Chief Operating Officer

My favorite question to ask as an interviewer comes at the end of the interview. It is usually the last thing I ask. The question is, Do you have any questions or concerns about your ability to do the job? This often works better than the open ended, “Do you have any questions for me?” because it focuses in on the responsibilities associated with the job. If they say yes, it gives you the chance to help address their concerns and assess their fit for the job.

☛ Do you prefer to work in a small, medium or large company?

☛ Who was your favorite manager and why?

☛ What do you feel is the best educational preparation for this career?

☛ How well did your college experience prepare you for this job?

☛ What is your greatest achievement outside of work?

The most important thing you should do is make sure to relate your answer to your long-term career goals. Provide truthful answers to Chief Operating Officer (COO) interview questions and exude confidence when speaking. Do not forget to ask for the names of interviewers. And then, remember to give them a polite thank you.

☛ Describe a time when the management board was struggling to reach a decision. What did you do?

☛ Have you ever implemented any correction moves to improve company procedures?

☛ Give me an example of a time-saving solution you suggested and implemented.

☛ Describe a situation where your team accomplished a specific goal. How did you motivate them?

☛ What’s the biggest challenge you’ve faced so far? How did you handle it?

☛ Situation in which you had to arrive at a compromise.

☛ Give me an example that best describes your organizational skills.

☛ How would you weigh a plane without scales?

☛ Where do you see yourself in five years time?

☛ How did you react when faced with constant time pressure?

In other words, what kind of leader have you worked well with and what kind of leader have you struggled under? What is your ideal decision-making environment? This set of questions is designed to help you better assess whether a candidate will be a good fit with your church or ministry’s staff culture. Would he or she thrive under the leadership of his or her supervisor, or would there be an inevitable personality conflict if you hired him or her? Would personal characteristics hinder his or her ability to do the job well? Would he or she feel excluded from the decision-making process?

☛ What have you done to support diversity in your unit?

☛ What support training would you require to be able to do this job?

☛ What major challenges and problems did you face?

☛ What is a typical career path in this job function?

☛ Who has impacted you most in your career and how?

Don't talk about previous experience that is not related to the position in question. Discuss any attributes that may set you apart from other job candidates.

Have a good questions ready about the position, opportunities for training or skill improvement, and other questions related to the job.

☛ What can you do for us that other candidates cant?

☛ How do you keep track of things you need to do?

☛ What steps do you follow to study a problem before making a decision?

☛ How do you decide what gets top priority when scheduling your time?

☛ Give examples of ideas you've had or implemented.

☛ Tell me about a difficult experience you had in working.

☛ What was the most complex assignment you have had?

☛ What are your expectations regarding promotions and salary increases?

☛ Tell me about an important goal that you set in the past.

☛ How do you feel about taking no for an answer?

☛ Your greatest weakness in school or at work?

☛ Time when you made a suggestion to improve the work.

☛ Tell us about the last time you had to negotiate with someone.

☛ How do you see your job relating to the overall goals?

☛ What are your salary requirements.

☛ How do you evaluate your ability to handle conflict?

☛ Have you ever had difficulty working with a manager?

☛ What have you been doing since your last job?

☛ What do you think you can bring to this position?

☛ What relevant experience do you have?

Here is my favorite question to ask when interviewing sales candidates:

I’m not sure if you’re the perfect fit for this role. I’m curious to hear why you think you’d be a great candidate.

This is a great question because it’s an objection. I want to see how they handle objections like they would from a potential client or from a co-worker with a contrarian opinion.

It’s also a way for me to see if they’ve done their homework on my company and their depth of understanding for what it would take to be successful in this role.

Why am I asking? — What I’m looking for is really to hear what the person says without a pre-prepared script. I want to get info the person’s head for a short tour. That’s what I’m looking for :

☛ Can a person come up with one?

☛ How comfortable is the person improvising?

☛ What story was chosen?

☛ How does he/she structure her thoughts?

☛ Can he/she link sentences and ideas, so they make sense to the audience.

I’ve always loved the health care industry, but my interest in nursing really started when I volunteered at a neighborhood clinic. I knew our department capabilities were amazing but that the staff could practice better patient care. So I worked with management to come up with a strategy that increased our patient satisfaction rates by 25% in a year. It was great to be able to contribute positively to an industry I feel so passionate about, and to help promote a clinic I really believed in.

I love this question because it forces the candidate to talk about their accomplishments without trying to sound too humble. You can also tell a lot about a person by how they answer this question. If they start to brag or sound too modest, it says a lot about their personality.

There needs to be a balance between these two factors. See what the prospective COO considers to be more valuable.

This is a fantastic question because it requires them to not only think on their feet but it shows if they have done their due diligence and know what our company is all about!

I’m hoping to learn about how a candidate persevered through a tough situation. Did they quit or pull it off? There’s a hiring adage along the lines of ‘hire for character – train for skill,’ and this question definitely probes into that notion of what is this person really made of.

I find this question helps me understand what motivates a potential hire and sheds light as to whether she would be a good fit. I am a big believer in ‘fit’ and this question goes a long way. People draw motivation from different sources, and understanding that from the outset is very helpful in building a successful relationship.