This article is about managerial level interview. It contains the common manager interview questions with answers.
When companies want to hire a manager, they expect that such position would have some knowledge requirements. The knowledge requirements for a manager job will differ depending on the employer, scope and level of the manager job. Nevertheless, typical knowledge requirements for managerial jobs include:
- Management and business principles
- human resource management principles
- administrative procedures
- strategic planning
- organizational planning tools
- information processing applications
- operating systems
- proper understanding of financial and accounting and reports
- relevant software applications
Manager job interview questions regarding the knowledge requirements are usually answered by assessing your resume as they refer straight to your work experience and qualifications. Here is some questions and topics that you can expect in your manger role job interviews. Manager interview question with answers PDF version also available for your reference and download.
Prepare for the manager job interview by reviewing your CV and appraising yourself on your depth of knowledge on the above listed knowledge requirements for the managers.
Manager competencies
The typical management job interview focuses on questions which search for proof of management competencies. Expect questions that require specific instances of when you exhibited the required competency. Refer to your past experiences, choose appropriate instances and prepare your response applying the following format:
- Describe the particular situation you were part of
- Elaborate the action as well as steps you took concerning the situation
- Mention the outcome and results of the actions you took.
Go through these manager job interview questions that survey the relevant competencies for a manager position.
Decision and Judgment-making
Question: “Describe a difficult decision you made at work recently, how did you arrive at your final decision?”
Recall a good decision you took after so much deliberations and checking of facts.
Discuss how you were able to review the important facts, study alternatives and take a decision on the most suiting action. Also discuss how you were able to factor in the available resources as well as any other possible constraints.
Delegating Responsibility and Tasks
Question: “Describe a very important assignment that you delegated. What steps did you take in ensuring its successful completion?”
Tip: “Describe how you demonstrated your confidence in an employee’s ability to carry out the job when delegating a recent assignment,
Answer: Discuss how you usually assign responsibility and tasks to the qualified people, your means of clarifying particularly what is expected, transfer confidence and ensure required resources are readily available for successful completion of the responsibility or task. Don’t forget to include setting deadlines and follow-up procedures.
Staff Motivation
Question:“Provide an instance of when you used incentives or rewards to successfully motivate a staff member.”
Tip: “Describe vividly a time you had to motivate a member of staff who was unwilling to carry out an assignment.”
Answer: mention how you decide the necessary motivation strategies for members of your staff by coming to terms with their varying perspectives and needs.
Also mention how you communicate visions and goals to your staff members, getting their commitment to these, creating appropriate incentive and reward structures and helping and leading member of staff to success.
Problem Analysis and Assessment
Question: “Describe a complex problem you recently had to handle on your job. How were you able to gain a better insight into that problem”?
Tip: while you answer this question, it is important you demonstrate your ability to adequately analyse and resolve a seemingly intimidating problem because managers are expected to solve complex problems.
Answer: You could start by mentioning that “I analysed the problem with all parameters at my disposal and discussed it with my staff members and carefully screened your suggestions. I kept researching about the problem and involved some staff with some aspects of the problem. With very objective analysis and processes, the problem was solved to the credit of the entire team.
Question: Do you know the 3 key challenges the industry faces today and how can they be handled effectively?
The candidate is expected to think about the top challenges of the industry in which the potential employer operates. The ability of the candidate to demonstrate how much he understands the industry, current challenges, market, and solutions that can possibly be applied would reflect in the way he answers the question . It is important for any project manager to know this because, if hired, he is going to be faced with similar challenges and be expected to solve them. The question, therefore, assists the hiring managers in determining whether the candidate is best suited for the job.
Development of Staff
Question: how did handle some workers who were performing badly, how did you respond to the situation?
Tip: discuss how you discovered he was performing poorly and how you addressed it.
Answer: from my regular staff appraisal, I realised a particular staff member was doing poorly by all indices. I had a personal chat with him and he opened up on his issues and was so appreciative that I met him. From my findings he needed more trainings, which I recommended him for and he came back a significantly improved worker. In less than a month his impact and performance improved greatly.
Staff Communication
Question: Narrate an instance where you had to vividly communicate your expectations to one of your subordinates.
Tip: explain how you created a good rapport with a staff in order to carry out a task.
Answer: I made use of my very good rapport with the workers and in clear terms pass the information across to him. Like my usual style, I communicated to him and waited for feedback to ensure the staff grasped the information. I waited for his input, which when I got proved he had understood the task. With proper monitoring to completion, it was clear he was effectively communicated to.
Question: What can you say is your Biggest Management Weakness?
Tip: Every hiring manager wants to know the weakness of the interviewee as part of routine Job Interview questions. This question is also directed to the manager job interviewee and is expected to be answered honestly and objectively. To answer this question effectively, one could start by saying “Sometimes in a bid to beat deadline, I have discovered that I have ignored great work by a member of staff. Going forward, I am working on ensuring every staff that works with me gets their deserved acknowledgement on successful completion of their given tasks, since it is vital that every individual staff member be recognized for their input toward building the success of company.”
Question: How can you translate your previous experience into success when given this job?
Tip: This is a good opportunity to tell them the worth of your experience, be cool and confidently elaborate the impact your previous experience would make in the job.
Answer: mention that the experience you acquired from your previous job had made you a better manager. You could start by saying “when I took over as manager in my former job, I noticed the workers were not performing to their best. On careful study and enquiry, I realised there was lack of communication, team spirit and non-assignment of duties to best qualified personnel. I corrected all these and after 30 days, output rose by 155%. I intend to bring my wealth of experience in managing resources to the success of the organisation.”
Question: What is your strategy for the first 90 days?
Context: the interviewer wants to test how much you had thought about the position. You ought to assure your probable employer that you will not interrupt current production but will hit the ground running.
Answer: don’t give specifics on changes or initiatives except asked to do so, yet demonstrating your resolve to improve the organisation. You can say “I would work with the team to fully grasp the situation on ground and objectively apply myself into achievement of the company’s goals and objectives. The staff members would be properly involved in idea I would put forward.”
