Prove That You Are Committed To The Management Track
If you want to be a people manager, take tangible steps to prepare yourself. Its important to strengthen your skills to ensure youre prepared to step up to the plate. Actively assess the skills you already have, and talk to those already in managerial positions to determine what skills you need to acquire. Do your research, stay up to date on industry trends, and seize any opportunity to strengthen your abilities.
Sign up for classes, get a mentor, invest in a career coach. As you interview, prepare to show how youve taken concrete steps to hit the ground running in this new role. Making the transition from staff to manager is all about being politically savvy, knowing the right people and not letting them down, and most importantly, showing that you have what it takes to do the job and once in it, that you will do it well, says Dr. Michael Provitera, author of “Mastering Self-Motivation.There are three stages of breaking the glass-ceiling of staff-to-manager and here they are: Getting In, Breaking In, and Fitting In. Each stage is critical for success.
Questions About Working With Others
One of your main responsibilities will be leading others, so employers will ask questions to determine how well you manage a variety of employees. You will likely also have to report to managers above you, so they also want to see how you work with your supervisors. They want to ensure you can collaborate effectively with all levels of employees, which will create a more efficient and productive work environment.
Types Of Second Interviews
As I mentioned above, there is a good chance that your second interview looks a lot different than your first interview.
While the introductory interview is usually just a one-on-one with a person from HR or a hiring manager, the second interview can follow a lot of different formats .
Here are some of the different interview formats you could see on your second interview:
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Booklets Keep Your Information At The Right Level Of Granularity
Small pages and thick sharpies force you to keep your note details at a high level you dont have the room to go deep! Thats important because these notes are talking points, not scripts to memorize. Having the bullet points in your head allows you to construct a narrative about them during the meeting so your answers will be organic and natural, not robotic and forced.
Focus On Leadership Abilities
Leadership is a key component of management positions, so your answers should highlight the experiences where you held the most responsibility. Employers want to see that you can effectively manage and motivate employees or lead projects, for example. Write a list of your most significant leadership accomplishments to help you remember them for your conversation.
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What Do Interviewers Want In A Sales Manager
When looking to hire the right sales manager for their companies, there are specific qualities that employers look out for. These include:
General Manager Interview Questions
This General Manager interview profile brings together a snapshot of what to look for in candidates with a balanced sample of suitable interview questions for managers.
Make sure that you are interviewing the best General manager candidates. Sign up for Workable’s 15-day free trial to hire better, faster.
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How Do I Prepare For A Management Interview
As you move through the interview process for a Management position, remember that the companies are evaluating your overall fitness for a management position within their organization. A Management interview will focus primarily on your leadership skills and experience, but an interviewer will also ask questions about your background, qualifications and communication skills. You will also be asked to describe how you have dealt with conflict in the past.
Showcase Your Interpersonal Skills
Managers work with a variety of people across all levels of business, so communication and related skills are crucial. During the conversation, focus your attention on your interviewer and maintain positive body language and eye contact. You should also try to build personal connections and a rapport with them to demonstrate how you would be an enjoyable presence in their office.
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Potential Second Interview Questions
The biggest difference between first interview questions and second interview questions really lies in the type of question that you are asked.
Generally speaking, in the first interview the company will want to get a feel for the type of person you are, and the questions they ask will emulate that desire.
But in the second interview, you can expect there to be more specificity regarding the position itself as well as a bit more prodding to determine how well you will fit the culture of your potential new team.
Having said that, this is not set in stone.
Every company goes about the questions a little bit differently, so you really need to be prepared for any type of question in both the first and second interview.
Having fun yet?
One thing is for sure at this point in the game employers are really trying to make sure youre a good fit, so expect that these are going to be tougher than the first round.
Read through these questions and come up with your answers. Weve given an example answer for the first two to get you started. If you need some more help learning how exactly to formulate a perfect interview answer, head over to our blog post Job Interview Questions and Answers 101.
- Why should we hire you?
