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Operations Manager Interview Questions

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Operations Manager Interview Questions

Employers want operations managers with the leadership, managerial and interpersonal skills to effectively manage daily operations, evaluate operational costs and make personnel decisions. Be prepared to discuss your management style as well as your experience of handling conflicts and motivating teams to meet deadlines. You should also be ready to answer operational questions such as how you would improve processes to cut costs. A bachelor's degree in management or a similar field of study is required, with a master's degree being ideal.

Top Operations Manager Interview Questions & How to Answer

Question 1

Question No. 1: What skills do you consider essential for success in this role?

How to answer
How to answer: A few obvious examples include leadership, communication, quick thinking and problem-solving. Describe your background in these and how you've employed them to manage changes and interact with all levels of an organisation. It is important to place emphasis on how you have been successful in the position.
Question 2

Question No. 2: What are some of the tasks you have handled as an operations manager?

How to answer
How to answer: An operation manager's tasks are plentiful, so choose a handful from your experience that stand out for you. Examples include hiring, training and managing employees; overseeing quality assurance applications; strategising process improvements; overseeing accounts payable and receivable, etc. Make sure you prioritise tasks that align with the job description.
Question 3

Question No. 3: How do you handle budget planning, step by step?

How to answer
How to answer: Although this requires a detailed response, keep it concise. Describe the budgeting model(s) you use (static, zero-base, flexible, etc.) and how you use it/them to estimate expenses, sales, cash flows and asset replacement.

19,226 operations manager interview questions shared by candidates

From the in-person panel interviews: - Uber is opening up a city remotely (i.e. Milwaukee will be operated out of Chicago). How would you make the drivers in Milwaukee feel equal to the drivers in Chicago. This was maybe the worst, most vague question of them all. - Uber drops you in a new market (i.e. Oklahoma City) and says you have two weeks until we open here - go! What do you do? - Say an Uber black car driver makes $30/ride with a 20% commission. How do you convince him to upgrade to a new made up service UberSuper with a 25% commission? What costs will the driver incur in upgrading. How much more will he have to make each week, etc. Note: it's not enough to just walk them through mentally how you'd do this, be prepared to do the math on the fly. Very annoying. - An Uber competitor opens in your city with unlimited cash capital, if you were them how would you steal Uber's customers? If you were Uber how would you convince drivers not to leave?
avatar

Operations and Logistics Manager

Interviewed at Uber

3.7★
13 Mar 2014

From the in-person panel interviews: - Uber is opening up a city remotely (i.e. Milwaukee will be operated out of Chicago). How would you make the drivers in Milwaukee feel equal to the drivers in Chicago. This was maybe the worst, most vague question of them all. - Uber drops you in a new market (i.e. Oklahoma City) and says you have two weeks until we open here - go! What do you do? - Say an Uber black car driver makes $30/ride with a 20% commission. How do you convince him to upgrade to a new made up service UberSuper with a 25% commission? What costs will the driver incur in upgrading. How much more will he have to make each week, etc. Note: it's not enough to just walk them through mentally how you'd do this, be prepared to do the math on the fly. Very annoying. - An Uber competitor opens in your city with unlimited cash capital, if you were them how would you steal Uber's customers? If you were Uber how would you convince drivers not to leave?

Behavioral based questions were easy to prepare for. Amazon prefers the STAR (situation, task, action, result) method to answer. Would suggestion preparing for the math flow question. I was asked the following: You have 30 associates who all work an 8 hour day, 5 days a week. 2 need to be in indirect (non-volume producing) roles. Your direct (production) rate is 150 units per hour, but you have two 15-minute breaks during the day. How many units can your department produce in a 40 hour week?
avatar

Operations Manager

Interviewed at Amazon

3.5★
20 Aug 2013

Behavioral based questions were easy to prepare for. Amazon prefers the STAR (situation, task, action, result) method to answer. Would suggestion preparing for the math flow question. I was asked the following: You have 30 associates who all work an 8 hour day, 5 days a week. 2 need to be in indirect (non-volume producing) roles. Your direct (production) rate is 150 units per hour, but you have two 15-minute breaks during the day. How many units can your department produce in a 40 hour week?

100 drivers apply to uber to be a driver. X percent does not have city knowledge, y of them miss their screening meetings, z of them did not passed background check and can apply in 6 months etc etc.. Base on listed constraints, how many of them can start with Uber?
avatar

Operations and Logistics Manager

Interviewed at Uber

3.7★
27 Apr 2015

100 drivers apply to uber to be a driver. X percent does not have city knowledge, y of them miss their screening meetings, z of them did not passed background check and can apply in 6 months etc etc.. Base on listed constraints, how many of them can start with Uber?

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