When hiring a coach, what are the most important things I need to ask in the interview?

Nitza

That's a good question.

When hiring a coach (or anyone for that matter), the most important thing is to learn about their past. You don't want to ask them "what they will do". You ask questions about "what they've done in the past". That's because the best indicator of how they will act and what they will do in the future, is by determining what they have done in the past.

So while you're interviewing the coach, you'll want to review the resume with them and their past work experience.

During this portion of the interview, go back about 3 jobs and ask the following questions for each job. The purpose of these questions is to understand the big picture, but to also determine locus of control and interest level information by discussing an area where there doesn’t seem to be much judgment going on.

Why did you take the job?

What pay did you start out at?

What were your duties and responsibilities?

Did you get promoted?

If he got promoted, ask: To what position and pay did you get promoted?
How did your job responsibilities change?

What did you like best and least about this job?

When and why did you decide to leave this job?

Did you give notice and how long?

Did you work until that time period was up?

Did you have your next job waiting before you gave notice?

What was it about that new job that made you accept it?

I also like to ask "what was the name of your boss?". I then write that down. They I say, "what would your boss say about you?". This will tell you a lot about a person and they also believe you are probably going to call them (since you wrote down their name).

Remember, you are trying to predict how this person will conduct themselves in the future by learning about how they conducted them self in the past.

In my opinion, here are some really important coaching characteristics you'll want to look for:

- A natural teacher. Coaching is teaching. So you want that is really good at and loves teaching people.

- If this position is for kids (18 or under), patience will be really important. You want someone that has patience to teach and develop players. Michael Jordan says he would not be a good coach because he doesn't have the patience and expects everyone to do what he did. Not everyone is made to be a coach.

- Honesty, ethics, and the desire to do the right thing. You want someone that has exemplified high values and character throughout the life.

- Someone that loves the sport and coaching. That's really important. To be good, you really need to love what you are doing. Find someone passionate about coaching. Find someone that loves the tasks associated with coaching and the position you have available.

Beyond that, I think it depends on the type of coaching job you have available. If they'll have lots of assistants and it's higher level position, then a natural leader with analytical qualities would be good. You want someone good at managing people, delegating tasks, being very organized, and essentially knows how to run a business.

Here are more questions that are good. They will help you determine their interest level and the type of person they are...

How did you get into the profession you’re in?

What were your favorite & least favorite subjects in school?

What was your major in college & why?

What did you want to be when you were a kid?

What activities/hobbies do you have outside of work?

What are your favorite books, movies, people?

Out of the jobs you’ve had, which was your favorite? Why?
(or, optionally, On your last job, what were your favorite tasks? Why?)

Which one was your least favorite? Why?
(or, optionally, What were your least favorite tasks? Why?)

What was your life like as a child?

Tell me about a time when you had a fight or disagreement with a family member. How did you deal with it? What was the result? (motivation: internal or external)

Who was the disciplinarian in your family?

Tell me about a time when you were disciplined by him/her. How did you react? How did it turn out? (motivation: internal or external)

How often do you see your parents and siblings, now?

Tell me about a time when you were faced with a dilemma or a tough obstacle. How did you handle it? What was the end result? (motivation: internal or external)

Tell me about one of the toughest goals that you wanted to achieve. Tell me about an obstacle you encountered along the way. What was the outcome? (motivation: internal or external)

Tell me about a specific time when you had a co-worker you had a disagreement with. What action did you take? What was the end result? (motivation: internal or external)

If you have knowledge of coaching and the sport, you should also try to determine the coaches knowledge and skill level. Do they really know the game? That requires some knowledge on your part and you'll need to devise your own questions for that based on what you know.

Look for patterns in the answers to these questions. Look for performers. Superstars work for impact, not money. Beware of smooth talkers. They don't acknowledge any limitations on their side.

Lastly, the most important quality to look for is whether or not they are proactive. This is true of any employee. With a coach, you want someone that takes responsibility, looks for solutions, always tries to keep learning. Do they step up and ask for more responsibility? Do they take it and own it and drive it to results? You want "drivers".

If they're working on a project and have a question, do they send you an email and do nothing more, even if they don't get a response? Or do they email, and then they don't hear back again, then call and then show up in your office?

Proactive people are results oriented. They drive projects and tasks to completion. They also have a sense of personal responsibility. They will step up and take responsibility when something goes wrong and will credit their team when things go right.

I hope this helps and good luck.

Pretty comprehensive answer Jeff...... the only thing I might add is to find out just how Loyal this person is.... they can be Bobby Knight but if they are going to stab you in the back, bad mouth you and / or your program, you don't need this type of individual..... and I apologize if I missed it in the post.