Planning managers play an essential role in ensuring the success of laid down plans in an organization. They usually work with other planning officials to advise the business on planning policies and regulations and ensure that all compliance is met.
They also take part in project management, which is a crucial aspect of any business. This article will look at several interview questions that you should expect in a planning manager interview. Remember, you have to prepare adequately, given that these professionals play critical roles in organizations.
Also, work on your pronunciation and overall interview skills to increase your chances of landing the job. Take a look at the following:
1. Why Are You Interested In This Role?
The interviewer wants to understand what irked your interest, either in the role or job listing. The best way to handle such a question is to sell yourself by highlighting some of the skills you can deliver and mentioning a few things that the company will likely reap.
Sample Answer
I am passionate about planning and have helped several companies create excellent planning departments. I also love working with upcoming companies such as yours and leading them to achieve even greater success. I can therefore use my expertise, skills, and experience for the betterment of your company.
2. What Are The Roles of a Planning Manager?
The interviewer wants to know if you understand your mandates. Remember, you cannot deliver if you do not understand your job description. Be brief and straight to the point. Also, mention only job-specific roles.
Sample Answer
A planning manager oversees a company’s development plans and applications/ He/ she advises stakeholders on the planning policies and regulations and manages planning compliance. A planning manager will also offer counsel and representation during crucial planning meetings and hearings together with other planning officials.
3. What Are The Qualities That a Planning Manager Needs To Be Effective?
You definitely understand the main qualities that you need in this job. We advise that you mention some of the skills and attributes that help you perform well in this role. Like the previous answer, keep their job-specific.
Sample Answer
A planning manager should have excellent team leadership skills given the nature of the job, quality communication skills to bring people together and pass information across, and excellent analytical skills. Other qualities are good political and management skills, making sound judgments, solving problems, interpersonal skills, and multitasking skills.
4. Mention a Challenge That You Encountered In Your Last Role. How Did You Manage It?
Every job has its challenges. However, as an employee, you are expected to try and come up with solutions. This question seeks to test your problem-solving skills, which is a requirement in this job. Mention an experience showing that you are a good problem solver.
Sample Answer
I faced several challenges, given that I was working for a startup. However, the main obstacle was lack of resources, which set me back. We had to rescale some of our projects due to budgetary constraints, which was understandable since the company was just starting. However, I overcompensated this in other areas such as team management and training; I ensured that my team was efficient in dealing with such issues.
5. Describe Your Daily Routine
What are some of the activities that you usually do in your line of work? While answering this question, try to think about one of the busiest days in your life as a planning manager to pass the information that you are competent.
Sample Answer
I report to work early and lay down plans for the day by making a list of activities to make the day productive. I then attend meetings with the team to obtain the status reports and brief them of a few occurrences. I will then catch up with the different industry perspectives while doing whatever I captured in my to-do list. I may also attend key planning meetings and offer advice and wise counsel, if any.
6. Briefly Describe Your Experience
The interviewer wants a summary of the professional experiences you have had in this field. We also advise you to highlight your achievements, if any.
Sample Answer
I have managed to work as a planning manager for three companies in ten years. During my reign, I have managed to help two of these companies restructure their planning departments and improve their compliance policies. I have also won the best employee of the year several times and at one point got awarded with an Audi that I still drive. I also have vast experience in strategic planning and management, which comes in handy in this role.
7. Mention a Strategy and Mindset Required In This Role
Every job requires s strategy, which loosely translates to the mode of operation. The best way to answer this question is to talk about a strategy and mindset responsible for your successful career as a planning manager.
Sample Answer
The best strategy for me in this career is being future-oriented when making plans and ensuring compliance. This calls for a clear vision when setting goals, developing strategies, and tracking the team’s progress. As for the right mindset, one should always be result and future-oriented.
8. What Is The Biggest Challenge That You Foresee In This Job?
What seems challenging in this Role? The best way to find out is by conducting prior research on the company. However, while answering this question, tell the interviewer that challenges motivate you.
Sample Answer
I am usually motivated by the challenges I encounter along the way since I take great pride in overcoming them. The biggest challenge that I expect here is filling the space of the former planning manager, given that he did an outstanding job here before retirement. However, I believe that I have all it takes to execute my roles well, if not better.