How To Build Them
Get a piece of paper, fold it in half, turn it sideways and youve built the first leaf of your Opportunity Booklet. Then write all your notes using colored sharpies . Its pretty easy to make these booklets and reuse pages from one booklet to another.
I build the booklets out as I get deeper into the opportunity. Right after an interview, Ill write down notes and ideas for things I need to know for the next stage of the interview, then Ill build out more of the booklet and prep with it for the next chat. Its what you call a living book.
At a minimum, my Opportunity Booklets have these sections:
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Interview School : Try A Mock Video Interview With Ai
The forces of artificial intelligence are evolving in the world around us today, so why should job interviews be any different? Practice mock video interview in Interview School , which is then categorized by artificial intelligence.
The free version includes a basic video interview, based on the 10 most common job interview questions. Before each question, you have five seconds to think about your answer, and then you speak to the camera. The app records your entire interview, then AI analyzes it. You can also check it yourself.
Look, we could spend hours debating the validity and legality of evaluating AI, but let’s put that away. Right now, you get a free mock interview through video, and you can play it to see how you fared.
When A Management Position Opens Up
To continue our video game analogy, lets pretend youve been at level 3 for a few years now. Youre making a great paycheck, youre good at your job, you consistently get great employee reviews and the rest of your team look up to you and respect you.
One day you overhear a few of your supervisors talking about a management position opening up in your department and that theyre looking to hire from within. The pay bump is substantial, and the work is stuff youre already familiar with, so you start thinkingmaybe youll apply!
All this is incredibly exciting, but before you rush home to polish off your resume, lets take a step back and make sure youre really ready, and that means doing some serious self-evaluation. Ultimately a company wants to hire a manager that they know can competently lead a team, get good results, and shares the organizations long-term goals for the position.
While each industry is different, there are some standard requirements you can pretty much be guaranteed all companies will be looking for in a manager.
Weve compiled them into this quick little self-assessment quiz:
- Do you consistently achieve positive results?
- Do you complete tasks assigned to you quickly and efficiently?
- Do you have a history of positive interactions with your fellow employees?
- Are you a problem solver?
- Do you take on leadership roles?
- Are you considered a mentor?
- Are you considered a leader?
Most importantly:
Do you have more green checks than red xs?
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Focus On Whats Important For The Opportunity
Its easy as hell to get completely lost in all the information you need to prep for the interview: Cracking the PM Interview, The Product Manager Interview: 164 Actual Questions and Answers, and these: List, List, Listits overload. Having a booklet for each opportunity helps you scope down what you need to know and only focus on that.
What Is Your Favorite Technology And/or Digital Tool And Why How Has It Supported Your Goals As A Manager
Why It Works: With today’s ever-evolving technology landscape, including AI, social media, etc., it is important to assess a manager’s touchpoints in these areas.
How managers at your organization interview candidates matters and will show up in company reviews. To get involved in the conversation on Glassdoor and start managing and promoting your employer brand reputation, unlock your Free Employer Profile today.
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How Would You Describe Your Approach To Leadership
This question may be phrased in different ways, but the ultimate goal is to understand how you would fit within a companys structure. What might others expect if you should become a manager on their team? There is no one right answer to this question, and you should spend time thinking about how you interact with team members both as peers and subordinates. As you prepare your answers, consider the following questions and be ready to answer them.
- How hands-on of a manager are you?
- How do you support an underperforming team member?
- Can you provide examples of when you have had to deliver negative feedback?
- What strategies do you use to motivate your team?
- Whats your approach to delegating work to employees? How do you ensure that tasks are completed?
- It is best to come with real-world examples whenever possible. If you dont have previous management job experience, think about examples from your time at school, volunteer work, or other work examples that may relate.
Mentally Prepare For An Interview
To make the best impression, ensure that you are energetic and alert. Get a good nights sleep and clear your mind with a short walk outside before your interview. To avoid feeling nervous, prepare for the interview using this simple preparation checklist. Moreover, remember that the interviewer is hoping to find the right person as much as you are hoping to find the right job. Dont see the interview as an interrogation, but rather as your chance to take the next big step in your career.
