Interview Questions to Hire Business Manager

A business manager must have strong leadership skills and be able to work with other people every day. Successful candidates will supervise employees' productivity and create scalable plans to improve the business's effectiveness. So, in order to excel in this position, business manager candidates must have the right skills and abilities.

Let's get to know more about the position, skill sets, and different types of business managers.

Generally, a business manager is a person who oversees the operation of a business or a department. They ensure that nothing hinders the business' productivity, efficiency, and organization at all times. Business managers do this by adopting operational plans, carrying out performance evaluations, and supervising all daily operations.

While supervising the operation, business managers find new opportunities that can help with the company's growth and advancement in the market. In order to reach those achievements, they set up targets and goals. 

As mentioned above, they need to work closely with employees every day to supervise the completed projects and identify areas for improvement. Speaking about business managers' managerial tasks, they need to manage employees by conducting personal meetings regularly to offer advice and directions to them.

Skill Sets For Business Managers

Depending on which department, industry, or field you are recruiting business managers for, there are many skills that candidates should have. Nevertheless, they need advanced business knowledge to develop strategies to strengthen their department or the company. Typically, the skills that you want to look for in candidates are:

• Financial administration
• Customer service
• Leadership
• Mediation
• Written and verbal communication
• Social and listening
• Detail-oriented
• Organizational
• Problem-solving and critical thinking

Different Types of Business Managers

Business managers often oversee the everyday activities of either a number of departments or just one. Their daily activities may be influenced by the department or company they manage. Among the several categories of business managers are:

• Sales Manager
• Office Manager
• Marketing Business Manager
• Operation Business Manager
• School Business Manager

Now you have a brief idea of who is a business manager, and the skills candidates need to have to succeed in the role. Let's take a look at the interview questions you can use to evaluate them.

General Interview Questions

• Tell me about your experience as a business manager.
• What interests you about the position?
• What are the reasons you choose to work with us?
• How do you organize, plan and prioritize your work?
• What do you like about being a business manager?
• What does your daily routine look like in this role?
• What skills do you think you should have to succeed in this position?
• What does being a business manager mean to you?
• In the first week of working here, what would you do?
• What would you say your management style is?

Operational and Behavioral Questions

• What's your leadership style?
• How do you delegate tasks among employees?
• How do you ensure that all tasks are completed?
• Have you ever mentored an employee? What changes did you see?
• Walk me through a time when you lead a successful project that involves a different team. What was your role and the result?
• How do you approach a project with a small budget?
• Tell me about a time your approach has increased productivity and improved efficiency.
• Do you have any background in developing and executing budgets? Which of your past budgets was the largest?
• What instruments do you use to monitor the performance of your teams?
• What aspects do you take into account while making company strategy decisions?

Related article: Business Manager job description

Conclusion

Candidates must demonstrate during the interview that their management and communication skills are used to manage a team effectively. Using the suggested questions above, look for those with hands-on experience managing multiple teams and delivering results.

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