How to prepare for a manager interview?

A Management interview will focus primarily on your leadership skills and experience, but an interviewer will also ask questions about your background, qualifications, and communication skills.

Interviews for management roles are likely to focus more on your leadership style, interpersonal communication skills, and your ability to navigate difficult situations. In addition to detailing your skills and experience, interviewing for your first management role is as much about your background as it is about your ability to inspire and motivate a team.

Popular interview questions for managers:

• How would you describe your approach to leadership?

• What is your working style?

• What kind of management experience do you have?

• In what type of working environments do you thrive?

• Do you have experience or education in this role/sector/vertical?

• What's your approach to delegating work to employees? How do you ensure that tasks are completed?

• How "hands-on" of a manager are you?

• How do you support an underperforming team member?

• Can you provide examples of when you have had to deliver negative feedback?

• What strategies do you use to motivate your team?

It is best to come up with real-world examples whenever possible. If you don't have previous management job experience, think about examples from your time at school, volunteer work, or other work examples that may relate.

The list of questions below is by no means comprehensive, but it's a good starting point as you prepare for a management interview. Practice these questions until you are comfortable verbalizing them.

When preparing for a management interview, remember these three things: 1) avoid cliche answers, 2) give solid examples, and 3) focus on your leadership skills.

Your ability to personalize your answers and give specific examples in support of those answers will differentiate you from other candidates competing for the same position.

Finally, a great resource in helping you prepare for your management comes down to doing your research. You do not just want to research the company's history, mission, and values; you also want to check out reviews from current and former employers regarding the interview process.

This is a great way to find out key interview information, such as how long it will be, the number of interviews, how they are conducted, and even interview questions based on the position.