This document provides an interview guide for candidates applying for an entry-level manager position. It outlines the interview process, which involves a 4-person panel interviewing each candidate for 15 minutes. The guide includes reminders for interviewers, sample introductions, the competency requirements for the role, sample interview questions and answers, and appendices with additional job analysis information and sample answers.

1. Table of Contents
Interview Guide pp. 2-7
● Description of Interview Process p. 2
● Reminders p. 3
● Introduction p.3
● Competency Requirements p. 3-4
● Interview Questions & Sample Answers pp. 5-7
● Closing p. 8
Appendix A: pp. 8-24
● Job Analysis Interviewee’s and Strategies pp. 8-12
● Goals/Job Barriers/Competency Requirements/Sample
Answers pp. 13-24
Other Sources: p. 25

2. Group 6
Interview Guide
Description of Interview Process
We emailed our candidates prior to interviews and asked that they bring in their
resumes. We believe this will save time by enabling the facilitators to reference their
education and professional experience and ask behavioral questions appropriately. We
are going to have them meet us in room 217 and we are going to interview them one at
a time for approximately 15 minutes. During this 15 minutes we will have a 4 person
panel interview for each candidate. One person will be facilitating and asking the
questions, another person will be probing and timing, and the other two people will be
taking notes. The diagram below explains our roles as interviewers and how roles will
be rotated among the candidates.
As a group we chose to structure it as a 4 on 1 interview because we thought it was the
best way to assess candidates and deal with the difference in group members. (5
people to 4 people). Conducting the interview this way is also beneficial to each
Probing
And
Behavior
Questioner
Intro
and
Questioner
Note Taker
And
Audio
Recorder
Note
Taker
And
Thanks

3. member in our group because it gives everyone the chance to experience interviewing
by facilitating and leading the interview process (1st position).
Reminders
Our interviews as a team are about to begin and it’s important to ensure they are
conducted the same way. During the interview process it is important to remember the
following:
- Questioning with have you, similar situation, and would you?
- Get the B.A.R.
- Don’t lead the candidate
- Interrupt and probe
- Don’t be a verbal cheerleader (no “great, very nice, good to know)
- 10-12 minutes for each interview
Introduction
Hello, welcome, thanks for coming in today. *Individually introduce ourselves.* So were
interviewing today looking to fill the entry level manager position we have available. It’s
a full time position, 5 days a week, days worked will depend on the weekly schedule.
Competency Requirements
1. Creates a weekly schedule that maximizes sales requirements and reduces labor
costs by using their knowledge of the customer base and times of high demand and low
demand, while working with part time employees and limited availabilities.

4. 2. Cultivates and implements a plan to meet more important deadlines, by prioritizing
work and enforcing these new strategies in order to complete work without
compromising work quality; while communicating with important personnel and
continuously monitoring progress.
3. Develops and implements a plan by refining the schedules to meet the employees
individual needs as opposed to treating them as a group. Displays knowledge of the
tasks and times required to complete a project and modifies the schedule accordingly.
4. Using interpersonal skills by explaining concepts and simplifying the information
pertinent to the job in question. The candidate should be able to put terms in examples,
situations and ask clarification questions for a better understanding of the technical
information.
5. Organize a system to help the team function by facilitating communication between
members and initiating a system that delegates daily responsibilities to each member
while monitoring satisfaction through customer surveys.
6. Using organizational skills by providing employees with a list of standardized
suggestions and alternatives every quarter thus increasing the level of individual training
in products/services; the company will then be able to create sales and increase the
customer base.

5. Interview Questions & Sample Answers
1. Tell me about a time when you were required to decrease labor costs and what were
the exact steps you took to control the budget?
Sample Answers:
Sample Answers:
Outstanding: Keeping within a budget is important for any project. I’ve been a manager
and been the one to make the schedule, and forecasting and planning can be tough. To
decrease costs I used my knowledge of the stores busy times using sales trackers to
create a schedule that better played into the times of high demand and increased sales.
That and luckily I had many part-time employees with open availabilities. This reduced
labor by 20% and still maintained customer satisfaction levels.
Poor: To decrease labor costs I implemented a schedule that put an equal number of
hours for labor each day. This included the weekends. I put the best and most
experienced employees on for the weekends because they could handle the weekend
rushes and get more tips for themselves. This reduced labor and only affected customer
satisfaction a little.
2. Tell me about a time when there was a heavier workload than usual and what actions
you took to accomplish as much as possible. How did you communicate to assure the
new plan was effective? Was quality affected?
Sample Answers:
Outstanding: I acknowledged which deadlines were more important and implemented
the new plan. I kept up on checking the progress throughout the day and reported it to
my manager so that were all on the same page.

