Time for a change

By Linda Price | Thursday, September 02 2010

With so many CIOs looking for new work opportunities as economic conditions improve, here is a checklist of questions to improve your interview skills.

Achange in the economic climate always leads to changes in employment opportunities for information chiefs. Right now I am talking to a number of CIOs in relation to new challenges.

Gartner research vice-president Tina Nunno has put together interview questions for use by organisations hiring a CIO. They have been written to help CEOs, CFOs, COOs and other executives assess CIO candidates in critical categories of leadership, strategy and planning, technical expertise, financial management and operational excellence.

The questions should also help you prepare for an interview when you are ready to make a move.

Savvy applicants will readily incorporate implicit examples of the types of competencies outlined in the following interview questions in their CVs and be prepared to expand on them eloquently and convincingly. Modern interview techniques require candidates to provide specific examples of achievements and how they were realised.

Leadership
The first thing that interviewers will focus on is ability to communicate in business terms, articulate measurable outcomes, motivate people and handle leadership challenges.

Can you explain how you saw a business problem and applied technology to solve it? What was the outcome?
Articulate your understanding of return on investment and how it applies to IT.

Provide an example of how you applied this knowledge to mitigate risk.

Can you give an example of when you improved a business process? What was the process, the outcome and your role?

What is the most difficult decision you had to make as a leader? Why was it difficult? What was the outcome?
How do you lead your direct reports? Give an example of when you resolved a conflict or improved their team performance.

Strategy and planning
Employers will be looking at a candidate's experience and ability to set long-term goals, and gain co-operation to accomplish them.

What would you do in the first 90 days?

Describe your approach to governance, and how you would determine the best framework for our organisation.

Provide an example of when you explained and sold the concept of IT architecture and standards to business leaders.

How do you gain agreement and co-operation from a diverse set of stakeholders? Give an example of when you did this.

How do you deal with stakeholders who want to break away from a shared service, or a standardised or centralised process?

Technical expertise
Your interview is likely to focus on how you think about technology from a value perspective and apply it to business problems. And on your ability to communicate about IT.

Provide an example of when you convinced senior leadership to make a major technology investment.

What is the most difficult technology-related investment decision you had to make? Why was it difficult?
How do you stay current on technology trends and innovations?

Give an example of when you implemented a new or emerging technology.

Financial management
These questions focus on the ability to view the IT budget as a portfolio of assets and to manage it in a manner consistent with the risk profile and strategy of the organisation.

Give an example of when you had to cut the IT budget. How much did you save?

Give an example of when you helped reduce costs for the rest of the enterprise.

What percentage of enterprise revenue is your current IT budget? How does this compare with your industry peers?
How do you determine whether an enterprise is not spending enough on IT?

What percentage of your IT spending is for maintenance, versus growth?

Operational excellence
Employers will focus on a candidate's ¬ability to adjust and correct their course as needed.

What is the largest IT-related initiative for which you were responsible? How did you evaluate the success of the initiative?

What percentage of the business case benefits were actually achieved?

What impact did the initiative have on business performance metrics?

Provide an example of how you led and motivated a team in a difficult situation.

Give an example of when execution of an initiative did not go as planned and what you did in those circumstances.

Linda Price. Linda Price (linda.price@gartner.com) is vice-president of executive programs at Gartner.

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