Assistant managers play an important role across a multitude of industries. When hiring for this position, look for someone with strong leadership skills that also values teamwork. Ask candidates about their specific leadership experience, conflict resolution abilities, and general knowledge of both your industry and company.
Candidates should also demonstrate that they understand the role’s importance and their expected level of responsibility. The best Assistant Mangers will show a business acumen and strategic planning ability.
Use the following questions as more comprehensive guide when hiring for this position.
Best Assistant Manager Interview Questions
Describe your management style. Also, how would fellow coworkers describe it?
Get a feel for how the candidate operates among team members. (Be sure to also conduct a reference check to confirm any answers you get with this question.)
What would you do if an employee was underperforming?
This situational question allows the candidate to give an anecdotal glimpse of how he or she would handle this type of difficult conversation. How would the candidate go about fixing this? How would this underperformance be measured? Is the assistant manager candidate willing to step up to the plate and act quickly?
Tell me about a time you had a conflict with your supervisor. How did you resolve it?
Working in tandem with the manager means the assistant manager must truly implement teamwork. Ask the candidate to provide an example of a manager-assistant manager conflict. What was the issue? How was it resolved? Finally, how was this relationship moving forward from that incident? Dig deep on this question to find out how the candidate handles conflict.
Why do you want to work at our company?
An excellent assistant manager would thoroughly research your business before walking into the interview. What might be his or her goals in this position if offered the role of assistant manager? What drew the candidate to this job opening and company? This is one of the top assistant manager interview questions, as it reveals the candidate’s level of research and interest.
How do you manage a variety of different personalities around the office?
An assistant manager must be able to cater to various personality types. Look for experience over hypotheticals on this one — so has the candidate already had to adapt to a range of working styles and personalities? Ask the candidate to provide concrete anecdotes.
How would you balance leadership between you and your manager?
This could present a challenge for any assistant manager. Does the candidate know how to balance duties and share in the leadership role? Find out what they perceive as the best approach to sharing responsibilities. Be sure to check the candidate’s references to see how this may have played out in a past role.
If you’re looking to hire an assistant manager, then TruPath can help find the best fit for your company. What other assistant manager interview questions would you add to this list? Let us know!
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