6. Poor: I recognized that all the projects wouldn’t be completed on time, so I had my team
complete the small ones first.
3. Tell me about a time that you needed to suggest some products/services, but the
information that you had was not enough to make a suggestion?
Sample Answers:
Outstanding: At XYZ Company, we were having inconsistency issues with the
information/procedures that were provided to the customers. What I did was subdivide,
creating a list of suggestions that will increase the knowledge of the employees. The list
included examples and situations simulating customers, and I was able to identify the
knowledge of each employee individually. A quiz was provided to make sure that the
employee understood the technical information. The result was an increase in our
customer base and a 5 stars evaluation in our customer survey.
Poor: At my current organization, we were having inconsistency issues with the
information/procedures that were provided to the customers, what I did was subdivide
creating a list of suggestions that will increase the knowledge of the employees. Things
went a lot better after that.
4. Tell me about a time that you needed to explain something technical to a non-
technical person, how did you do it, and what was the result?
Sample Answers:
Outstanding: At my current organization, I initiated procedures to explain to an
employee. What I did was subdivide the information in tables/power points/ etc. that
were presented at meetings. Also, I prepared a series of questions that measured the
clarification of the concepts and the understanding of my explanations getting across.

7. The result was 100% score from a secret shopper for the understanding of the
information section.
Poor: At my current organization, I needed to explain to some technical information to a
co-worker from another department. The information was technical and very complex,
so I broke it down into easier parts, it worked well and everybody understood the
concepts.
5. Describe a situation where you were a member of a team, and indicate the kinds of
things you did to make that team function more effectively as a unit.
Sample Answers:
Outstanding: I initiated a system where each person working in the team was
knowledgeable of their responsibilities at the beginning of their shift.
Poor: Each person in the team decided their responsibilities on their own. In doing this,
they didn’t communicate effectively with each other and didn’t know what their
responsibilities were.
6. Tell me about a time when you had to deal with employees that were always showing
up late and it was effecting your ability to meet project deadlines. How did you change
things for this to not happen again?
Sample Answers:
Outstanding: I noticed that employees were constantly showing up late and I met with
each one individually to better understand why this was happening and made
adjustments to each employees schedule accordingly.
Poor: I scolded my group of employees as a whole and didn’t allow any of them to
explain their actions.

8. Closing
That about wraps our interview up. Lastly, if you were offered this position, when would
you be available to start? *Pause for answer and record* Response should be “Okay
good to know.” Well, thank you so much for your time in coming here today. We will be
contacting you in the next week with feedback. *Handshake and goodbye*
Appendix A:
Goals, Barriers, Competency Requirements, and Sample Answers
Job Analysis Interviewee’s and Strategies
The person Juan selected to interview was a first level manager in Bivouac
Outdoor Store, his name is Andrew Breed and he is a section manager for their
inventory. His email is breedster@gmail.com. His job is to control all the merchandise
that comes into the store, but he also controls the floor to ensure that all the
merchandise is put in its place and that the personnel are doing customer service and
achieving the goals of the organization. Since he is an avid worker, a patient person,
and has years of experience doing this job, Juan believes that he is a good candidate
for an interview.
For preparation, Juan first looked for the information of an inbound/outbound
inventory manager. He looked online for the different types of work related tasks,
organizational skills, and competencies needed in order for him to asses this job. Doing
this allowed him to have an overall definition of the position and it allowed him to be

