How to Answer: What type of employees do you find difficult to manage?
Advice and answer examples written specifically for an Assistant Manager job interview.
21. What type of employees do you find difficult to manage?
How to Answer
As an Assistant Manager, you will be required to lead a great variety of personality types. The type of employees that you find challenging to manage may also reveal to the interviewer your leadership-related weaknesses. Discuss with the interviewer the types of personalities that you find most challenging to manage and why.
Maintain a positive tone, and avoid pointing out a specific person or naming anyone. This question is not an opportunity to vent about a co-worker. Rather, think of a personality that you find challenging to lead. Then, focus the bulk of your response on the actions you are taking to improve your ability to manage this type of individual.
Written by Ryan Brown on February 21st, 2021
Answer Example
"I find it most challenging to lead individuals who are not self-motivated. As a person in a leadership role, I want to do everything in my power to ensure that my team members are successful, but I cannot force them to want to exceed their goals. The key point is that I am actively working to improve in this area of leadership. I recently started reading 'Managing Difficult People, A Survival Guide for Handling Any Employee' by Marilyn Pincus. It's been a valuable read as she covers all types of challenging personalities, including The Bully, The Complainer or Whiner, The Procrastinator, The Know-It-All, The Silent Type, The Social Butterfly, The 'No People Skills' Person, The Rookie, The Overly Sensitive Person, and The Manipulator. I think every leader should read this one."
Written by Ryan Brown on February 21st, 2021