Colorado Communication Coach

Here’s my list of all time greatest job interview questions.

Let’s start with my all-time favorite, the question I was asked before being hired for a  job I should never have taken…

“If I were to ask you to weigh Pikes Peak (a 14,000+ mountain near Colorado Springs), how would you do it?”

(Please submit your most creative answers in a comment! I’ll let you know the response I gave that got me the job. )

INTERVIEW QUESTIONS YOU CAN ASK THE HIRING MANAGER:

1. What do you expect someone in this position to accomplish over the next 6-12 months?
2. What specific goals have been established for this position? What general goals?
3. What is the biggest challenge the successful candidate would face?
4. What are you trying to accomplish that’s different from what’s been done in the past? OR What new strategies do you anticipate for this position?
5. How does this position fit into the corporate structure? OR How would you describe the reporting system (formal vs. informal)?
6. How well is the company progressing toward its goals? Have there been significant accomplishments/unanticipated problems?
7. What are the principal opportunities in this position?
8. How are new ideas typically received?

INTERVIEW QUESTIONS THE HIRING MANAGER MAY ASK YOU!

1. What was the tipping point that made you decide to leave your last job?
2. Tell me about yourself
3. What are you looking for in a job?
4. What have you been doing between positions?
5. What can we do for your during the first six months of this position to make you feel like you made the right decision?
6. What did you like most/least about your last job?
7. How well do you work under pressure?
8. Do you prefer staff work or line work? Why?
9. Would you describe yourself as creative? If so, give me an example.
10. How are you at meeting deadlines?
11. What problems did you identify in your last position that had been previously overlooked?
12. How did you hear about our company?
13. What do you know about our company?
14. Are you willing to take a personality test? Aptitude test? Intelligence test?
15. Where else have you been looking for a job?
16. What new goals have you set for yourself recently?
17. Tell me about your most significant accomplishment.
18. How would you describe your management/leadership/operating style?
19. What kinds of problems do you enjoy solving?
20. How ambitious are you?
21. What are your long term plans?
22. How many days have you missed this past year because of illness?
23. Why do you want to change jobs?
24. Would relocation be a problem for you?
25. What newspapers do you read?
26. Describe yourself using 10 adjectives or adverbs.
27. What interest you most about the position? What interests you the least?
28. Why should we hire you versus another candidate with similar qualifications and education?
29. Describe a few situations in which your work was criticized.
30. How would you evaluate your present company?
31. Would you object to working for a woman/man/younger person/older person?
32. What were you looking for when you accepted the job you now have? Did you find it? Why do you now want to change jobs?
33. How would you describe your typical workday?
34. How do you handle fellow employees you dislike?
35. How do we fit in with your long term plans?
36. Describe for me the toughest supervisor you’ve ever worked for?
37. What makes you think you’d like working here?
38. How much money will it take to get you to work here?
39. What motivates you?
40. If you could start all over again, would you do it differently? Why or why not?
41. What do you think of the President’s economic policies/foreign policies?
42. How would you describe your personality?
43. If asked, how would your subordinates describe you?
44. You have no experience in the kind of work we do here. What makes you think you can handle it?
45. Specifically, what have you done to increase sales?
46. How have you handled problem employees?
47. What do you look for when YOU hire people?
48. What makes you think you would be happy here?
49. Are you willing to take a lie detector test?
50. How do you explain the gaps in your employment history?
51. Are you active in community affairs? What have you done? What role did you play?
52. What specific skills do you have that would be beneficial to this company?
53. What would you say are your greatest strengths?
54. What is your feeling about homosexuality?
55. Do you prefer to work alone or in a team environment?
56. What did you learn from your last position?
57. How would you rate yourself as a professional/manager/leader?
58. In what extracurricular activities were you involved when you were in school?
59. Tell me about the person for whom you now work.
60. Why should I hire you?
61. Does paperwork bother you?
62. What is your greatest weakness?
63. What steps do you take to get along with people you dislike?
64. What things disturb you most?
65. How did you get along with your previous boss?
66. Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
67. What kind of money are you looking for?
68. Are you a detail oriented person?
69. What sorts of things fluster you?
70. Do you use drugs?
71. Describe or define success for me
72. What do you do in your spare time?
73. What is the most useful criticism you ever received?
74. Is travel a problem for you?
75. In what ways do you think your weakness will interfere with the position we’re trying to fill?
76. To what magazines do you subscribe?
77. Do you have a problem with overtime or weekend work?
78. Would you characterize yourself as a conservative or liberal?
79. Tell me about the last time you were criticized about your work performance.
80. How’s your college football/basketball team doing?
81. Have you ever been fired? Why? What happened?
82. How good are you at motivating people?
83. What do you consider to be your most outstanding achievement?
84. What interest you least about the position I’ve described to you?
85. What have you done to increase market share?
86. If you had your choice of any company, which would you want to work for and why?
87. Why do you feel that you have the potential to take on this position?
88. Have you created any enemies in your company?
89. What do you think of your boss?
90. What is your present salary?
91. How do you feel about firing people?
92. Are you a good leader, manager, delegator, communicator? Give me an example.
93. What makes you think you can get up to speed quickly here?
94. Aren’t you kind of young/old to be changing careers?
95. Tell me about a time you had to work with a difficult boss/difficult customer/difficult co-worker. How did you handle it?
96. Tell me about a time you had to get a lot done in a short period of time. How did you do that?
97. If you had to pick up Pikes Peak and weight it, how would you go about doing that?
98. Tell me about a time you made a mistake. What was it and how did you deal with it?
99. Is there anything you’d like to ask ME at this point?
100. Who was your greatest role model?
101. How do you manage your time on a typical day?
102. How do you set priorities?
103. What obstacles and challenges have you overcome?
104. What habitual patterns have you changed and why?

Finally, here’s a great article on why logic puzzles make good interview questions.

Laura B., writing from 6711 feet above sea level!