The Best Job Interview Question Ever

It is always a pleasure to find new resources, perspectives and insights.  I was lucky enough to participate in a recent telephone session on how we feel about money with Master Certified Coach, Michele Woodward.  Because the session was both informative and engaging, I took some time to read more from Michele and I thought that it would be great to get her voice out to The Coaching Association readers.  Here’s an article on job interviewing that might be helpful to you – whether you are job-hunting, client-hunting or on the other side of the desk interviewing.  Since the environment is all jobs, jobs, jobs, right now, this seemed like a relevant topic.  Enjoy!

–Barbara Demarest, TCA Executive Coach and Facilitator

The Best Job Interview Question Ever

Guest Author:  Michele Woodward

So, you’ve made it through the first round of interviews for that new position. Now it’s the second — or third — round. “Tell me a little about yourself” has been asked. Maybe you’ve even been asked, “If you were a tree, what kind of tree would you be?” You know, all the important stuff.

Remember that job interviews are not only your opportunity to “sell” yourself, but are your chance to evaluate whether the job is actually something you’ll like and be good at. To figure that out, you have to do more than give the right answer to questions — you also have to ask the right questions.

To that end, I’ve come up with The Best Job Interview Question Ever. And it has nothing whatsoever to do with trees.

Ready? Here it is:

“What’s the first task you’d like me to accomplish in this job?”

Whether you’re interviewing for a CEO position or a job on the loading dock, the beauty of this question is multi-fold.

If everyone you interview with responds with “We need you to streamline our HR processes and make sure we’re in compliance with OSHA guidelines”, you can be certain that the organization is clear on what the job is about.

But, if the guy in accounting says, “You need to clear up the spreadsheets”, and the woman in marketing says, “You have to make new collateral materials”, and the CEO says, “We’re looking for someone to clean house”, and the gal in sales says, “I have no idea what you’re here for,” you’ve got a problem. The organization may be disorganized, lack leadership or not function well as a team. Here’s what you do in this situation: exit, quickly, stage left.

When you ask The Best Question, you might find that the expectations expressed are completely unrealistic. “I want you to drive up share prices by 50%, reduce the workforce by 30%, acquire companies more profitable than we are, and find the Holy Grail.” Again, this is your tip-off that the job may not be right for you. Or for anyone.

Having a clear sense of organizational priorities allows you to snag what writer Michael Watkins calls an “early win.” His book The First 90 Days has great advice on making the most of a new job — in short, when you meet or exceed expectations early, you are guaranteed success.

The interview process is fraught with anxiety and stress — but discovering how your colleagues and bosses will judge you as a winner before you take the job is a surefire way to insure you have less stress and more success.

*****

Michele Woodward (www.lifeframeworks.com) is a Master Certified Coach, author, speaker and teacher, who helps people get clear about who they are and what they want to do – and develop a workable action plan to get where they want to go. She is the author of Lose Weight, Find Love, De-Clutter & Save Money: Essays on Happier Living, available at Amazon.com and is the founder of Career Invention Coach Training (www.careerinvention.com) – focused on training coaches to understand the new rules of work -  and Kick Ass Mentoring (www.kickassmentoring.com) – a marketing training program for coaches. She’s thrived in a number of high-level, high-pressure positions – at The White House, in corporate America – and has served as an advisor to entrepreneurs.  Michele is a sought-after speaker, leads a number of workshops and classes, teaches in Martha Beck’s well regarded coach training program, and writes a popular blog.