Questions to Ask a Search Committee
Questions to ask a search committee, for a finalist for a leadership job that a committee screens and a board or senior officer fills: dean, superintendent, head of school, nonprofit executive director, library or department director. The 51 questions follow the order the decision takes, from why the position is open and how the search is run, through what each group on the committee wants and the board or person you would report to, to budget, authority and the offer, and each has a note on what a good or a worrying answer sounds like. Candidates for a faculty position or a pulpit have their own sets: Questions to Ask in a Faculty Interview and Questions to Ask a Pastor Search Committee.
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The questions
Each question, and why to ask it
The opening
Why is the position open, and how would the person who last held it describe leaving?
Why ask it
A retirement announced a year ahead, a move to a bigger job and a departure nobody will discuss are three different starting points. A good answer is short and the same from everyone at the table. If members glance at each other, or the story shifts during the visit, ask the search consultant privately what happened.
What does the next person need to fix first, and what should they leave alone?
Why ask it
One shared answer is a mandate. Three different ones from three members mean you would arrive with three first priorities, so say back what you heard and ask which comes first. Listen just as hard to the second half: what they tell you to protect is what they value.
What does this place need from its next leader that it did not need from the last one?
Why ask it
Committees often look for the opposite of whoever just left, so the answer is partly a review of your predecessor: 'someone visible' means the last one stayed in the office. Being chosen as a contrast is a thin mandate. Follow up with what from the last tenure they would be sorry to lose.
How many people have held this role in the last ten years?
Why ask it
A long tenure followed by this search is one kind of job, and a run of short ones is another. When the count is high, the committee should be able to say whether the trouble was the role, the board or the money. Check whether the number includes interims, who are often left out.
Who has been doing the job since it came open, and is that person a candidate?
Why ask it
An interim who is also applying knows the place better than you do and has allies on the staff. That is no reason to withdraw, but you should know it. If the interim is not a candidate, find out whether they will stay for a handover and which decisions they were told to leave for the permanent hire.
Has this search been run before and ended without a hire?
Why ask it
The reason a search failed tends to repeat. It may have been the pay, a split committee, or a finalist who read the financials and declined. 'Nothing changed, we reopened it' is the worrying reply; a new salary range or a redrawn profile is the reassuring one.
Who wrote the position profile, and what was argued over before it was approved?
Why ask it
Profiles are compromises, and the sentences that read as vague are often where two groups could not agree. The lines that were fought over show what the job will be pulled between. If nobody at the table recalls an argument, the document was probably drafted elsewhere, and the real brief is what the members say out loud.
What about the organization's situation could not be put in the public profile?
Why ask it
Hold this one until people have warmed up. There is nearly always something: a strained relationship with a funder, enrollment or membership that has slid, a senior person everyone works around. If the committee insists the profile is the whole picture, try the consultant, who is often freer to say it.
The search
What was this committee asked to do: choose, recommend one name, or send forward a short list?
Why ask it
It settles how much the people in front of you decide. A committee that picks is your audience. One that forwards three unranked names is a filter, and whoever chooses among them is someone you still need to meet.
Who makes the final appointment, and has a committee's recommendation here ever been set aside?
Why ask it
The appointing authority might be a board, a president, a mayor or a bishop, so ask who it is here. If an earlier committee was overruled, the reason tells you whether this committee's enthusiasm will carry, and how the staff may receive a hire they did not choose.
What is the timeline from here to an announcement, and what could hold it up?
Why ask it
Try for dates: the committee's last meeting, the vote, the offer, the announcement. A board that meets monthly, a background check and a contract awaiting legal review are common delays. If you hold another offer with a deadline, this is the place to say so, and a committee that wants you will tell you what it can do.
What is the search firm's part in this, and what happens to what I tell the consultant?
Why ask it
Some consultants only recruit and schedule, and others sit in on deliberations and advise on the ranking; the consultant will tell you which if you ask. Until you hear otherwise, assume that anything you say to them about pay, doubts or other offers reaches the committee.
How confidential is my candidacy now, and at what stage does my name become public?
Why ask it
Practice differs. Some public bodies name their finalists or hold open sessions, and some private ones keep every name closed until the announcement, so find out how it works there, before the visit if your current employer does not know. A blank look means nobody has considered what you are risking.
When will references be called, and will you contact people I did not list?
Why ask it
Calls beyond your list can reach your own board or boss before you have said a word at home. A considerate process asks your permission first and tells you the day. If the calls have already begun, speak to your employer today and not after the visit.
What will the finalist visit include, and which parts are open, recorded or scored?
Why ask it
A closed dinner, a staff forum and a streamed public session each need different preparation, so get the schedule with names and titles. Find out who fills in a feedback form and how much those forms count. A day with no time alone with the people you would supervise is worth raising.
How many finalists are there, and is anyone inside the organization among them?
