How To Interview For Your First Management Role
Looking to take a step up in your next job? If so, the interview process may be slightly different than what you have been used to. Interviews for management roles are likely to focus more on your leadership style, interpersonal communication skills, and your ability to navigate difficult situations. In addition to detailing your skills and experience, interviewing for your first management role is as much about your background as it is about your ability to inspire and motivate a team.
So what does it take to communicate your management abilities and leadership style in an interview? We spoke to recruiter, career coaches and long-time managers to get their expert insights. Heres how to interview successfully for your first management role.
What Do You Know About Our Business
The candidates answer to this question should indicate some prior knowledge about your business. They may have conducted research to find the information they need. They may have first-hand experience as a customer, client, or even competitor.
Either way, any detailed response reveals that the potential managerial hire likes what your business has to offer and is motivated to be a part of it.
If they know nothing about your company, other than that they want a job, they havent done their due diligence and shouldnt be high on your shortlist of possible hires.
Questions About Your Qualifications
Employers will likely ask questions targeted at assessing whether you have the specific hard and soft skills to perform the job. Review the job description before to get a clear understanding of their expectations, and be prepared to provide examples of how you have previously used those skills with successful results.
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How Can You Make Sure You Communicate With Your Team Effectively
Because managing a team can rely heavily on effective communication, interviewers ask this question as a way to assess your skills in this area. You might answer with examples of how you implemented weekly updates, team meetings or monthly conferences.
Example:“In my past role, I used an online messaging platform that enabled quick communication between myself and my team. I made mandatory weekly project updates so I could know what my team was accomplishing each week. I also conducted monthly team meetings to go over only the most pertinent information related to what we were working on for that time frame.”
Why Should We Hire You
What They Want to Know: Hiring managers who ask this question want to know why you would be the best person for the job so youll need to give them a persuasive sales pitch. Try to describe at least five qualifications that you would bring to the position, quantifying them with percentages if you can.
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Tell Me About A Time When It Was Hard For You To Do Your Job What Did You Do To Resolve The Problem
Even the most skilled manager will find it hard to do their job once in a while. Maybe they had a problem with their superior. Maybe they had a conflict with a direct-report.
Asking this question can help you get a better idea of how the candidate will react when their job doesnt live up to their expectations.
Did they exercise their problem-solving skills and figure out a way through the issue? Did they make excuses and push the blame off on someone else? Or did they prioritize their responsibility and resolve the problem as quickly as possible?
Questions To Prepare For During A Nurse Manager Interview
Written by Madison School of HealthcareOn Tuesday, 26 September 2017. Posted in Healthcare Insights, Nursing
As the healthcare industry continues to evolve, nurse managers are increasingly in demand, with employment of health services managers projected to grow 17 percent by 2024, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Ambitious nurses wanting to grow with the industry, expand their current role, and who are interested in management, strategy and implementation are encouraged to interview for a nurse manager position. For some, however, interviewing for a new role or promotion can be intimidating. But preparing responses for a few questions that may be asked can go a long way in setting you up for success. Weve laid out ways to prepare for the interview and five questions every nurse should be ready to answer.
Knowing what’s expected of the nurse manager role and landing the interview is just the beginning. The next step is preparation. This is where researching questions that typically arise during nurse manager interviews and taking the time to formulate a few examples that showcase your experience and expertise can really pay off.
Most interviews will consist of two types of questions: leadership and character-related.
Character-related questions focus on specific examples or hypothetical situations. These allow you the chance to point out how you have or would effectively handle similar situations that may occur.
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Tips For After The Interview
- Say thank you. Write a thank-you note to the person who interviewed you. Reiterate your interest in the new position.
- Don’t burn your bridges. If you get the promotion, do not burn any bridges. You will be leaving co-workers behind, possibly becoming their superior.Treat them with the same respect you did when you were working together. When the promotion is finalized, let your co-workers know that you are moving on. However, if the company is going to send an official announcement, wait until that is sent before sending a personal email message.
- Don’t have hard feelings. If you don’t get the job, leave any negative feelings behind and work toward the next promotion opportunity.
Job Promotion Application Requirements
When applying for a promotion or a lateral job change within the company, employees may be expected to apply and interview for the position per company guidelines.
