1. What keeps you up at night?

2. What do you like to do? What do you hate to do?

If you have the tools to fix these, the conversation can go really well.

Thanks for responding. Is “I don’t know” ever appropriate? That depends on the question. Yes, for most questions, it’s a lousy and flag-raising response. But if I’m a hiring manager, I don’t want to hear a B.S. answer if someone can’t answer the question directly. I’d be more skeptical of someone who opens his mouth and *doesn’t* answer the question than someone who can be honest and answers “I don’t know.”

Let’s say you’re being interviewed for a non-managerial staff position, and you’re a professional with only a few years of experience in your profession. The hiring manager asks something like, “Where do you see the industry in 5 to 10 years?” If that person answers “I don’t know,” I wouldn’t put a lot of stock in that answer if that person has otherwise demonstrated the skills and savvy I need in that position. But if I were interviewing someone for an executive position that requires someone with foresight, “I don’t know” would leave me looking forward to interviewing the next candidate.

Hope this clarifies!

Darlene

If the person has to think about the answer for a few seconds, that may indicate that he or she isn’t sure of how to respond. Depending on the question, an “I don’t know” may be better than no answer at all.

If the person dodges the question or tries to evade it with a joke, that’s a red flag for me.

The questions to ask your possible future boss:

What their management style is?

When they last took forward an employee suggestion or idea?

When they last praised an employee or team and why?

What’s their opinion on individual development and training?

Ask them when they asked for feedback on their management style and what were the results?

What are their views on delegation. How do they delegate? Do they delegate? Do they micro-manage?

Andrew

What do you believe is the toughest challenge that the person in the job will face?

Tell me the best and worst thing about working here?