Trainee Manager

Employers don’t want to hire people who are looking for any job they can get. They want employees who are enthusiastic and passionate about this particular job and want to stay with the company for a long time.

In your answer, emphasize specific aspects of the job description, such as how you enjoy leading a particular type of project, or have experience with a certain product or industry mentioned in it.

I believe that none of these is more important than the other. As a branch manager trainee, I aim to become familiar with the dynamics of the branch, but I aim to manage in a way that promotes all of these elements in a self-sustaining manner. Without satisfied employees, customers will not receive great service, and without great service, sales will not be satisfactory. I don’t think these objectives are mutually exclusive, so I value them all equally and aim to maintain a well-balanced environment in the branch. I consider this the most sustainable approach to management.

This question assesses your ability to manage people. How do you react when people fail to meet their targets? It may help to break it into smaller questions. You could start by asking yourself why your team member might be missing their targets. Is it because their training was inadequate, is it because they’re struggling with the workload, or is it simply because they’re demotivated? How would you find out? What would you do once you’d got to the root of the problem and why?

This question must be in the interview. It seeks to find out how you deal with people or whatever leadership skills you may possess. It also wants to know if you are sharp and can make decisions,” he says adding that, “Leadership positions may include those held in high schools such as a prefect or in campus as a leader of an association in college.

This is a disguised question that asks you about your weaknesses. State your weaknesses in such a way that they will not hamper your chances of being selected. Also, do not forget to mention how you would improve on them.

This question is really about your self-esteem, confidence and career aspirations. The answer must be 'yes', followed by a brief explanation as to what it is about your career so far that's made you happy. If you have hit a career plateau, or you feel you are moving too slowly, then you must qualify your answer.

The employer is looking for evidence that the job suits you, fits in with your general aptitudes, coincides with your long-term goals and involves doing things you enjoy. Make sure you have a good understanding of the role and the organisation, and describe the attributes of the organisation that interest you most.

My main strategies are based around recognising colleagues’ achievements, giving consistent feedback, and providing context for their work – but the ones I utilise most depends on the employee. For example, those who are most goal orientated tend to respond best to understanding the impact of their work, and colleagues that are under-performing are best motivated when given set areas to work on and improve.

Before I make any kind of important decision, I first consider all the surrounding facts, possible outcomes and the desired goal. I won’t hesitate to seek an outside opinion and I generally do, but I am the one who makes the ultimate decision.

Once I have all of the information and have weighed the risks of each possible outcome, I will make my decision.

Manager interview questions like this are generally asked to discover additional hidden qualities about yourself that you might not otherwise have mentioned.

“My co-workers will tell you that I am a team player and a colleague they can count on to pull his weight whether it’s a normal day or we’re in a crunch.”

I don’t react to problems, but acknowledge their existence and respond to them in a calm manner. Reacting to a problem causes a panic and the problem does not get resolved until everyone calms down, accepts the situation and then focuses on a resolution.

Do your homework and research the company and find out who are their competitors. Management interview questions like this will quickly reveal how well you conducted your research prior to the interview.

The hiring manager is checking on your motivational skills, discipline and your character. In most cases this question is accompanied by a case study question,

As a chairman of the student’s body I gave the students a responsibility for work. For example, I made it clear that students were allowed to handle any disturbances in a civilized manner before the authorities came. I also made information available on the schools websites rather than placing memos all over the school notice boards. With this students gained an enhanced sense of responsibility and achievement along with learning that everything starts with them.

Interviewers will want to know the one factor that keeps you motivated to perform better. After all, it is your performance that matters. New challenges, desire to excel at every given responsibility, professional growth etc. are some of the possible answers to this question.

If you can’t think of a mistake you’ve made, you won’t look credible. Describe a real mistake, and explain what you learned from it, and how you took steps to prevent it from happening again.

Remember, you're proving that you can manage people, projects, and teams, as well as delegate and manage time. Think of a time when you made a mistake, learned from it, and became a better manager as a result.

In my last job, we had a drive to sell charity raffle tickets. The team were really on board with the cause, and we had a friendly rivalry going with other stores in the area – so the pressure was on. The problem was, customers just didn’t seem interested. So I took things into my own hands and tried different types of wording as well as a few persuasion tactics. After a few hours, I’d managed to sell X amount raffle tickets – and after I explained the new approach, the team went on to sell a combined X amount that weekend – making us number one in the area.

The purpose of this question is to find out what your definition of difficult is and whether you can show a logical approach to problem solving. In order to show yourself in a positive light, select a difficult work situation which was not caused by you and which can be quickly explained in a few sentences. Explain how you defined the problem, what the options were, why you selected the one you did and what the outcome was. Always end on a positive note.