Position Name: Financial Services & Banking – Branch Manager
Interviewer
Candidate Name
Interview Date
Introductory Questions
– Interviewer(s) share name, role, tenure, and hand business cards for thank you messages – Share a brief overview of the company
– Give Candidate the Job Description, highlight Job Purpose, Schedule/Travel, Major Challenges & Key Decisions, and Physical Requirements
Tell us about yourself.
Walk us through your professional background.
What type of environment do you thrive in? What type of management style do you enjoy most?
What are your short and long-term professional goals?
What do you know about our organization?
Transitional & Verification Questions
– Clarify any unclear information from resume or application
– Verify availability for work hours and schedule, start date, and other important details
What interests you about this role?
What interests you about working for us?
What accomplishment on your resume are you most proud of?
Technical Questions
– Ask job related questions, based on skills and competencies needed for the role
– Ask open ended questions that allow candidates to tell a story about a specific example
– Ask 5-10 questions based on the role and how much time you have (~3-4 minutes per question)
– Listen for recent examples, details, consistency, the candidate’s role in the story, and teamwork
– Take notes and ask clarifying questions as follow-ups
What has given you the greatest sense of achievement at work and why?
Behavioral / Situational Questions
– Ask job related questions, based on skills and competencies needed for the role
– Ask open ended questions that allow candidates to tell a story about a specific example
– Ask 5-10 questions based on the role and how much time you have (~3-4 minutes per question)
– Listen for recent examples, details, consistency, the candidate’s role in the story, and teamwork
– Take notes and ask clarifying questions as follow-ups. Follow up questions may include:
- Tell us more about the action you took and the outcome.
- What did you say at that point?
- How did you react to that situation?
- Explain your role in more detail.
- Tell me in detail what steps you took.
- And what was the result?
- Describe the obstacles you faced in getting it done.
- What other options did you consider?
- Why do you think you reacted as you did?
- How do you think others felt about your actions at the time?
- Were you satisfied with the outcome of your actions?
- If the same or a similar situation presented itself, what would you do differently?
Adaptability
Tell me about a time when you had to deal with changes in organizational direction that impacted your work. How did you respond?
Situation:
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Tell me about a time when you faced a significant challenge working with people from a different department? What actions did you take?
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Change Management
Tell me about a recent time when you needed to introduce a new idea or procedure to people on the job? What was the situation and how did you handle it?
Situation:
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As you have changed from role to role throughout your career, how have you modified your behavior to deal effectively with changes in the work environment? Give a specific example.
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Coaching & Mentoring
What strategies would you use to motivate your team?
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Describe when a coaching opportunity was successful/not successful. What made it successful/not successful?
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What are the top qualities of a good coach?
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Communication
Describe your most recent conflict within a team setting because of a miscommunication and how you were able to solve it.
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Tell me about a recent time when an e-mail or verbal conversation was misinterpreted by your team or employees. What was the situation and the outcome?
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Tell me about a time when you had to give instructions to another person who was having difficulty understanding. What did you do?
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Conflict Management
Tell me about a difficulty you encountered in working with another department. What did you do to improve the situation?
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Give me an example of a time when you confronted a negative attitude successfully.
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Describe a time when you communicated something unpleasant or difficult to your manager. How did you assert yourself?
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Decision Making
Tell me about a time when you had to make a decision that impacted multiple people. How did you communicate that decision and how was it received?
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Do you tend to make decisions quickly and instinctively or more slowly and methodically? Tell me about a time when your method did not achieve the results you expected. What happened and what did you do?
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Developing Others
Describe a training plan or onboarding plan you’ve created for a team member or direct report.
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How do you go about assessing team member’s development needs and goals?
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Diversity, Inclusion, and Equity
How would you contribute to fostering a healthy diversity, equity, and inclusion culture within our company? What initiatives would you implement?
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What have you done to foster diversity, inclusion, and equity within your team?
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Initiative
What self-development activities have you done on your own during the last three years?
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Tell us about a time that you went above and beyond the call of duty.
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What types of work projects get you really excited? We all “geek out” about different things. What do you geek out about?
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Integrity
Tell me about a time you were new to a company or work group. What steps did you take to build trust with coworkers and/or staff?
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We generally recognize that policies and procedures are necessary for workplace efficiency. Tell me about a time when you had to work under a policy or procedure you did not agree with. What did you do?
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Leadership
Tell me about a time when you had to inspire or energize an unmotivated individual or group. How did you do it and what was the result?
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Give me an example of a piece of constructive feedback you received about your leadership style. How did you respond?
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What makes you an effective leader? Why do you think people want to work for you?
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Managing Others
Give me an example, from your past work experiences, about a time when you had an underperforming employee reporting to you. How did you address the situation? Did the employee’s performance improve? If not, what did you do next?
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What is your approach in giving difficult feedback? Give me an example of a time when that worked well/didn’t work well.
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What policies and practices have you put in place to help structure the talent aspects of the organization?
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As you have grown in your career, how has your management style changed?
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Performance Management
Share your philosophy or approach to knowing if a performance issue is a training issue or not.
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How would you handle an employee with poor or marginal performance who has been led to believe by previous leadership that they are meeting expectations.
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Tell us about a star performer you managed. How did you keep them motivated and rewarded?
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Planning & Organization
Describe a time when you were facing a challenging circumstance, personally or professionally. How did it affect your work? What did you do to balance the situation and stay on top of your workload?
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What tools do you use to plan your day? How do these help you determine priorities? How do you keep others informed?
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Problem Solving
Have you ever had to fix a problem twice? Describe the situation.
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Tell me about a problem that needed fixing where you weren’t sure how to approach it.
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Relationship Building
How does one go about building rapport quickly and maintaining successful business relationships? Give examples of how you made these work for you.
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Give a specific example of a time when you had to address an angry customer. What was the problem and what was the outcome? How would you asses your role in diffusing the situation?
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Results Orientation
What results have you achieved that you are most proud of?
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What does it mean to you to be results-oriented?
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Tell me about two recent instances that showcase your drive for stellar results.
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Self Awareness & Development
Tell me about a time that you took advantage of the professional development opportunities at work. How did these resources help you progress in your career?
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Describe the process you use to set and achieve goals.
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What are your strengths? Opportunities for improvement?
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What have you discovered about yourself through your career?
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Give me an example of a goal you set for yourself and how you achieved it. Give me an example of a time when you faced obstacles that kept you from meeting a goal.
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Teamwork/Team Building
How would you describe a successful team? What is the #1 thing that makes a team truly thrive?
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Tell us about a time when someone wasn’t pulling their weight on a team. What was the situation and how did you manage through it?
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Time Management
When was the last time you missed a deadline? What were the circumstances?
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Are you better managing multiple priorities or one at a time? Tell me about a time you were successful/not successful.
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What time management tools do you use?
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How do you structure your day? Your week?
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Candidate’s Questions
– Be sure to leave time for their questions, generally 1-3
– Paint a positive but honest view of the pros and cons of the work and culture
Notes
Closing Questions
– Describe where you are in the process, next steps, and when they can expect to hear back
– Ask if they have any final remarks
What is one thing I should know about you that I haven’t asked?
What could you bring to this position that other candidates could not?
Interviewer Assessment
Enter your overall assessment about the candidate’s knowledge, skills, abilities, and fit for this position.
Would you recommend this candidate advance in the process?