Are you about to do an interview for a job in which seeks people management skills?
I have spent some time preparing a series of sample questions and answers that cover the area of People Management.
If you are applying for any kind of people management role then I would suggest your read through my sample interview questions below and spend some time thinking about how you would answer one or more of these.
I start with an opening question from an interviewer and then move to include sample supplementary or follow up questions. I have given some guidelines on the type of answers the interviewer will be looking for.
Ideally, you should try and answer the opening question in a comprehensive manner so that you can eliminate the need for the majority if not all the supplementary questions.
Don’t forget to use the STAR technique to help you structure your answers.
Opening Interview Question
- Give me an example of when you have been required to explain a complex idea/concept to a client.
Supplementary Interview Question
- Why did you need to explain it?
- How did you prepare?
- What response did you get?
- What lessons did you learn?
What the interviewer is looking for
- Clear sense of purpose
- Structured approach
- Put themselves in the other person’s shoes
- Evaluated and learnt from the experience
Opening Interview Question
- What approaches have been most effective for you in persuading others to your own point of view?
Supplementary Interview Question
- How do you decide on your approach?
- What have been the responses you have experienced in the past?
- When has your strategy been less successful?
- What was the cause?
- How have you adapted your strategy over time?
What the interviewer is looking for
- Awareness of self
- Awareness of personal power styles
- Awareness of influencing styles
- Considered the other person’s perspective
- Careful preparation
- Evaluated success and applied in other situations
Opening Interview Question
- Give an example where everyone was against an idea that you had?
Supplementary Interview Questions
- What did you do?
- What happened as a result?
- Why do you feel that that approach worked?
What the interviewer is looking for
- Logical
- How do they deal with emotions – theirs and others?
- Identifies pros and cons of other points of view and the other’s perspective
Opening Interview Question
- Describe an occasion when you encountered difficulties within a team you were managing
Supplementary Interview Questions
- What were the difficulties?
- How were they overcome?
- Who were the key people in the team with whom you had the difficulty?
- Why did they behave in the way that they did?
- How did they respond to your response?
- What was the relationship like after the issue was resolved?
What the interviewer is looking for
- Definition of the issue
- Understanding of the reasons for the response in others
- Logical approach to the solution
- Positive outcome – turned it around
Opening Interview Question
- How have you motivated others to do well?
Supplementary Interview Questions
- How did you know what motivated them?
- Why did it motivate them?
- How did you manage their expectations?
- What was the outcome of your actions?
What the interviewer is looking for
- Understanding the benefits of intrinsic motivation
- Non judgmental
- Clear course of action
- Different strategies for different people
Opening Interview Question
- What problems and successes have you experienced when delegating parts of your job/a task to others?
Supplementary Interview Questions
- What was the task?
- Why did you want to delegate it?
- Who might you have chosen in your team?
- Why did you choose the person you did?
- How did you go about it?
- What was their response?
- How did you determine the level of support?
- What was the outcome?
What the interviewer is looking for
- Clear understanding of principle behind clear delegation
- Selection process
- Awareness of options
- Sensitive approach to the individual
- Careful to delegate, not abdicate
- Measurable success
Opening Interview Question
- What do you consider to be the best ways to encourage and reward team members?
Supplementary Interview Questions
- How do you enable your team to achieve its objectives?
- How do you know what is important for your team?
- What part does feedback play in your leadership style?
- How do you get feedback from your team?
- How do you deal with negative feedback on your performance
- When has that happened?
- What did you do?
What the interviewer is looking for
- Clarity of purpose
- Alignment of objectives to the business plan
- Team briefing
- Awareness of the need for balanced feedback
Opening Interview Question
- How do you manage deadlines?
Supplementary Interview Questions
- What is your process?
- Give me examples which illustrate this process
- What would you do differently next time?
What the interviewer is looking for
- What is your style: do you plan or do you go up to the wire?
- How flexible are you?
- How well do you negotiate?
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Opening Interview Question
- How do you deal with opposition to your proposals/ideas?
Supplementary Interview Questions
- What is the response to that?
- When has that approach been unsuccessful?
- What did you do?
- What were the lessons?
- Why did other oppose you?
- Have you been persuaded to change your mind?
What the interviewer is looking for
- Awareness of others
- Careful strategy to address the other points of view
Opening Interview Question
- How would you describe a good leader?
Supplementary Interview Questions
- Why?
What the interviewer is looking for
- Recognise critical qualities/behaviour
Opening Interview Question
- Who is responsible for output within a team?
Supplementary Interview Question
- Why do you believe that?
What the interviewer is looking for
- Collective responsibility
Opening Interview Questions
- When have you had to prepare people for change? What steps did you take to ensure it was effective?
Supplementary Interview Questions
- What do you believe encourages people to accept change?
- How great a change issue was this?
- How did people respond?
- What did you do?
- Why did you choose that approach?
- What was your communication process?
- How do you manage in a culture of continuous change?
- What model of change do you use? Why?
What the interviewer is looking for
- Understood the key issues
- Awareness of peoples’ response to change
- Awareness of a change model/ process
- Has a communication strategy for change
Opening Interview Question
- What makes a team work well?
Supplementary Interview Question
- Why do you believe that?
What the interviewer is looking for
- What proof have you of that point of view?
In summary if the role you are interviewing for involves people management then questions like these should be anticipated and therefore there should be a high level of preparedness.
Click here to read Interview Questions about Change
Click here to read Interview Questions about Client Relationship Management
Gillian Knight is the MD of Kala Management Solutions and has extensive experience within the field of HR. She has assisted thousands of people write job winning CVs as well providing one to one interview coaching to job seekers.