9. more accurate with the questions that he was going to ask. During the interview, he was
trying to look for the key job behaviors, action words, and assessments of the actual
employees; similar to the definitions of behaviors in the workplace and how to improve
them in specific situations. By doing this, he was more assertive as to what type of
requirements were needed to exceed expectations, and he could clearly see the
difference between a good candidate and a bad one. He also explained the difference
between great, good, and bad answers for competency requirements. In this way they
started to come up with some of the competency requirements that were needed for the
different positions. One of his key questions was: “Can you give me an example of a
situation where an employee exceeded expectations on the sales floor, while
contributing to the business and explaining the offers that they provide?” The
interviewee was struggling to generate the answer that he was looking for so he
decided to break up the question into two parts: “What is a goal and how will the goal be
measured to determine success?” Once he explained the meaning of a job barrier, the
person understood what he was talking about and gave him a good answer. The
second key question that he asked was regarding the goal and the job barrier was:
“What would be a measurable goal for your organization? What would be a barrier that
you could see that will differentiate between a great, good, and a bad candidate?”
Those key questions asked reflected the goals and SKA of what a manager in his
position should know in order to drive that area of the organization. This also provided
expectations of what the interviewee is looking for (parameters) for that particular
position.

10. Rob interviewed Sally Owens, one of the nursing managers at St. Mary’s Mercy
Hospital, contact info: (734)664-0575. Sally was a useful job analysis source because
she has more than twenty years of experience in the field of management, particularly
dealing with a hospital environment.
The strategy he used to prepare his job analysis was: he researched and found a
job description for the job on the internet using O*Net Online. This description described
the job responsibilities as planning, directing, or coordinating medical and health
services in hospitals, clinics, managed care organizations, public health agencies, or
similar organizations. The reason for using this source was so he could get a good idea
of how the average manager performed this job. He found tasks and different
management techniques, which helped him identify different goals and job barriers for
the position. Key questions Rob asked were: describe a situation where you were a
member of a team, and indicate the kinds of things you did to make that team function
more effectively, how have you motivated employees when there wasn’t a merit raise
system, describe a situation where you were a member of a team, and indicate the
kinds of things you did to make that team function more effectively as a unit. He asked
these things because they demonstrate how a good manager handles tough situations
on the job and they were the best to assess how well a future candidate would perform.
He knew he was getting the type of quality data he needed because he could identify
goals and job barriers from these questions.
Justin interviewed Joseph Wicher, the manager of J/JW Foundations Inc., a
rapidly growing construction business in Southeast Michigan. He can be reached by
email at jjwfoundationsinc@gmail.com. This person is a good candidate as a job

11. analysis source because this person has 20+ years in construction management
positions and has also been offered positions as a consultant for other construction
companies.
Like Rob, Justin also researched construction management positions on O*NET
Online. This helped him to compare the responsibilities of this position to the
responsibilities of the first level manager position. Doing this allowed him the generate
questions that were more job based than position based. He prepped his candidate by
distributing a copy of the slide that discussed the definition of goals, job barriers, and
competency requirements, to help him better understand what was being looked for this
assignment. Key questions that Justin asked were; “Describe a time when you had to
keep employees motivated when they knew there were impending layoffs.” This
question demonstrates what kinds of motivating techniques are needed, as well as, the
skills needed to gain respect of your employees. Another question that was asked was;
“Describe a time when meeting a deadline was hampered by your employees showing
up late.” This question determines whether or not a manager has the skills required to
effectively schedule projects and meet deadlines, while keeping control of their
employees.
Kate interviewed William Wilson, the assistant manager at Jimmy John’s; contact
info (586)243-7334. William was chosen as a good candidate because he has
overcome many obstacles in leading 25 employees and has been there for over 2 year.
Will is in charge when the general manager is not present and he communicates with
the General Manager, store owner, and JJ’s corporate offices.

12. In approaching the job analysis interview she prepared her candidate by leaving
him a memo with a reminder and a copy of the PowerPoint slide from class lecture to
help understand more about the interview and what kind of information she was looking
for. Will was told not to worry about the competency requirements because that is our
job to summarize them. Below is a copy of Will’s memo:
Hey Will,
Just a reminder about the interview for my staffing project. Thanks again for
being my interviewee. I just wanted to let you know why we will be doing the
interview and the information I am looking to get. This interview is to find out what
kind of goals management gives you, what kind of barriers there are for that goal,
so the situations that someone would experience in order to overcome these
barriers. I gave you a copy of a slide with examples from my teacher’s lecture.
So basically, what results your managers or owners expect to see. Your goals
should be measurable and show a direct benefit to the business. Think about
examples of good employees and their work habits. Don’t worry about the
competency requirements. I’ll take care of that separately. See you later.
One of the key questions Kate asked was: “Can you think of any specific goals
your manager or owners expect of you?” This question was crucial because she knew
it would allow her to determine the key performance standards. Another key question
was: “How would the right candidate behave to overcome these challenges and how
would it be measured?” These questions are important in finding out how the company
would measure progress and what behaviors are helpful in overcoming a barrier.

