This article gives you the common job interview questions for operation manager, also called operation executive.
Job Description:
Operations Managers monitor the work of the different departments within a company, or of different companies and organizations. They are highly trained, highly qualified professionals with great and complex responsibilities.
Operations managers design policies, plan human and technical resources, manage day to day tasks. They are involved in almost all aspect of company operations at once, but their overall goal is to provide and support the most effective methods of operation.
Operations management: Interview Questions and Answers for Operations Managers
Refer to the following questions with their corresponding suggested answers:
Question: Tell me some of the tasks you’ve handled daily as an operation manager.
Answer: The tasks are numerous, so give a few specific examples, for example: Preparing budgets for programs, arranging facilities and ensuring coordinated movement from site to site, making inventory control and logistics, being an employees’ supervisor, conducting job interviews etc.
Question: What skills do you consider crucial for success in this position?
Answer: Some obvious examples include quick learning/thinking and problem solving agility, leadership and communication skills.
Describe how you really have a background in these. For example: You’ve used your communication skills and leadership abilities to manage changes and to deal with all levels of personnel.
You can talk about your job skills for instructing and communicate messages clearly at all levels of the organization, from sub-contractors to senior management.
Question: How might an operations manager be involved with individual employees?
Answer: The operations manager’s scope is broad, but s/he deals with office regulations, discipline, and small scale conflicts as well.
It is often the operations manager’s role to allay personal conflicts or grievances by being attentive and communicating effectively with individual employees.
Question: What experience do you have with presentations?
Answer: Operations managers are required to communicate effectively inside and outside the organization. They often represent companies in conferences and meetings because they are highly qualified to present the details of expansion and growth, plans and prospects, and discuss any current projects.
Question: What do you know about managing budgets?
Answer: Operations managers are typically involved in budget planning. Their goal is to learn how much has already been spent, how much will be spent, and how to spend the remaining budget so as to acquire necessary resources within budget limits. Operations managers may be even involved in financial issues such as loans for the company.