Dear Manager,
I will keep this page short and to the point. Here’s what I have for you today:
In the eBook, you will find multiple great answers to each of the following questions:
- Why do you want to work as an Operations Manager?
- What do you consider your biggest weakness as a manager?
- Imagine that one of your subordinates does not respect your orders, but we can not afford to fire them, due to the situation on the employment market. What will you do?
- Tell us about some challenges you faced in your last job while working on the plans and allocating budgets.
- Describe a situation when you had to motivate someone in work (your subordinate, or even your superior).
- Have you ever successfully implemented a cost-cutting strategy?
- Your task is to hire five new machine operators (or nurses, maids, tellers, etc, depending on the business you will manager), but there is little interest in such job in the employment market. How will you proceed?
- What do you expect from leaders of other departments in the company (marketing, supply chain, sales, etc)?
- Tell us about a situation when you demonstrated leadership qualities.
- How would you ensure to comply with all regulations and applicable laws?
- Describe the biggest failure of your professional career.
- … and fifteen other tough questions you may face in your interview for a job of an Operations Manager
Check the sample to see how this eBook can help you:
Sample from the eBook
Question: Your task is to hire five new machine operators (or nurses, maids, tellers, etc, depending on the business you will manager), but there is little interest in such job in the employment market. How will you proceed?
Hint: Operations managers are often responsible for hiring new employees. If they ask you similar question in your interview, hiring new employees (mostly for basic or entry level jobs) will belong to your duties.
Just as with many other answers, a good research about your prospective employer will help you.
- What benefits can they offer to new hires?
- How can they beat employment offers of their competitors?
- Do they cooperate with any staffing agency?
- Do they employ foreigners? If they do not, could they?
Try to think about the particular business and market conditions. A good answer depends on it. And if you are not sure, try to outline some ideas and scenarios, and say that you aren’t sure which one may work for their business.
As long as they feel that you are looking for solutions and won’t give up even in a seemingly hopeless situation, they will be happy about your answer (and your attitude).
Sample answers
– If there is little interest, we have to find out the reason why. Maybe the job offer isn’t appealing enough, or we advertise it on a wrong place. Or there aren’t any operators looking for work in the entire area—then perhaps we can address students at vocational school, and look for some talent there. After some analysis and market research we should be able to find the most optimal hiring strategy.
I see also other alternatives, however. If we can not find new operators, we can consider more automation, using robots, or improving the effectiveness of existing workforce, and in the process eliminate the need of finding new employees.
These are just ideas, of course, and I will have to do a proper research and analysis of the problem to choose the most optimal solution.
– If we need them immediately, I will likely contact staffing agencies first. I did my research and know that you do not cooperate with any staffing agency at the moment. Surely, such cooperation has some drawbacks, but machine operators are crucial for our production, and we cannot expand without them.
We can also look at foreign labor markets. While you can’t compete with bigger players in the field in terms of salary offer and brand recognition, your offer can be very attractive in the eyes of job seekers from foreign countries, who can earn twice as much here as they’d earn back home.
These are just some ideas, of course, and what exactly I’ll suggest to do depends on the particular situation in both the company and employment market.
Question: What do you expect from leaders of other departments in the company (marketing, finance, sales, etc)?
Hint: The best managers have expectations on one person only—on themselves. Tell the interviewers that you prefer to focus on your job, trying to do it as well as possible—organizing the workforce, managing the daily life of a hotel/warehouse/bank/etc, trying to improve the efficiency of each process and team.
You do not expect much from your colleagues from the ranks of managers.
Another option is saying that you expect some help in the initial stages, plus an open communication and honest and critical feedback on your work. That will allow you to improve your skills, and eventually also your results.
Sample answers
– To be honest, I do not have any special expectations on them. Surely, we will often interact together, but they have their roles in the organization, and they know what they are supposed to do.
I prefer to focus on my work, and won’t waste time thinking whether my colleagues could work harder, or do something better. Other people in the company should consider that.
I am responsible for the daily operation of the plant, and for people who work under me. That’s what I want to focus on.
