26 Hiring Manager Interview Questions & How to Answer Them
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During the job interview, a hiring manager asks multiple questions to make sure you are the right fit for the company and role. Your success in the interview process often depends on how you answer these questions and if your responses are aligned with what the hiring person expects from a successful candidates.
| Topics | Details |
|---|---|
| General Questions | |
| 1. Tell me about yourself. | details... |
| 2. Walk me through your resume. | details... |
| 3. Why do you want to work here? | details... |
| 4. What do you know about this company? | details... |
| 5. What are your salary expectations? | details... |
| 6. When can you start? | details... |
| 7. Are you willing to relocate? | details... |
| Experience and Skills | |
| 8. Tell me about your work experience. | details... |
| 9. What is your greatest professional achievement? | details... |
| 10. Tell me about a time you demonstrated leadership skills. | details... |
| 11. Tell me about a challenge or conflict you've faced at work, and how you dealt with it. | details... |
| 12. What are your greatest strengths? | details... |
| 13. What are your weaknesses? | details... |
| Personal attributes and characteristics | |
| 14. Tell me about a time you made a mistake. | details... |
| 15. How do you handle stress at work? | details... |
| 16. How do you prioritize your work? | details... |
| 17. What motivates you? | details... |
| 18. How do you like to be managed? | details... |
| Cultural Fit | |
| 19. What type of work environment do you prefer? | details... |
| 20. How do you interact with a team? | details... |
| 21. What makes you unique? | details... |
| 22. What do you like to do outside of work? | details... |
| 23. Do you consider yourself successful? | details... |
| Career Goals | |
| 24. Where do you see yourself in 5 years? | details... |
| 25. Why did you choose this career? | details... |
| 26. Can you explain why you changed career paths? | details... |
To help you feel more confident during the hiring process, we prepared a list of the most common questions that hiring managers ask with hints on how to respond to them. Go through them to ace your next job interview!
How to use this list? We grouped popular interview questions by categories for your convenience. Click on the question that interests you and jump to its description.
3 Essential Job Interview Statistics You Should Know
Job interviews are the place to make an impression on a recruiter and learn more about the role and the company. Here are some statistics about the interviews that will help you prepare better:
- 73% of job-seekers state that job interviews are one of the most stressful situations in life;
- The typical interview success rate is 20%. It means that 1 in 5 candidates will get a desired job offer after the interview;
- 67% of hiring managers believe that not making an eye contact is one of the biggest mistakes that you can make during the job interview.
Now, let's have a look at the common interview questions. Prepare your responses thoroughly to increase your chance for success!
26 Hiring Manager Interview Questions
General Questions
1. Tell me about yourself.
This is the most popular interview question. 93% of hiring managers ask them when interviewing someone for an open position. When answering it, be sure to present your skills and experience to give the interviewer a big picture about your areas of expertise. An interviewer also wants to see your passion, energy, and enthusiasm.
2. Walk me through your resume.
This is one of the big picture questions where the interviewer wants to understand your career path and the logic behind your transitions. They want to hear your career story and see what projects/experiences you focus on to gain insights for the conversation. Plus, it helps them verify what's on your resume to make sure you're not stretching the truth.
3. Why do you want to work here?
An interviewer asks the potential team member this question to understand your motivation for joining the company. They also want to see if you've researched the company and team culture. When answering it, beware of generic answers. Mention something about the company that appeals to you and explain why this company is the great place to continue your career path.
4. What do you know about this company?
This question is similar to the previous one. They want to make sure you've researched the company and its goals, not just read the job description. If you bring up some interesting facts about the company, its goals and challenges, your chances for success will skyrocket.
5. What are your salary expectations?
This one is pretty straightforward - they want to see your financial requirements and whether they align with their budget. How to answer it? Understand your expectations in advance. Research the salaries in your industry and answer them with a range. Or, you can ask a hiring manager to share the range for this position.
6. When can you start?
Be honest and set realistic expectations. Show your enthusiasm to start with a new position. If you are unemployed, tell them that you can start within one week (or at their earliest convenience). If you have a job and need to give notice to your current employer, be transparent about it.
7. Are you willing to relocate?
If you apply for a job in the different state or overseas, an employer can ask this question. If you are not ready to move instantly, don't just answer "no". Suggest the time frame when you will be ready to relocate or offer the alternatives, for instance, working remotely or at the local office.