13. Goals/Job Barriers/ Competency Requirements/ Sample Answers
From the interview with Andrew the following goals, barriers, competency requirements,
and answers were found:
Goal: Increase sales by 10% in the next quarter.
Job Barrier: Inconsistency in the employee’s information to suggest more
product/service needed.
Competency Requirements: Using organizational skills by providing employees with a
list of standardized suggestions and alternatives every quarter thus increasing the level
of individual training in products/services; the company will then be able to create sales
and increase the customer base.
Question: Tell me about a time that you needed to suggest some products/services,
but the information that you had was not enough to make a suggestion?
Sample Answers:
Outstanding: At XYZ Company, we were having inconsistency issues with the
information/procedures that were provided to the customers. What I did was subdivide,
creating a list of suggestions that will increase the knowledge of the employees. The list
included examples and situations simulating customers, and I was able to identify the
knowledge of each employee individually. A quiz was provided to make sure that the
employee understood the technical information. The result was an increase in our
customer base and a 5 stars evaluation in our customer survey.
Poor: At my current organization, we were having inconsistency issues with the
information/procedures that were provided to the customers, what I did was subdivide

14. creating a list of suggestions that will increase the knowledge of the employees. Things
went a lot better after that.
Goal: Increase training in the sales floor to obtain a customer survey of 5 stars.
Job Barrier: Explain technical information to non-technical people.
Competency Requirements: Using interpersonal skills by explaining concepts and
simplifying the information pertinent to the job in question. The candidate should be able
to put terms in examples, situations and ask clarification questions for a better
understanding of the technical information.
Question: Tell me about a time that you needed to explain something technical to a
non-technical person, how did you do it, and what was the result?
Sample Answers:
Outstanding: At my current organization, I initiated procedures to explain to an
employee. What I did was subdivide the information in tables/power points/ etc. that
were presented at meetings. Also, I prepared a series of questions that measured the
clarification of the concepts and the understanding of my explanations getting across.
The result was 100% score from a secret shopper for the understanding of the
information section.
Poor: At my current organization, I needed to explain to some technical information to a
co-worker from another department. The information was technical and very complex,
so I broke it down into easier parts, it worked well and everybody understood the
concepts.

15. Goal: Increase productivity by 5%.
Job Barrier: Working within a tight schedule to accomplish this goal.
Competency Requirements: Using time management by organizing tasks with a time
constraint and guiding personal in an orderly way by tasks to accomplish a specific task
in certain amount of time and overcome the time-frame provided by the company.
Question: Tell me about a time that you needed to manage employees to overcome a
goal in a specific amount of time. Explain what the goal was, the process, and the
result.
Sample Answers:
Outstanding: At a previous job, I needed to finish a project in 8hrs to meet the deadline.
I took employee personnel and divided them by areas of expertise. After I divided the
task, I used a matrix in different logical parts and assigned staff accordingly. We
finished the task in 5 hours instead of 8.
Poor: At XYZ Company, I had some work to be done in a particular amount of time. I
took the instructions and divided the tasks between the people and gave them a time to
do it.
From the interview with Sally the following goals, barriers, competency requirements,
and answers were found:
Goal: Complete 75% of the required tasks by the end of the day.
Job Barrier: Having a heavy workload and not enough time in the day to finish it.
Competency Requirements: Using time management skills by delegating tasks to
individuals and prioritizing what tasks need to be accomplished first.

