more or less creative than your boss and coworkers? Give examples.
- How do you tell your boss or board of directors that the action is wrong, or at least that they are going in a direction with which you are in total disagreement?
- What business or social situations make you feel awkward?
- How have you dealt with an angry or frustrated customer? Tell me about it.
- How do you turn things around when the initial impression of you is bad?
- Was there ever a time when your timing was bad? Tell me about it.
- What is the most memorable mistake you have made in dealing with people?
- Why are you interested in this particular opportunity, and why should we hire you?
- How do you motivate people?
- What are three examples of major projects you initiated at work, or in your spare time, that you did not have to do, within the last two years?
- Tell me about your workday. When do you start and when do you finish?
- If you rank yourself in terms of college, how did you do in regard to grades and ranking?
- What mission or thinking do you follow when you work?
- Do you ever find it necessary to go beyond the call of duty to get the job done?
- What have you done to become more effective in your career?
- When the pressure is on, where does your extra energy come from?
- Do you ever take work home?
- What kind of initiative do you take in a challenging situation? Give me an example.
- What means more to you in the job-money or personal growth?
- Recount when you made a major change. Why did you do it and how did it work?
- Was there a time when you failed, but came right back again? Give me an example.
- With regard to your job, where do you see yourself five years from now?
- Do you socialize with your coworkers outside of work, and why?
- Have you laid off many people during your career? When doing so, how have you done it?
- In what way do you give subordinates feedback?
- When recruiting new people, do you look for specific characteristics? If so, what are those characteristics?
- How do you work with new and weak members of your group?
- Who is the best manager that you know of and why?
- How do you deal with employees who are strong performers?
- Getting the job done involves gathering information and input from others. How do you do this?
- What is the toughest communication problem you have faced?
- Have you ever verbally convinced someone of an approach or an idea? Tell me about it.
- How do you perform as a speaker or motivator in front of large and small groups? Give specific examples.
- When has your verbal communication been important enough to follow up in writing?
- Are there situations better suited to written communication?
- What do you admire and dislike the most, and why?
- How would you characterize your management style?
- What is the limit of your management responsibilities? Explain the types of decisions that are beyond your authority.
- How would you prioritize your work schedule during a busy week?
- To what degree do you give people freedom at work? How do you ensure that it does not get out of hand?
- Are there certain tasks that a manager can never delegate? If so, what are those tasks?
- Do you consider yourself to be replaceable? What would happen with the day-to-day business at your company if you decided as of today to not return to your job again?
- As a manager have you changed your organization, and why?
- How do you inspire your subordinates?
- How are you with discipline in terms of your employees? What do you do to ensure that efficiency is kept at a high level and that people follow the orders you give them?
- How do you discipline people (nonperformers)?
- What are the most common problems or challenges that you are facing in your job? How do you deal with it?
- Do you consider yourself to be better at strictly planning and then delegating or the other way around?
- How would you rate your management skills to the former manager in your position, and why?
- How would you react if one of your workers told you that you were wrong in one of your decisions?
