Why Do You Want To Work With Us
This question is an ideal follow-up to, What do you know about our business? because it goes directly to the candidates motivation for applying for the job.
Asking this question and the answer the individual provides gives you insight into the benefits they perceive theyll gain by working for your company.
If they reply with something about your stellar customer service or your business strategy, thats a good sign. If they indicate that their interest is because your business pays the highest wage of all your competitors, thats a bad sign.
If the candidates answer is vague, ask a follow-up question or two to get to the heart of the matter.
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?
Discuss Your Experience With Public Relations In Defining A Brand’s Image
The interviewer may ask this to see how effectively you understand and use feasible PR techniques to generate a favourable public impression of a company. Include technical details based on your experience. Mention how you studied the brand, the consumers and their expectations in your response.
Example:’I spoke with prospective customers and recorded the reasons they utilised our competitors’ products and the factors they consider when switching to a new product. Then, I returned to my team to devise a marketing strategy that integrates these suggestions and addresses their worries.’
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What Has Been Your Biggest Challenge In A Leadership Position
Every candidate in a senior leadership role will inevitably have faced numerous challenges on their career path to date. A Managing Director is likely to face more than their fair share of challenges on a daily basis so this question provides an insight as to how a candidate is likely to deal with the challenges that will frequently come their way.
An ability to respond to challenges is a great gauge of character and the best candidates will address challenges head on and with confidence. The method and decision making process a candidate goes through in addressing a problem is also crucial insight that needs to be extracted as part of this question.
Additional questions to probe further could include:
- How did the challenge come to light?
- What was the first thing they did to address it/how did they tackle it?
- What solution was delivered?
- Was the desired outcome achieved?
- Did they learn anything from it and have they applied the learning to a later experience?
- Would they have done anything different with the benefit of hindsight?
Your Managing Director will need to thrive under pressure and be required to find solutions to problems often within a challenging time frame. Getting a good understanding of how they ascertain and analyse risk to come up with the solution is also vital to know how they will approach and deal with any problems in your business.
Dont Be Afraid To Laugh
Interviewing is serious business, but that doesnt mean you cant have a little bit of fun with it. If you get the job, the people that youre interacting with today will presumably be the same people youll be spending eight or more hours a day with. Let them know that youll be fun to be around by smiling when youre speaking with them and even sharing a laugh if the opportunity arises. It helps to build rapport with your interviewerand maybe youll even be remembered as the candidate who shared a laugh with the CEO.
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Would You Describe Yourself As A Risk Taker Describe Some Of The Risks You Have Taken As Md And The Results
This question usually garners divisive answers, but it can be an important factor to take into account. When hiring for a senior management or director level role, youre probably going to want an individual who is not afraid to take risks, but at the same time one who isnt careless or brash. How the interviewee answers this question will be interesting, as depending on the individual and the opportunity at hand, risk-taking can be perceived as a positive or negative quality. Asking them to describe risks they have taken to you also shows what actions they consider to be risks and for what reason.
How Do You Stay Motivated In Your Work
Self-motivation is key in achieving both individual and organizational goals. Share what keeps you going to chase your goals.
Sample Answer
I get motivation from knowing I am in charge. I recognize that I am in control of the direction my personal life and the organization takes. I, therefore, set independent goals to ensure that I am also growing as the organization is growing. I stay on top of my progress and I am prepared for setbacks because I know they are bound to happen. I also keep learning and expanding my network.
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Why Do You Want To Become A Manager
EXAMPLE ANSWER:
One of my core reasons for wanting to transition into management involves my success as a project lead. In my past role, I had the opportunity to oversee several high-visibility projects, coordinating teams of no less than five members. While I relished in the opportunity to put my skills to work, what was most rewarding and was ultimately an area where I shined was coaching others toward success. I feel my experience as an individual contributor gives me an advantage in that regard, as I understand the perspective of the team. Plus, my active listening, delegation, and communication skills help eliminate obstacles and resolve conflicts, and I believe I could do the same in a management role.
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General Managing Director Questions
Interviewers may start with several basic questions to better understand you as a person. These questions may start with more general topics and then become more specific about your managing director experience. When and interview, expect managing director questions like:
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Why are you interested in applying for this position?
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What do you know about our company and this role?
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Why do you think that you fit in with this company and this job?
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Do you ever do volunteer work related to this position?
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Can you tell us more about your management style?
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How would you define your strengths?
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In what ways do you think you could improve your career?
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Where do you see your life in the next five or 10 years?
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What traits make you a good director?
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Do you have a passion and a drive for this work?
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How do you approach leadership changes?
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What motivates you to come to work every day?
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Can you please define your leadership philosophy?
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Have you ever written a company mission statement?
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How would your current employer describe you?
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Tell Me About A Time You Dealt With A Difficult Employee
Dealing with difficult or underperforming employees is an inevitable part of any manager’s job. This question is designed to uncover how you approach and handle conflict and how effectively you solve problems. Demonstrate a range of skills, including listening, communication and problem solving.
Use the STAR method to frame your example to make sure you deliver a comprehensive answer. Don’t just describe the problem, explain the action you took to resolve it and the impact this had on the employee and the wider team.
If you don’t have much professional experience in this area, you could use an example of dealing with a difficult colleague in a part-time job or an underperforming team member on a sports team or in university group exercises.
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How Do You Collaborate With Persons Whose Viewpoints Differ From Yours
This question might assist the interviewer in determining whether you have the interpersonal skills necessary to work effectively with diverse personality types and to be tolerant of different views and perspectives. To respond, you might say that you strive to stay focused on your core aim and don’t let your personal beliefs interfere with your professional duties.
