CEO · interview questions
CEO interview questions
The short answer · updated
A good CEO interview tests strategy and judgement, command of the business and its P&L, leading people and a leadership team, the relationship with the chair, board and investors, and evidence from past roles of the problem you need solved. Ask every candidate the same core questions, press for specific examples, and check references.
Questions about strategy
Start from the CEO job description and the problem the next chief executive must solve: growth, a turnaround, a sale, a founder transition. Acas advises preparing a set of questions, asking each applicant the same ones where possible, and interviewing with more than one person.
- “What would you want to learn about this company in your first weeks, and from whom?” A plan to listen first: customers, staff, the board and the numbers, before announcing a strategy.
- “Tell us about a strategy you set that did not work. When did you see it, and what did you do?” Honesty, speed of correction, and what they told the board.
- “Where should this company not compete?” Choices, not a list of everything. A strong answer names what to stop.
- “How would you decide between growing organically and buying growth?” Weighs capability, capital, risk and timing for this business rather than a stock preference.
- “What would success look like at the end of your first year here, and how would the board know?” Measurable outcomes the board can hold them to.
- “Which decision in your last role are you proudest of, and who disagreed with it?” Judgement under pressure, and how they handled dissent.
Questions about the business
A chief executive owns the P&L and the operating plan. Test whether the candidate can read the numbers as well as set the direction; the CFO or finance director should ask some of these.
- “Talk us through the P&L of the last business you ran. What drove the result?” Fluency in their own numbers, and which levers mattered.
- “How have you managed a business through a cash squeeze?” Priorities, speed, and how they kept staff, customers and lenders informed.
- “What have you read about our accounts and our market, and what worries you?” Preparation, and a willingness to name hard things in the interview.
- “How do you set targets and hold the leadership team to them?” A clear operating rhythm, and consequences when targets are missed.
- “Tell us about a customer you lost. What did you change afterwards?” Closeness to customers, and learning built into the business.
- “How have you dealt with a regulator, a crisis or a public problem?” Composure, ownership, and a plain account to the board.
Questions about leadership and the team
The chief executive chooses and leads the leadership team, and sets the culture everyone else works in.
- “Tell us about the last leadership team you built. Who did you keep, who did you change, and why?” Evidence of judgement on people, made fairly and on time.
- “How do you know what staff several layers below you think?” Real channels to the front line, and an example of acting on what they heard.
- “Describe a time you had to remove a senior leader. How did you handle it?” Fair process, respect for the person, and no delay once the decision was clear.
- “How have you led a business through a restructuring or a large change?” Honest communication, consultation where it is required, and care for those affected.
- “What would your last leadership team say you should do differently?” Self-awareness and a real answer.
- “How do you develop successors, including for your own role?” A named approach to succession, not an afterthought.
Questions about the board and governance
The CEO runs the company; the board, led by the chair, oversees it. The FRC’s UK Corporate Governance Code sets this out under the division of responsibilities and applies to listed companies on a comply-or-explain basis; many private companies choose to follow it. Test how the candidate works inside that division.
- “How do you divide the work between the chair and the chief executive?” A clear line: the chair leads the board, the CEO leads the company.
- “Tell us about a time the board did not support your proposal. What happened next?” Respect for the board’s role, and how they rebuilt the case or changed course.
- “How do you keep the board informed between meetings without managing it?” Candour, no surprises, and no attempt to control what the board sees.
- “How have you worked with investors or a private equity owner?” Understanding of their horizon, their reporting needs and where they will challenge.
- “When have you disagreed with your chair, and how did you resolve it?” Principled disagreement, handled in private, with the relationship intact.
- “How do you make sure the board hears bad news from you first?” Early, plain reporting, with the options set out.
Questions for a fractional or interim CEO
An interim CEO works full-time for a fixed period, often while a permanent search runs; a fractional CEO works a set number of days. The interview should test how they will use limited time, what they will leave behind, and how they will hand over. See how to hire an interim CEO and how to hire a fractional CEO.
A chief executive working through their own company may fall within the off-payroll working rules (IR35). Status depends on how the engagement runs in practice, not on the contract’s label, and a medium or large client makes the determination. Our IR35 guide sets out the tests.
- “How many days would this role need, and what would you spend them on?” Sizes the job from the brief, and says what needs full-time cover.
- “What would you deliver in the first 90 days?” Specific outcomes the board can check, not a listening tour with no end.
- “What decisions should you take, and which should wait for the permanent CEO?” Judgement on the limits of an interim mandate.
- “How would you hand over, and would you help the board find your successor?” A clean handover, documentation, and no stake in staying on.
- “Would you be appointed a director, and what would that change?” An understanding of directors’ duties and the board’s expectations.
- “How would the engagement run day to day, and how do you expect IR35 status to be assessed?” A realistic account of the working arrangements, without a promised outcome.
Questions a candidate should ask
Acas advises ending each interview by asking the applicant if they have any questions. A chief executive candidate should use that time to test the board as hard as the board has tested them. For the route into the role, see how to become a CEO.
- “Why is the role open, and what did the board learn from the last chief executive?”
- “What does the board expect in the first year, and how will it judge success?”
- “How do the chair and the board like to work with the CEO between meetings?”
- “What do the owners or investors want, and over what horizon?”
- “What is the cash position, and how is the business funded?”
- “For an interim or fractional role: which outcomes, how many days, and how will IR35 status be decided?”
How we assess candidates
We recruit fractional, interim, part-time, temporary and permanent executives, and non-executive directors. For a chief executive brief we send a shortlist of 3–5, each with pay or day rate, availability and IR35 position set out, after our five-stage vetting. Our page on how to hire a CEO covers fractional and interim chief executives.
Questions people ask
What questions should you ask a CEO in an interview?
Ask about strategy and judgement, the business and its P&L, leading people and a leadership team, the board and investors, and specific problems they have solved that resemble yours. Ask every candidate the same core questions and press for real examples.
What questions should you not ask in a CEO interview?
Nothing about a protected characteristic under the Equality Act 2010, such as age, marriage or civil partnership, pregnancy, religion or sexual orientation, and nothing about children or plans to have them. Acas says you must not ask different questions depending on a candidate’s age, and gives the example “How would you feel about managing people older than yourself?”. See Acas on age discrimination, Acas on discrimination law in recruitment and GOV.UK on questions you cannot ask.
Who should interview a CEO?
The chair and other board members, usually with investor representatives where the owners have a stake, and a separate conversation with the CFO or finance director on the numbers. Acas advises that more than one person interviews, to reduce the risk of discrimination. See Acas on interviewing.
How should a candidate prepare for a CEO interview?
Read the accounts, filings and anything the company publishes, speak to customers if you can, and work out the problem the board needs solved. Prepare specific examples of solving it elsewhere, and your own questions for the chair. See how to become a CEO.
How is interviewing an interim CEO different?
Test what they would deliver in the first 90 days, which decisions they would leave for the permanent CEO, and how they would hand over. See how to hire an interim CEO.
How do I hire a CEO?
Agree the brief with the chair and investors, choose between permanent, interim and fractional, interview every candidate against the same brief, and check references and directorships before appointment. We send a shortlist of 3–5, each with pay or day rate, availability and IR35 position set out. See how to hire a CEO.