A successful job interviews takes more than answering questions from the hiring manager. Read our guide for comprehensive interview preparation - 20 Tips for a Successful Job Interview.
Experience and Skills
8. Tell me about your work experience.
When answering this question, share the highlights of your experience in the last job and go backwards. The hiring manager wants to understand your career progression, relevant skills, and experience in the field. No need to list everything you've done - give examples of the most relevant projects and how you contributed to the employer's success.
9. What is your greatest professional achievement?
The hiring manager asks it to understand your value proposition and see what you can bring to the table. Plus, they want to see if you are a high-performer who is eager to exceed expectations. Share your successes in the current job and past roles, and be sure to give figures, percentages, and details of your achievements.
10. Tell me about a time you demonstrated leadership skills.
If you are a manager with direct reports, they want to see your leadership style: how you motivate and guide others, your approach the feedback process, and how you reward great performance. If you're not a leader, focus on experience when you trained others, took the initiative, or contributed to the team's success.
11. Tell me about a challenge or conflict you've faced at work, and how you dealt with it.
This is one of the most insightful questions as it reveals your problem-solving and interpersonal skills. Be honest and tell about one difficult situation you had at work, and how you resolved the conflict with the coworker or boss. Mention what you've learned from this experience.
12. What are your greatest strengths?
This question helps the recruiter access your self-awareness and your key skills and competencies. Don't just list the skill names. Mention 2-3 strengths and explain how they helped you succeed with the current company.
13. What are your weaknesses?
It is one of the tough questions that help access your ability to reflect, understand your weaknesses, and work on them. Avoid simply admitting your greatest weakness or denying that you have weaknesses whatsoever. Mention the weakness you're really struggling with (i.e. difficulties with time management) and steps you are taking to improve.
Want more interview advice? Read our guide on how to answer behavioral interview questions.
Personal attributes and characteristics
14. Tell me about a time you made a mistake.
It is best to respond to this follow up question with a story. For example, you can tell that you made a mistake in budget calculation in your first job that led to a project delay and how you worked to improve the situation. A good answer should contain the details of the situation and the lesson you learned from it.
15. How do you handle stress at work?
Everyone feels stressed and overwhelmed at work at times. The recruiter wants to know your coping mechanisms and whether you are nice to others even when stressed. Share specific strategies you use for stress management, i.e. meditating, using mindfulness techniques, or physical activity.
16. How do you prioritize your work?
A hiring manager wants to know how you stay focused at work. Give them a real-life example of how you manage your workload, prioritize tasks, and other aspects of daily and monthly planning. Share specific strategies and tools you use, i.e. time management apps, to-do lists, and more.
17. What motivates you?
While this might seem a tricky question, an employer just wants to know if the position aligns with your work style and ethics. Pick one example of a motivation (a sense of achievement, quick professional growth, training others) and tell a story of how it motivated you in the past.
18. How do you like to be managed?
By asking this, an employer wants to hear your management style preferences and see if it aligns with their style. Ideally, you want to do research and adjust your response to their team values and management approaches. You can reply that regular feedback, flexibility, and support helps you achieve personal goals faster.
Cultural Fit
19.What type of work environment do you prefer?
Recruiter asks this to understand your ideal work culture and whether it aligns with what the current position offers. They want to hear whether you thrive as a team player or prefer working solo, and what workplace values appeal to you. Also, you can mention if you prefer a fast-paced, competitive environment or supportive environment and collaborative work with different departments.
20. How do you interact with a team?
This question reveals your communication style and how you collaborate with the team. Give examples of 1-2 situations when your effective collaboration skills helped find common ground with coworkers and helped successful project completion.
21. What makes you unique?
This is your opportunity to sell yourself to the employer. They want to hear what makes you different from other candidates and why you will make an ideal candidate. So, focus on your key qualifications that are relevant to the position, and list unique strengths that can help you stand out.
22. What do you like to do outside of work?
Employers want to know what you do in your free time and get a sense of your personality. List your favorite hobbies and activities, and share how you maintain a healthy work-life balance. It will give them a broader idea of who you are.
23. Do you consider yourself successful?
This is one of the thoughtful questions recruiters use to understand how you define success. To answer it, mention 1-2 your biggest successes that demonstrate skills relevant to the job you're interviewing for. Explain them why you consider yourself successful and a great candidate for the position.
