Top 20 Manager Interview Questions

Question 2

Answer

"I would rate my management skills as a 9/10. Sometimes I am not as swift with delegation as I could be but I am a very approachable leader who encourages questions from my team, which they seem to appreciate. I recently had an employee tell me that I was the best manager they have ever had. That felt great to hear."

Question 3

Answer

If you are responsible for rating your skills, chances are, you will lean more on the modest side versus overselling yourself. On a scale of 1-10, discuss how skilled are you in managing a business, or others. Avoid giving yourself a 10, and nobody is perfect, and you do not want to come across as overly confident or someone who has no room for feedback and improvement. Alternately, avoid giving yourself too little credit. You do not want to appear incapable when it comes to managing others. Best case is to remain in the 7.5-9.5 range while staying honest and accurate. Use an example of your excellent management skills in action.

Question 4

Entry Level Example

Answer

"Despite my being new to a career in management, I would rate myself as a 7.5. I have done a deep dive into many management books as of late, to hone my skills and abilities further when it comes to managing a team. I strive to be an eager learner who will pass that knowledge on to my team."

Question 5

Experienced Example

Answer

"I realize that I should not rate myself as a 10/10 because I do not believe anyone is a perfect manager. I would describe myself as an advanced leader when you combine my ten years' experience as an active leader. I have taken many leadership and communication workshops over the years and have generated incredible results in the way of employee retention, for my current employer."

Question 6

Answer

"If asked, I believe that my team would say that I am a bit tough on myself when it comes to the expectation level that I put on myself. I am a bit of a perfectionist but am working on relaxing that a touch by letting the smaller, unimportant details go. My strength is in my knowledge of my team. I take the time to get to know every one of them, resulting in an excellent teamwork environment."

Question 7

Answer

This question is a slightly more indirect way to ask your strengths, and weaknesses because the interviewer is looking for your opinion from your team's perspective. Have you ever asked for feedback on your leadership style? Think back to your performance reviews with your leadership, or perhaps you have had comments from your team, in passing, regarding things they are thankful for about you. When you mention your weakness, be sure to express what you have been doing to improve upon that weakness. When you think of your strengths, you should relate them to the needs of the employer, according to the job description.

Here are some examples of unique strengths and weaknesses:

Strengths:
- Strong knowledge in a significant software program, used in this role.
- Ability to be objective or to take feedback.
- Disciplined and able to meet the most stringent deadlines.

Weaknesses:
- Perfectionism, internalized, AKA: being too tough on yourself.
- User level in a particular software program.
- Trying always to find solutions that make everyone happy (impossible!).

Question 8

Entry Level Example

Answer

"I believe that my current team would say that I am often trying to make everyone happy. It's an endless, and impossible pursuit, so I am working hard to shake that mentality. I recently picked up a couple of leadership books and will be getting some pointers from them as well. One of my strong points is my ability to research and respond when I know I lack a particular skill."

Question 9

Experienced Example

Answer

"I am a highly experienced manager, and with that, sometimes comes the habit of breezing over certain parts of employee training, because I assume the incumbent knows the topic well. I need to slow down and be more thorough when it comes to particular topics. I am solid in the XYZ industry; however, and have mentored many who have become high-level performers in this industry."

Question 10

Answer

"Just last month I had an employee who was late four days in a row. This behavior was very unlike them so I pulled them aside and asked if there was anything I could do to help them get to work on time. I documented the late days, to which they were aware. The employee's behavior was corrected immediately. I did not need to come down hard on this employee - I simply needed to address that I noticed their tardiness."

Question 11

Answer

The interviewer would like to further learn about your management style when it comes to delinquent employees. Perhaps you have a system in place for handling recurring behavioral issues. Confirm with the interviewer that you are capable of approaching a situation like this head-on, but professionally. Mention that you involve the human resources department, when necessary, and put a strong emphasis on your documentation and reporting when it comes to tracking problematic behavior.

Question 12

Entry Level Example

Answer

"If I had an employee with a recurring behavioral problem, I would have a one-on-one meeting with them and ask them point-blank what was causing the issue. There is no sense beating around the bush in situations such as that. Employees need to be accountable for their behavior, and a good manager will address a situation like this immediately."

Question 13

Experienced Example

Answer

"I have addressed many behavioral issues in the workplace throughout my experience as a manager. The most severe was when I had an employee stealing from the company. I could not prove the infraction right away and had to involve the human resources department to ensure that my approach did not infringe on any employee rights. I was able to put a stop to the theft and gather enough proof to terminate the employee. It was a challenge, but I believe that following process in these types of situations, makes handling them a lot easier."

