[Sam Summer]

November 13, 2026 at 10:27 am

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The job interview is a discerning, make-or-break stage for candidates and executives.

Potential employees are putting their best foot forward with carefully prepared talking points. Employers, meanwhile, are trying to determine if a candidate will be a good fit for the job and company culture.

Over time, seasoned executives have conducted countless interviews and honed their interviewing styles. Along the way, they’ve come up with carefully curated questions to help them evaluate a potential hire’s culture fit, work ethic and values.

In this month’s One Big Question feature, we asked business executives from across south Louisiana: What is one question you always ask in a job interview, and why?

Responses have been edited for length and clarity.

Wesley Palmisano, CEO and founder, RNGD, Metairie

Wes Palmisano, third generation owner of the New Orleans construction company that has gone from post-World War Two housebuilder to one of the city’s major builders, with landmark projects like the Ace Hotel New Orleans on Carondelet Street.

PIcture courtesy of WJ Palmisano | Impetus
In the early days of RNGD, I was in every single interview with our job candidates, and I used to always ask: What was your life like in high school? Because everyone likes to talk about college. I want to know if you hustled as a younger teenager, before you got into college or trade school. It’s not so much about what exactly you were doing during that time. I’m looking for grit, hard work and humility.

I also had everybody on our team read Patrick Lencioni’s “The Ideal Team Player,” which is a fable about a construction company. In the back of the book, he gives you a bunch of questions about being humble, hungry and smart, and then a scorecard — which we used to evaluate candidates for the longest time. If they scored high on that, they had a high chance of success and fitting into our culture. Generally, I’ve always just leaned heavily into developing our culture, and I have the belief that we can teach people skills and capabilities if we can get the cultural fit right.

Celton Hayden Jr., CEO and president of CC’s Coffee House, Baton Rouge

Celton Hayden Jr. is the CEO and president of CC’s Coffee House in Baton Rouge.

Photo provided by CC’s Coffee House
I hate interviews, but I do like to have conversations. I like to get people talking about themselves. I hate the questions “What are your strengths and weaknesses?” I don’t go through the classic job interview questions, because candidates are prepared for that, and that’s not going to be them on the first day. We are never going to be our résumés on our best days. We’re human beings, and I try to get to the human being.

I find it reassuring and comforting to express to an individual: Leave all that at the door, and tell me about you. How do you want to grow personally and professionally, what makes you happy, and what is success to you in this role? My goal is to look beyond what that individual is aspiring to do today and look to tomorrow. We want employees who create value for the company and have long-term goals. I’m also looking to see what energy people are going to bring to the team.

Aimee Quirk, CEO of Ochsner Ventures, and senior vice president and chief corporate development officer at Ochsner Health, New Orleans

Aimee Quirk is the senior vice president and chief corporate development officer of Ochsner Health, and the CEO Ochsner Ventures.

Photo provided by Ochsner Health
I ask people to map themselves on two lines: What you’re good at and what you enjoy. Where those two lines overlap is where you will do your best work. What you’re good at but don’t love is where people can get stuck, so it’s something to watch for. What you love but haven’t mastered is where you can grow.

What I’m ultimately listening for is whether that person connects with our mission and what is the thing that helps people stay motivated when things get challenging. We talk about purpose a lot: What’s your why, and what drives you? It could be a lot of things in healthcare, but I’ve found that we view our vision as inspiring healthier lives and stronger communities. We’re trying to work with people so they’re as healthy as possible. Skills get you in the door. Purpose is what keeps you going when the work gets hard.

Paul Danos, CEO of Danos, Gray

Paul Danos
I always ask some version of: “What do you know and think about our purpose statement, and how does it connect with you?”

We’ve had our current purpose statement for almost 15 years now: “Honor God. Develop great people to solve big challenges for our customers and communities.” We expect people who come to work with us to have a set of their own personal values, which usually need to overlay pretty well with Danos’ purpose and values. One of our values is also services, and for that we really try to meet or exceed the expectations of the customers we serve. We also really desire to care for the people who work for us and with us, as customers or other stakeholders.

We have 4,000 employees right now, and we’ve grown a lot in recent years through acquisition, which can make it harder to maintain our culture. Because of that we’re getting even more intentional about embedding our values in our company. Right now, I’m staring outside my office at these massive oak trees, and it’s making me think of how, with all our recent acquisitions, we’re grafting in a fully formed branches. A graft done poorly leads to the death of that branch, but a well-done graft can contribute to the whole tree if you do it well.

Kim Boyle, partner at Phelps Dunbar, New Orleans

Kim Boyle is a partner at Phelps Dunbar.

Photo provided by Phelps Dunbar
I don’t do “gotcha” or “make or break” questions, where I’m looking for a specific answer or response. I don’t consider that to be the best or fairest way for that person to tell me about themselves or how they would fit at Phelps Dunbar. All of us are nervous when we interview for a new position, so I want to make the person as at ease as possible, while still maintaining the propriety of the interview setting.

Our culture is one of collaboration. We work as a team to get the best possible outcome for our clients. We’re looking for people who have the capacity and willingness to work as a team. It’s not all about me, me, me. I’m asking and trying to find out: Are you someone who can collaborate well and is interested in collaboration? Large law firms like ours aren’t necessarily for everyone, so I want to see how the job candidate feels about working on a team.

Doing anything cute.

[admin]

November 14, 2026 at 4:23 pm

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Interesting…

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