Nonprofit – Executive Director

Position Name: Executive Director

Interviewer

Candidate Name

Interview Date

Introductory Questions

– Interviewer(s) share name, role, tenure, and hand business cards for thank you messages
– Share a brief overview of the company
– Give Candidate the Job Description, highlight Job Purpose, Schedule/Travel, Major Challenges & Key Decisions, and Physical Requirements

Tell us about yourself.

Transitional & Verification Questions

– Clarify any unclear information from resume or application
– Verify availability for work hours and schedule, start date, and other important details

What interests you about this role?

What accomplishment on your resume are you most proud of?

Behavioral / Situational Questions

– Ask job related questions, based on skills and competencies needed for the role
– Ask open ended questions that allow candidates to tell a story about a specific example
– Ask 5-10 questions based on the role and how much time you have (~3-4 minutes per question)
– Listen for recent examples, details, consistency, the candidate’s role in the story, and teamwork
– Take notes and ask clarifying questions as follow-ups. Follow up questions may include:
- Tell us more about the action you took and the outcome.
- What did you say at that point?
- How did you react to that situation?
- Explain your role in more detail.
- Tell me in detail what steps you took.
- And what was the result?
- Describe the obstacles you faced in getting it done.
- What other options did you consider?
- Why do you think you reacted as you did?
- How do you think others felt about your actions at the time?
- Were you satisfied with the outcome of your actions?
- If the same or a similar situation presented itself, what would you do differently?

Business Acumen

Describe your experience with both short and long range financial planning.

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Collaboration

Tell me about a time when you worked with people outside your work group to get information or ideas. What did you do? What was the outcome or result?

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Diversity, Inclusion, and Equity

Share how you have fostered an inclusive and welcoming work environment for employees, customers, vendors, and the public.

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Emotional Intelligence

What has been the most difficult criticism for you to receive?

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Leadership

How are you more self-aware now than earlier in your career? Are there certain tools you use to help in your leadership self-awareness?

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What makes you an effective leader? Why do you think people want to work for you?

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Managing Others

What is your approach in giving difficult feedback? Give me an example of a time when that worked well/didn’t work well.

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Describe your approach to hiring staff. What elements comprise this process?

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If you could change one managerial decision you made during the past two years, what would that be?

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Describe a situation where you needed to manage in a very different way. What was the outcome? Did you make the right decision?

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Planning & Organization

How do you assure that you do not get so caught up in “task” that you lose the big picture?

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Relationship Building

How does one go about building rapport quickly and maintaining successful business relationships?  Give examples of how you made these work for you.

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Sales

How do you prepare for a cold sales call?

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Self Awareness & Development

How do you measure your own success?

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Strategic Thinking

What are two strategic forces impacting your industry? How do you address these in your role?

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Candidate’s Questions

– Be sure to leave time for their questions, generally 1-3
– Paint a positive but honest view of the pros and cons of the work and culture

Notes

Closing Questions

– Describe where you are in the process, next steps, and when they can expect to hear back
– Ask if they have any final remarks

What is one thing I should know about you that I haven’t asked?

What could you bring to this position that other candidates could not?

Interviewer Assessment

Enter your overall assessment about the candidate’s knowledge, skills, abilities, and fit for this position.

Would you recommend this candidate advance in the process?