Hardest Management Executive Interview Preparation Guide

Download PDF

In reality, most people have no idea what they will do in 5 years' time. You can answer this question in two ways:
► You want to become an expert in your field and would like to stay in the area: Advance from being a Project Manager to become a Senior Project Manager.
► Or you want to leave your area - moving from a Project Manager position to a senior management position.
► I want to become an expert in the Project Management area

I've delivered many successful projects in the past like Project X, Project Y- which were very complex in nature and provided the expected benefits to companies I've worked for. I've also trained and mentored others in the Project Manager discipline up-grading their capability.

In general - people will hire you for the following reasons
► You do the job well
► You fit into the company culture
► You are passionate about your job

The interviewer wants to know if you think more about short-term or long-term goals.
► As a Project Manager I'm heavily involved in implementing new ideas and projects and see them deployed and realized. I want to use my Project Manager skills and talent in order to work on exciting and challenging projects in order to realize the companies goals.
► I am motivated by the challenge of implementing projects ahead of schedule and by managing teams that achieved their goals.

Provide three or four statements and back them up with examples. Employers normally like to see examples in the area of:
► Great communicator
► Team player / team leader
► Hardworking
► Motivated and determined
► Using consultative approach
► Mentored and coached teams

keep it simple, honest and positive. Good reasons for leaving your job or company can be:
► Career growth
► Your company is restructuring
► Moving or finding a job closer to home
► Looking for new challenge

I'm really interested in working for your company.
I do believe my skill set would fit very well with your job requirements and I'm sure I can help you to be more productive and efficient in your project delivery.

► What accomplishment are you particularly proud of?
► When did you handle conflict with your boss, colleagues, or subordinates, Tell me about it?
► Tell me about a situation that demonstrates your work habits?
► Describe a time when you and your superior were in conflict and how it was resolved?

► Why do you want to hold this position?
► Aside from money, what will you gain from having this job?
► What motivates you to excel?

The employer wants to know how much courage and persuasion you have. Think of a time when you persuaded someone or a group to follow your lead to a successful end. Your experience might have been around a serious business matter, or maybe even a personal interaction that turned into a humorous tale.

Here's your chance to show where your presentation skills lie. If you love speaking before groups, great-tell about some winning presentations you've done. If you're not really comfortable in front of large groups (not all of us are), refer to a time when you delivered a message to either a small group or to an individual, and don't forget to emphasize the positive result of your presentation.

Conflict resolution is a valuable skill. With downsizing, mergers, and problems in corporate management, this could be your winning ticket. Put yourself in the interviewer's shoes to know what interpersonal issues are current stumbling blocks at the company. Then come up with an experience of your own that parallels the company's.

An effective manager gains buy-in from his staff so that everyone experiences success, both individually and as a group. To respond to this question, you could speak about one of your experiences in morale building, creating incentive programs, or using your fine management style to increase cooperation among your staff.

There are two ways to increase profits: decrease spending and increase revenue. This question is designed to find out if you're going to bring new profit-making ideas to the company, especially ones that work. So tell about a time when you either cut costs or drove up revenues.

Budget management is a big deal to employers. Before you decide how to answer this question, decide how involved you want to be with the budget on your next job. If you want to manage a budget, talk about a time when you did a terrific job with the money. If you hate dealing with budgets, tell about a time when you worked with someone else on the budget.

Most of us hate to admit that we have problems, but the truth is that we do. It's how we handle problems that shows our real talent. So dig deep and come up with a time when you either took on a problem and solved it, or you were in the middle of a project and a problem came up unexpectedly.

Employers love to hear how you affected the bottom line, since it implies that you'll be able to do the same for them. Tell a story that demonstrates that you understand how success is measured in your line of work, and that you're able to achieve it to the satisfaction of your employer.

Here's your chance to look good by talking about one of your favorite achievements. While telling your story, keep in mind what tasks you might be asked to perform at the job you're applying for and highlight anything in your story that relates to your next job.

► Budget
► Company policy
► Management style
► Conflict management
► Consensus building
► Team development
► Organizational systems
► Supervisory skills
► P&L responsibility
► Goal achievement
► Public relations
► Investor relations

A lot of it is cultural fit and whether they are going to fit well into the organization… The perception is that when (senior leaders) come into the firm, a totally new environment, they know everything. And they could do little things such as send emails in a voicemail culture that tend to negatively snowball over time. Feedback or onboarding is critical. If you don't get that feedback, you will get turnover later on.

Younger employees do not wish to get paid merely for working hard-just the reverse: they will work hard because they enjoy their environment and the challenges associated with their work…. Executives who embrace this new management style are attracting and retaining better employees.

You can't tell by looking at a piece of paper what some of the strengths and weaknesses really are…We ask for specific examples of not only what's been successful but what they've done that hasn't gone well or a task they've, quite frankly, failed at and how they learned from that experience and what they'd do different in a new scenario.

► What are the methods you have used to evaluate employee's job performance?

► What is your overall experience in setting budgets?

► Give us some instances in which you brought about some productive change in the company that you worked for. What were the steps that you carried out, and what were the steps that you implemented for others to follow?

► Describe one recent problem that you came across on the job and how you countered it. How did you contribute to overcoming the obstacle and how did you implement steps for others to overcome the obstacle?

► Give us an example of how you successfully encouraged/motivated the staff with the help of incentives or bonuses?

► Tell us about a time when you had to motivate an employee or peer who was reluctant to work?

► Tell us about a time when you had to deliver training to employees and peers?

► Tell us about a short term plan that you developed for the advancement of the company?

► What is the most challenging factor for you as a manager?

Last, but not least, the manager would also be asked about the human resource management principles that he follows.

The interviewer would also wish to know about the information processing applications and any relevant software applications that the person applying for the post of manager/managerial candidate would be conversant with.