Example:’My main focus is getting the job done correctly. I’m open to all suggestions that might help us achieve that objective. They don’t have to be the same as mine.’
Which Part Of The Position Has The Steepest Learning Curve What Can I Do In Order To Get Up To Speed Quickly
For some jobs, learning the technology or the internal company procedures is the most challenging aspect of coming on board. For others, it is about understanding the human network. Any guidance on how to speed up the learning process and make you effective and productive quicker can give you a significant advantage.
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Describe A Time When You Failed In This Role And The Lesson You Learnt
Failure is part of life. The lessons learned are what steer us to greater heights. Share what lessons you learned from the failures youve had.
Sample Answer
In one of my previous roles, we experienced poor communication from the board. They were not clear about their expectations and as a result set strategies for the organization was a challenge. I asked for a special meeting to share the challenges that we faced. They understood my point and became clear on their expectations. The organization started running well after that.
Describe Your Daily Routine As A Managing Director
What will be the daily tasks that you need to undertake to be successful in this role? Share with the interviewer how you expect your days to be structured.
Sample Answer
I arrive at the office by 7:30 am. I take 30 minutes to prepare for my workday and review any meetings that I am supposed to attend and the appointments in my diary. At around 9 pm I check my emails and respond to urgent tasks. After that, I attend meetings and client projects. I like to schedule all meetings before lunch break such that I get to work on other important projects in the afternoon. I take my lunch break at 1 pm. Once I am back from lunch I handle projects from my priority list. Before I finish work at 5 pm I check my emails again for any critical information I need to reply to and plan my work for the next day.
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Do You Plan On Changing Our Management Structure When You Join Our Team
Companies hiring new management directors may ask this question to prepare for any major changes new directors may make. Answer this question honestly and reassure them by letting them know your overall plan. Highlight any minor changes you may make and assess any team adjustments you may suggest. Reassure them by openly analyzing their current management and strategy process and showing ways you may improve it without excessively changing their overall structure.
Example:”When joining a new team, I prefer using its current resources to meet my management goals. For example, I don’t plan to bring in new management employees or change your basic operating process. Instead, I hope to enhance it by bringing in new ideas and improving its overall efficiency. For example, I believe my workflow process can increase your production efficiency by 10% or more by leveraging your current assets more effectively. My goal as a managing director is to help businesses reach their full potential and succeed on their terms.”
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What Are Your Long Term Goals Did You Achieve Them And How
A fairly standard interview question, and for good reason. Every good leader should have a clear set of goals both for themselves and their business. You need to know what kind of expectations your interviewee sets for themselves, and if their goals align with yours as a company. Encourage them to elaborate on if and how they achieved these goals, with as much detail as possible. Make sure they explain how they achieved their goals or are on track to achieve them, or if not, why they think they didnt. This is a fantastic method of gaining insight into your interviewees work process and achievements, as well as allowing the candidate to demonstrate their own self-awareness by acknowledging and understanding the reasons for their shortcomings.
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Please Walk Us Through Your Managerial And Executive Roles One By One
This is the deal breaker, maybe the most important question in the entire interview. Expect a lot of follow-up questions, different members of the interviewing panel may ask you about utmost details of this or that project or role. It isnt rare for this discussion to take an hour or even longer, especially if you had many roles in the past, and if the people in the interviewing panel did their homework, or know the field well.
The key is to focus on two things: challenges, and achievements. Not your personal achievements though, but things you achieved for your employers. You can also do the following: For each role you had, describe the starting point. That means where the company, team, or project stood when you came on board, in terms of people, resources, results. Then describe what you did to help improve the results, and how things looked liked when you left the company or the role.
Of course, many events take place in between, and you should focus on the most important onesbig challenges you faced, important milestones and goals you achieved, etc. As Ive already said, they may ask you many follow-up questions. so stay patient and answer each such question. It is actually a good sign when they keep asking
A Knack For Transforming Talent Into Performance
Employees need personalized support, clear feedback and active coaching to help make the most of their skills.
The ability to discover whatâs unique about an individual and leverage that into tangible business outcomes is what separates a great leader from just another meh manager.
Knowing how to transform talent into performance is major, especially in the age of remote and hybrid work. Time management, productivity, and communication can quickly become a challenge for some work-from-homers.
But a strong management hire will inspire performance across the board, finding and nurturing team membersâ natural skills whether they work from home, the office, or that cute little coffee shop down the road.
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How Do You Handle Conflict
When interviewing for a director position, you may be asked how you handle conflict. Here are some tips on how to answer this question:
Explain that you understand that conflict is inevitable in any workplace. However, you also believe that it can be resolved through effective communication.
Describe a time when you were able to successfully resolve a conflict at work. For example, you may have facilitated a meeting between two employees who were disagreeing.
Emphasize that you are always willing to listen to both sides of the story and find a resolution that is fair for everyone involved.
What Features Make A Good Leader Would You Describe Yourself As A Good Leader And Why
Think of this as a variation of the age-old Name someone that inspires you prompt. Though you should feel free to utilise this, it may be more useful to focus on what qualities the candidate finds to be inspirational, as these qualities are what they are likely to try and emulate. Anyone can name someone who they think is a good leader, but it shows true insight for the candidate to be able to state why someone is a good leader. You can then inquire into how the interviewee views themselves, which of these qualities they share, or what other features they have that make them a good leader in order to get an idea of their perception of themselves.
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