Why ask it
They should not give names. The number is useful on its own, and an inside finalist tells you about the aftermath: chosen over a colleague the staff like, you may find that person on your team on day one. Members who have thought it through will already have a plan for that first conversation.
What is the committee still unsure about in my background?
Why ask it
A specific doubt, such as no fundraising record or never having led a unionized staff, can be met on the spot with an example. That is far better than having it discussed after you leave. If nobody will name one, raise the gap you think they see and answer it yourself.
The committee
Which group does each of you sit on this committee for, and what does that group most want from this hire?
Why ask it
Go around the table if time allows, or ask two or three members. Trustees, staff, teachers or faculty, parents, donors and students will each judge the hire by something different. You are listening for wants that cannot all be met, and you should not promise each seat its wish.
Why did each of you say yes to serving on this search?
Why ask it
An easy question to answer, so it suits the start of your turn and draws in members who have not spoken. One was asked by the chair; another volunteered because of something that went wrong under the last leader. The second kind of answer deserves a follow-up, since it names what that member will be watching for.
Where did the committee disagree most while narrowing the pool?
Why ask it
Nobody will discuss other candidates, but many will describe the fault line: insider or outsider, scholar or manager, steady hand or change. Whichever side you stand for, the other will be watching your first year. 'We were of one mind throughout' is politeness, not information.
What would the people who report to this role want changed in the first six months?
Why ask it
Put it to the staff member on the committee, and notice whether they answer freely with trustees listening. Concrete requests, such as decisions that sit too long or a reorganization left half done, are a gift. A careful non-answer suggests the staff are not used to being asked.
How would you describe staff morale right now, and what is that based on?
Why ask it
The second half is the real question. A staff survey, exit interviews or the number of people who left in the last two years is evidence; 'people seem happy' from a trustee is a guess. If the staff member and the board member describe different moods, raise it again when you meet the staff with no board member in the room.
What do the board and the staff see differently about where this place should go?
Why ask it
Some gap between the two is normal, and members who can describe it calmly are a healthy sign. If you are told everyone is aligned, ask what the last disagreement over the plan or the budget was about. The job often sits exactly in that gap.
Who has a stake in this hire but no seat on this committee?
Why ask it
Think of a union, major donors, alumni, parents, a founder, a city or county office, a partner agency. A group left out of a search can hold it against the person the search produces, so find out how each will meet you and whether any of them objected to the process.
If this hire goes well, what will be different in eighteen months for the people you speak for?
Why ask it
This turns wishes into something you could be measured on. Write the answers down in the members' own words. If you take the job, they are the first draft of your goals, to be checked with the person you report to before you agree to any of them.
Reporting
Who does this role report to, and will I meet that person or the full board before any offer?
Why ask it
Finalists are sometimes offered a job by a board or a president they have spent twenty minutes with. Press for proper time with whoever will review you, alone if possible. A chair too busy to meet a finalist is showing you how available they will be afterwards.
Where is the line here between what the board decides and what the person in this role decides?
Why ask it
A clear answer sounds like this: the board sets policy, approves the budget and hires one person, and the rest is yours. Be wary if members describe approving individual hires, vendors or schedules. Where the role reports to one person and not a board, the equivalent question is what that person expects to sign off on.
When did the board or my supervisor last overrule the person in this job, and over what?
Why ask it
The example tells you more than the principle. A budget line sent back is ordinary oversight. A reversed personnel decision, or a board member taking up a staff complaint, shows where your authority would stop in practice.
How long has the chair, or the person I would report to, been in that seat, and when does it change?
Why ask it
You may be hired by one set of people and reviewed by another. A chair whose term ends in the spring, an election due for a public board, or a president close to retirement each changes what you are agreeing to. The useful follow-up is who is likely to come next and whether they supported this search.
How will my work be reviewed: who does it, against what, and how often?
Why ask it
The answer to hope for is a written set of goals agreed in the first few months and a yearly review by named people. Having no process is risky, because the first formal feedback may then be the decision about renewal. A blank copy of the form used for the last person is a reasonable thing to request.
How do board members or senior leaders usually raise a concern about something on the staff side?
Why ask it
The healthy answer is that it comes to you. If members call your deputies, drop in on staff or forward complaints straight to the people concerned, part of your first year will go on redrawing that line, and it helps to know whether anything on paper backs you up.
Is there a strategic plan I would inherit, and how firmly is the organization committed to it?
Why ask it
A plan adopted last year with a fundraising campaign attached is one you are being hired to carry out. One that is about to expire is yours to write. Either can suit you, but learn which it is before you describe your own vision at the open forum.
What are the main sources of income, and which one is least certain for next year?
Why ask it
Tuition, tax revenue, grants, gifts, fees and endowment income each fail in their own way. You are looking for members who know the weak point and have thought about it. Being told there is nothing to worry about suggests the finances have not reached this table.
