Facilities Manager

Candidates should list good organizational skills and attention to detail as key characteristics in a Facilities Manager.

In my experience delegating responsibility and authority is crucial. A team needs to be able to develop and grow as individuals and a whole, not be held back by low expectations or ego.

Your answer to this question will ultimately show what kind of a worker you are. If you say that you are open to doing manual labor when necessary it shows that you are a fair leader that does whatever it takes to get the job done. Just be sure to answer honestly.

An innocent question. But a question that if answered improperly, can be a deal breaker. While many individuals will be looking to a new job as a means of increasing their salary, “not being paid well enough at your last job” is not something you want to mention to your interviewer. After all, are you not likely to leave this particular job if you found you could make more down the street?

If you’re currently employed and leaving of your own accord, craft your response around enhancing your career development and a seeking out of new challenges.

I like working in an environment that offers much in terms of challenges. Without them, work can become mundane, and I cannot work in a stagnant environment.

Many consider this question to be a loaded gun – dangerous in the hands of the inexperienced. Often times, an interviewee will start talking salary before they’ve had an opportunity to illustrate their skill set and value making any sort of leverage valueless. Here, knowledge is power, as salary often comes down to negotiation. Do some research into your industry to establish base rates of pay based on seniority and demand but keep in mind – your employer is hiring you for what they believe you are worth, and how much benefit they feel you will provide.

The interviewer would like to know what your ideal employer looks like. Share with the interviewer the type of company that you are ideally looking to work for. Support your answer by including the reasons why you want to work for this particular company.

Candidates should acknowledge the importance of diligence in their duties and how oversight can lead to operational difficulties for the housed business. Look for stories where candidates erred, rectified their error and learned a valuable lesson from the experience.

Ever since my first paper route at age 10 I’ve been doing something to keep myself busy and earn money. Back then, it was obviously about earning some spending money. What I didn’t realize was that I was actually starting the journey of establishing what I liked to do and how I fit in to the grand scheme of things. I then worked as a junior computer tech in my last 2 summers of high school. It was here that I discovered what I was passionate about and what I wanted to do. I enrolled in college to get my degree in computer sciences, and I have been working around technology ever since.

Another tricky one. The purpose of this question is to see how you view and evaluate yourself.

One the one hand, if you suggest you don’t have any weaknesses, your interviewer will almost certainly see you as a lair, egotistical, or both.

Don’t fall into the trap of trying to present a positive skill in disguise as a weakness, like “I work too hard” or “I am a perfectionist”. Any experienced interviewer will see through this in a heartbeat.

Additionally, revealing that “I’m not really a morning person and have been known to come in late” raises immediate and obvious red flags.

Reveal possible strengths/weaknesses.

I managed to reduce the cost of maintenance work by hiring and training a maintenance team from within the custodial staff. This resulted in the company saving $8000 annually – money that they spent in outsourcing maintenance work.

When an interviewer asks this question, they are looking at your leadership and communication skills. Take this opportunity to show that you are a problem solver and have the ability to lead and communicate with a group. It is best to have a specific example story prepared about your experience that highlights the problem and the steps it took to resolve it. For example, if there was a large change in your previous facility for equipment, what steps did you take to make sure the change occurred smoothly with minimal impact on patients and caregiving staff?

Candidates should describe past experiences where they successfully managed high-pressure situations and the skills they've developed working in those situations.

☛ When you have to write letters, how do you usually get started?

☛ How do you keep track of incoming and outgoing correspondence?

☛ What do you see as the difference in writing strategy for a report vs. memo vs. a letter?

☛ How often did you inspect premises at your previous job?

☛ Name some areas where a facilities manager is responsible for legal compliance

☛ What’s your experience with Business Continuity Planning?

☛ What records is a facilities manager obliged to keep?

☛ How do you think COSHH (Control of Substances Hazardous to Health) regulations affect our business?

☛ What criteria/process do you use to choose service providers for [cleaning/landscaping/catering/etc.]?

☛ How do you feel about taking up some manual labor when necessary?

☛ What software have you used as a facilities manager?

☛ Tell me about a time you found it hard to coordinate everyone for a maintenance project. How did you resolve this?

☛ Describe the biggest challenge you have faced when trying to reduce operational costs

☛ Recall a time your department’s budget was almost exceeded. What did you do?

☛ Was there a time you found diversity among your subordinates a problem? How did you turn it around?

☛ Recall a time you spotted a potential hazard on the premises. What measures did you take to correct it?

☛ How can you save energy in a building by the use of Facility Management?

☛ What will you do if a contractor hired for the renovation of facilities is not using proper protection equipment?

☛ How would you make the necessary preparations (with reference to facilities) in case of an upcoming event to be held in your building?