Do You Reward Work That You Perceive As Being Exemplary
This question will be asked to see how you work with and reward teams. Some employees respond well to being rewarded for their hard work, so this is a good opportunity to demonstrate how you would reward them.
Example:”I always acknowledge when hard work is being done. If I notice that a specific employee has been contributing a lot to a project, I’ll thank them sincerely and show them that I noticed. If the team is acting cohesively, I speak to my colleagues about providing performance bonuses at the end of the quarter. I find this is extremely motivating and lets our team know we value their hard work.”
Arm Yourself With Information
Be prepared and know about the business and company. One of IT recruiters biggest complaints is candidates showing up to the interview having done no research. They have no clue what the company does, who their competitors are and how they are organized, says executive career coach Donald Burns. In order to be the most effective in your interview you need to arm yourself with as much data as you possibly can. Here is an article that will help you research your next employer.
This preparation should include knowing what products and services a company offers reading through press releases and companys websites to see what they are putting out and visiting there social networking sites like Facebook, LinkedIn and Google+ to see what type of presence they have. Research into the companys performance, and any news one can get through ones CIO network as to the performance of the preceding CIO will be an aid in developing hypotheses about what one should accentuate when talking about past experiences, says Peter High, author of World Class IT.
At the executive level you also need to have a keen understanding of what is going on within the business/industry that the company is a part of. You should be able to discuss industry trends and major events and unique challenges that the company has faced.
Prepare For Greatest Weakness Or Failure Questions
Nearly every interviewer asks a candidate to identify his or her greatest weaknesses or to describe a business mistake. These questions can easily fluster a candidate, but they are surprisingly simple to prepare for. Their purpose is less about describing the stories involved and more about displaying some of the candidates attributes, including his or her:
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Tough Interview Questions For Executives And Why They Work
When recruiting for an executive role, you need to ask the tough questions to find the best candidate for the position.
At Newman Stewart, we fully vet our candidates and create a shortlist to ensure you only see the best people for your executive roles but, once theyre sent over to you, its your job to find out who is the best fit. Thats where the interview process comes in.
When recruiting for an executive position like CEO or Managing Director, you arent just looking for any old candidate. This is an appointment that you have to get right and it requires you to ask tough questions of the candidates you meet.
Below are seven of the best tough interview questions you should ask executive candidates and why they work.
Tell Me About How A Professional Qualification You Have Obtained Has Helped You Personally
The best candidates will most likely have taken professional qualifications to enhance their industry skills and knowledge. This question helps to find out what qualifications they have obtained as well as the value it has provided them, not just professionally but as a person.
The reason you want to know how it helped them personally is to find out if they live and breathe their profession. The best candidates will take their work home with them and regularly find the knowledge they gain in a professional capacity seeping into their personal lives and vice versa.
This isnt about finding a candidate that never leaves the office, its about finding one who is genuinely passionate about their industry.
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Ways To Prepare For An Executive Interview
Top Rated + Award-Winning Executive & Professional Resume Writer LinkedIn Profile Optimizer
Here are 5 ways to help you prepare for your executive interview and help you further position yourself for your next role.
The good news, you wrote an impressive executive resume that gained you an interview! Congrats!
The bad news, youre not prepared for the executive interview dont worry, Im here to coach you!
Many senior-level candidates believe their experience speaks for itself and they fail to prepare for the interview process.
Follow Up After The Interview
One of the final steps of the executive interview process is the follow-up. To remain at the forefront of the interviewers or recruiters list, write a thank-you letter and send it back once you have completed your final interview with senior management. Your letter should include the names of the interviewers you met with, the date you spoke, and the position you are looking to fill. Reiterate some of the key qualifications and personal characteristics that you would bring to the position and team.
Executive Interview Tip: Send a Thank You Letter
If you apply the executive interview tips above to your meetings throughout the hiring process, you will not only be gaining the expected confidence of a top-level executive, but you will also be proving to the interviewers and decision-makers that you are the right choice for the position.
To be the most effective executive job seeker, go into every meeting and showcase your talent, passion, personality, knowledge, and qualifications. Ensure that the interview panel sees you as an outstanding leader and a valuable asset to their company!
Dont hesitate to connect with Candace if you need help with interview preparation or resume writing. Call toll-free at 1 877 738-8052 or .
Do you have any executive interview tips you could share in the comments?
