How To Interview Potential Managers & Questions To Ask Them

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Hiring a manager can be a difficult task, especially for a small business. Managers have a lot of responsibility, which makes selecting a great one so critical to your success. There’s a lot that goes into finding a great manager, and we’ve got tips that will help you make a decision on hiring a manager with confidence.

Key Takeaways:

• Management in small businesses is critical to company success, which is why hiring the right person is so critical.

• Managers in small businesses often have a variety of tasks that can go well beyond the demands of a manager in a larger company.

• Preparing for hiring and understanding what you want in a manager is just as important as the process of hiring itself.

• Pre-establishing your interview questions for a manager helps you know what you’re looking for and helps you narrow down the applicants.

Why Great Managers Matter to Small Businesses

A manager is responsible for day-to-day operations within a company. They’re not only in charge of your personnel, but they’re also responsible for the process. Some managers oversee a small area of the company, and others oversee the entire operations; either way, their role is critical to your business’s success.

Not only are managers responsible for smooth operations, but they also have a huge influence on your staff. If your managers aren’t well-liked and do not connect with people well, they can destroy company morale. On the flip side, good managers solidify your team and build trust and company engagement.

In a small business, there typically aren’t many managers, making each one more important and vital to your company.

What Does a Manager Do in a Small Business

When it’s your business, you get to define the roles of your employees, including management. Some common tasks that managers take on in small businesses include:

• General oversight of employees

• Oversees day-to-day operations

• Recruit, interview, and hire new employees

• Train new hires

• Manage inventory and supplies

• Handle production and order fulfillment

• Advertising and marketing

• Administrative duties

• Accounting and budgeting

• Handling some human resources tasks

Again, your company is your baby which means that you get to decide who to hire and what their responsibilities will be. The best course of action is to determine what duties they will perform before you hire anyone so you know you’re looking for the right skills.

Tips for Hiring a Manager

Before the interview, before placing a job ad, review the following tips, so you’re absolutely sure what you’re looking for.

• Compile a list of tasks. Consider all aspects of your business and what areas you’re going to entrust to your manager. Make a list so you know what you’re looking for and so you can tell prospective hires what they’ll be expected to do.

• Consider personality traits. What type of person do you want to manage your employees? Are you looking for someone with years of experience in business or someone who is relatively new and can be trained? Do you want a go-getter or an easy-going individual? Write down the most desirable traits.

• Investigate leadership styles. What type of leader do you think would fit in best with your staff and with the duties you expect them to perform? The five most common leadership styles are: transformational, delegative, authoritative, transactional, and participative. Learn a bit about each so you know what to look for.

• Look within the company. Sometimes, the best person for the job is already on the job; they’re just in the wrong position. Your current employees may be a great pool to fish in when looking for a manager who understands your business.

• Create a great job post. Write your job post and then have it proofed by several people. Don’t just look for spelling and grammar issues; proof the post for clarity and to see if it sounds like a good representation of the job you’re advertising.

• Create a list of interview questions.

Manager Interview Questions

Let’s dig into the interview questions. Make sure your questions reflect the job you imagine your manager doing and the skills you want them to have. The following are some suggestions that give you insight into questions you should ask.

Work and Career History Interview Questions

These questions are designed to give you a deeper insight into the experiences the applicant has had. They can also be good at putting someone at ease because they should be giving answers that they know well.

1. Tell me about your very first job ever.

2. How did you move from that job to your last job?

3. At what point did you decide that you were interested in management?

4. Tell me about your experience with leadership.

5. Have you had a manager you looked up to? What about them did you admire?

Behavioral Questions for a Manager Interview

These questions are designed to give you some insight into the personality of the manager and how they might handle situations they could encounter.

1. Tell me about a time when you made a mistake and how you handled it.

2. In regard to the above situation, would you handle it the same way today, or would you change something?

3. What would you do if an employee continually lies to you?

4. How have you handled disciplinary actions with employees in the past?

5. Do you find it easy to make friends?

Management Communication Interviews

Learn more about how the applicant communicates and how they will communicate in their new position. This is important because open communication with management is critical to strong work bonds.

1. What approach do you take to communicating with people you manage?

2. Can you tell me about a time when you experienced a communication problem and how you handled it?

3. What management methods do you use, and how do they help you communicate with your team?

4. Tell me your view of meetings in business and how you would run them.

5. How do or would you manage personality conflicts between employees?

Soft Skill Interview Questions for Managers

Soft skills are those that you don’t learn in school but can be just as important when it comes to interpersonal communication and compassionate management.

1. Tell me how you prioritize your daily tasks and how you ensure deadlines are met?

2. What aspect of management do you struggle with, and how do you work to do the best you can?

3. Tell me about a time when things didn’t turn out as expected or didn’t go as planned (at work or in your personal life) and how you dealt with the situation.

4. Think back to the managers you’ve had and tell me who you respected the most and why? What traits did they have that meant the most to you?

5. Tell me about something you consider a big failure in your professional career and how you’ve navigated it and bounced back.

Hard Skill Interview Questions for Managers

This is tricky because you may need to hire someone with specific knowledge about your industry or process. Be sure to customize your questions so you can see how thorough and deep their understanding is. The following are some generic management hard skill questions, but you’ll definitely need to add your own tailor-made hard skills questions to reflect your business.

1. What is your educational background, and how does it apply specifically to this job?

2. What have you done in your professional pursuits that make you a good manager or a good fit for this company?

3. What do you feel makes you the ideal fit for this job?

4. Tell me about my business and describe what we do to the best of your ability.

5. What is your experience with computers, and how do you feel that helps you be a better manager or be better in this industry?

Interviewing Managers FAQ

1. Do I need to prep my management interview questions?

   Yes, preparing your interview questions before hiring a manager is very important. Your first step should be to thoroughly understand what you want your manager to do and what skills you want them to have; then, you’ll be able to come up with questions that help you decide if that individual has those abilities.

2. Do all managers do the same thing?

   No, most companies define the role of the manager to fit their needs. It’s very common for a manager to have different duties, even within the same company. Make sure you’re defining your management role to fit your business.

3. If someone was a great manager somewhere else, would they be a great manager for my business?

   Not necessarily. Some great management skills are easily transferrable from one business to another, especially when it comes to their soft skills and ability to communicate. That said, if your manager needs to have specific industry skills, knowledge, and training, then you’ll need to look for a manager that has those abilities.

4. Can I use a hiring agency to fill my management roles?

   Yes, you can use a hiring agency to find candidates for your management openings, but you should be involved in the interview process.

   Managers are key in any business, but they’re a critical part of the success of small businesses. While hiring agencies can do a great job of narrowing down the pool of applicants, you should have some say in who the final candidates or the person who gets the job is.

Author

Kristin Kizer

Kristin Kizer is an award-winning writer, television and documentary producer, and content specialist who has worked on a wide variety of written, broadcast, and electronic publications. A former writer/producer for The Discovery Channel, she is now a freelance writer and delighted to be sharing her talents and time with the wonderful Zippia audience.