16. Question: Describe how you would handle a situation if you were required to finish
multiple tasks by the end of the day, and there was no conceivable way that you could
finish them.
Sample Answers:
Outstanding: I would prioritize my tasks and combine some if possible. I would also
delegate tasks to employees if needed. A great manager will break down and simplify
the tasks in order to accomplish as many as possible.
Poor: Try to finish as many as tasks as possible without using any real organization
skills on what tasks should be handled first. No set goal in mind of how many tasks you
are trying to accomplish by the end of the day.
Goal: Increase performance of the team to ensure 90% customer satisfaction.
Job Barrier: Getting individuals to cooperate and work together as a single element.
Competency Requirements: Organize a system to help the team function by
facilitating communication between members and initiating a system that delegates
daily responsibilities to each member while monitoring satisfaction through customer
surveys.
Question: Describe a situation where you were a member of a team, and indicate the
kinds of things you did to make that team function more effectively as a unit.
Sample Answers:
Outstanding: I initiated a system where each person working in the team is
knowledgeable of their responsibilities at the beginning of their shift.

17. Poor: Each person in the team decided their responsibilities on their own. In doing this,
they didn’t communicate effectively with each other and didn’t know what their
responsibilities were.
Goal: Increase employee morale and motivation through other means such as
accomplishments and work ethic, without using a merit raise system.
Job Barrier: No budget for employee raises which could equal bad performance on the
job.
Competency Requirements: Treat all employees the same without discriminating
between who gets a raise and who doesn’t.
Question: How have you motivated employees when there wasn’t a merit raise
system?
Sample Answers:
Outstanding: I reminded the employees about good performance and how it affects the
business as a whole, which demonstrated how success will lead to compensation.
Poor: Good performance has no impact on the employee’s compensation.
Goal: Monitor labor and attendance to ensure employees are showing up to work on
time, 100% of the time.
Job Barrier: Teaching employees the rules regarding hours of work and disciplining
them for tardiness.
Competency Requirements: The ability to identify when an employee is late and how
to discipline them based on the rules of the business regarding tardiness.

18. Question: In your previous jobs, tell me how you’ve dealt with chronically late
employees?
Sample Answers:
Outstanding: According to the employee rulebook, employees are given a warning for
showing up late the first time and are suspended the second time.
Poor: Guidelines are unclear about what to do with employees who consistently show
up to work late so no strict discipline is in place.
From the interview with Joseph the following goals, barriers, competency requirements,
and answers were gathered.
Goal: To manage the schedule of employees to meet project deadlines.
Job Barrier: Employees disregarding deadlines and not reporting to their stations at the
required times
Competency Requirements: Develops and implements a plan by refining the
schedules to meet the employee’s individual needs as opposed to treating them as a
group. Displays knowledge of the tasks and times required to complete a project and
modifies the schedule accordingly.
Question: Tell me about a time when you had to deal with employees that were always
showing up late and it was effecting your ability to meet project deadlines. How did you
change things for this to not happen again?

19. Sample Answers:
Outstanding: I noticed that employees were constantly showing up late and I met with
each one individually to better understand why this was happening and made
adjustments to each employees schedule accordingly.
Poor: I scolded my group of employees as a whole and didn’t allow any of them to
explain their actions.
Goal: To keep company morale at the same rate.
Job Barrier: Impeding layoffs because of ever changing economic conditions.
Competency Requirements: Demonstrates excellent listening skills to employees who
are voicing their concerns, is flexible and creative when motivating employees to
accomplish tasks, has the ability to have a positive influence on employees in tough
times.
Question: Tell me about a time when you had to motivate employees when there were
impending layoffs.
Sample Answers:
Outstanding: I knew employees were going to be laid off and that morale would drop, so
I met with the employees and allowed them to voice their concerns, while ensuring them
that doing their jobs to their fullest capacity will greatly impact the organizations views of
them.
Poor: I allowed the employees to continue their tasks and hoped that the layoffs would
have a positive effect on their performance by bringing out competition among them.

20. From the interview with William the following goals, barriers, competency requirements,
and answers were found:
Goal: Increase customer satisfaction by 10%.
Job Barrier: Anticipating times of high demand makes staffing for the different times
challenging and employees who feel the effect of understaffing produce incorrect
products.
Competency Requirements: Develops and implements a plan to meet more important
deadlines, by prioritizing work and enforcing these new strategies in order to complete
work without compromising work quality; while communicating with important personnel
and continuously monitoring progress.
Question: Tell me about a time when there was a heavier workload than usual and
what actions you took to accomplish as much as possible. How did you communicate to
assure the new plan was effective? Was quality affected?
Sample Answers:
Outstanding: I acknowledged which deadlines were more important and implemented
the new plan. Just kept up on checking progress through the day and reporting it to my
manager so that were all on the same page.
Poor: I recognized that they all projects wouldn’t be done on time, so I had my team
complete the small ones first.
Goal: Increase employee motivation and morale.
Job Barrier: No budget for performance raises, part-time employees don’t feel
committed to the job.