Even though you’re already employed at the company, don’t be surprised if you have to resubmit your resume and craft a cover letter for the new position. In fact, submitting a custom cover letter specific to the new position can be very helpful in landing the job.
Remember, you may be competing with outside candidates, and although you have an advantage in that you already work for the company, that doesn’t mean you should skimp on your job application efforts. Take the time to review and proofread your application materials carefully before you submit them.
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What Skill Areas Do You Feel You Could Improve As A Team Leader
This question might give the interviewer insight into how you evaluate your own strengths and weaknesses as a manager. Keep your answer honest and related only to a management position.
Example:“In the past, I’ve been told that I can be somewhat overly motivated to meet objectives. This has led me to delegate more tasks than my team can reasonably handle sometimes, as well as situations where quality output was put at risk to meet set objectives. However, I have continued to develop my ability to prioritize objectives, which reduced team overload and the risk of lower-quality deliverables.”
You Need To Have The Technical Know
Your team collecting the data will look to you for technical guidance.
Meanwhile, the person you report to will expect you to translate that technical information into a business framework.
As a PhD, you are well-suited for this role.
You are an expert in your field , but you also know how to run a business, a.k.a. your lab.
Many of the skills you used to manage your lab will translate into business.
Budgeting, resource management, strategic planning, etc.
But, how do you convey this ability in an interview?
Prove them wrong and stand out from the other candidates.
Study the company you are interested in and learn as much as possible about their business.
What are their top products? Who are their biggest competitors? What is their annual revenue? Any recent mergers or acquisitions?
Learn and digest the information.
Then, do what PhDs do best and formulate questions good questions.
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What Interested You About Our Position
Youre likely to hear this as a first interview or phone interview question, but you may also be asked about this in your final round interview especially if its with a new person!
So to succeed in the final interview, go back and review what caught your interest initially and why the role and company excite you.
If you can explain this to an Executive or CEO in detail and with excitement, it could set you apart from other candidates and be the difference that gets you hired.
Read more about this interview question here.
Preparing For A Management Interview
OK, so youve got your interview answers sorted. But thats not where your preparations should end.
Other things you need to make sure youve got covered before a management interview include everything from researching the company and potential questions to ask at the end of the interview, through to what youre going to wear on the day.
Weve put together a handy interview checklist, which goes through everything you need to be prepared for. Weve also got more advice in our interview techniques section.
Because when it comes to interviews, theres no such thing as being too prepared
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Would Your Manager Describe You As A Dependable Person
It seems an obvious answer that you could answer with a yes or no. The problem is to make yourself stand out from the crowd, you need back this up with examples of how and where youve been dependable to your manager.
My advice Keep it simple and make sure that you use examples to back up your statement. Something like, Yes, my previous manager would think that I am a dependable person. In my last review, my manager thanked me for the extra time and weekend work to ensure that the recent project was completed on time and on budget.
What Are You Passionate About
This is another final round interview question designed to dig deeper into who you are as a person and what type of worker youll be if hired.
There isnt one right answer here, but you do want to be ready to talk about something specific.
When I recruited software engineers, some would say theyre passionate about making a difference in the world or joining companies that were mission-oriented .
But others just said they want to tackle complex technical challenges and advance their skills. They loved facing tough problems as a programmer.
One of these answers isnt better than the other. The key is to share something thats true so the interviewer can see the passion in you and believe your answer!
Dont fake it, but do take time to think about how youll respond so that youre not caught without something to say!
Read more about this interview question here.
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Look Up Common Behavioral Questions And Then Physically Write Out Your Answers Using The Star Method
Prepare multiple versions for each type of question.
Then, conduct a mock interview with a friend, where they ask you a question and you have to answer .
Repeat this with a few people.
Ask each person you practice your interview with, not only what they thought of your responses, but what they thought of your delivery.
The way that you deliver your answers, your tone, and body language are just as important as what you say.
Reading In Preparation Of A Career In Management
If your goal is to enter the private sector in a production/operations management position, reading a few relevant books will allow you to combine your practical leadership experience with some supplemental information on the industry. Select one or two books from our Suggested Reading List to prepare yourself for the interview process. Additionally, we recommend that you read at least one book from the Sales reading list. Even if you’re not interested in a career in sales, until you get “the offer”, you are in the business of selling yourself, so learn how to do it well!
