The program director will likely be working to manage many different workflows and projects. Not all objectives will be equally beneficial for all parties involved, so a candidate should be prepared to balance the needs and wants of diverse stakeholders. An interviewee's answer to this question will allow you to understand if they're more focused on building internal relations or external sales and expansion. Depending on your organization's main objectives, you probably value one type of view over the other. What to look for in an answer:

• Ability to prioritize
• Clear logic used to support their choice
• Strong communication skills

A program director juggles several responsibilities and works to enhance an organization's traction with its target audiences. There will always be the possibility for unexpected circumstances to arise, and your candidate should have a methodology in place for dealing with these situations. Interviewees who prefer to hedge may be overly cautious and choose steadiness over growth, while those who wait until problems arise might take on too much market risk. What to look for in an answer:

• Gives a direct answer to the question
• Explains their preference for one approach
• Exhibits strong logical reasoning skills

Even though you're hiring a program director with the goal of growing your firm's offerings and business, not all ventures will end up with positive results. A candidate should use their past experiences as learning opportunities to help support their work on future projects. The applicant's answer to this question will allow you to gain an understanding of how they deal with failures and unexpected circumstances. What to look for in an answer:

• Cites examples of past failures
• Explains outcomes and what was learned from past experiences
• Stays professional under stress

Often, a program director will need to decide between two interesting projects that can bring different benefits to your organization. A candidate should be able to correctly identify which one will be most suitable for achieving your company's goals. A potential hire's response to this question allows you to gauge their logical reasoning skills and business acumen. What to look for in an answer:

• Demonstrates a clear process for weighing two projects against each other
• Exhibits strong logical reasoning abilities
• Understanding of communication skills

A program director is in charge of monitoring teams and tasks that are central to an organization's continued success. Depending on the scope of your business, the potential hire may need to juggle many responsibilities while also looking for growth opportunities. As such, it's important that a candidate is able to weed out the projects that are time-consuming with low reward in favor of better ones. What to look for in an answer:

• Clear understanding of business fundamentals
• Can outline a strategy for effective time management
• Ability to evaluate success metrics