Logistics Software Manager Interview Preparation Guide

Motivation is a key management requirement, and your answer should stress strong values like positive reinforcement for performance, training in higher duties, and other incentives.

The problem with this question is that you're being asked about your shortcomings, when your instinct, in an interview situation, is to keep your flaws as well hidden as possible. What you need to do is to frame your answer to as to give it a positive spin.

Strengths and weaknesses can be different sides of the same coin, so another way to approach this question is to think about how you overcome the potential downside of your greatest strength. For example, if you're a natural teamworker, is it difficult for you to cope with conflict or assume leadership abilities? How do you cope with this?

If an interviewer asks you to describe a situation in which you showed initiative, avoid giving an example of an idea you had but never put into action. It's much better to talk about a time when you not only came up with a solution to a problem but also acted on it. Then you can explain the effect your decision had when you put it into practice.

Lateral thinking is the ability to use your imagination to look at a problem in a fresh way and come up with a new solution. Companies prize employees with lateral thinking skills because without them, they can't innovate and create new products. Think about times when you've been faced with real-life problems and have somehow managed to overcome them. Chances are your solution involved an original, creative approach, and that's what employers want to find out about.

Customer relationships are a key point in logistics manager jobs. This is also a problem solving question, requiring you to illustrate the situation, define the customer relationship issues, and how you solved the problem.

This is a good question for a lot of prospective employers to ask you at the start of the interview, as it allows them to weigh up your motivations. Obviously, this question requires you to understand the job advert/spec inside and out, so have a good think about why you wanted to apply. There are lots of different reasons you could use; it could be that it was the company in particular or a specific aspect of the job description that you were interested in. That said; try not to use the salary as a reason, it just looks like you're only in it for the money, which is never a good sign for a prospective employer.

When a recruiter asks how you manage your time, don't just give an example of a time when you did this successfully. Your interviewer wants to know your tactics and strategies for getting yourself organised, so whatever approach you use to prioritising and listing your tasks, you should be ready to describe it.

Some employers may ask you this to check your knowledge in purchase. It can be quite difficult for prospective employers to work out whether potential candidates are good, so this is your chance to shine.

When answering this question you could split up into following points:

☛ By alternative procurement
☛ Alternative supplier sourcing
☛ Vendor increases in different items
☛ Reducing production cost
☛ Procure the best quality products
☛ Procure by ensuring product lifetime by a supplier, which is most effective way of cost minimization.

This question requires a full answer detailing particular systems you've worked with in the past. The interviewers evaluate this experience in relation to the job requirements.

This isn't an invitation to boast - you are being asked to match your strengths to the qualities needed to do the job. Don't forget, it's a very specific question. Why are you suited to this job, as opposed to any other? Thorough employer research will save the day, as it will enable you to match your skills, interests and experience to the job role and the company.