What's the best senior job question you've asked or been asked at the end of the interview?

[Wonderbug81]

If you're a senior candidate, what's a killer question you've asked the hiring manager?

If you're a hiring manager, what's the best question you've been asked by a senior candidate?

For corporate/office roles specifically.

How would your peers describe you/ what is the toughest piece of feedback you’ve ever received and how did you handle it.

Toughest feedback is a good one! Will get thinking.

That's a fairly standard question at any level, however it's a good one and I like to turn it around. I ask it to the employer, If Im being interviewed by the person I will report to. What are you like to work for, how would the rest of the team describe working with you, what do you need from me for us to work well together. Whats the one thing I could /might do that would really irritate you.

What’s the one thing I could do that would irritate you??? Sounds like a threat. Don’t ask this one!

I work alongside / at Board level and I often ask “is there anything you think keeps the directors awake at night, and where do you place me in this role in addressing that?” or variations of. It works both ways. The hiring manager / panel have the opportunity to reflect on both wider strategy and culture, the purpose they’re recruiting the role for, and what I’ve just spent an hour telling them about myself and my experience. The answer has also on a couple of occasions told me everything I need to know about why this isn’t the role for me, especially where it becomes clear that there’s a culture problem rather than a governance problem, because I can’t solve culture with governance.

I’ve been asked “I know that the company recently set its values and mission statement in the three-year corporate plan: if you had to pick one of the values which would you say you personally feel most aligned with?” and I liked that. It gave me the opportunity to reflect on my own practice and what drives me, and whether the candidate I’d just interviewed was similarly or complementarily aligned.

This is so insightful. Great advice thank you.

It’s effective and insightful at a number of levels. You learn far more about culture from that one question and also see the human side of the person.

Hmm just not sure. My immediate thought would be - this person wants to push beyond boundaries and that's not good for my team.