What interview questions to ask a ceo

Preparing for a job interview can be stressful. When you throw in an interview with the CEO of the company, the process can become even more intimidating.

If you have an interview coming up and you know you’ll speak with the CEO, here are some interview questions you should be able to answer:

1. Why have you had X number of jobs over the last X years?

In today’s workforce, it’s not uncommon for professionals to job hop. In fact, more than half of employers have hired a job hopper. Most CEOs ask this question because they want to learn about your loyalty to previous employers and your decision-making process.

What to include in your answer:

When talking about your job history, focus on experiences that shaped your career in a positive way. For instance, explain you’ve been searching for the right job that fits your career goals and how the position you’re interviewing for fits these goals.

2. What do you hope to accomplish within the next year?

One of the most important things CEOs want to know about a candidate is what you’re going to accomplish once hired for the position.

What to include in your answer:

Tell the employer about your vision as an employee for their company. The interviewer already knows you’re qualified (on paper) for the position; now you need to explain how you’ll help their company reach the next level.

Talk about a combination of your skills and strengths that will bring you success as an employee. You should also reference previous accomplishment stories that would support your vision for this job.

3. Would you quit your job if you won the lottery, even if you loved your current position?

CEOs may ask this question to determine whether you’re more passionate about finding a job that brings you happiness, or if you’re simply in it for the paycheck.

What to include in your answer:

This might seem like a trick question for most people, but it’s important to be completely honest and candid with your answer. Whether you simply want a job for an income or you’re truly passionate about your career, share your opinion and the reasoning behind your answer.

4. Tell me about an accomplishment that shaped your career.

Employers love hearing about accomplishment stories. Not only do they illustrate how you’re qualified for the position, but also it shows what makes you unique as a candidate.

What to include in your answer:

Share an accomplishment story from past experience that’s applicable to the position you’re applying for.

5. Tell me about a project that forced you to be innovative and creative.

According to a CareerBuilder survey, twenty-one percent of employers want to hire candidates with strong creative-thinking. Chances are, CEOs will ask candidates how they can push the envelope in their positions once hired.

What to include in your answer:

Talk about a project where you were forced to think outside of the box and utilize your resourcefulness. This helps CEOs understand your willingness to take risks and try new things.

6. How would your boss from your last job describe you?

This can be a tricky question, especially if you left your job on a negative note. However, employers ask this question to learn about your personality.

What to include in your answer:

This is a good opportunity to talk about your work ethic and how your personality fit into your previous position. If you had a negative experience at your last job, share what you learned for the position and how you turned it into a positive experience.

7. What do you value most about our culture and vision?

CEOs ask this question because they want to know if a candidate understands what their company is trying to accomplish. CEOs already know you’re going to research the company. Therefore, by asking this question, you’re able to explain what you truly think about the company.

What to include in your answer:

Focus your answer on what you’ve learned about the mission and values of the organization. You should also incorporate your personal values into your answer and how they will help you bring success to the organization.

8. What do you enjoy doing in your free time?

This is another question employers ask to learn more about your personality and values.

What to include in your answer:

It’s important to be genuine when answering this question. Talk about your interests and hobbies that have shaped you as a person, which are also appropriate for an interview setting.

For example, talk about how you’re a marathon runner in your free time or that you teach a yoga class. Sharing interests such as these display how your work ethic and leadership skills transfer into your personal life.

9. What makes you excited about Mondays?

Mondays can be a struggle for most professionals. However, when you love your job, Mondays can be positive. A study by CareerBuilder shows that 66 percent of employers seek candidates who are self-motivated and 72 percent want to hire candidates with a positive attitude.

What to include in your answer:

This is your opportunity to share why you’re passionate about your career. Talk about what motivates you most in your career and how you’ll use that passion as inspiration during the work week.

10. Why are you working in this industry?

Employers want to learn what drew you to their industry, why you’re interested in working for their company, and why you’re passionate about what you do.