– I do not expect much. Perhaps just that they give me a chance, since I’ll be a new force in the business, and I won’t know anyone. I try to treat people with respect, and it would be nice to experience the same from my colleagues in management.
They can give me some good advice, at least in the beginning, helping me to understand the ins and outs of the daily operations of this business, each of them from their angle (finances, accounting, HR, marketing, etc).
Critical feedback is also important since without it we won’t improve. I’ll be glad to get some feedback, and I am also ready to pay back the favor. Feedback should flow freely in all directions in a successful company—at least that’s my experience.
End of the sample
These were just two questions. You will find 25 in the eBook, including difficult scenario-based questions. But that’s not all.
To ensure you will get the job, I included in the book six principles you need to understand before you can ace your interview for this job.
Without talking too much about them, let me show you another sample from the book:
Sample no. 2
Principle no. 2: Demonstrate your leadership skills and proactive approach to work
It would be nice to get an excellent training before doing anything in the company, and then just follow the well-established procedures and processes, day after day, month after month.
But that’s not how it works in this job, regardless of whether you apply for an operations manager position in a china shop, small hotel, or in a big factory.
Surely, they will provide some training at the beginning. You will learn everything about the company or department or team you’ll supervise, and the processes that take place in the workplace each day. But that’s just the first step.
The second step is to try to improve these processes, to improve the efficiency of the tasks and people you’ll oversee in your work.
What’s more, problems will arise regularly. Sales will drop, one of your key employees will get sick and stay in bed for a month, other guy will leave unexpectedly. You’ll discover compliance issues, the machinery will get broken, competitor will start using an advanced technology that allows them to sell the same product for a much better price, and so on.
Many things can happen in this job (and surely something will happen), and you are the one to keep things in order and to improve them.
You will lead, motivate, and sometimes even boss employees. You will be the one who should go by an example, and typically a last person to leave the building (from your team).
Unless you have a proactive approach to work—talking to employees, trying to identify problems early—before they turn into something bigger; looking for something to improve at all times–you won’t be a good operations manager.
Anytime they ask you about your idea of the job, typical day in work, goals you plan to set for yourself, etc, try to demonstrate proactive approach with your answers.
The best candidate for the job (at least in the eyes of the majority of interviewers) is one who can navigate a thin line. One that separates a devoted follower (when it comes to general rules, processes and corporate identity), and an excellent leader and decision maker (when it comes to a daily life of the office, and to managing employees and improving processes and daily operations).
If you succeed to……………
End of the sample
So that’s it. I do not want to waste your time with lengthy sales pages, and imaginary discounts or fake (purchased) reviews, like many other people do on their websites, while trying to sell you something. It’s just not my style of doing business…
You have read the samples from the eBook, you know what it is about, and surely you can tell whether it will help you to outclass your competitors and get a job of an Operations Manager.
I sincerely believe it will. And you can read it easily in three to four hours, it’s 15,000 words. Only things that truly matter, no secondary content.
Plus, of course, like with everything else we sell here on InterviewPenguin.com, you have a risk free sixty days money back guarantee.
If you don’t like this eBook for any reason, or no reason at all, just let me know (email me at matthew[at]interviewpenguin[dot]com) within 60 days and we will give you a full refund.
Quick Summary
- Brilliant answers to 25 difficult questions you may get in your interview for a job of an Operations Manager.
- Several sample answers to each question, so you can choose one that reflects your values and experience (including answers for people with no previous working experience).
- Six principles of acing the interview, things you simply need to know in order to make the right impression on the hiring managers.
- Instant download, .PDF format (you can read it on any device (mobile, kindle, PC), and you can easily print it).
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(After the payment you will be directed back to our website, to a protected page, to download your eBook. You will also receive a download link and instructions to your email, just to ensure that you will get the book without waiting, even if the redirect fails.)
That’s it. Your interview does not have to be stressful, or difficult. You can interview with confidence, and outclass your competitors with great interview answers. Download the guide today, and succeed in your operations manager job interview.
Sincerely,
Matthew Chulaw,
Your personal job interview coach
P.S. Send me a message if you have any questions about the eBook, or about anything else. I try my best to answer all emails within twelve hours (matthew[at]interviewpenguin[dot]com). Thank you!