Is there a deficit, debt, a draw on reserves or postponed repairs that the next person inherits?
Why ask it
Name all four, because people tend to answer only the one you mention. 'Yes, and here is the plan' is a far better reply than a discovery in your second month. The detail usually sits with the finance officer or treasurer, and a meeting with that person is a fair condition of accepting.
Does the money exist for what the profile asks this person to do?
Why ask it
Read back two or three of the profile's promises, such as growing a program or raising pay, and ask which budget line covers each. 'That is what we are hiring you to work out' means the job is partly fundraising or cost cutting, whatever the title says.
Who could I hire, reassign or let go on my own authority, and what needs someone else's approval?
Why ask it
A profile can ask for change while the rules keep the leadership team out of your hands. Go layer by layer: your direct reports, their staff, and anyone with tenure, a union contract or civil service protection. This depends on the employer and the place, so get the specifics for this one.
Who is on the leadership team I would inherit, and which seats are vacant or held by interims?
Why ask it
Empty seats can be a chance to build your own team or a sign that people left with the last leader. Find out which, and whether those jobs are being held for you or filled before you arrive. A senior hire made for you in the gap is worth a polite objection now.
Which decisions have already been made that the new person will be expected to carry out?
Why ask it
A closure, a merger, layoffs, a building project or a new system may be settled and waiting for someone to announce it. You should hear that before accepting, not at your first board meeting, along with who will be seen as its author once you are in the chair.
If I concluded in my first year that something major had to change, what would it take to get it done?
Why ask it
Here you find out how real the mandate is. You may hear about a board vote, consultation with staff or faculty, a union, a regulator or a public hearing. 'You would have our full support' is not an answer, so ask how the last big change went and how long it took.
Is anything pending that I should know about, such as an audit finding, a lawsuit, an investigation or an accreditation review?
Why ask it
The committee may be limited in what it can say, and 'there is a matter, and finalists will be briefed' is a fair reply. A flat no that later proves wrong is not. Read the local news and any public board minutes before you travel, so you can tell the two apart.
The offer
Who makes and negotiates the offer: the chair, human resources or the search firm?
Why ask it
Knowing saves you from bargaining with someone who cannot agree to anything. If it runs through the consultant, keep in mind who pays them. Terms that need a board vote can add weeks, and in some places that vote puts the figures on the public record, so check how it works where you are.
What is the pay range for the position, and what else is in the package?
Why ask it
If the profile gave no range, the finalist stage is a fair time to raise it, and the consultant is often the easier person to raise it with. Packages for these roles can include housing, a car, retirement contributions, moving costs or professional dues. What the last person had is the most useful benchmark you can get.
Is the appointment for a fixed term, and how is renewal decided?
Why ask it
Fixed terms, rolling contracts and appointments with no stated term all exist, and which one applies depends on the employer and the place. You want the number of years, who decides on renewal and how much notice each side gets. What happened at the last person's renewal point is the best guide to yours.
What does the agreement say about the appointment ending early, on either side?
Why ask it
It feels awkward while everyone is being warm, which is the reason to raise it now. Listen for notice periods, what is paid if the board simply wants a change, and what counts as cause. Before signing, have the document read by someone qualified where the job is; a summary from the other side is not enough.
Does the role come with a faculty appointment or a right to return to another position, and what happens to it when my term ends?
Why ask it
This applies mostly to academic jobs and some public ones; skip it elsewhere. A right to return to teaching or to an earlier rank is a safety net, and whether it exists, and at what salary, varies a great deal. Get it into the written offer now, because it is much harder to win as a favor later.
Is the person in this role expected to live in a particular place, or in a residence that comes with the job?
Why ask it
Some boards want their leader living inside the district or town, and some jobs come with a house that is also used for events. Either can change a family's life more than the salary does. Find out whether it is a rule, a custom or a preference, and what the last person did.
When would you want the person to start, and will there be any overlap with whoever holds the position now?
Why ask it
A few weeks beside the outgoing leader or the interim can save months of finding things out. It can also be uncomfortable when the departure was unhappy. The longer question is whether the predecessor will remain nearby, on the board, on the faculty or in the community.
What is planned for the new person's first ninety days, and who is in charge of it?
Why ask it
Good answers have a name attached: a board member or a transition group who arranges introductions to funders, union leaders, elected officials or whoever matters most there. 'We have not gotten that far' is common and no bad sign in itself, but it means you would be organizing your own arrival. If you would want a coach or a mentor in the first year, this is the moment to raise it.
Who can I speak with privately before I answer an offer?
Why ask it
A reasonable list is the outgoing leader or interim, the finance officer, the chair, and one or two people who would report to you. Reluctance about the predecessor is the one to notice, and it is fair to ask why.
