advice on interview questions

Hey..I've got some interviews coming up and I have been told what questions are usually asked by this interviewer.
I could use some help in coming up with good answers. The job would have me directly in charge of 10-15 ppl. As a supervisor other ppl can come to me but I will be responsible for training, watching, etc of my group of ppl. I've forgotten the rest..dang.
There are other questions which will be library related and so I can handle those since I work at one.


Anyway here's the questions I can be expecting.

1) What do you feel are the most important qualities a person in a leadership role should have?

2) Please tell us about your scheduling and time management skills.

3) A person is shirking their duties, what steps do you take?

Please don't take offense;

I firmly believe that the most important qualities a person in a leadership role should have would be honesty followed by the ability to understand their limitations.

If you need to ask about these 3 questions, you are probably not the right person for the job. Remember, you would be responsible for the careers of 15 people, and if you don't have the experience to do it you will screw people by accident. Eventually you will learn to be a manager, but that's at teh expense of the workers.

I'm also a firm believer that letting people 'cram' for interviews by learning the questions beforehand invalidates the interview. There may be a very well qualified person who does not get the job because he or she was not able to rehearse their answers like you are doing.

I've hired a few people that were honest about their experience level. I liked their attitude and the skills they already had, so I was willing to mentor them.

Last, but not least, is that people who fudge resumes and cram for interviews are frequently overstressed when and if they do get the job. Many become miserable and end up quitting.

Good luck.

Daniel

My big thing is that there is a big difference between a manager and a leader. Anyone can be a manager. A leader is a truly different animal. Leaders have vision. Managers have budgets. Leaders inspire people. Managers have employees. Leaders can be defined by the impact they have on those around them and, in time, the organization as a whole (CEOs). Managers, well, managers stay under the radar until they can collect that gold watch an move on (Middle Manager of whatever-is-important-today). Not all good leaders are liked, but they are all respected.

As you can see the answer to the question of effective leadership is not cut and dry. The answer to the question of effective management can be cookie cutter. Of the questions you gave 1 is a management question, 2 are leadership questions.

Unfortunately I do agree with Daniel; if someone doesn't have a *real* internalized connection with who they are as a leader (which really is the point of the questions) they are just pandering to the question. I've seen too many managers that end up ruining departments and, with enough influence, entire companies in these situations.

-F

I have to agree and disagree with D & F. I agree that it's critical for a leader to be honest and know his or her limitations. I believe it's unethical to lie on your resume. I think leadership is partly nature and partly nurture, you have to have it in you, and you have to learn.

However, I believe it's foolish not to prepare for interviews. I don't think you should try to scam the interviewer or pretend to be someone you clearly are not, but I encourage you to explore the kinds of questions that you may be asked and to reflect on how you would answer them.

This reflection and thought process should help you identify your strengths and weaknesses, and give you confidence in what you think you can accomplish. What are your core abilities, how can you contribute, what do you want out of the experience, these are critical questions you need to ponder.

It's not like cheating on a test, and you aren't guaranteed to be asked these questions, but you will clearly be asked about your management style, your ability to motivate your team, and how you deal with problems. It could be a shirker, or a talker, or a chronic late arriver, and you should be prepared to discuss your approach to discipline.

There is no one answer. Saying crap like, "I believe a leader must be strong and motivate his employees, but be able to carry out discipline while mindful of the needs and goals of the company" is, well, crap.

Instead, what are your abilities, how can you relate them to the challenges of this job, what past experiences highlight these qualities? What have you admired or disliked about your managers and bosses past, and how can those experiences help you be a better leader?

I've seen many people thrust into a leadership position,,by design or accident, and how they perform reflects their abilities. If you are a liar or good only on paper, that will only get you so far.

So, I guess I haven't answered your questions, but I hope I've given you something to chew on and help you consider your skills and appropriateness for this job.

Lots of luck
daloosh

I've never been turned down for a job where I walked into the interview as if I already HAD the job and turned it around to where *I* was asking the questions. A good leader will always take charge... regardless of the situation... without being obnoxious and pushy, of course... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

No offence taken. I should've given more background info like I have below. It looks like I'm just a newbie who's applying for a job that he's not qualified for.

[ QUOTE ]
There may be a very well qualified person who does not get the job because he or she was not able to rehearse their answers like you are doing

[/ QUOTE ]
Unfortunately this is very true. But, I'd like to shed some light on my situation here. It's a bit different from that of a normal jobseeker. All job postings I've applied for are internal. No one who doesn't already work for the library even gets to apply. My workplace is unionized, job positions often go to those who've been here longest, regardless of their qualifications. I've applied for many positions in which I've been more qualified than the person who got the nod but because they've been working here longer that I've been alive. So in the end, I don't even get to an interview cuz they interview ONLY the person with the most seniority and then hire that person. No chance for me to even show I am more qualified in an interview. Even though I have 4 yrs of comp sci w/bachelor to back me up while person who gets job graduated highschool 25 years ago. This was for a position in our IT dept.

I can also tell you that I'm not the only person who will know what these questions will be. And that the questions I posted may not even be the ones asked.
Applicants who come to my branch for interviews have shown me their checklist of possible questions they had prepared due to them having been to previous interviews w/my manager.

This is the 1st time I've ever managed to get an interview in the years I've been working so I want to do the best I can. The pay I'm getting and the increase the new position gives is not a large one and frankly, I can get a better paying job elsewhere with LESS responsibility too. But I LIKE my job and the ppl I'll be working with if I get this new position.
I do have an idea of what I'd say in an interview. I've got my current track record to show that I'm competent in dealing with my 4 staff. But if I'm competing against someone who's been in the system longer than I have, I'll do anything to give me an extra advantage over their seniority.

I currently work a one of the larger branches in my library system and I have 4 whom I am responsible for. The new position will have me work in a smaller environment with less depts so the number of underlings is higher. Overall, the job is pretty similar to what I've been doing for the last 3 years.
The big thing for me is I haven't done an interview in a long time.
I don't have all the terminology down and would like my answers to come across as more professional. In my normal work day, it's very casual, no dress code, even dealing with staff, unless there are problems, you wouldn't know that I was the supervisor in the group. I'm worried that I'll come out looking too casual.

EDIT: This is also only the 3rd interview I've EVER had to do in my life. 1 was for fastfood.
1 was for entry level position at the library. I worked way up from there w/o needing to apply for different positions.

Yes, that throws a different light on the issue.

Use the experience from your time as a supervisor to guide your answers. You've dealt with people and problems, so you should be able to draw on what you actually did to handle the question.

Example; A person is shirking their duties, what steps do you take?
You reply can relate that in a similar situation, where Sam was unable to complete task X, you helped him by doing Y.

"In a similar situation, I had assigned book return processing to Jim, but he was consistantly unable to finish before closing. I learned that he was skimming the interesting titles. I worked with him on how to concentrate on the task at hand, so that he could process them quicker."


Most companies want non-confrontational problem solvers.


For "Please tell us about your scheduling and time management skills." simply recount a project that you or your team accomplished on time.


The answer to "important qualities a person in a leadership role" will vary from manager to manager. If your manager has an MBA, he will value education and proper business practices. If your manager does not have a degree he will most likely value experience and people skills. A Type A manager will expect a different level of energy than other managers. In almost every case, if you know your manager you can look at their values and read that back to them.


I once decided I needed practice doing interviews, so I answered some ads. It resulted in my retirement from 25 years at the phone company. My new job paid 50% more. It was my second interview.

Daniel