Question 14

Answer

"When I am hiring, I look for the main core traits such as steady confidence, and ability to think for themselves. I also give preference to people who are active in volunteering. It's important to hire those who like to give back, and spend time investing in others."

Question 15

Answer

There are many great qualities that you can look for when hiring an employee but the interviewer wants to hear that you understand the importance of engaging people who fit the workplace culture and have a proven theme of dedication to their work.

These are the core traits that every hiring manager should look for:

- Confident, yet humble
- Related education
- Ability to receive, and implement, feedback
- Flexibility and adaptability
- Self-driven and self-motivated
- Willingness to work with a team
- Reliability and dependability
- Transparency and honesty

In addition to these core traits, let the interviewer know that you also seek out unique skills. Some examples of exceptional skills or attributes are:

- Experience in your particular software or programs
- Interest in continued education opportunities
- Volunteer experience
- Interest in being a coach or mentor
- Bi-lingual or skilled in multiple languages
- Comfortability with presenting, and public speaking

Question 16

Entry Level Example

Answer

"When hiring, I believe it is important to find people who have a history of being dependable, on time, and who know how to meet deadlines and exceed expectations. In this particular industry, I would also seek out candidates who have international experience and perhaps speak multiple languages or are well traveled."

Question 17

Experienced Example

Answer

"In my pre-screen telephone interviews, the first question I always ask is, 'Tell Me About Yourself.' This single question tells me everything I need to know about the candidate. They either ramble, or freeze, or know precisely how to represent themselves. The candidates who are confident, and know who they are, are the ones that I move forward to the next stage of interviews."

Question 18

1. Describe a time when you motivated yourself to complete an assignment or task that you did not feel like doing.

Answer

"Terminating any staff member is a task that I do dread. I balance this by reminding myself that we have a fantastic new employee lined up as a replacement who will perform better and compliment the positive workplace culture I work so hard to craft."

Answer

"I have worked most of my career in the logistics industry which attracts a large variety of personalities. I am a warm person by nature and have found it challenging to connect with those who are cold and 'matter of fact.' My former boss was this way, so I adapted by sticking solely to the facts when in meetings, and presenting data versus opinions. It wasn't the deepest relationship that I've had in my career, but we made it work for us."

Answer

"This past year our regional manager wanted to have a new rep hired and trained for the first week of January. She informed me of this only on the first of December. To expedite the process, I requested a budget allowance to hire a recruiter. The recruiter worked fast, and we had an offer out to the perfect candidate in just three weeks."

Answer

"When I began my most recent role, I replaced a manager who very much believed in a dictatorship management style. It was a huge challenge to undo the damage created, while safely implementing my more relaxed management style. My team was so used to a stringent workplace that they resisted my methods significantly. Once trust developed, we were able to create a comfortable workplace culture."

Answer

"Early in my career, I created an entire department, structure, and team from scratch. It was gratifying. In my last role, I created a social cause program for our organization that gave back to the community and got our teams involved in something greater than ourselves. I have many great wins in my management career and look forward to gaining more, with your organization."

Question 19

Question 20

2. Think about a difficult boss, professor or coworker. How did you successfully interact with this person?

Question 21

Question 22

3. Tell me about a time when you were in danger of missing a deadline. What did you do?

Question 23

Question 24

4. Tell me about a time when you worked with a person who did things very differently than you. How did you collaborate?

Question 25

Question 26

5. What is your greatest work related accomplishment to date?

Question 27

Question 28

1. Why are you the best candidate for this position?

Answer

"I have the necessary experience, skill sets, and high level of ambition to add great value to this department. I come well trained in inventory management, team leadership, and productivity methods. In addition to this, I have led teams up to 50 individuals with minimal employee turnover."

Answer

"In my most recent position, I learned how to be a better strategic manager, and I think this will help me better balance being both tactical and strategic in this new role."

Answer

"I routinely make decisions around hiring, career advancement, associate development and talent management. I am very comfortable in these areas."

Answer

"Listening skills can serve you well in any role. In a heated meeting where two groups were debating about a specific issue they were having, I sat back to listen carefully to identify the root problem. Both teams were passionate about the work so could not hear over their defense mechanisms. As their leader, I was able to hear through this and recommend solutions for them to be successful working together."

