Tell me about the best manager you had.

Disciplines > Job-finding > Interview questions > Tell me about the best manager you had.

The question | What they are looking for | How to answer | See also

The question

Have you had any great managers? What were they like?

What makes a good manager?

What they are looking for

The interviewer here may be looking for several things. First, they may be seeking your view on what makes a good manager. This is particularly important if you are applying for a management position.

They also will pay attention to detail such as whether you talk about the manager being a nice person or whether the manager's focus was on getting the job done. This will reflect on your view of work in general as well as on management.

How to answer

First show that you understand good management in the way they set and manage objectives.

I've had a number of good managers. Perhaps the best was one who paid particular care to let me know exactly what was needed of me and then made sure I had everything I needed to do the job. With a clean run I got a lot done and we both were very successful.

As well as showing you understand management, you can also highlight attributes of good leadership, talking about such as vision, inspiration and integrity.

She showed us how to behave through her actions, always going the extra mile for customers and learning from difficulties and issues we faced.