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Joy at Work Job Interview QuestionsHow do you know if it’s the job you really want?Naturally, most advice out there for job-seekers is about landing the job. There isn’t nearly asmuch about how to know if the job is the one you really want or if the company’s culture is a placewhere you can thrive. Even the questions given to job-seekers to ask in an interview are typicallyfocused on impressing the interviewer.This guide is meant to flip your thinking and imagine yourself as the interviewer. What would youask if you could? What do you most want to know? What are the deal-breakers for you?The questions you find in this guide are intended to help you evaluate how well you’ll thrive in thecompanies and positions you’re considering, whatever that means to you. The goal of the Joy atWork Job Interview Questions is for you to clarify what you want, use questions in the interviewto learn about your likely experience as an employee, and see how well the two match. Thequestions are based on researching what makes people experience joy in the workplace.There are lots of reasons why people seek work beyond financial, and the reasons evolve overtime. Joy at Work means both successfully navigating the realities of your experience andcultivating the experience you want so your work is part of a life well-lived.1 © 2022 The Change Decision

The QuestionsPrepare: Tuning into your Joy at WorkThese questions help you understand the experience you’re seeking specifically.● What is a feeling you miss having (or want to have) at work?● When do you feel most satisfied with your work? What’s happening?● When do you feel joy in your interactions with colleagues? What’s happening?● When do you feel most motivated and inspired? What’s happening?● When do you laugh at work? Why?● When do you lose yourself in your work?● Imagine it’s six months from now and your work (day, week, etc.) is pure joy. What’s happening thatmakes it pure joy for you?Questions for the InterviewManagement:● How are managers evaluated on how well they manage people?● How often do you reorganize and how is that handled? What are the typical reasons forreorganizations here?● How often should I expect to have a change in who I directly report to? How are those transitionsusually handled?Leadership:● How are leaders developed here?Relationships:● How are employees encouraged to network and connect with others inside the organization? Howimportant is that to succeed here?● How do teams collaborate here? How are teams formed and disbanded to get work done?Stress:● Burnout is a common problem for employees recently. How has that shown up here and how hasthe company responded?● How has the company historically responded to major changes, like the pandemic?Culture/The Work Experience:● Since you started work here, what have you learned that has surprised and delighted you?● What are some of the difficulties, I should expect, that are just part of the job?● If you could go back in time to your first day, what advice would you give yourself to help yousucceed?2 © 2022 The Change Decision

Background & AlternativesThe explanations below answer how the interview questions can help you evaluate whether the companyand position you’re considering are right for you and the joy you seek in your life.This research is ongoing! Please help us learn from your experience using these questions and thesuggestions you have. Thank you for contributing to the research and helping the world grow Joy at Work.Management: Your manager usually has the most direct impact on your experience at work because theyeither directly decide or have a significant influence on the following:● How your performance is evaluated● What projects you get to work on● Who you work with● What behavior is encouraged; what behavior is and isn’t toleratedYou also have a direct impact on your manager’s experience at work because most do the following:● Explain your responsibilities and guide your priorities● Communicate change and the larger context of the company’s direction● Spend time with you to coach and develop you● Resolve conflicts on your behalf● Collect and evaluate feedback about your performance● Explain and justify your performance evaluation to peers and senior leadershipIn many ways, you’re dependent on each other for personal success. It takes an investment of time andenergy to develop rapport and a willingness to trust between you.In the interview, you can find out how well the company understands the significance of themanager-employee relationship. For example, you may learn that you can expect to have frequentchanges in who you report to. but, to make sure this doesn’t create unnecessary concern or distraction,the company uses a manager-to-manager employee transition process. If that’s the case, you can askfollow-up questions about how these transitions are handled.Alternative Management questions:● How often are managers encouraged to regularly meet with their employees?● How involved will my manager be in setting my goals?● How much time are managers encouraged to spend developing their employees?● What would be the company’s expectations of me for growth and development?Leadership: Leadership sets the tone for the organization. The culture of most companies can be traced tothe CEO and strong personalities at the top. Adding to this, subcultures are shaped by the leaders at thedivision and team levels.Asking about leadership development can help you understand how leaders are held accountable forleading their part of the organization and the expectations for leadership overall. It’s also useful to knowfor your future development. Leadership development doesn’t need to be a formal program but if thecompany doesn’t have a clear point of view, that may be a concern for you depending on how muchleadership matters to your Joy at Work.3 © 2022 The Change Decision

