You can expect to see the following management questions on your next interview if you are interviewing for positions in project management or team leader positions.
1. How would your co-workers describe you?
Manager interview questions like this are generally asked to discover additional hidden qualities about yourself that you might not otherwise have mentioned.
“My co-workers will tell you that I am a team player and a colleague they can count on to pull his weight whether it’s a normal day or we’re in a crunch.”
2. What is your viewpoint of management?
Management interview questions like this are asked to find out what kind of leader you are. Should you ever get placed in a management role, how will you delegate the workload or teach your co-workers.
“I believe the main goal of any management position is to get things done by evenly distributing the workload to the most qualified members of the team. They also make sure that each member of the team has all the resources and training that are necessary to complete the job.
They are loyal and are always working in the best interest of the company. Their job is tough; they must evaluate employee performance, empower members of the team and be able to identify those who are not pulling their own weight.”
Manager Interview Questions
3. What is your definition of success?
The interviewer is looking for work related examples of how you measure success and when know you have reached accomplishment. Use a work related example and keep your answer short and to the point.
“In my opinion and as it relates to the workplace, success is a measurable variable. If you don’t measure your accomplishments, success is lost. Success can be tied to everything you do each day.
If I plan to accomplish 3 tasks before the end of the day and I do so, then I have been successful. Success simply means accomplishing what you set out to do within the parameters you specify, whether they be time, money or learning, etc.”
Interview Questions for Managers about Failure
4. What is your definition of failure?
This question is really just the opposite of your definition of success. What does failure mean to you and how do you know you have failed within a given time frame. Keep in mind that failure is just a perspective.
“For starters, failure is an event and not a person and you only fail if you quit and I’m not a quitter. I may not complete a project on time or miss an important deadline, but that does not qualify as having failed in my book. If I complete a task, but miss a deadline, I still consider it a success because I finished, but without the desired result.”
5. Do you know who our competitors are?
Do your homework and research the company and find out who are their competitors. Management interview questions like this will quickly reveal how well you conducted your research prior to the interview.
If you did your homework, then you’re telling the interviewer that you are serious about this job and it’s that little extra effort that you show in the interview that will clearly separate you from your competition. Now, if you are interviewing at General Electric, obviously they have thousands of competitors as they make thousands of products. So do your homework.
“Yes, I work for one of them but I have always admired your company and have always wanted to work here.”
Interview Questions for Managers about Organization:
6. Do you feel that you are an organized person?
In this manager question, they are not asking if you keep a messy desk. Don’t reveal any organizational flaws you may have as that will be a strike against you and if you do have your act together, don’t come across as being a neatness freak either. Instead, speak of your ability to manage time and workload.
“Yes, I consider myself to be very well organized. Everyday when I arrive at work, I check my email and messages. Then I plan out exactly what I am going to do that day. Even if I already know that I am going to work on the Johnson proposal, I still review my current status and set my goals for the day. At the end of the day, I review my progress and plan for the following day.”
7. How do you manage your time?
Obviously, your answer should reflect that you are a self starter and never put things off. They want to hear that you set goals for your work and how you prioritize them.
“I only have so many hours in the day to get my work done and I have found that if I don’t create daily, weekly, and monthly goals, it seems like nothing ever gets done. I keep track of all my responsibilities and goals in spreadsheet and review them daily.
I mark down when I am first assigned a task, how long I think it will take, when it needs to be completed and how much time I will need to spend on it each day to complete the job on time. This helps me in so many ways, but mainly it keeps me on track with what is important. It also helps me from getting overbooked and promising more than I can deliver. Now, I can always deliver what I promise and be on-time.”
8. We are a fast moving company and things are always changing, how do you think you will fit in with our ever changing and fast paced environment?
This manager question is best answered with an example from one of your past jobs that casts you in the spotlight showing and demonstrating your capabilities of handling change.
“Our company has 20 field sales reps and they need to receive their email on the cell phone. This is something the IT department knows little about and has never supported mobile devices for a variety of reasons. The request came down from the president and we needed to make this happen immediately.
I was out of my element on this one and knew little about the subject, but I was assigned the entire task with a short deadline. So I researched the various technologies that would support our needs, tested several of them and after 3 weeks of hard work I presented my findings to the sales department and allowed them to make a decision on one of the three options.
Once they accepted, I soon got to work and within two weeks every sales person could now retrieve their mail from their cell phone any where in the world.
It was a huge undertaking and we soon learned that sales went up 11% and that growth has been directly attributed to the success of this project because sales could now provide a faster response to our customers.”
Decision styled manager interview questions:
9. What information do you need before making a decision?
You want to tailor your answer to match the job or their corporate culture. For example, if you’re interviewing to be an airline pilot, don’t tell the interviewer that you like to sleep on things before making a decision.
Or, if you’re interviewing for a medical position, you don’t want to come across as one who makes decisions on a hunch.
“Before I make any kind of important decision, I first consider all the surrounding facts, possible outcomes and the desired goal. I won’t hesitate to seek an outside opinion and I generally do, but I am the one who makes the ultimate decision.
Once I have all of the information and have weighed the risks of each possible outcome, I will make my decision.”
10. How do you react to problems?
This question is basically asking if you panic when problems arise. So make it clear in your answer that you make all attempts to anticipate problems before they arise so you can deal with them in a more controlled environment.
“I don’t react to problems, but acknowledge their existence and respond to them in a calm manner. Reacting to a problem causes a panic and the problem does not get resolved until everyone calms down, accepts the situation and then focuses on a resolution.”
11. Do you consider yourself a risk taker or do you like to play it safe?
Most of us are a little of each, but be careful how you tailor your answer. If you come across as a risk taker, you may be prejudged as one who will disregard corporate policy in the future. It is best to come across as one who generally plays it safe, but is not afraid of taking risks as long as everything has been done to mitigate the risk.
“I believe that taking risks is part of life but by mitigating the risk, I believe the best possible solution presents itself. I’m not afraid of taking risks; I just make sure that I have considered all the facts and possible outcomes my decision will have.”
Inside the Complete Interview Answer Guide, you’ll find many more interview questions for management you can use to put yourself in the running for the job. Each of these questions is answered in extreme detail in my guide and there are many more questions and multiple answers to each question in this guide.
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