When seeking to fill a leadership position, choosing the best interview questions for managers will help to assess the subject's skills, experience, and the unique style that he or she will bring to the position. Ideally, interview questions for managers will present examples of situations in which the new manager might find himself or herself, and the candidate can explain how she would handle said situation. It is also important to ask questions in regard to how the individual handled conflicts in the past, or resolved issues with other employees.
The most basic interview questions for managers should typically involve the types of managerial experiences that he or she has had. For instance, did he work in a supervisory role before, or as a manager, or will this be the first time with this responsibility? Asking questions about how many people the individual was responsible for managing is a good idea too, since this can indicate if he or she is good at multi-tasking and handling numerous responsibilities and issues at once. It is also important to determine what else the individual was responsible for in her previous job, with as much specificity as possible to determine if she'll be a good fit for this potential position.
Standard queries, such as asking someone to assess their own strengths and weaknesses, or to share a story about a time in which they excelled at work as well as a time in which they could have done better, can also work well as interview questions for managers. This will not only help to illustrate an individual's accomplishments, but will also be able to show if they display any sort of humility or willingness to learn from mistakes, both of which are important attributes in the workplace. Questions requiring specific examples of leadership skills and fostering a positive work environment are good choices as well.
The downside of the job, which may mean resolving conflicts between employees, providing assessments to employees of their work performance, or even making hiring and firing decisions will also be included among the best interview questions for managers. A potential manager should be able to describe how he or she would handle these situations with discretion and respect, while still maintaining control of the situation. Questions about educational background may be included as well, if they are relevant to the job. Interview questions for managers should be tailored to the job, but they should be designed to give the interviewer a good idea of the individual's management and interpersonal relational skills in the workplace.
