Questions to ask a new manager in an interview

How to Interview Your Next Manager

What should you be asking the person you may soon be working for?

2. Screen applicants using automated questionnaires

Do a killer job advertising your open role and you’re bound to see dozens of applications coming in, and quickly. 

Kick things off right with an automated Q&A to screen top candidates into your hiring pipeline. Standardized applicant questionnaires make it easier to find the truly superstar candidates.

Here are some of the areas you may want to screen for in your questionnaire:

• Years of management experience
• Self-described management style
• Ideal work environment
• Preferred start time/work hours
• And more!

If you’ve got a particularly high volume of applicants, you could also enlist the help of some friendly AI. With Breezy’s Candidate Match Score, you can automatically see which candidates best align with your open role using a simple scale of 0 to 10. 

3. Use team scorecards to keep it fair and collaborative

We’ve already established that managers are so much more than administrators — they’re leaders. That likely means they’ll be interfacing with a variety of teams and individuals inside the company.

With Breezy’s Scorecard feature, it’s easier than ever to hire a manager that everyone feels good about. With an easy-to-share thumbs-up, thumbs-down system (and notes on each scorecard item), you can get the all-clear from team members with the press of a button. ▶️ 

What to look for in a great manager

In the end, the saying is true: People don’t leave companies—they leave bosses.

So what sets a great boss apart from an average one?

In a role where there’s no cutting corners on soft skills, here are just some of the top traits that can set a great manager apart.

A knack for transforming talent into performance

Employees need personalized support, clear feedback and active coaching to help make the most of their skills. 

The ability to discover what’s unique about an individual and leverage that into tangible business outcomes is what separates a great leader from just another meh manager.

Knowing how to transform talent into performance is major, especially in the age of remote and hybrid work. Time management, productivity, and communication can quickly become a challenge for some work-from-homers. 

But a strong management hire will inspire performance across the board, finding and nurturing team members’ natural skills whether they work from home, the office, or that cute little coffee shop down the road.

Don’t wait for the right candidates to come knocking. Get qualified applicants when you need them with Breezy’s one-click job board postings. Post to 50+ free job boards in just one click. Try it for free!

A desire to recognize and inspire the team

Most managers know employees respond well to recognition. (Who doesn’t love a gold star now and again?)

But how many managers can pinpoint the type of recognition that matters most for each individual? How many managers can use that as an opportunity to inspire the entire team?

“[Successful leaders] leverage positivity, vision, confidence and recognition to influence performance and motivate workers to meet their challenges.”

According to the previously cited Gallup report, the ability to inspire others is a critical competency of the modern manager. 

“Furthermore, the traditional role of a boss as a command-and-control function does not work for today's workforce. The expectation is for the manager to be more of a coach than a boss,” says Vibhas Ratanjee, Senior Practice Expert, Organizational and Leadership Development, at Gallup.

An ability to coach for diverse learning styles

To quote the late great Stephen Covey, "Strength lies in differences, not in similarities."

We all learn differently, and that's ok. In fact, it’s pretty crucial to our success.

Some of us are analyzers, some are doers, others are viewers. Great managers get that there are multiple types of diversity in the workforce. 

Mediocre managers, on the other hand, make the mistake of assuming all employees are motivated by the same things and that they all learn in the same way.

What works for one employee may or may not work for another. It’s the managers job to adapt their coaching style to play to each team member’s strengths.

An eye for potential 

Great managers don't limit their team's potential to the list of skills and responsibilities on a job posting. They know a hard worker when they see one, and they have the skills needed to nurture that passion into stellar performance.

Chances are, your new manager will need to know how to find and hire candidates with the right skills and talent — not just the right words on a resume. Look for managers who know what’s required of a role and boldly recruit the right talent to help take the company to the next level.

The stakes are high, but we’re betting on you. 

Hiring the right managers is a challenge for every employer. But with a smart set of applicant tracking tools and the right management interview questions to fall back on, you'll have no problem finding an inspiring leader for your team. 

Before you launch into any manager interview, make sure everyone on your hiring team is on the same page about what you're looking for and what questions to ask to help uncover your next A-teamer for successful management.

When you’re ready to hire the best manager for your team, Breezy has your back. Find out how it works with a free 14-day trial.

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