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Refine Your Executive Presence
Your stomach may be full of butterflies throughout your executive job search, but thats the last thing you want to project during your interview. Leaders need to seem relatively unflappable. Thankfully, your body language, speech patterns, and clothing can be used to project your confidence.
Before the interview, try putting your body through a series of power poses, which are ways of standing or sitting that make your body look bigger and take up more space, says Leonard Lang, an executive coach with Minneapolis-based Beard Avenue career coaching. These posessuch as putting your hands behind your head with your elbows out, or standing in a victory pose with your arms in the aircan actually have a biochemical effect on your mood and boost your confidence, he says.
However, you shouldnt use those power poses during the interview, he says, and avoid slouched or angled positions because they send the wrong signals to your body and those around you. Instead, sit in a relaxed but attentive manner in order to appear professional as well as approachable.
Another big hurdle for some is their speaking voice. Job interviews make people tense, says Ita Olsen, a Malibu, California-based speech and communication coach. literally tighten their vocal mechanisms, which results in a pitch thats too high and a voice thats very thin.
Why Do You Want To Work For This Company
Let your interview panel know you are passionate about your work and strive to impact the industry you work in. Start a dialogue about why you ventured into this industry and how your work ethic, leadership vision, and passion have evolved into applying for a senior position as Chief Compliance Officer or Chief Development Officer.
Ensure you point out the similarities between your current job and the position you are applying for so the panel can directly correlate to how you will perform within their company.
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Tips For Passing An Executive Officer Interview
TIP #1 It is extremely important that you are able to match the assessable competencies within your responses to the Executive Officer interview questions. The competencies that will be assessed during your EO interview include, but are not limited to, leadership and management, effective communication skills, analyzing and interpreting information and data, using an innovative approach to working, decision making and also embracing change positively whilst focusing on the values of the organization.
TIP #2 The most effective way to respond to the competency based interview questions that will be posed during your Executive Officer interview is to use the STAR technique. Within the 21 Executive Officer Interview Questions & Answers guide, which you can download immediately on this page, we have provided you with STAR compliant answers to all of the questions featured on this page.
TIP #3 During your pre-interview research, ensure you learn the values of the organization you are applying to work for as an Executive Officer. The values will form a key part of your role, and on that basis, it is important you not only know what the values are, but also that you can demonstrate when you have previously worked towards achieving set values within a previous organizational role.
We now advise that you download our 21 EXECUTIVE OFFICER INTERVIEW QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS guide to ensure you are FULLY PREPARED for your interview.
These Tips Will Help You Convince The C
You’ve got the skills for the corner office.
After youve been toiling away in middle management for a number of years, but you’ve become invested in an executive job search. Finally, the opportunity presents itself: an executive job opening thats got your name on it. But making the leap to executive requires more than business skills it also requires a healthy dose of confidence. After all, you need to make the case that you can lead a whole team forward.
are looking to hire someone who can get the job done, says Rita Ashley, a Medford, Oregon-based executive coach for technology executives. That confidence is the most important asset you have.
Follow these tips and walk into your first executive interview like you already belong.
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Go Out With A Banggggg
At the End of the Interview
Ask 3 strategic questions, that will confirm your suitability for the role.
Here is where you can demonstrate listening skills throughout the interview:
You spoke about or, You asked me about
Follow those questions up with knowledge and experience:
What is currently happening in my organisation
Where you think a skill is important or where there is a crossover, a link. Then simply say it:
Something similar happened in my last company etc tie it in.
Dont just ask info-gathering questions, because the interviewer WILL remember the start of the interview tell me about yourself and the end of the interview do you have any questions.
Hopefully, this gave you some food for thought on what to do and how to prepare for an Executive Interview position.
So if you need help with preparing for the interview and the skills involved then reach out as this is what I do, I help people just like you, prepare for these types of interviews.
Get some professional help as you will get some really valuable insights into what you need to do to leap in your career.
So schedule your FREE breakthrough session with me.
You have my word it will be a real conversation about YOU. What your needs are, where you currently are in your career and most importantly where you want to be.
Interviewers May Ask You To Demonstrate Your:
- Communication skills verbal and written
- Organizational skills maintaining an office filing system
- Technical skills competency using relevant computer software
- Event planning skills travel, parties, conferences, etc
Think of various scenarios from your current or past positions that illustrate these administrative skills in a relevant way. Using examples of times when youve used these skills to negotiate difficult situations will help get your point across clearly and effectively.
