Executive Director Interview Questions

Executive Directors are usually responsible for overseeing and managing company's or organisation's day-to-day operations necessary for business success and growth.

Also known as Chief Executive Officers or Executive Managers, Executive Directors are tasked with creating business plans, overseeing day-to-day activities, improving performance, developing organizational culture, supervising heads of departments, reporting on revenue, and directing organizational strategy.

Whether you're a job seeker preparing to be interviewed for the role of Executive Director or an employer preparing to interview candidates for Executive Director position, these Executive Director interview questions will help you prepare yourself for the job interview session.

Executive Director Interview Questions

Below are a list of some skill-based Executive Director interview questions.

1. How would you handle questions or criticism from the media?
2. How do you feel about risk-taking?
3. What is your experience in planning and executing a budget for an organization?
4. Tell me about your three greatest accomplishments.
5. How do you keep a team focused and inspired?
6. As the new director, how do you plan to shape this organization’s image, and what is your public relations experience?
7. Tell me about a time that you had to sell management on a new idea. What steps did you take to convince them? What was the result? What would you do differently, if anything?
8. As an Executive director, what experience do you have in hiring leadership staff and delegating high-level company activities to various departments and teams.
9. As executive director, you’ll need to provide fundraising leadership. Have you ever been responsible for a large-scale fundraising campaign? If so, what role did you play?
10. What do you think is the most important aspect of being an executive director?
11. How do you rearrange procedures to overcome a staff shortage.
12. Describe your process for reviewing and updating current policies and procedures.
13. Tell me about a time you failed professionally and what you learned from that experience.
14. As executive director, what is your vision for this organization? Where do you see this organization in five years’ time?
15. How do you identify leadership potential among your current staff?
16. Do you have any experience with public speaking?
17. What steps would you take to help our company’s strategy adapt to new innovations and stay competitive?
18. How do you address conflicts in management style between company leaders?
19. As an executive director, what would you do if you noticed a decrease in donations and/or revenue?
20. Describe the approach you take to creating short-term strategy compared to long-term strategy.
21. Provide an example of a time when you had to make a difficult decision.
22. Executive directors help oversee the organization’s finances. How would you handle a department going over budget on a project?
23. Executive directors mentor less experienced employees. What would you do to mentor junior employees and help them advance in their career?
24. Are you familiar with the mission and values of our organization?
25. How do you promote company values among all employees at different levels of seniority and experience?
26. How do you handle an underperforming employee?
27. Are you comfortable communicating with stakeholders and advocating for your ideas to a board of directors?
28. How would you handle a manager that doesn't agree with your suggested organizational strategy?
29. As an executive director you will have the final decision-making authority on a range of serious company issues. How do you make decisions quickly and confidently for the benefit of the company?
30. Assuming you know a little bit about our organization, what changes would you prioritize?

Executive Director Interview Questions and Answers

Every interview is different and the questions may vary. However, there are lots of general questions that get asked at every interview.

Below are some common questions you'd expect during Executive Director interviews. Click on each question to see how to answer them.

1. What is Your Salary Expectation?
2. What is Your Greatest Strength?
3. Do You Have Any Questions for Us?
4. Are You a Leader or a Follower?
5. Why Should We Hire You?
6. Tell Me About Yourself
7. What Is Your Greatest Accomplishment?
8. Why Do You Want This Job?
9. Why Do You Want To Leave Your Current Job?
10. What is Your Greatest Weakness?