Manager Interview Questions

An interview can be defined as a conversation between two people, i.e. the interviewer and the interviewee, where in, the interviewer asks a number of questions to the interviewee, to obtain information from him, so that the interviewer can assess the interviewee's qualities and credentials. When the interview is for the post of a manager, two main qualities that the interviewer looks for are the candidate's management and supervisory skills. Although there is no hard and fast rule on the types of questions asked in an interview, yet here is a list of questions, which can certainly help an interviewee to assess the candidate better.

Project Manager Interview

• Give a brief description of the past projects that you have handled.
• What, according to you, has been your greatest achievement in professional life?
• Which project management tools have you used before?
• Which business management tools do you think you are proficient in?
• Were you involved in the budgeting and financial planning of the projects that you handled?
• How did you handle and monitor the project risks that you may have encountered during the life cycle of the project?
• What kind of teams have you handled in the past? Have you ever done cross-country management or matrix management?
• Have you handled procurement, hiring of suppliers or vendors in your previous projects?
• What has been your contribution to the previous projects that you have handled? (The candidate might also be asked about the scope of work (SOW) of the project)
• What information have you passed on to the different officials in our company regarding your previous projects?

Office Manager Interview

• Describe yourself in five words.
• What qualities do you have to become an office manager?
• Do you think you can maintain your calm in pressure situations?
• Are you comfortable with using a phone which has multiple lines?
• Have you handled a very high volume/number of telephone calls previously?
• What computer skills do you have?
• Why do you think we should select you as an office manager?
• Will you be able to supervise and manage people under you?
• Have you ever worked in a team environment? Do you think you will be able to work in a team?

Restaurant Manager Interview

• Why did you get into the hospitality sector?
• Have you ever visited any of our restaurants? If yes, did you find anything about the working of the restaurant that you would like to change? If no, what do you know about our company?
• Why do you want to join our company?
• Tell us about your management style. How do you motivate people under you? How do you motivate yourself?
• What steps have you taken in the previous restaurant for cost cutting?
• What is the best and the worst part of being a restaurant manager?

Sales Manager Interview

• Tell me about your past work experience.
• What is the best thing about being a sales manager?
• On what basis did you hire the sales staff in your previous job?
• What kind of training/induction/orientation your sales staff was given by you in your previous job?
• What was the sales target set by you for your sales staff individually? Were they able to achieve it?
• What performance appraisal methods did you employ?
• How did you train and coach the staff that performed less?
• Did you come across any employee who had problems dealing with his job? How did you handle that?
• What were the measures you took to maintain employee discipline?
• Which management style did you adopt in your previous job? How did it help in achieving the targets?
• What kind of customer complaints you received? How did you handle them?

These are some of the questions that an interviewer can ask his interviewee. An interviewer should pay special attention to the candidate when he is answering these questions. If the candidate looks uncomfortable or hesitates, it could be that he is lying or is not confident about himself, both good enough reasons, for you, not to select him. Also, whenever you question a candidate about his skills, ask him to back all his claims with either numbers or solid stories. I hope these tips help you to select the ideal candidate. Best of luck!