Is the right person managing your card program? If not, the problem could be tied to the hiring or selection process your organization used. The next time a Commercial Card program manager or administrator (PM/PA) is needed, ensure your organization is thoroughly prepared. Following are 15 sample interview questions plus an often-overlooked piece of the process.

Interview Questions 

Besides standard questions pertaining to a candidate’s professional successes and mistakes (card-related or not), an organization should dive into their opinions/knowledge. In addition to learning about the candidates, you could pick up information and ideas to help your program.

Sample questions:

1. What is the biggest mistake an organization can make with respect to a card program?
2. What do you think is the most effective approach for training cardholders and why?
3. How would you help cardholders’ managers be successful at their reviewer/approver role?
4. How would you maximize the process savings possible from P-Card usage?
5. What are some key metrics for evaluating the health/status of a P-Card program?
6. What is your philosophy regarding card limits (spend and velocity) and MCC restrictions?
7. How important is Level III transaction data?
8. What do you think is the best approach for auditing transactions?
9. What are the benefits of card acceptance for suppliers? Can you share a time when you had to convince a supplier to accept card payments?
10. Do you have experience using cards in response to a disaster or emergency?
11. What are your views of a One Card strategy versus two separate programs—P-Cards and Corporate Travel Cards?
12. Where do you see electronic accounts payable (EAP) solutions fitting into a payment strategy?
13. Do you have a preference between Virtual Cards (pull payments) and buyer-initiated payments (push payments)?
14. What roles should procurement and accounts payable fill in relation to a card program?
15. When should an organization use non-card options—checks, ACH, and wires?

The interview questions your organization chooses to use will likely depend on the status of your card program, as well as your organization’s payment-related interests, priorities, and challenges.

What to Not Overlook

At some point, the hiring process should also test a candidate’s skills that are relevant to the job. For example:

• To assess their training style, ask the candidate in advance to prepare a 10-minute PowerPoint presentation to deliver during the interview.
• To confirm their writing abilities, request an on-the-spot writing sample.

For either endeavor, one possible topic is P-Card benefits. Further, to evaluate their analysis skills, provide card program data or a report and ask the candidate for their opinions/interpretation. Taking the time to conduct tests like these will improve your organization’s chances of hiring the best possible candidate.

Resources

• See additional hiring tips and access related resources.
• Contact Recharged Education if your organization would like help with developing a PM/PA job description or formulating interview questions specific to your needs. 

About the Author

Blog post author Lynn Larson, CPCP, is the founder of Recharged Education. With more than 15 years of Commercial Card experience, her mission is to make industry education readily accessible to all. Learn more…

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