Shadowing Practice: TOP 10 MANAGER INTERVIEW QUESTIONS & ANSWERS! (How to PASS a Management Interview!) - Learn English Speaking with YouTube

If you have a manager interview coming up anytime soon, make sure you watch this video.

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If you have a manager interview coming up anytime soon, make sure you watch this video.

I have just completed a live management interview and here's what I said to pass.

Please take notes.

Welcome to this manager interview, Richard.

My name's Rebecca.

Please introduce yourself.

Well, first of all, thank you very much for inviting me to be interviewed for this management position today.

I would describe myself as a confident, resilient, results-driven and knowledgeable manager who supports the senior management team in their goals.

I have experience of managing difficult teams, achieving difficult and time-sensitive projects, and I can motivate the toughest of teams to ensure the company's strategic and commercial goals are met.

One of my greatest achievements as a manager was turning around an underperforming team that had behavioral issues.

I guided that team to be one of the most productive in the company.

As a manager, I always achieve my goals by getting to know my team, delegating tasks, sharing my vision, and empowering the people in my team to be the best they can be.

If you hire me as your manager, I will always be accountable for everything that happens in my team, and I will ensure I liaise with the senior management team often to update you on my team's progress.

Okay, thank you.

Richard, why do you want to be a manager?

I want to be a manager primarily because of the level of responsibility that comes with the position.

I thrive on the responsibility.

I am a strong problem solver who wants to take the lead in difficult situations.

And I also believe I am a natural leader.

I also want to be a manager because I enjoy coaching and mentoring other people and helping them realise their full potential.

So the entire job description and scope of a manager certainly fits my values, my strengths and my career aspirations.

What do you think are the most important skills and qualities needed to be a good manager?

You need a diverse set of skills and qualities to be an effective and competent manager.

You need strong interpersonal skills because you will come into contact with many different people in your duties as a manager and you need to adapt your style of communication while dealing with them.

So you need to be a strong communicator and listener and also be a good motivator.

It's your responsibility to motivate your team to get the most from them.

You need good organizational and delegational skills.

So you need to be a good delegator who delegates tasks to your team based on their strengths.

You need to be a good forward planner and strategic thinker, be capable of solving difficult problems and be a confident decision maker.

The decisions you make need to be in the best interests of your employer.

Finally, you need commercial awareness and understanding of how an organisation operates and you need to have mentoring and coaching skills too.

How would you deal with an underperforming member of your team?

I would deal with the underperformance immediately and confidently, because if you don't deal with underperformance straight away, it tells the rest of your team that you're incapable of dealing with it or you don't think it's important.

So I would sit down with the underperforming team members straight away and I would ask them to explain why they were underperforming.

I would point out to them the areas that they were not meeting the expected standards and ask them to explain why.

I would not jump to any conclusions.

They may be having personal problems at home or they may feel they haven't had the right training.

Once they've explained to me the reasons why they are underperforming, I would then set them a definitive plan of action of what they needed to do to put things right, including a strict timescale.

I would then closely monitor them and supervise them and provide the right level of support until they got back up to speed.

Richard, what would you do within the first 30 days of starting work as a manager?

Within the first 30 days of starting work as your manager, I would do several things.

First, I would meet with the senior management team to establish the organisation's commercial and strategic goals.

I would then introduce myself to my team and I would observe them for several weeks.

I think it's important to observe the performance of your team so you get to know how they operate, their strengths, their weaknesses, and areas for improvement.

I would then sit down with my entire team and I would outline the areas that I felt they were doing well and also the areas that I felt they could improve on.

And I would set them targets to achieve and delegate tasks accordingly based on the company's commercial and strategic goals.

Finally, at the end of the first 30 days, I would sit down with each team member and carry out in-depth performance reviews.

Tell me, what's the difference between leadership and management?

The difference between leadership and management is leadership is directing and motivating a team of people towards an end goal.

Management, on the other hand, is the controlling of resources and allocating them to achieve those goals.

So there's a distinct difference between leadership and management.

However, to be a strong manager, you need to use both of them at the same time.

How would you describe your management style?

I use a combination of three different management styles, autocratic, transformational and delegative.

So I will be autocratic when needed and direct my team exactly what needs to be done and by when.

I will more often use an autocratic style of management when things are urgent and we have important projects and tasks to complete.

I will use a transformational style of management, especially when I am trying to implement the changes required by my employer.

And finally, I will use a delegative style of management to allocate tasks to my team members based on their strengths.

This empowers my team to achieve the goals we want to achieve.

Give an example of a time when you coached or mentored someone.

When I started work in my previous management position, I undertook performance reviews with all members of staff.

One team member told me that she wanted to eventually become a team leader in the organization.

So I offered to coach and mentor her.

So I gave her leadership tasks to carry out.

I told her to lead on individual projects so she could gain the relevant experience.

And I also asked her to shadow me on various days of the week.

So she gained a thorough understanding of what it was like to be a manager and a leader.

And I'm pleased to say after six months of shadowing and carrying out different leadership tasks, she eventually gained promotion as a team leader.

How do you delegate responsibility for a project or assignment?

I always delegate responsibility based on the strengths, qualities and knowledge of my team members.

I also delegate responsibility based on their career aspirations and what they are passionate about.

When you delegate tasks based on somebody's passion, they are more likely to do a better job for you.

So I gain an understanding of my team members' passions, strengths, and what they're good at doing during the individual performance reviews that I will carry out within the first 30 days of starting work as your manager.

And Richard, tell me, why should we hire you as a manager?

I think you should hire me as your manager because I'm confident.

I always take the lead in difficult situations.

I can coach and mentor people to achieve their full potential and I am always accountable for everything that happens in my team.

As a manager, you will have somebody who is responsible and supports the senior management team in their goals and objectives.

You should also hire me as your manager because I have created a 90-day plan of action of what I will do when I start work in the position.

And in fact, I have brought along with me that 30, 60 and 90 day plan of action and I would like to leave you a copy.

OK, that's the end of the interview.

Do you have any questions?

Thank you.

Yes, I have just two questions I would like to ask, please.

The first question is, can you tell me about the strengths and weaknesses of the team I would be managing?

And can you also tell me what the long term objectives of the organisation are?

OK, so as you can see, I easily passed my management interview.

Now, if you want to download the scripted answers I just gave in that interview, click that link right now in the top right hand corner of the video.

Head straight through to my website, PassMyInterview.com, and you can download those scripted responses I gave in that management interview, plus an additional brilliant answers to difficult management interview questions.

Check out that link right now.

Also, please make sure you hit that subscribe button, give the video a like, and don't forget to connect with me on LinkedIn.

I have put my LinkedIn link in the description below the video.

It is always a pleasure to connect with like-minded professionals such as yourself.

Thank you for watching, and I wish you all the best for passing your management interview.

Have a great day.

What is the Shadowing Technique?

Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.

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Shadowing Practice: TOP 10 MANAGER INTERVIEW QUESTIONS & ANSWERS! (How to PASS a Management Interview!) - Learn English Speaking with YouTube

Why practice speaking with this video?

Grammar & Expressions in Context

Common Pronunciation Traps

What is the Shadowing Technique?

Shadowing Practice: TOP 10 MANAGER INTERVIEW QUESTIONS & ANSWERS! (How to PASS a Management Interview!) - Learn English Speaking with YouTube

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Why practice speaking with this video?

Grammar & Expressions in Context

Common Pronunciation Traps

What is the Shadowing Technique?