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Wednesday, October 23, 2019
Top 10 Interview Questions for Hiring the Best Managers
www.lifehack.org: Whether you’re considering a management role or wanting to hire the best managers, a common assumption is that being a high performing technical expert makes an ideal manager. This idea is precarious for both the candidate and employer.
Considering that we talk a lot about the hiring process in Production Personnel Management, this was a cool article to come across. I’ve never thought too hard about the key mindset shifts and basic skills and competencies of an effective manager. It is frustrating to think that often the wrong manager is hired because they’ve been with a team, and not because they actually have the skills to progress into said management position. What’s interesting about this article is that it provides these important questions - but it doesn’t tell you what the answer to these questions should be. I don’t think there is a standard answer, but I think there are definitely things to look for within an answer from a management candidate that will help you understand if they’re the right person for the job. These questions about conflict, difficult conversations, mentorship, management style, flexibility, appreciation, desires (why someone wants to be a manager), constructive feedback, and managing unique personalities. These questions are thoughtful and I am definitely saving this article for future use.
I think this set of questions is extremely reasonable to have as a baseline for interviewing managers and if you are interviewing for a management position I do not think that any of these questions should take you by surprise. To be completely honest if you are a manager or someone thinking about becoming one these should be questions that you are asking yourself on a regular basis in order to improve your own leadership skills. This article demonstrates the importance of soft skills in management positions instead of looking solely at technical skills. I feel as though particularly in the Technical Direction realm it can be difficult to feel as though the soft skills needed for management are of the same value as the hard skills needed to execute the scenery. This ongoing conversation reminding myself of this became a lot easier after this summer when I was in the Technical Director role and looked at my own skill set and how it suited me in that position. I was able to do my job very well and that was largely informed by my soft skills and ability to communicate. My baseline of hard skills allowed me to function well but I also figured out that I will never know how to solve every problem off the top of my head but I have the ability to find the answers I need to get the job done.
Hard skills and soft skills are important when it comes to managerial positions but I have noticed that people in managerial positions tend to use and work with soft skills than hard skills. So when reading this article, I was not surprised that all of the questions were soft skill based. Everyone can have good technical skills but not everyone can have the interpersonal skills that it takes to be a good person in a managerial position. It is also goof to note that an individual cannot be perfect at using and maintaining soft skills. This is something that people will keep working on and developing over time and while working with people. Articles like this help people prepare and evaluate their positions or where they are at, it helps identify strengths and weakness that can be improved upon. Having both set of skills is very valuable because it allows the individual understand the work that is being done and be able to relate and communicate with the individuals they manage and work with.
These are good questions to stem from when hiring a manager. It makes sense that you would ask these because it is highly likely that what the questions ask about could happen and require you to perform just that. Of course, these only relate to what the person might have to do while in the position, it is also important to note that you should ask someone questions about how they would fit into the company or team. You want people that can both fit in well and perform well for the company. Yet it remains very good advice when it comes to connecting with stakeholders and prepping for interviews, etc. This is definitely a worthwhile article to read. I also agree with Lauren Sousa, these are also good questions to be asking yourself regularly and even looking to improve in when possible. When situations come up that require these skills, the better prepared and thought out how you are going to handle it, the smoother it will go which usually means a better solution and shorter amount of time causing delay that will occur.
Since most of the time people leave management and not jobs, if you want to retain your team, it’s worth looking into what they need in order to give their best. This article brings a really good point about talking to the people the new manager will be supervising. It’s common to just hire someone who knows what to do on their field, and does it well. And just add a line that says “Must have good managerial skills” or something like it. I believe that surveying the population and gathering their thoughts about who their ideal manager might be really beneficial for the search. It’s clear that you’re not hiring just with what the crew wants in mind, and chances are you might not get an exact match. But you can tailor the search to identify potential. If the manager you are hiring will be able to match well with that crew and if it could visualize them filling the needs they have.
5 comments:
Considering that we talk a lot about the hiring process in Production Personnel Management, this was a cool article to come across. I’ve never thought too hard about the key mindset shifts and basic skills and competencies of an effective manager. It is frustrating to think that often the wrong manager is hired because they’ve been with a team, and not because they actually have the skills to progress into said management position. What’s interesting about this article is that it provides these important questions - but it doesn’t tell you what the answer to these questions should be. I don’t think there is a standard answer, but I think there are definitely things to look for within an answer from a management candidate that will help you understand if they’re the right person for the job. These questions about conflict, difficult conversations, mentorship, management style, flexibility, appreciation, desires (why someone wants to be a manager), constructive feedback, and managing unique personalities. These questions are thoughtful and I am definitely saving this article for future use.
I think this set of questions is extremely reasonable to have as a baseline for interviewing managers and if you are interviewing for a management position I do not think that any of these questions should take you by surprise. To be completely honest if you are a manager or someone thinking about becoming one these should be questions that you are asking yourself on a regular basis in order to improve your own leadership skills. This article demonstrates the importance of soft skills in management positions instead of looking solely at technical skills. I feel as though particularly in the Technical Direction realm it can be difficult to feel as though the soft skills needed for management are of the same value as the hard skills needed to execute the scenery. This ongoing conversation reminding myself of this became a lot easier after this summer when I was in the Technical Director role and looked at my own skill set and how it suited me in that position. I was able to do my job very well and that was largely informed by my soft skills and ability to communicate. My baseline of hard skills allowed me to function well but I also figured out that I will never know how to solve every problem off the top of my head but I have the ability to find the answers I need to get the job done.
Hard skills and soft skills are important when it comes to managerial positions but I have noticed that people in managerial positions tend to use and work with soft skills than hard skills. So when reading this article, I was not surprised that all of the questions were soft skill based. Everyone can have good technical skills but not everyone can have the interpersonal skills that it takes to be a good person in a managerial position. It is also goof to note that an individual cannot be perfect at using and maintaining soft skills. This is something that people will keep working on and developing over time and while working with people. Articles like this help people prepare and evaluate their positions or where they are at, it helps identify strengths and weakness that can be improved upon. Having both set of skills is very valuable because it allows the individual understand the work that is being done and be able to relate and communicate with the individuals they manage and work with.
These are good questions to stem from when hiring a manager. It makes sense that you would ask these because it is highly likely that what the questions ask about could happen and require you to perform just that. Of course, these only relate to what the person might have to do while in the position, it is also important to note that you should ask someone questions about how they would fit into the company or team. You want people that can both fit in well and perform well for the company. Yet it remains very good advice when it comes to connecting with stakeholders and prepping for interviews, etc. This is definitely a worthwhile article to read. I also agree with Lauren Sousa, these are also good questions to be asking yourself regularly and even looking to improve in when possible. When situations come up that require these skills, the better prepared and thought out how you are going to handle it, the smoother it will go which usually means a better solution and shorter amount of time causing delay that will occur.
Since most of the time people leave management and not jobs, if you want to retain your team, it’s worth looking into what they need in order to give their best. This article brings a really good point about talking to the people the new manager will be supervising. It’s common to just hire someone who knows what to do on their field, and does it well. And just add a line that says “Must have good managerial skills” or something like it. I believe that surveying the population and gathering their thoughts about who their ideal manager might be really beneficial for the search. It’s clear that you’re not hiring just with what the crew wants in mind, and chances are you might not get an exact match. But you can tailor the search to identify potential. If the manager you are hiring will be able to match well with that crew and if it could visualize them filling the needs they have.
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