Interviewing Your Future Boss?

crimethinker asks: "I am an embedded systems engineer for a small division of a large company. Up to now, we have managed to get by with little more than a 'team lead' position, but as our division grows, they are looking to hire a full-on engineering manager. I was one of the candidates, with my current boss's favorable recommendation, but I withdrew my resume when they told me the job was all paper and schedules; I'd never touch code or hardware again. Now the VP has a 'short list' of candidates, and has invited me to be one of the interviewers. Yes, you read that correctly: I will be interviewing the person who will become my boss. So, I put the question to you, Slashdot: what questions should I ask my prospective boss?"

Comments

Well

[Anonymous Coward]

If I hired you, would you agree not to fire me?

vacation...?

[paz5]

Can I have next week off?

"What is your opinion on..

[Various Assortments]

Naptime?"

My question

[teamhasnoi]

"Will you give me hell about reading Slashdot all day?"

Re:My question

[It'sYerMam]

Answers:

1: Hell no. I'll point you specifically to the pro-Linux bits
2: Only if I catch you.
3: Yes
4: WTF Is Slashdot?

1: Super geek. "Hired" pile
2: Benevolent dictator. "Possible" pile.
3: Idiot. "No way" pile
4: "Feed to goatse"

Important Question

[MrNonchalant]

How much of a pay raise would you give me latet for a favorable reccomendation now?

Hmmmm

[Deanasc]

Let's say, hypothetically, that I came in still drunk from last night and told you what I really thought about those ugly kids in that picture frame on your desk and then puked behind the ficas tree in the lobby... How would you handle a situatioin like that?

The correct answer here is to give me a raise.

Do you allow...

[Exsam]

Pantless mondays?

The Only Question to Ask

[Enonu]

What would you do for a Klondike Bar?

Re:Hawaiian Shirt Friday?

[tabacco]

Hammocks! :)

Hank: Uh, hi, Homer. What can I do for you?
Homer: Sir, I need to know where I can get some business hammocks.
Hank: Hammocks? My goodness, what an idea. Why didn't I think of that?
Hammocks! Homer, there's four places. There's the Hammock Hut,
that's on third.
Homer: Uh-huh.
Hank: There's Hammocks-R-Us, that's on third too. You got
Put-Your-Butt-There?
Homer: Mm-Hmm.
Hank: That's on third. Swing Low, Sweet Chariot... Matter of fact,
they're all in the same complex; it's the hammock complex on
third.
Homer: Oh, the hammock district.
Hank: That's right.

What's your Slashdot User ID?

[fdiskne1]

If he say's "What's Slashdot?", he's out.

If he says he only lurks, or posts AC, he still could be worth hiring.

If he gives you a user ID, great! Now go find out if he's cool, a 1337 h4x0r, or a troll.

Re:"What is the last book you read?"

[IIH]

Besides, it's always interesting to throw an off-the-wall question at someone and see how they respond.

Where I worked, we interviewed our boss, and one of the Q's was "do you keep goats?" (as we had heard he had a farm. Positive answer, great boss, so that was added to our standard list of questions. Next interview (a few years later) when we asked "do you keep goats?", we got an answer of "No, but I minded cheetehs for a while, does that count?" (boss was from south Africa, and was an excellent one!)

In short - ask about pets! :)