So, I’ve just been asked to participate, by my manager, in an interview process to select our new assistant manager. Both the candidates are coworkers with less time here than I have, and are applying for a job that would make them my supervisor. This is fine with me, I didn’t apply for the job because I don’t want it, and I’m pleased with either one of the candidates getting the position.
Having said that, I have no idea what to say in an interview where I’m not the candidate, or what to ask to help select between 2 people I think would both be good.
Since you’ shouldn’t be shouldering the heavy part of the interview I would take the peripheral route.
Some of the more original questions I’ve been asked were non-job related but designed to get a better idea of the person. One of them was: “describe the last 2 books you read”.
Stay away from: if you were a tree what kind of tree would you be”.
Think of the best and worst supervisors you’ve had. What did you like or hate about them? Ask questions (tactfully) that focus in on these things. For example, if you don’t like being micromanaged, ask how much freedom should be given to an employee.
Ask some general questions about what experience in particular they feel qualifies them for the position, how they have handled conflicts in the past, what they want to emphasize in the new position, and their general background and approach.
Then give the job to the one with the biggest boobs.
First, have they been asked to provide written responses to Key Selection Criteria? If so there are many potential questions of clarification and elaboration that can come from those answers. If not, make up some Key Selection Criteria in your own mind and get the candidates to address those. Things like communication, working in teams, planning and meeting milestones in projects and many other facets are generally parts of the KSCs. Also, you can ask question which expand on work experiences and responsibilities from CVs. Finally, I’ve found it useful to sit down with the other interviewers before the interviews to decide what questions each will ask the candidates to make it fair to each candidate that they are asked to respond to the same difficulty question.
“How would you handle a disagreement between two subordinates?”
Things to look for is if they are more of a facilitator or authority-figure. Also, how much information they need to the hypothetical disagreement before making a decision. In general, you want to look for a person in the middle but of course your industry may prefer a person towards one of the extremes.
Hold on a sec, did I read right in that the folks you are interviewing are going to go from colleagues to supervisor?
If possible I would be trying to beg off the interview duties. I would NOT feel comfortable interviewing for an inside promotion if I was speaking to my future boss. There is too much that can go wrong.
Quartz’s question is good. Another question that is insightful is something along the lines of “what are you looking forward to about being a supervisor” and the follow up question “what are you dreading.”
Anyone with any sense understands that having supervisory responsibilities can really suck. That this isn’t about a power trip, and that even if he’s showed up late every day for a month, actually telling him he is fired is HARD.
Thanks all,
Let’s see, it’s probably too late to step out, big boobs mean little to me, a bribe won’t last nearly a long as a bad ass’t director. I think ‘how are you going to handle the change to my supervisor?’ is the route for me.
My only problem with this:
is that the first time I heard it, the answer was ‘World War Z in my spare time as a volunteer camp nurse for kids with HIV.’ How do you make that sound good?
Ask them if they have any plans for their new position/are going to be making any changes, and if so, what are those plans/changes? Are they going to try to take you/the department in any new directions? If they know they’ve gotten this far in the process, and haven’t thought about it at all, that could be a warning flag.
Are they going to be there for you? Are they going to fight for you, make your job easier by removing obstacles, and shield you from criticisms that aren’t warranted? (In other words, what type of manager will they be?) Do they want to work with you to determine how you best complete your tasks and manage you that way, or are they going to be authoritative order-issuers? How do they handle growth plans - how much will they be involved in your professional development? Is that something they like doing?