What will the person who takes this job wish they had asked today?
Why ask it
Keep it for the last minute of the session, then stay quiet. Often the member who has said least offers the thing nobody else raised. Thank them, and take it further afterwards through the chair or the consultant.
How to use your time with a search committee
Practical guidance for the conversation itself
Before the visit
Check that this is your list
This page is for leadership jobs that a committee screens and a board or senior officer fills: a dean, a superintendent, a head of school, an executive director, a library or department director. A candidate for a faculty position also meets a search committee, but needs to ask about teaching load, research support and tenure, and should use Questions to Ask in a Faculty Interview. A minister meeting a pulpit committee should use Questions to Ask a Pastor Search Committee, which covers polity, the congregation and the call.
Ask the consultant first
When a search firm is involved, the consultant can usually answer most of The search and some of The offer before you travel: the timeline, how confidential the process is, when references are called, the pay range. Clearing those by phone leaves the committee's time for what only its members know, which is what they want and where they disagree.
Read what is public
Depending on the kind of organization, there may be budgets, audited financial statements, board minutes, annual reports, inspection or accreditation reports and local news to read. What must be published differs by country, state and sector, so ask the consultant what exists and where. Then ask about what you read: 'The minutes show the budget passed on a split vote. What was the disagreement?' gets further than asking whether the board is united.
Give each meeting its own questions
A finalist visit is several conversations. The committee session suits The opening and The committee. Reporting belongs with the chair or the person you would answer to, Budget and authority with the finance officer and the leadership team, and The offer with whoever negotiates. In the committee session itself, expect ten or fifteen minutes for your questions, so choose four or five and rank them.
Decide what would make you withdraw
Write down, before you go, the two or three answers that would end your interest: no access to the financials, no meeting with the person you would report to, a decision already made that you could not defend. A finalist visit is flattering, and a line drawn at home is harder to talk yourself out of in the car afterwards.
In the room
Put a question to a particular seat
A question thrown to the whole table is usually answered by the chair. Ask the staff member what the staff want, the trustee what the board wants, the parent or student what they hoped to find in a finalist. Members who have said little often hold the most useful view, and a question put to them by name is the surest way to hear it.
Ask the same thing in more than one meeting
Why the position is open and what needs fixing first are worth asking the committee, the staff forum and the chair separately. Matching answers mean the place understands itself. Where the versions differ, the difference is the finding, and it is fair to say so: 'I have heard two versions of this. Help me understand.'
Remember that your questions are part of the interview
The committee is watching how you would run a meeting, handle a sensitive subject and listen. Give a reason for the harder questions, such as 'I ask because I would be the one answering for it'. In a session that is open or recorded, keep the predecessor, pending matters and the weak points in the budget for a closed room.
Do not promise each group its wish
When the staff member asks for stability and the trustee for a turnaround, it is tempting to agree with both. Say what you heard, name the tension, and ask how the committee expects the new person to balance the two. Finalists who agree with everyone are remembered that way once they are hired.
Reading the answers
What good answers have in common
They are specific, they come with a document or an example, and they are the same whoever gives them. 'Here are three years of financials, and the treasurer will take you through them' is a good answer even when the numbers are poor. An organization that knows its problems and shows them to a finalist is one you can lead.
What worrying answers have in common
The story of the last departure changes from person to person. Figures are promised for after you accept. Nobody can say who decides, or when. You are pressed to answer quickly without the meetings you asked for. Any one of these might be clumsiness, but two or three together usually describe how the place will treat the person it hires.
Weigh the committee against the appointing authority
A warm committee and a distant board are two separate pieces of information. The committee disbands when the search ends, and the board or supervisor stays. If the two gave you different pictures of the job, the one that counts is the one held by whoever will review you.
Between the visit and the offer
Write it down the same evening
Note who said what and which group they spoke for, especially the answers to what should be fixed first and what success would look like in eighteen months. If an offer comes, those notes are the basis of your first-year goals. If the job turns out differently from what was described, they are your record of what you were told.
Send follow-up questions through the chair or the consultant
Questions you did not reach, and requests for documents, go to the committee chair or the search consultant, not to individual members. Contacting members one by one can look like lobbying and can put them in an awkward position if the process has rules about contact with finalists.
Get what was promised into the written offer
Reporting line, term, review process, the authority to hire your own team, a right to return to the faculty, help with a move: anything that mattered in conversation should appear in the letter or the contract. The people who promised it may have left the board or the committee by the time you need it. Rules on contracts, notice and public disclosure differ by country, state and employer, so ask how each works there and have the document read by someone qualified to advise you.
If you withdraw, do it early and plainly
Tell the consultant or the chair as soon as you are sure, give a short reason, and thank the committee for its time. These fields are small and committee members sit on other searches, so a clean withdrawal is remembered kindly the next time your name comes up.