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What Is Your Management Style
Hiring managers ask this question because they want to identify how well you might fit within the company culture and with the team you would potentially be managing. They want to understand how your management style impacts your work, what your communication style is and possibly how you make decisions. Your answer should discuss your management style and provide clear examples of how you used this style and how effectively it worked. You may want to include situations where you altered your style based on the person you were working with and why you choose to do so.
Example:“I actually don’t have a single approach to managing a team. I always try to evaluate the individuals on the team and the situation and then decide what management approach I need to take to get the results we need. That said, there are situations where I think it’s necessary to use a very hands-on management style where I provide clear instructions. This is especially important with less experienced team members. When I’m working with a highly experienced team, I am more hands-off and maintain an open-door policy so they know they can come to me at any time with questions or concerns.”
What Are Common Second Interview Questions
Here are some interview questions that often come up during a second interview and that you should be ready for :1. What is it about this job that interests you?2. What do you want from your career and how does this job fit into that?3. Can you give an example of your problem-solving abilities?4. Can you give us what you think are your three most important qualifications for this position?5. Why should we hire you?
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Additional Questions That You Should Be Comfortable Answering
- What date are you ready to start your new career?
- What are your location preferences?
- If you had to give me a 5K range, what would your annual salary expectations be?
- Have you interviewed with any companies in the past 6 months? If so, which ones and for what locations?
- Do you currently have any offers to work for any companies? If so, which companies and for what salary?
- Where do you see yourself in the next 5 years?
- Where do you see yourself in the next 10 years?
- Name three of your strengths.
- Name three of your weaknesses.
- How do you deal with stress?
- Are you open to shift work?
- Are you open to working overtime?
- How many days in a month are you willing to travel?
- What is a long day to you?
- How many hours a week are you open to working?
- Describe a time that you had to sell something to someone else.
- Tell me about a project you led from start to finish.
- Have you ever had a mentor? If so, what did he or she do for you?
- What was the last book that you read, and why did you choose it?
- How would you characterize your leadership style?
- Describe a time when you had to deal with a poor performer.
- How do you deal with conflict?
- How do you motivate people?
- When was the last time, place, and situation that you had an idea you tried to sell, but were met with resistance? Did you ultimately prevail?
- Why should I hire you?
- What do you know about our company?
- What makes you qualified for this position?
Hirefunnel’s Question Bank : Most Likely Questions For Any Job Interview
HireFunnel It is a video interview service For HR Managers. By talking to recruiters and users, the service has now grown its database by adding hiring manager questions to get potential candidates. But as a candidate, you can turn the tables and use this setup to prepare for a job interview.
The question bank contains over 300 common questions, broken down by the type of role you are interviewing for. This includes programming, sales, management, engineering, and other common job profiles. The questions vary for each depending on the type of experience you have.
There are no perfect answers to the questions here. Instead, simply add all of these to your workbook to prepare for the interview. Odds are, then, you won’t be surprised by anything thrown at you during a job interview.
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Check The Linkedin And Facebook Company Profiles
Hopefully, you already found links to these profiles with the Google search . Click on the links to see what additional information you can find.
On LinkedIn, the term company extends to school districts, nonprofits, government agencies, and other non-corporate entities. To find an employer, type the company name in the search bar, and on the results page select Companies from the list below the search bar when you enter your query.
For many organizations, from Fortune 500 to local small nonprofits, LinkedIn will often have information about the people who work there as well as the organization itself plus job openings.
Follow the company to see updates and news they post, bearing in mind that companies usually pay attention to who is following them, which can be a great way to start a relationship.
The LinkedIn Company page can provide excellent information for you as well as an inside track to a new job!
- Who in your network works for them, and what do they do?
- Where did current employees go to school?
- Where are current employees located?
- What work do employees do?
- What kind of news, if any, do they post on LinkedIn?
- Do they have any jobs posted on LinkedIn?
This information provides you with people you may contact to learn more about the organization . Best of all, you may find a connection who can put you on the fast track to a new job an employee who will refer you for a job, employers favorite way to hire!
