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Interview Questions You Should Ask Executive Candidates

curranrecruit
Jul 1, 2015
3 min read

Asking questions to any candidate, whether they are applying for the position of a front line employee or for an executive, in essence are of the same formula. The organisation wants to know how a candidate will fare given the required responsibilities and also how well they work with others. However, experts (CIPD; SHRM; Manpower, 2015) agree that recruiting for executive level positions and talking to executive candidates requires a unique set of executive interview questions. Executive interviews are different than interviewing candidates for non-executive positions. They involve longer recruiting cycles with more comprehensive interviews.

In this week’s blog post we share some idea of questions managers should ask when interviewing for executive level positions.

Interview Prep

When interviewing executive level candidates, it’s important to focus on two primary areas:

1) Interpersonal skills – Good interpersonal skills (such as communication, problem solving and conflict resolution) are vital to succeed in management. Leaders must understand how to effectively deal with other people.

2) Ability to deliver positive results – Strong executives have a track record of success (e.g. leading teams that increase sales, streamline processes, cut expenses and achieve organisations goals). Their capabilities have already been demonstrated by previous employers.

Important Q&As

Here are just some of the main questions to ask for during an executive level interview:

1. Discuss Leadership

What is leadership to you?
What is your leadership style?
Who are your favourite leaders and why?

Executive candidates seeking executive positions should know precisely what leadership is and be able to discuss their leadership style and how they use it in business. Interviewers can use questions about leadership style and candidates’ thoughts on leadership to see if they match with the organisation’s mission and vision for the company or with best practices in executive leadership.

2. Problem-Solving

Describe one recent problem that you came across on the job and how you dealt with /resolved it?
How did you contribute to overcoming the obstacle and how did you implement steps for others to overcome the obstacle?

Questions about problem solving are very important in executive interviews because executive level candidates are often sought specifically to solve a business problem. Pay attention to their answer, see if it demonstrates that they care for business results and thus expect the best of their people while also being fair and compassionate and willing to make tough decisions.

3. Working with others

How would your co-workers describe you?
Describe the best boss you ever reported to

Executive interview questions like these are generally asked to discover additional hidden qualities about a candidate that might not otherwise have been mentioned. These questions are able to highlight the personality and work types the applicant meshes with best. The interviewer can gain greater insights into the candidate’s communication skills, work style and potential cultural fit.

4. Understanding the Organisation

From everything you’ve learned about this role, myself and our organisation, tell me how you feel you’d make a contribution?
How do you think you could improve our business?
Do you know who our competitors are?

Those who have really prepared will love this opportunity to shine and stand out, demonstrating that they have done all the homework that can absolutely be done in today’s world of instant information. Those who haven’t will stumble and try to put some generic response together, which will be obvious.