Alternative Leadership questions:● How often does top-level leadership communicate to the organization about what’s happeningand what’s important? How does this happen?● How do leaders make themselves visible, accessible, and approachable to the team?Relationships: To thrive in the workplace, you need to have strong social connections, especially withthose you are dependent on to successfully perform your role. In addition to being important to a person’swell-being and sense of belonging, social connections help you manage and even transcend stressfulsituations at work. Asking questions about how relationships are built and encouraged can help youunderstand how well the company understands the significance of social connection to employeewell-being and getting high-quality work done.Alternative Relationship questions:● How does the team I would work for collaborate with other teams to get work done? What otherrelationships are important to succeed in this role?● How often does the whole company (division, team, etc.) meet? How are people encouraged to getto know each other?Stress: Companies constantly evolve to manage risk and take advantage of opportunities. Even so, manycompanies are not familiar with how to manage change in such a way that it preserves or improves theculture. Often leaders and managers are on their own to figure out how to lead their teams to change.Although stress at work can be motivating and even coalescing for teams, if the workforce mostlyperceives change to be a threat due to how it’s typically handled, the results are employee distractionfrom the work itself and self-protecting behavior.The stress questions are meant to help you see if the company respects the impact change can have onthe health of the business and employees. Again, this does not necessitate a formal change process forevery shift but the company’s point of view can tell you a lot about how confident the workforce is in itsown resilience, and ability to focus, do great work, and not burn out under stress.Alternative Stress questions:● What are some of the changes the company experienced with the pandemic? How well did theworkforce manage that change? What were some of the lessons learned?● What are some other changes on the horizon for the company given the direction of the industry?How significant are they? How excited is the team about them?Culture/The Work Experience: These questions will help you learn what it takes to succeed in thecompany and role, and if it’s a match with what you’re seeking specifically.Alternative Culture/The Work Experience questions:● What are some of the unique opportunities the company is proud to offer in this role?● How long does it usually take to get fully up to speed in the role? What advice would help meexpedite this process?DisclaimerThe interviewer may not be prepared for these questions. That doesn’t necessarily mean the job isn’t rightfor you. It may simply mean they haven’t been asked these questions until now.4 © 2022 The Change Decision

● To round out your Joy at Work evaluation, you can look at other indicators of the company’sculture, such as the company’s social profiles, public reviews of the company, talking to people whowork there, or talking to clients of the company.● Ask the questions you care about most so that you don’t overwhelm the interviewer. You canalways opt to ask different questions if you have multiple interview conversations. You can alsofollow up with a question or two after the interview.● Use the Tuning into your Joy at Work questions (top of page 2) to decide which interviewquestions are most important to you.Tuning into your Joy at WorkWhile you may not find everything you want in a company or role, having an ideal in mind increases thelikelihood that you’ll find and create what you’re looking for. Identifying your ideal is also good for you forthe following:● Cultivating joy in your work once you’ve accepted a position● Transcending difficult situations and the difficult behavior of others● Combating negative self-talk● Navigating ethical dilemmas● Creating joy for others● Remembering you have options and personal agency● Recognizing when it’s time to make a change that’s right for you and your valuesFrom our research, people often describe Joy at Work as this:● “Being clear about what’s important and living it.”● “Bringing your whole self to work.”● “Feeling energy and life in our work environment and relationships.”● “Getting lost in the work I do.”● “Seeing meaning in my work and knowing I’m fulfilling my purpose.”● “Being part of something that’s worthwhile and bigger than me.”● “A feeling of being called to a purpose, not despite the company but because of the company.”● “Peace of mind.”Even so, Joy at Work is personal. Only you can decide what it means to you, and it can change over timedepending on your experience and what’s happening in your life.For additional practical advice about joy in the workplace, see the Joy at Work Thinkingblog and our many resources. Please consider contributing to this ongoing research byletting us know your experience using these questions and your suggestions for others.Again, we thank you for this contribution and for helping the world grow Joy at Work.5 © 2022 The Change Decision

Deeper Thought● How would you describe in onesentence what you want most in ajob right now? What about the roleor company could get in the way ofwhat you want most? If you neededto, what could you do within yourcontrol or influence to overcomethis? How willing are you to dothese things?● What skills are you working on ormost wish you had? How will therole and company help you makeprogress?● When do you feel most competent?Accomplished? When do you feelmost challenged at work in a waythat’s satisfying to you? How willthe role help you feel these ways?6 © 2022 The Change Decision