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What Do You Dislike About Your Current Job
This is not an opportunity to bash your current company, talk about how much of a monster your boss is or whine that youre overqualified for your current position, but they just wont promote you. Whatever your job is lacking should be something that this job will fulfill, as well as something that you can help the company with.
Tread lightly here. You dont want to highlight any areas that would be a red flag on your ability to perform this job well. Describe areas where your skills are not as strong and then describe how youre working to strengthen them.
Executive Officer Job Description And Person Specification
As an Executive Officer, you will be responsible for the delivery of departmental strategic targets and objectives whilst upholding and maintaining the organizations values and standards. The role requires the successful candidate to:
be totally driven and focused on achieving organizational objectives
be capable of leading, inspiring and motivating your team
embrace change positively and proactively
prepare, manage and review high level communication in respect of reports, detailed notes and submissions
act as a positive role model for the organization and be the key point of Executive contact for all company stakeholders and clients
support management in the completion of all tasks, projects and strategic organizational objectives
develop and oversee the implementation of key organization projects
be responsible for, and monitor, all internal departmental performance data
ensure compliance with relevant law, policies and procedures
prepare for, and respond to, key industry developments
report directly to the Chief Executive Officer and Chief Finance Officer in respect of organizational performance.
Executive Officer Assessable Competencies
The following list of competencies are assessed during Chief Executive Officer, Higher Executive Officer and Executive Officer roles within both public sector and private sector organizations. These competencies will for part of the assessable criteria for your interview:
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An Interview Is A Two
- Consider asking what the companys key goals are and what theyd like to see accomplished in the next few months. Or, ask what about the biggest change or challenge theyve faced in the past six months.
- At the end of the interview, ask about the next step. If youre excited about the opportunity, you will want to keep the process moving forward by asking what the next steps are. Many people skip this thinking their experience and enthusiasm speak for themselves.
What Are The Next Steps
There is a wrong and right way to end an interview. After your interview, make sure you show your interest and enthusiasm about working in that position. Express your eagerness to pursue this career path, and do not assume that they noticed your interest.
At the end of your conversation, let the interviewer know you are intrigued by the position and ask what the next steps in the hiring process are or when they hope to make a hiring decision. This shows the interviewers you are excited about the opportunity and are willing to continue with the hiring process. It also helps minimize any unanswered questions you may have and gives you a timeline of when you will hear back about the CMO or CEO position you applied for.
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Whats The First Thing Youd Do If Given The Job
If the candidate can answer this question well, it shows they have a deep knowledge of the company and understanding of the position and what theyll be able to bring – both aspects of a great executive candidate.
This is also a great way to distinguish confident candidates who would have an impact from the get-go. If they can outline exactly what they are planning to accomplish with this role, that might give you a better idea of who would be the best fit for what you are trying to achieve.
Research The Company Or Organization
Make an excellent impression at your executive-level interview by researching and knowing as much as you can about the company you are aiming to work for. By researching the companys financials, competitors, current market position, and business strategies, you will show the interviewers that you are not only prepared to become part of their team, but you are organized and confident enough to ask them analytical business-related questions as well.
Executive Interview Tip: Know the Organization
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Can You Recall The First Three Questions Of This Interview
This is a really tricky one. Many candidates will simply hear a question and regurgitate an answer on the spot. While that answer might sound good, it can often be a reactive, rehearsed response and, by asking them to recall the first three interview questions, you test to see if they have been an engaged listener in the interview or if they have simply been reacting.
Interviews are stressful situations, but someone in an executive role will face worse. Thats why its essential that you identify who is capable of engaging in the meeting and not just answering off the top of their head.
When we are actively engaged in an interaction, depending on the length, its easy to recall the beginning. In an interview, this should be no different. This may be a little different from more conventional interview questions but it can be very effective at finding the most attentive, perceptive executives.
Operational And Situational Questions
- What do you think our companys mission and vision are?
- What changes would you implement during your first year in the company? How would you build a 5-year plan?
- What would you do in your first 30 days as CEO of our organization?
- Who do you believe are our biggest competitors? How do we differ from them?
- What do you think are the biggest challenges our industry will face in the next 5 years?
- What are the most helpful technological platforms and tools you have used? Would you implement them in our organization?
- What is the most innovative product or service youve worked on at a previous company?
- Describe your rationale before you make a big financial decision. What criteria do you use to decide which products or services to invest in?
- In 5 minutes, prepare a small pitch to present our company to a potential investor.
- Imagine that a product or service we launched recently failed our expectations. What are your next steps?
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