View Full Version : Help needed for a leadership job final interview
Does anyone on here have any significant management (sales preferably) or interviewing experience?
I have an internal interview next week which is without a doubt the single most important moment of my career to date and Im really struggling with good, inspiring and convincing answers to two fundamental questions:
1) Why do you want to become a leader?
2) Why should we give you the position?
I have OK answers for them in my mind but I need things that will really make me stand out from the crowd - I dont want to give the same answers as everyone else, I want them to remember me after the interview for the right reasons.
Can anyone recommend some good answers or, failing that, some websites or books which I could use for guidance? Have looked on Amazon but there are literally thousands of books so not a clue where to start and only have a few days to read them so cant afford to get the wrong one and waste any time. I really, really dont wanna fluff this especially as I have done soooooooo much work already and got through to the last stage so it now all rests on the outcome of the final 30 minute interview - stress x 1000...........
1: Cos I am a bullying control freak who would love abit of power
2: Cos I will wait for you after work and give you all a chinese burn
The job is as good as yours ;)
if those interviewing you have the slightest clue about the job they are doing, they will know these books and sites, using those phrases will make you look like a pratt.
surely you have a USP, something that makes you the better choice. that's why you think you should be promoted. now find reasons why your plus sides are also a benfit for the company. put it in words and you are there.
1: Cos I am a bullying control freak who would love abit of power
2: Cos I will wait for you after work and give you all a chinese burn
The job is as good as yours ;)
:takethat: tempting!!
Is it a sales management job? Targets driven?
Tell them to give you the job, or you will send DVTimes round their house
if those interviewing you have the slightest clue about the job they are doing, they will know these books and sites, using those phrases will make you look like a pratt.
surely you have a USP, something that makes you the better choice. that's why you think you should be promoted. now find reasons why your plus sides are also a benfit for the company. put it in words and you are there.
Very true but all Im looking for really is guidance, pointers and tips - I dont intend to quote them word for word. I dont have a USP in the traditional sense (hence being fuckered) especially as all the people left are in the top 0.01% of the company performers and do the same kind of job as me so, honestly, there is nothing I do which is any "better" than what any of them do.....
Is it a sales management job? Targets driven?
Yeah more or less but just being a high performer is not enough anymore - everyone left in at this stage is the cream of the crop so I need to shine above them or Im in dire straits!
Tell them to give you the job, or you will send DVTimes round their house
No one deserves that :noway2:
Yeah more or less but just being a high performer is not enough anymore - everyone left in at this stage is the cream of the crop so I need to shine above them or Im in dire straits!
Tell them any ideas you have to increase market share/new customers for your product/services but only 80% of how you will do it just in case you don't get the job and the fuckers try and implement your ideas anyway.
I don't think people become leaders as such, people rise to the top and become leaders because of their strong personalities and the ability to listen as well as direct others.
I dont have a USP in the traditional sense
everyone has, even if it's just you groping the most secretaries (obviously a USP of little value in this very game)
all the people left are in the top 0.01% of the company performers and do the same kind of job as me so, honestly, there is nothing I do which is any "better" than what any of them do.....
if that's your honest opinion, then perhaps ask yourself why you should be promoted anyway?
it's not really about doing something better in the field all you competitors seem to work in at the moment. it's about a promotion, so your new job will require different or at least modified skills, no?
i am throwing in some assumptions now, so stop me if i'm going wrong.
your new position requires you to lead, a team, most likely. do you have thoughts on how to motivate a team? mention them briefly, if they are any good, you may be asked to expand, i.e. you have their interest.
how's your communication skills? great? really? why is that then, give some examples (i.e. make notes for yourself), do you write or hold speeches in a club kinda thing?
do you know how to delegate, to organize? are you aware that to delegate properly you will need team staffers that are at least as good as you or in best case better than you in a certain field? would you feel uncomfy knowing a staffer is better than you? are you an essential member of a community or club? if so, another point to mention (unless it's your local weed smoker society)
it would most likley be easier to give ideas if we knew what it's all about, so i'm staying very much on the general side of things here. i understand you cannot share too much info though. i'm confident that if you give it some proper thought, you will come up with something of quality to make an impression.
I don't think people become leaders as such, people rise to the top and become leaders because of their strong personalities and the ability to listen as well as direct others.
being a leader is a natural talent, there is only so much you can learn. you can easily test it with any random group, strangers even. give them a simple task and watch, soon one or two will take over as leader(s) and the rest falls in line. usually without any complaints, too.
it would most likley be easier to give ideas if we knew what it's all about, so i'm staying very much on the general side of things here. i understand you cannot share too much info though. i'm confident that if you give it some proper thought, you will come up with something of quality to make an impression.
I dont mind telling more of what its about - there is an internal program every year which takes the top dozen or so employes in the whole company with the greatest potential to become the next generation of leaders and puts them through what is, in essence, a fast track to management. Its a year long program where there is no expense spared with external companies and top executives in the company working with the group to develop them and coach them - it has been run in the past and in each and every case the people who have gone through it have gone on to become managers, directors or higher in the company. Bearing in mind this is a company with 20,000+ employees that represents a significant step forward for me and my career so this is to get me onto the program - I know it might sound like a lot especially as its not a job Im being interviewed for per se but, trust me, this is a guarantee of moving into senior management which is something I have aspired to for a few years now.
Do you have a full understanding of the workings of the management/corporate structure that you are aspiaring to be a part of?
If you do, can you identify where in that structure you aim to be in 5 or 10 years time?
ajaxjones
10-02-08, 11:12 PM
Job Interviews: Top answers to tough questions by John Lees
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Job-Interviews-answers-tough-questions/dp/0077119096/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1222985328&sr=8-1
some really good answers here to those stupid dickhead questions you get like name your strengths and name your weaknesses etc.
Well worth it
Ooooohhhh yeah just to let you know, I got it and am off to Rome for three days tomorrow to the first of many leadership sessions planned over the next six months - thanks to every who replied for their help :)
mOBSCENE
10-26-08, 01:34 PM
Congrats and all the best. I am stuck at full-time webmastery for now and it's not as much fun as it used to be :(
Congrats on your new job.
Well Done... So are you going to tell us the answers you gave to the two questions that you originally asked for advice on?
Just being nosey... Feel Free to ignore! :)
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