Financial company is building a new web application. The team consists of programmers writing code and another team building IT infrastructure. Previous PM was too technical for their taste. They are looking for a PM who will "click" with their current team.
QUESTIONS ASKED:
What kind of leader/manager are you?
What is your leadership style?
How do you manage your team?
PS. There will be members of the team listening/present during the interview. Saving Changes...
When answering interview questions, some great advice I got from a hiring manager in a job that I wasn't selected before is to focus on aligning your own answer with the needs of the job.
You could say "I adapt my style to the needs of the position." But that lacks punch. They may not be able to interpret your answer, and you may not have said anything that they can write down based on their hiring criteria.
When I've made this suggestion before, people have commented that the job description doesn't provide much information to tailor your answer to their needs. This is why you want to prepare for the interview. Can you research the company, talk to people there, or find some other way to analyze their needs? If not, you may be able to demonstrate that you are a good fit by evaluating for yourself what you think the position requires, and tailor your answers accordingly. When I interview people that appear not to even know what job they're applying for, they don't often get the job. Saving Changes...
Can anyone please kindly advise?
Thank you Saving Changes...
Sergio Luis ConteHelping to create solutions for everyone| Worldwide based OrganizationsBuenos Aires, Argentina
For me the question is simple: I could perform the leadership style is defined into your company strategy just in case it matches with my
essence as a human being, Saving Changes...
I would answer based on my own personal style bearing in mind the needs of the prospective job. I don't know anything about your own personality or the job requirements so I can't really tell you how to answer about yourself.
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1 reply by ANTON SHPIGEL
Jun 23, 2020 4:01 PM
ANTON SHPIGEL
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"I would answer based on my own personal style bearing in mind the needs of the prospective job."
Keith, please ignore my original post completley, how would you answer the following question:
What kind of leader/manager are you?
Saving Changes...
Emeka AlugbuoProject Manager| Washington HospitalAtlanta GA, United States
Hi Anton,
I'm not a hiring manager, actually just got my certification a few months ago myself, how ever I'll advice that a question such as this would employ deductive reasoning, I would start with figuring out the reason why there is such a communication barrier between the the PM and team, the question sounds as though the PM lacked soft skills, as important as it is to deliver results that meet requirements, its important to to have the requisite communication skills along with empathy for your team. I find that leadership styles are subjective and usually tailored to the team being lead. So I would capture the problem in my answer, describe the leadership technique that addresses a solution to the barrier, desired outcome and if there's time mention a time you've experienced and used it Saving Changes...
Eric SimmsSenior Program ManagerBaltimore, Maryland, United States
I've rarely heard technical teams complain that a PM is too technical; usually they say a PM lacks enough technical knowledge to communicate effectively with the team.
It sounds like the interviewers had a certain personality profile in mind, and were looking for someone to say certain keywords. You can't prepare for an interview like that because there's no way to guess what they're seeking. That style of interviewing is nonsensical because how can anyone tell in a 30-minute formal interview whether someone will 'click' with a team? Saving Changes...
This is an interview. During an interview, you do not have the luxury and time to figure out why there was an issue with former PM. That is not what is being asked. In fact, you are assuming that you being told facts, this may not be the case. Information given was to provide context. Please kindly ignore this info for now and answer the questions as yourself:
What kind of leader/manager are you?
What is your leadership style?
How do you manage your team? Saving Changes...
If we are taking about the taste of the technical team members then I don't think this is a realistic scenario. IT technical people, especially developers and from my experience IT Infrastructure technical experts would (almost) never consider a PM to be too technical for their taste.
On the contrary these people prefer being led by very technical PMs and often don't even see non-technical PMs as leaders but as glorified secretaries doing a a boring job that they would never want to do themselves.
If we are talking about the taste of the hiring company then probably they expect someone that would act as a facilitator that does not step on the team members toes. So in this case they would probably want someone that coordinates the team without making too many decisions. Saving Changes...
I would answer based on my own personal style bearing in mind the needs of the prospective job. I don't know anything about your own personality or the job requirements so I can't really tell you how to answer about yourself.
"I would answer based on my own personal style bearing in mind the needs of the prospective job."
Keith, please ignore my original post completley, how would you answer the following question:
What kind of leader/manager are you? Saving Changes...
