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How to Write Your Performance Review

3 hard interview questions to ask the hiring manager

Written by Scot Herrick on February 3, 2010 in interview questions
6 Comments - Leave a comment!
Tom in his corner office (http://www NULL.flickr NULL.com/photos/altopower/3147551355/)

Tom in his corner office (http://www NULL.flickr NULL.com/photos/altopower/3147551355/) by altopower (http://www NULL.flickr NULL.com/photos/altopower/)

Part of the interviewing process is asking questions of the hiring manager. While there are hundreds of questions out there, I’m oriented to ensuring you will fit well with the manager’s management style and reduce your layoff risk of taking a job. Your manager has the most significant impact on your career and no company is yet safe from a layoff.

To that end, here are the questions:

When there is conflict between team members, what do you do?

Conflict is good in a team — but not too much. If all that happens is people screaming at each other, nothing much gets done and it isn’t fun to be at work. Good conflict comes with the ability to see the other side, understand the issues and coming to a conclusion that works.

A manager needs to manage conflict on the team in a way that moves the team’s goals forward. How the manager does that shows a lot about management style — and whether it matches your temperament for a working style of your own.

What are the departments top 3 accomplishments in the last 3 months and why?

Too many questioners ask this and the time frame is over the last year. I’m of the opinion that you need to be producing results right now, not something from eleven months ago. “What have you done for me lately” has never been more important than right now in the business environment.

You need to figure out if what is said is really an accomplishment — it is finished — or just a lot of work in progress. Work in progress is nice, but it is not a result. If the department isn’t producing accomplishments, why would management want to keep it around?

As well, you need to settle on whether or not the accomplishment with the accompanying business benefit is really significant enough to warrant the work done in the department. Did the department save the company through the revenue it produced? That’s big. Did the department run the monthly “employee of the month” this last time? Not so much.

What happened to the last two people who had this job?

All sorts of answers can come forth here — got promoted(!), left the company or decided to “pursue other business interests” (read: fired). Whatever the answer, you have the opportunity to ask a follow-up question to clarify the answer. If the person left to go to another company, why don’t you ask, “what did that person find lacking in this company that would cause that person to leave?”

That would be an enlightening answer, don’t you think?

You need to sense the company environment

Your job is not just about your skills, but also how well you integrate with the manager and the team. Without that integration, you’ll find it tough to stay motivated to produce the results needed to really excel in your work.

Great managers won’t find these questions hard to answer. Poor ones will be all over the map.

What other great questions have you asked the hiring manager about the work?

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Related posts:

  1. Hiring managers don’t know interview questions
  2. Interview Questions for your potential manager only have three answers
  3. 3 Killer Interview Questions to Evaluate Your Manager
  4. To answer interview questions, use a CAR
  5. Interview Question: What questions do you have for me?

6 Comments - Leave a comment!
  • Very good questions Scot! I especially like the first two. Aside from evaluating the answers, get a feel for how long it takes for the hiring manager to answer these questions. If he or she has to think about it for a while (say, 5 seconds or more), that would leave me to wonder if he or she has a solid command of the department or team, or is trying to make up something.
  • Good point, Rick -- much of communication is non-verbal and how long it takes to answer the question is a very good clue.
  • Scot,

    Great list! I would also add "What brought you here and what keeps you here?" and "How would you describe your management style?" These questions are very much in line with what you discussed above -- company culture.
  • More good questions, Heather. I especially like the "what brought you here" question because it gives you the opportunity to ask a follow-up question: "And did you find what brought you here to be true after you got here?"

    Nice.
  • A critical question to ask is "how do you measure (work) performance?" Some people work extremely well but are quieter than others, and that can have an impact on how their results are recognized. You need to know that your success will be discovered as it happens, regardless of how much 'marketing' you do.
  • A very good point, Jacob. Too many companies don't know how to measure individual performance (but may be good at measuring team performance...). It is critical that you can independently measure your performance, without having just the opinion of the manager be the measure. That way you get reinforcement for doing well or not.

    How they answer your good question is a good indicator of whether or not management can truly measure your results. Thanks for leaving this gem.
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