Getting ready for a management interview? With these top suggestions from our recruitment experts, discover how to stand out.
Senior or managing position interviews are quite different from mid-weight or junior role interviews. Not only are the standards greater, but the actual procedure is frequently drawn out and involves more effort.
Two, three, or even four rounds of interviews are occasionally used in managerial interviews, which are normally conducted in phases. You might run into a variety of people, including hiring and line managers, senior stakeholders, and even team members you want to join.
In order to assist you get ready for your upcoming managerial interview, we've invited some of our recruitment specialists to share their insider information.
- Get ready for scenario-based inquiries.
Your ability to provide specific instances of the talents listed on your CV will determine how well you perform in any interview process.
When interviewing applicants for a managerial position, it's typical to ask them to adapt their prior expertise to new circumstances. The hiring manager can determine how well you can modify your present skill set to fit the demands of the post by asking you questions about your leadership abilities, management style, or even potential problems within your team or work environment.
Senior manager in commerce Louise Tallboy-Wood from Robert Walters London offers the following advice: "As a recruiter, I would focus very especially on the candidate's CV, narrowing in on individual initiatives they have led. This would make it easier for me to evaluate their people and conflict-management skills and provide me a deeper understanding of the breadth of their experience.
In terms of deliverables, a strong candidate should also be able to be precise. They ought to be able to provide specific examples of what they set out to accomplish and how they did it.
It's normal to try to keep the conversation on your accomplishments during an interview, highlighting your most outstanding successes while avoiding those you are less pleased of.
Talking about the challenges you've had, though, could actually make you a more appealing candidate than someone who seems to have had it easy.
According to Gary Darlington, associate director at Robert Walters Manchester, interviewers may be skeptical of your experience if you oversell yourself.
He states, "I always admire a candidate who has the confidence to confess their past errors or shortcomings and explain about how they were able to overcome these setbacks.
"In today's dynamic environment, resilience and a positive outlook are crucial. A hiring manager is more likely to choose a candidate who is open about demonstrating his or her weakness and capacity for survival in this fast-paced world than one who presents themselves as the ideal prospect.
- Have faith in your managing approach.
Employers trying to fill managerial positions want someone who can both lead and get along with others.
A qualified managerial candidate must be able to show a love of people, a track record of team building and leadership, and the capacity to bring fresh ideas or perspectives that could improve or speed up corporate operations.
Expect inquiries on your leadership style, and be prepared to provide examples, such as how you could handle taking on a managerial position in a new company, says Louise. Consider how you would handle that with a new hire because being hired from outside the company is considerably different than being employed from within.
"What would you do in your first month, first two months, and first three months is another frequently asked question for managerial positions. It's not necessary to have a particularly elaborate plan, but it's always wise to be ready. For instance: "In the first month, I would evaluate the team and determine its strengths and weaknesses. I would go deeper into that in the following month, meet with the entire team, etc.
- Pose the appropriate queries.
While having questions during an interview demonstrates a healthy degree of interest, certain types of queries make a hiring manager doubt your drive for the job.
Gary provides examples of appropriate inquiries for candidates to make as well as others that can be interpreted as red flags.
"Asking about the culture of the company or asking the interviewer to explain a time when employees from various departments collaborated on a project or resolved a problem shows that you are interested in the organization and the position that you are applying for.
Questions on job advancement inside the organization, meanwhile, may show a progressive outlook. Gary issues the following caution:
"Candidates should refrain from concentrating all of their questions on employee benefits. These are things you can learn about later, but you should never use them as an excuse during the interview process because it can show that you are not genuinely interested in the position.
- Avoid focusing just on yourself
It's important to keep in mind that while you'll be eager to highlight the worth of your individual accomplishments, you mustn't let this take away from your enthusiasm and leadership skills while presenting yourself as a viable managing candidate.
Louise shows how a candidate's linguistic shortcomings could hurt them in an interview.
"The ability to be unselfish in their achievements is one of the most crucial differences I look for in a managerial candidate compared to a lower-level team member. This may be quite telling in the way they talk about their past victories.
When discussing a project that was a collaborative effort, a candidate may not be a good team player if they frequently use 'I' rather than 'us. A candidate who takes all the credit for teamwork won't ever be taken seriously as a people-focused manager.
Having enough time to explain your thoughts and suggest new directions is one of the key differences in a managerial interview.
Given the fierce competition for senior positions, it's crucial for candidates to go above and beyond in explaining and showing how they might contribute to the position.
Gary recalls a senior candidate who once presented with prepared presentation slides and suggested a few important ideas that would be successful for the company.
"This kind of preparation demonstrates a high level of interest in the work, even though not all proposals may be welcomed after the interview stage. Most impressive in demonstrating his strategic approach to the role were the critical thinking and creativity this candidate was able to share, along with relevant project experiences, the mistakes he'd learned from, and how he would use these experiences to ensure effective implementation in the future.