Answer

"After recently hiring an entirely new team of people to roll out a critical project, I realized they needed to learn to work together. I created a leadership training program and cross-functional work group sessions to bring this team closer at an accelerated pace. It was a challenge to schedule and break the ice early, but we did it well."

Question 29

Question 30

2. What skills did you learn in your most recent position that will help you in this new role?

Question 31

Question 32

3. What decisions did you routinely make in your last position?

Question 33

Question 34

4. Give an example of when you used your listening skills to complete a task properly, or solve a problem.

Question 35

Question 36

5. Tell me about an achievement you are proud of. What skills did you use to achieve this goal?

Question 37

Question 38

1. If you were hired for this position, what are the first changes you would implement?

Answer

"I always prefer to observe the everyday activity within an organization before making significant changes. I plan to make an impact quickly; however, I don't want to jump the gun and make costly mistakes."

Answer

"I was a plant manager for Company XYZ when they announced they were closing their doors. By not allowing myself to display frustration, I was able to retain 89% of my staff during the transition. I feel that my positive attitude helped others to feel hopeful."

Answer

"I have taught many individuals on the job, as it's always been a part of my leadership role to mentor and train new and existing employees."

Answer

"My leadership skills are most effective when my team is engaged and happy. I spend a lot of time making sure that my team of staff are happy, confident, and invested in their jobs."

Answer

"I do see myself as a leader. I currently oversee the 2nd shift production line. I monitor host team meetings, disseminate information, monitor performance, approve scheduling and time sheets, and more."

Question 39

Question 40

2. When have you had to lead by example?

Question 41

Question 42

3. Have you had the opportunity to teach an important skill to a co-worker?

Question 43

Question 44

4. When are your leadership skills the most effective?

Question 45

Question 46

5. Do you see yourself a leader? When have you led a team?

Question 47

Question 48

1. When have you been on a team project that failed? What did you learn from that experience?

Answer

"In my current position, our team was given a new client who needed us to recruit five employees. They were very specialized roles, and the client was not open to candidates who needed relocation assistance. Our competitor ended up finding the right candidates before we could. It was disappointing, and I believe that we failed because we were looking too much at the roadblocks rather than thinking creatively. We learned from our mistake and our team was more aggressive with our next project."

Answer

"I like to take the lead on team projects. I am very vocal and organized which makes me a natural leader. I suppose that is why I am a personnel manager by trade!"

Answer

"I can work with most personalities; however, I dislike working with others who do not pull their weight and expect others to pick up their slack. It's not fair to the team, and it's frustrating. When this has happened in the past, I have addressed it with the team member."

Answer

"I recently worked with a cross-functional management team to accomplish a business growth initiative. The group contained members of different functions who all saw things differently. We came together to share a common vision and let that guide our work. To prevent miscommunication, we created a KPI tracker and scoreboard for the work to be done and the members responsible."

Answer

"I have led a team of 2 - 40 employees for the past ten years, so my team-based experience is vast. Currently, my team of 40 includes production operators, quality assurance techs, and general laborers. I ensure the team works cohesively by offering an open-door policy and spending a great deal of my day on the floor, observing and helping. My hands-on approach will be helpful in your environment as well since you mentioned your need to improve morale on the production floor."

Question 49

Question 50

2. What role do you usually take in team projects?

Question 51

Question 52

3. Tell me about the type of team members you dislike working with.

Question 53

Question 54

4. How do you handle working in challenging team environments?

Question 55

Question 56

5. Tell me about a time you worked on a team.

Question 57

Question 58

A Manager career can be a challenging and very rewarding career. A manager can work in many different aspects, as the title 'manager' is not entirely defined, other than they will be managing employees and possibly a store, department, or unit. Our interview questions for a manager career will ask leadership questions, teamwork questions, and adaptability questions.

A manager should have the following characteristics to lead a successful team: Confident, able to forecast and adapt to changes, confrontational skills, a natural leader, motivational, and active. A manager should have a strong ability to cut costs but maintain a positive environment. They should also possess a passion for the industry and the company. They should have a solid work ethic and not be seen as lazy by their employees. A great manager will always lead by example.

An interview for a management position will feature multiple scenario-based questions along with past-performance questions. Some interview questions to anticipate: When did your employees question your judgment at your last role and how did you respond? How do you believe you will be able to make an impact as a manager for our store? When have you had to make an unpopular decision and how did you eventually motivate your team to see why that decision was necessary? If you could buy any new skill what would it be? For more questions on a manager interview, keep browsing our site, Mockquestions.com.

Question 59

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