Senior management-interviews-sample-interview-questions
0 likes614 views
The document provides sample interview questions for senior management positions covering 19 competence areas, including writing skills, presentation skills, project management skills, problem solving, management skills, innovation, communication, information management, change management, relationship management, business awareness, leadership, achievement orientation, strategic planning, negotiation skills, time management, human resource management, financial management, and monitoring and evaluation. The questions are designed to assess a candidate's capabilities and experience in each of these key areas required for senior management roles.
Senior management-interviews-sample-interview-questions
- 1. Senior Management Interviews – Sample Questions
- 2. Senior Management Interviews - Sample Interview Questions These sample questions should provide you with some ideas as to questions that might be asked to draw out a candidates’s capabilities against a range of common competences associated with any relatively senior management position. Competence Area Requirements Sample Questions 1. Writing Skills Writing reports, business plans, business emails/letters, promotional literature, etc. What type of writing have you done in your previous positions? What makes you believe that you are good at it? In your opinion, what are the main challenges when preparing written communications of all types? What positive and negative feedback have you received about your writing skills? Give an example where one of your reports was criticised. How do you plan the writing of a report? 2. Presentation Skills Delivering talks and using PowerPoint and other Visual Aids effectively when presenting to groups What experience have you had in delivering presentations? What feedback have you received on your performance? What do you think is your greatest strength as a presenter? Weakness? How do you prepare for an important presentation? 3. Project Management Skills Taking ownership for, and effectively managing projects Tell me about your experience of project management to date– give me a specific example of a time when you have managed a project. o If you were to plan that project again, is there anything that you would do differently? Describe a situation where one of your projects suffered a setback due to an unexpected change in circumstances. How did you keep things on track? What tools and resources do you use to help you manage projects? How do you prepare and monitor an appropriate budget for any given project? 4. Problem Solving and Decision Making Skills Analysing problems, using structured problem solving techniques and making effective decisions Tell me a little about the most challenging problem that you have had to solve in a work situation? How did you devise and implement a solution? Tell me about a decision that you made, which you knew would be unpopular with a group of people. How did you handle the decision-making process and how did you manage expectations? How do you enlist support of your staff to establish a common approach to solving a problem? What was one of the most difficult decisions that you ever had to make?
- 3. 5. Management Skills Managing large multi-level teams with respect to setting goals and priorities and achieving results What strengths do you think you have that makes others look up to you? How do you think your employees would describe working for you? What do you think employees are looking for from work-life today? How do you get the best out of your employees? Give us an example of where you had to deal with conflict within your team. How did you manage the situation? What would you do differently next time? What type of responsibilities do you delegate? Give examples of projects where you made best use of delegation. 6. Managing Innovation Defining and managing processes for managing innovation Tell us a little about a project or situation where you felt that the conventional approach would not be suitable. What challenges did you face and how did you address them? How did you define a new or better way of doing things? What do you believe are the important elements of an effective process for managing innovation within a business? How in the past have you involved your employees in coming up with new ideas and approaches? 7. Communication Ability to communicate effectively with multiple stakeholders What experience have you had communicating with diverse stakeholder groups? Describe a situation where you were able to influence others on an important issue. How do you prepare for an important meeting? What do you feel are the most important steps to take to get the best from your meetings? What do you think your past colleagues would say about you as regards your ability to communicate? 8. Information Management and ICT Skills Capability to analyse and assimilate information and the effective use of ICT resources What IT Software are you competent in using? Given me an example of where you think IT could be more effectively applied in your current role than it is at present? 9. Managing Change Championing and managing change throughout the business Tell me about the biggest change in a work situation that you have had to manage. How did you cope with it? What do you believe are the most critical steps to take when managing any change? What are some of the pitfalls to avoid?
- 4. 10. Relationship Management Developing and maintaining partnerships with internal and external stakeholders Who do you see as the main stakeholders for our business and what do you believe are their priorities needs and expectations? How would you set about establishing/improving communication with these stakeholders? How would you measure the effectiveness of those efforts? Describe a project where you needed to involve input from key stakeholders. How did you manage those relationships? How would you establish rapport with others who do not report to you but from whom you must obtain input/support to help you achieve your goals? 11. Business Awareness Understanding the internal and external business environments How do you keep up-to-date with local, national, and international trends in our industry? What do you think will be some of the critical trends that you would need to be aware of in relation to your new role? What partnerships/alliances do you think will be vital in achieving your goals in the new role? 12. Leadership Developing and sharing a vision for the business and capability to lead others in the desired direction What do you think are the fundamentals to successfully leading any business? How would you describe your leadership style? Give specific examples of how you apply this style? Describe a project or situation where you had to use different leadership styles to reach your goal. Have there ever been situations where you were less successful as a leader than you would have wanted to be? What did you learn from those events? What, in your opinion, are the critical factors that can help build effective organisations? How would you best motivate a team to deliver the desired results? 13. Achievement Orientation Striving to meet goals and objectives within agreed deadlines, facilitates and seeks to implement agreed decisions Tell us about a recent accomplishment that demonstrates a success in your present position Give an example of a time you worked under heavy stress and the sacrifices you made to achieve a certain goal? What would you intend to accomplish in the first year of your position? What criteria do you use to determine your own personal effectiveness? How do you handle a heavy workload?
- 5. 14. Strategic Planning Expertise in devising and implementing business strategy What experience have you had to date in developing and implementing strategy? Tell us a little bit about how that worked in practice? What do you think are the key strategic goals associated with this role? How would you intend to measure strategic effectiveness if you were successful in attaining this post? 15. Negotiation Skills Negotiating effectively with a range of internal and external stakeholders Give an example where you used your negotiating skills to achieve an outcome that was in everyone’s best interest? How do you deal with situations where you disagree with proposals by your superiors? What traits/qualities do you possess that you feel make you a good negotiator? 16. Time Management Managing time effectively to ensure delivery on personal and business targets and objectives What are the key goals and targets that you have in your current position? How do you ensure their achievement? Tell me how you plan your week? With reference to a day’s work, what steps do you take to organize and prioritize your tasks? 17. Human Resource Management Managing all legal and operational aspects of human resources relevant to the role What experience have you had in the recruitment and selection of senior employees/managers? Tell us a little bit about what you currently do to develop your key employees? What steps do you take to understand your employees or colleagues' personalities? Give an example where you found it hard to adjust to one particular employee/colleague? How do you provide feedback to your employees and how do you currently recognise their achievements? 18. Financial Management Directing or supporting budget preparation, implementation, and evaluation Describe what role you have had to date in budget preparation, implementation, and administration? Give us a brief overview of how you would prepare a budget for any project? How do you ensure costs are controlled in your current role? 19. Monitoring and Evaluation Capacity in monitoring and benchmarking of performance How do you ensure that the direction that you give to your employees is actually followed through upon? What key performance measures do you use to monitor performance in your current role? How do you currently compare them internally and externally to determine their effectiveness?