Psst. Your employees say youre the best manager theyve ever had. Why don’t you tell us your secret while answering interview questions for managers?
Prove youre his carbon copy when answering interview questions for managers. Be the perfect candidate recruiters are looking for.
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Take a look at the list of common questions recruiters ask managers during interviews and STAR-model answers:
How would you describe your management style?
On the scale, from Larry Ellison to John F. Kennedy, how much laissez-faire are you? Or perhaps you prefer the good cop, bad cop style?
Whatever your strategy is, youd better be flexible. A good leader knows they need to choose methods working for their team, not the other way around.
How should you know what to say?
Tailor your response to your future position. If youre going to work in sales, mention what approach youd take as a sales lead, e.g., trends are changing fast, and your marketers need to stay on top to get leads, so itd be good to invest in their long-term development and professional training.
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I believe the best management style is a flexible one. You need to adjust your methods to what’s necessary at that particular moment, like team bonding activities, stepping in and taking over, or letting the experienced team run on its own and report progress. I led a project team some time ago that involved people from various departments. Suddenly the team started to underdeliver. I learned it was a miscommunication that sparked negative feelings towards the project team members. I designed some fun and communications-based tasks for the team to strengthen their teamwork skills to overcome this. It took several games to make sure every person spoke to each other, and in the end, we had a brainstorming session. Its purpose was to discover which communication style worked best. Guess what happened. The productivity between the departments doubled, and we beat the sales target by 12%. |
You’ll hear this question in your interview for a manager position. You can bet on it. Read our guide to prepare the best answer: Tell Me More About Your Management Style
Could you tell me about a time when you had your team’s back?
You dont necessarily need to carry your teammates piggyback to prove yourself. And using this as an example will make the recruiter suspicious of the relationships with your employees.
Go easy this time.
Show recruiters that you identified a situation where your team needed support and delivered to their needs.
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My team moved processes from one vendor to another, which required us to walk our stakeholders through the changes. We prepared a presentation that explained the impact it’d have on their side. When one of my team members had been in the middle of delivering it, one of the stakeholders started questioning our policies. I noticed a bit of struggle on my employee’s end to get back to the presentation, so I decided to step in. I highlighted that it wasn’t the point of that day’s meeting and that I’d be happy to explain the policies to him the following week. The stakeholder respectfully agreed, and after the meeting, my employees thanked me for my support. |
Could you tell me about a time when you noticed a drop in motivation in your most experienced employee?
Everyone struggles with motivation. Especially after holidays. sigh
But its not always the case of a too-long vacation.
Is it not?
Employees may feel down because of unmanageable work-life balance, outside blockers to meet deadlines, or being exposed to stress for a long time.
Thats when you come in and help solve the problem. Either because you noticed their struggles, or the team trust you enough to come to you when they feel stuck.
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My teammate was building an external microsite for the supply chain department. There were tons of meetings to understand the product portfolio. But, unfortunately for her, the supply chain lead had changed in the middle of the project. And they had a completely different vision for the site. They asked my teammate to forget all the ideas she’d worked on and start anew. I noticed her drop in motivation immediately because it affected the quality of her work. She started accepting all ideas without thinking them through. She wanted to get the job done fast. I decided to speak to her to boost her confidence and reassure her of her skills. I knew she’d negotiate better terms with the stakeholders. As a result, she scheduled an ad-hoc presentation, including the supply chain lead’s suggestions, with what should stay and go. My team member met with heads nodding in agreement. And the end product received very positive feedback from external users. |