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Bonus Final Interview Tip: High
Now that you know 10 of the most common final job interview questions and what to expect in a final interview overall, theres one more important tip you should know
If youre talking to a CEO or Executive, they care about the big picture and big results. So theyre not the person to talk about nitty-gritty details with .
Try to talk about the broader impact that your work will have. How will you help their company or department grow, earn money, save money, etc.?
For example, if youre interviewing for a Social Media Manager position, the CEO of the company does NOT care about earning new followers, getting more likes on a post, getting more retweets, or any of that.
They care about bringing new leads and customers into the business, increasing revenue or profit, etc.
So the more you can talk about those high-level results when interviewing for jobs, the better.
This is true in general when job interviewing but becomes more important when youre talking to higher-level people in the organization.
Reread Your Resume Or Application
Reread your resume? Why would you need to do that? After all, you know your own background, right? Well, sort of.
If you tailor your resume to each job , and youve applied to more than one recently, you may not remember which details you included. That could spell trouble.
You can almost guarantee that the hiring manager is going to talk about your resume. If you forgot which accomplishments you mentioned, you might not prepare to discuss them. Then, if the hiring manager asks which they almost certainly will you might give a stumbly answer.
Review your resume! Know what you said! Remember, your resume might be all the hiring manager knows about you, so make sure you can discuss those points with ease.
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Tell Me About The Last Team You Led What Was The Dynamic Like Did You Hit Your Goals How Did You Handle Staff Conflicts
Its vital to understand the relationship a restaurant manager had with their past employees, because employee performance directly affects the customer experience.
The way a candidate answers this prompt can trigger a million smaller questions about their effectiveness as a manager. Say, for instance, they describe being great at conflict resolution. The hiring manager can then ask questions about managing conflicting personalities, employee retention, etc.
If the interviewee hasnt had direct leadership experience before, they should still be able to talk about how theyve exemplified leadership among their peers. In many cases, being seen as a leader among peers says a lot about a candidate because it shows that even without a title, theyre able to garner respect.
Common Interview Preparation Mistakes To Avoid
When it comes to preparing for an interview, the biggest mistake you can make is not doing it at all. Even if youre a highly-skilled professional overflowing with potential and natural poise, you cant assume that is enough.
On average, it takes five job interviews before youll land a job.
Wow, right?
Plus, 57 percent of professionals say theyve had a job interview go poorly. Thats more than half of all professionals, people who know their jobs well and are likely at least reasonably successful.
An interview isnt like a normal conversation with a colleague. Instead, youre being tested, put on the spot, and asked to defend your resume. Some questions are designed to put you back on your heels. Others are so open-ended, that its easy to drift off-topic.
Preparation allows you to be at your best when that fateful interview day arrives. Youll have great answers just waiting to be deployed, and a strategy that can help you navigate the unexpected. In turn, youll be more likely to succeed, making all of the effort worthwhile.
However, thats not the only misstep aspiring new hires make. Choosing the wrong mock interview questions can also hurt you. For example, some candidates spend all of their time on generic interview questions. Sure, you need to be ready for classics like, Tell me about yourself and What motivates you? but you also need to be prepared to face off against field- or job-specific ones, too.
MIKE’S TIP:
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Best Of Transition: Phd Jobs & Job Search Strategies September 18th 2021
Every week, we at Cheeky Scientist scour the Internet for the best articles on topics that help in the search for the Best of Transition: PhD Job Search in the industry. Our two consultants independently search for the most informative articles in the categories of networking, CVs/resumes, interviews, transferable skills, academic blues, industry positions, and business acumen. Our consultants vote on a top article for each category and a top overall article for the week if its a recent article that can help readers find and acquire PhD jobs, then we want to include it in this weekly digest.
Tips To Help You Prepare For Your Management Interview
The following tips can be helpful to prepare for your interview:
- Bring copies of your resume to distribute in case there are several people present during your interview
- Practice how you will answer interview questions with your friends or family or in front of a mirror
- If you get nervous, you can help yourself relax by breathing deeply, focusing on your strengths and keeping your practice answers in mind
- You might also think about describing clear examples of your past management positions and how you have developed the skills needed for the job
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