1. Tell me how do you deliver negative feedback?

If you would be working with the person interviewing you, this is another tough question that can give you some insight into how the team works. It pushes the hiring manager to think about how he or she would handle an uneasy situation, while at the same time showing your level of maturity in that that you (realistically) expect to receive tough feedback sometimes.

2. Tell me what is your approach to decision-making?

Are they a “gather all the info” before making a decision kind-of-person or do they prefer to act fast, “fail-forward,” and adjust on-the-fly?

3. Tell me what would you do to build a communications staff?

Paid and volunteer considerations would be good for them to mention here.

4. Tell me how is the feedback process structured?

Asking this question in an interview has been critical for me as a candidate. Feedback is how humans get better. Excellence and mastery have always been important to me, and I am aware that they are impossible without regular feedback. Does this company limit its feedback cycle to the annual reviews? Does the hiring manager make it a priority to deliver just-in-time acknowledgment and suggestions for improvement?

5. Tell me why did you decide to work at this company?

This question gives an interviewer a chance to do two self-serving things: talk about themselves and perform a no-holds-barred sales pitch on the company. For promising candidates, the sales opportunity is welcomed. And most people love any excuse to talk about themselves. ;)

6. Tell me how do you define leadership?

How would you develop leaders in your ministry and contribute to raising up leaders in the church?

7. Explain how did you get to your role?

Asking deeply personal or intrusive questions won't get you high marks on the interview. However, most professionals enjoy sharing their career journey. Ask what first attracted the hiring manager to this company and what the career progression has been like.

8. Explain me what are the expectations about managing workflow?

Virtually every company has enough work to keep everyone busy 24 hours a day, seven days a week. In practice, everyone gets to go home at the end of the day. How do you know when you are done for the day? What are the expectations around working on weekends and responding to emails outside the normal working hours?

9. Tell me how does this role contribute to larger company goals?

It's not terribly difficult to find a candidate that can execute on a role. It is terribly difficult to find a candidate that can not only execute on their role, but also understand how it fits into larger goals. This includes being able to self-manage, prioritize high-value activities, and grow their role in a direction that aligns with the company's growth.

10. Please explain what strategies would you use to generate leads?

This question moves from the more general and abstract into the meat of the matter. They should be able to outline 2 or 3 specific strategies that will feed leads into your sales funnel via social engagement.

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