Career Goals
24. Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
By asking this, a hiring manager wants to understand your career goals and ambitions. They also want to see if they align with their company's growth potential. So, be honest about your ambitions for the future, but be sure to connect them with the company and the role you're interviewing for.
25. Why did you choose this career?
In this question, the interviewer wants to understand your underlying motivation and whether you're truly passionate about the field. It is a great idea to answer with a story about what inspired you to start this career in the first place. Specify what you particularly enjoy about the filed and that you're excited to continue your career with a new company.
26. Can you explain why you changed career paths?
This question should give the employer a better understanding of your career journey and whether you're committed to the new career path. It is a good idea to explain the change, share your long-term goals, and highlight transferable skills that can be used in a new field.
These are the most common questions you'll hear during job interviews. Now, let's look at the specific strategies for building your responses.
How to answer questions from hiring managers?
Looking up for the ready answers to the HR questions is not the best idea, as you should describe your unique experience and skills. Here are the top strategies for organizing your responses:
- Research the company and the role. To keep your responses relevant to the target company and the position, research them in advance. Browse the company website, social media, and other resources. Take the time to understand the company's culture, mission, values, and products/services.
- Speak through examples. When answering interview questions, avoid giving brief, generic responses. Instead, give examples of situations where you demonstrated the needed traits or overcame challenges.
- Use the STAR method. To structure your responses, describe the situation you were in, the task you had, actions you took, and the positive outcome. Quantify your achievements where possible.
- Be honest. Don't stretch the truth or bring up non-existent skills to get hired. When the truth reveals, you will lose the job and might also damage your professional reputation. Be honest about your weaknesses or the lack of skills.
- Follow up. Only 1 in 4 candidates send follow-up letters after the interview. Be sure to send the letter to express gratitude and show continued interest in the position.
Sample responses to popular interview questions
Here are the responses to the most common interview questions for your inspiration:
Where do you see yourself in five years?
"In five years, I see myself as a Senior Marketing Manager who can launch digital marketing strategies from scratch and has a track record of success in generating leads and boosting sales. I'm committed to continuous learning and growth, especially in areas like data analytics and content marketing. I'm excited about taking on more leadership responsibilities and mentoring junior marketers. I envision myself as a key player in a company like [Company Name], where I can utilize my skills to create innovative marketing campaigns that drive brand awareness and increase client engagement."
What are your salary expectations?
"I have been working as a Marketing Manager for 5+ years and have a track record in launching social media campaigns that boosted client engagement and led to a 20% increase in sales. Based on my experience and industry research, I am seeking a salary within the range of $70,000 - $80,000. However, I am willing to discuss the issue further during the negotiation process."
What are your weaknesses?
"Currently, I am working to improve my public speaking skills. As a senior sales rep, I believe it would help me communicate with my clients better. Recently, I joined a public speaking club online and started practicing presentations in front of my coworkers. I have received positive feedback on my speech delivery. While I still have room for growth in this area, I'm still honing my skills and believe to become a confident public speaker quite soon."
Can you explain why you changed career paths?
"As a professional with experience in finance, I had strong data analysis and problem-solving skills, but I felt that I wasn't fully utilizing my potential. This urged me to continue my career as a data analyst. I took a one-year training course to enter the profession and now I am pursuing junior-level roles. I am excited about the potential of the data analytics field and I am confident that I can make a tangible contribution. This role requires obtaining, processing, and systemizing data, which aligns with my long-term career goals."
As you see, all the examples give specific examples of skills, and provide relevant information and context to employers. Even if the interview questions assumes a yes or no response, try to give details and explanations to make your responses sound grounded and well-thought-of.
Questions to ask a hiring manager after the interview
To make a powerful impression, it is important to ask your questions, too. When the hiring manager says "Do you have any questions for me?", don't stay silent. Here are the examples of questions that will help you learn more about the position and the company. Plus, these additional questions will show your motivation and interest in joining the team, setting you apart from other candidates:
- What professional development opportunities do you offer?
- What is the management style in the team?
- How do you measure success for this position?
- What do you want me to achieve in the first three and six months?
- What is the most challenging aspects of this job?
- What is the history of this position?
- What does the typical day in this job look like?
Want to get more interviews?
With this guide, you will easily ace the most common interview questions from an HR. But what if you don't get many interview calls in the first place?
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