21. Competency Requirements: Clarifies to employees what is to be done, how well they
are doing, and what can be done to improve performance. Drives employees by
developing non-financial incentives to keep costs low and motivate workers to enhance
customer satisfaction. Periodic formation of specific goals, feedback on progress toward
goals, and reinforcement of desired behavior by communication.
Question: How have you motivated employees when your organization didn’t have a
merit raise system? Give me an example of non-financial incentives that motivate
employees.
Sample Answers:
Outstanding: A few forms of non-financial incentives would be praising employees on
work well done, offering stocks options, and enhanced decision making. Implementing
these things motivate them and makes them happy, and don’t require financial
compensation. Because my organization didn’t offer a merit pay raise I motivated
employees by creating a praise system that allowed other employees and managers to
recognize a job well done or personal achievement and rewarded them with small card
they would collect and turn in, in exchange for hours of vacation. I, as the manager,
decided if peer recognition was valid for time off in the end though.
Poor: To motivate employees without a merit raise system is difficult because that is a
traditional reward. To make up for it, I have tried things like giving someone a paid lunch
break. Employees like the idea of not working and getting paid for it.

22. Goal: Reduce labor costs by 5%.
Job Barrier: Erratic times of high demand and limited employee availabilities makes
anticipating weekly scheduling difficult.
Competency Requirements: Creates a weekly schedule that maximizes sales
requirements and reduced labor costs by using their knowledge of the customer base
and times of high demand and low demand, while working with part time employees and
limited availabilities.
Question: Tell me about a time when you were required to decrease labor costs and
what were the exact steps you took to control the budget?
Sample Answers:
Outstanding: Keeping within a budget is important for any project. I’ve been a manager
and have been the one that makes the schedule, and forecasting and planning can be
tough. To decrease costs I used my knowledge of the stores busy times using sales
trackers to create a schedule that better played into the times of high demand and
increased sales. That and luckily I had many part-time employees with open
availabilities. This reduced labor by 20% and still maintained customer satisfaction
levels.
Poor: To decrease labor costs I implemented a schedule that put an equal number of
hours for labor each day. This included the weekends. I put the best and most
experienced employees on for the weekends because they could handle the weekend
rushes and get more tips for themselves. This reduced labor and only affected customer
satisfaction a little.

23. Goal: Maintain efficiency in delivery times at 9 minutes.
Job Barrier: Uncontrollable circumstances like weather and traffic delay drivers and
delivery to the customer.
Competency Requirements: Recognizing and utilizing the options and resources
around them that best fits the specific needs of the client. Evaluate circumstantial
factors, and use their knowledge of the delivery range and traffic patterns to plan driver
routes to ensure customer satisfaction with delivery time. They monitor driver
performance using timing systems and adjust accordingly.
Question: Can you tell me about a time when you had a rush of work and needed to
lead other employees? What factors you debated on before deciding what to do? How
did you ensure the organization benefit from this action?
Sample Answers:
Outstanding: An example would be from a previous job. I was managing a dispatch
center and worked with emergency response teams like EMT, and fire rescue. There
were times that rushes of emergency calls would come in and I would need to be able
to find the quickest route to keep a fast response time. I usually I used traffic reports to
plan routes and watched progress on GPS trackers and timers.
Poor: Well at a previous job there were a few times working at a flower shop that I
would be shop help making bouquets and I would deliver them too. I would plan each
driver’s delivery and route, down to the minute, but things like accidents would interfere
with plans and usually meant late deliveries. I hired someone else to deliver so that we
had enough people for rushes. Training took a while and labor was more costly, but it’s
hard to predict periods of high demand.

24. Other Sources
O*NET description-Construction Manager
http://www.onetonline.org/link/summary/11-9021.00
O*NET Description-Nursing Manager
http://www.onetonline.org/link/summary/11-9111.00
Eastern Michigan University Professor Richard Camp- Staffing Lecture