Business executive interview questions

• Which management style or philosophy describes you best: authoritarian or participative?

• In what ways have you been fiscally responsible to a company or organization without stifling  innovative ideas that could possibly increase profits?

• Describe a situation where you had to become a mediator for two or more employees that you supervised. What was the outcome? And, what measures did you take to ensure the issue(s) wouldn’t arise again in the future?

• What is the most demanding aspect of being a part of administration and/or upper management?

• Share with us how you would boost morale amongst your staff to extract the best possible effort they can present as individuals and as a team.

After asking each question, allow the interviewee anywhere between 1-2 minutes to respond.
Notice any behavioural signs in their responses that appear or come across as passive, aggressive, assertive or submissive. Also take notice of the non-verbal responses he or she exhibits as you ask each question. Although their answers are important, non-verbal communication can reveal just as much.

Cognitive interview questions for executives can reveal thoughts, emotions, ideologies, and values that the interviewee may otherwise try to suppress. This method can also help to eliminate questions that might be easily misinterpreted.

There are two popular methods used while conducting cognitive interviews. First, you can ask the interviewee a question, let him/her respond, and follow up with another question that you had intended to ask, no matter what their answer was. You can continue this pattern until you feel that you have arrived at the “true” thoughts or answers that the interviewee has, as opposed to the premeditated or politically correct answers that they intended giving.

Second, you can solicit unedited responses by asking open ended questions that can allow for a more extensive answer. As the person who is being interviewed continues to talk, more can be revealed about their true thoughts or opinions pertaining to the question asked.

This method of cognitive interviewing can be difficult if the facilitator does not know how to “rein in” the interviewee once they have heard a response that is sufficient for them.

Although these techniques are found to be highly effective, it is important to find a balance when using both the behavioural interview questions for executives and the cognitive interview questions method as a facilitator.