Interview questions for assistant manager position

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No matter what department or industry they’re in, an assistant manager has administrative, operational and managerial duties. They most commonly work in retail, stores or the food industry, although the position can be found in all sectors.

One thing to remember when hiring an assistant manager is that their skill set should be similar to the manager’s. You may occasionally hire junior candidates with a lot of potential rather than someone with years of experience. But, when it comes to skills, they should be fully equipped (or at least have enough potential) to step into the manager’s shoes when needed. Include questions reflecting both roles about technical expertise, industry-specific knowledge and soft skills.

Important soft skills include organizational ability, communication, problem-solving and leadership. Use the following questions as a guide and listen to their answers carefully. They should also demonstrate that they understand the role’s importance and responsibility. The best Assistant Mangers will show a business acumen and strategic planning abilities.

Operational and Situational questions

• If an important decision had to be made, but you couldn’t reach the manager, what would you do?
• Imagine there are too many customers on a particular day and employees are barely managing to attend to all of them. Given that customer service standards are beginning to slip, how would you handle this?
• What would you do if an employee was underperforming?
• If you had to attend to customers, the manager and a shipment at the same time, what would you do?

Role-specific questions

• Why does a department need an assistant manager?
• What kind of reports should an assistant manager prepare?
• How do you decide how to delegate responsibilities?
• Do you mind working with targets?
• What’s your experience with hiring personnel?
• What financial statements do you have experience with?

Behavioral questions

• Recall a time you showed excellent customer service
• Tell me about a time you had to fire someone. What was the reason and how did you do it?
• Have you ever made a mistake as an assistant manager? What happened?
• Give me an example of a time you reviewed a process to make it more efficient
• Tell me about a time you took the lead over a difficult project and helped the team achieve success
• Describe a time you had to make a decision without adequate information. How did you do it?