It's a Whole New World Out There
I was recently asked how to prepare for a software development management position. Here is the advice I'd give any such job candidate.
If the interviewers are good, they will describe hypothetical situations and ask about how you would go about managing, solving, reacting to those situations. They will use a mixture of technical challenges a team leader might face, and a lot of people, political, and management obstacles that are likely to reflect the challenges of the job.
The best way to answer these questions is to:
And remember, you are interviewing them, just like they are interviewing you, so be ready to ask them some questions about the company, workplace, team, etc. This will help you understand whether you want the job, and will demonstrate that you are paying attention to the success factors, even before you are offered the position.
If the interviewers are good, they will describe hypothetical situations and ask about how you would go about managing, solving, reacting to those situations. They will use a mixture of technical challenges a team leader might face, and a lot of people, political, and management obstacles that are likely to reflect the challenges of the job.
The best way to answer these questions is to:
- Engage in active listening. Check with the interviewer regarding what you think the question is. Paraphrase it back to them. Ask questions to clarify the question. Do not make any assumptions without explicitly stating that you are making an assumption — and then state what that assumption is.
- Use real world examples from your past, whenever possible. You don’t have to have gotten it completely right before. In fact, it can be good to describe how you addressed it in the past, what worked and what didn’t work, and what you learned from that — and how you would address it in the future.
- If you don’t have any similar situations in your past, be honest about that and describe your thought process and approach to figuring out the situation. Remember, at the end of the day, while experience is VERY important, there are always new challenges one hasn’t seen before and demonstrating your approach to new challenges is a critical part of demonstrating you are a good fit for the job.
And remember, you are interviewing them, just like they are interviewing you, so be ready to ask them some questions about the company, workplace, team, etc. This will help you understand whether you want the job, and will demonstrate that you are paying attention to the success factors, even before you are offered the position.