What to include in your answer:

Share a story about the time when you first become interested in your career. It could be a story about your first internship or an experience that attracted you to this type of work. When you tell your story, be sure to highlight experiences that relate to the job you’re interviewing for.

Have you answered one of these questions during a job interview? 

We’ve compiled “125 CEO Interview Questions” (Chief Executive Officer Interview Questions), grouped by subject, to help you prepare for your next CEO-level interview.

These CEO Interview Questions are specific to the CEO role, but you may also be asked general interview questions and Behavioral Interview questions, so we recommend preparing for those questions as well.

And, many of these questions could be asked on a CFO, COO, CIO, CTO, CSO, CMO, CHRM, CAO, CDO interview as well, so if you are interviewing for any of these positions, you can practice answering some of these questions to prepare for your interview.

Practice Answering Your CEO Interview Question Aloud

We suggest you practice using these CEO Interview Questions with a colleague, mentor, an Executive Coach, an Interview Coach, or a Job Search Coach. And that you practice on your own verbally.  Just reading questions silently or thinking through the answers to questions may not fully prepare you for giving your answers aloud.

If possible, you may want to put together a panel to simulate the panel interviewing structure (which is a higher pressure format than a one-on-one interview). And, you may want to practice answering your CEO Interview Questions via teleconference and phone as these are also common modes of interviews. It is also important that you prepare a list of questions to ask during your interview to demonstrate your knowledge, show your interest, and learn what you need to know in order to determine if the position meets your job criteria and will be a win-win business arrangement for everyone. And, here’s a book to help you prepare.

Vision – CEO Interview Questions

1. What would your long-term Strategic Vision be for our company?
2. How would you help our employees connect to that vision?
3. How would you inspire your leaders and staff to fulfill that vision?
4. Share what your top 3 goals for our company would be.
5. What will get in the way of your leading the achievement of those goals?
6. How have you overcome the barriers you’ve encountered in the past to attaining company goals?
7. What is our company doing well?
8. What could our company be doing better?
9. How would you go about improving on the things our company could do better?

Strategy and Vision – Interview Questions for CEOs

1. What are the most important strategic priorities for our company over the next three years?
2. As CEO, how would you ensure success regarding these priorities?
3. Describe how you’ve responded to competitive threats in the past.
4. What were the goals you put in place to respond to these threats?
5. Were you successful in addressing these threats?
6. Describe how you’ve guided the creation of new business models, products, or strategic initiatives in the past?
7. How did your vision for the company evolve based on this new business approach?
8. How did you gain buy-in from key constituents and stakeholders as the organization evolved?
9. In your view, what risks do we face as an organization?
10. How would you mitigate those risks?

Goals – CEO Interview Questions

1. How would you lead the organization in setting goals?
2. How would you ensure that all levels of goals are aligned and integrated, from organizational to the department, to sub-team, to the individual goals?
3. Describe how would you lead the organization in prioritizing the goals?
4. How would you roll out each level of goals and determine what information is needed at every level?

The Competition – Interview Questions for CEOs

1. Describe how you would assess the competition?
2. How do you stay current on what the competition is planning or currently implementing?
3. How would you respond if the competition were having success with a new product that our company didn’t have?
4. What method would you use to create strategies to compete with our competitors?

The First 90 Days – CEO Interview Questions

1. If you were hired, what would be your priorities in your first 90 days?
2. How would you build trust, generate buy-in, and develop a plan during your first 90 days?
3. How would you learn about our business?

Business Growth – Interview Questions for the C-Suite

1. What strategies would you use to increase our market share?
2. How would you develop our core competencies?
3. Describe how you’ve driven a business to accelerate growth, expand EBITDA, and profitability in the past?
4. Describe how you’ve grown a business through a joint venture, merger, or acquisition.
5. What was the long-term impact of this growth?
6. Describe a time you created or launched a new product or service that resulted in a new revenue stream?