Soft Leadership

I recently finished up an interview for a faculty position with the University of Nebraska - Lincoln. Interviewing for faculty positions at universities is very different than an interview with a small business or Fortune 500. I think it's because people tend to stay in their jobs a while and a tenure track faculty position is rather secure -  they really want to be sure about you before they put a ring on the relationship. It's a very arduous process (rapid-fire interviews, meals, presentations, more interviews, and meetings), not to mention exhausting (but don't let that show). With USU it was four hours. I was in Nebraska for 2 full days.

I'm an Eagle Scout so I don't believe you can ever be too prepared. I found these interview questions from this blog post by Seth Godin and this Inc.com article by Jeff Haden. I prepared by reviewing them over and over. If you find that the questions you're being asked aren't these, then steer the interview in the direction you're prepared for (remember, they are all there to hear what you have to say). Trust me, if you can provide some awesome responses to these questions, coupled with serious enthusiasm, then you're going to nail it.

And to all you admin/HR folks in charge of hiring key decision makers...take note.

Without further adieu:

The 19 Most Useful Interview Questions

1. How long are you willing to keep pushing on a good project until you give up?
2. How hard is it to get you to change your mind when you're wrong?
3. How much do you learn from failing?
4. How long does it take you to learn something new?
5. How hard is it for you to let someone else take the lead?
6. How much do you care?
7. If we're sitting here a year from now celebrating what a great year it's been for you in this role, what did we achieve together?
8. When have you been most satisfied in your life?
9. If you got hired, loved everything about this job, and are paid the salary you asked for, what kind of offer from another company would you consider?
10. Who is your role model, and why?
11. What things do you not like to do?
12. Tell me about a project or accomplishment that you consider to be the most significant in your career.
13. Tell me how...
14. What's your superpower, or what's your spirit animal?
15. Why have you had x amount of jobs in y years?
16. We're constantly making things better, faster, smarter or less expensive. We leverage technology or improve processes. In other words, we strive to do more--with less. Tell me about a recent project or problem that you made better, faster, smarter, more efficient, or less expensive.
17. So, (insert name), what's your story?
18. What questions do you have for me?
19. Tell us about a time when things didn't go the way you wanted-- like a promotion you wanted and didn't get, or a project that didn't turn out how you had hoped.