9. How Do You Stay Motivated at Work?
This may test your emotional stability, or the interviewer may just want to know what gives you the needed push. The best approach to this question is to show that you motivate yourself.
Sample Answer
I am usually motivated by my achievements and the challenges I face in this role. I believe in finding solutions to problems, especially those that people deem impossible. I believe that these challenges teach me to be better at this job. I love winning, and until I win, I do not know how and when to stop.
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10. Describe a Time You Failed In This Job and The Lesson Your Learnt
Can you be accountable for some of your failures in this role? Your answer should highlight the experience and the lesson you learned. However, do not come off as too incompetent.
Sample Answer
At one point, I was a liberal manager who let my team members make their own choices. However, looking back, I realize that I should not have let that happen. I have learned to exert my authority at times and lead the way.
11. You Have Definitely Worked With Teams. How Do You usually Handle Difficult Team Members?
The interviewer is assessing your ability to interact and work with others. The best approach to answering this question is convincing the interviewer that you can easily work with difficult people and make the team effective.
Sample Answer
I deal with lots of difficult people in my job, given that I interact with different personalities. I have therefore mastered the art of managing people and ensuring that even the most difficult do not negatively impact the team. I usually leverage people’s psychology when faced with such scenarios. I have learned that challenging such people and boosting their confidence works magic and maximizes their abilities.
12. Walk Us Through How You Organize, Plan, and Prioritize Your Work
This is a common question in interviews that seeks to uncover your methods of work and organizational skills. Your answer should therefore paint you as an organized, highly skilled, and effective manager.
Sample Answer
As a planning manager, I am normally required to plan and organize different tasks and events and see that they are successful. I therefore always ensure that everything is planned prior as per the requirements. The best approach is to prioritize the most pressing tasks before breaking them down and allocating the required resources for their execution. I also have a plan in place whenever things do not turn out as planned, which helps me get back on track.
13. Have You Ever Been In a Situation Where You Have To Relay Difficult Information To a Team? How Did You Manage It?
Your role as a manager requires you to be honest with your team. They expect to hear directly from you. This is a behavioral question that seeks to unravel how you will act in a specific scenario. The best approach to such questions is to be as vivid as possible in your answer.
Sample Answer
I once had to inform the team members about the death of one of us, one of the most challenging things I have done in my career. I did not beat around the bush but created a somber mood before breaking the information in a comforting tone. Most broke down, which was painful to watch, but my message and tone quelled them. I gave them some time to process the information and, together with top management, allowed a few very close employees to him the rest of the day off.
14. There Are Different Kinds of Asset Allocation That a Manager Can Use. However, In Your Experience, Which Is The Best One?
This is an operational question asked by interviewers to determine your methods of operation. The best approach to such a question is to be concise and straight to the point. Also, make sure that you use your experiences and knowledge to answer the question.
Sample Answer
I have used several resource allocation means in my area of work. I do not, therefore, believe that there is an ideal allocation means. A manager should settle on a technique that meets the business needs and model. In my line of work, I prefer to analyze the current financial situation and come up with an asset allocation means that suits the needs of the business.
15. What Is Your Preferred Management Style?
This is a common question that you should expect in a management interview. Your management style is what sets you apart from other professionals of your caliber. The best approach to such a question is to avoid labels. Pick a situational kind of management.
Sample Answer
My best management style is by building a team. I believe that delegating responsibility and authority makes work easier and effective. In the team setting, I usually ensure that all the team members understand their role, know where they fit in the organization and feel interdependent. My style of management also depends on real-time feedback. I encourage my team members to speak up and point out things they feel should be done differently.
16. How Have You Developed Personally In This Role In The Last 12 Months?
The planning field is constantly changing. The interviewer is therefore allowing you to showcase some of the things you have done to better yourself. Convince the interviewer that you are self-motivated and goal-oriented.
Sample Answer
I have not had a chance to advance academically, given that my last job was very demanding. However, I managed to join a planning manager forum, which has taught me a lot about this field. We hold regular meetings and conduct webinars to discuss changes in this field and some ideas that better our jobs. I also joined our local food bank, which has taught me about being kind and giving back to the community.
17. Your Job Normally requires You To Make Long-Range Objectives. How Do You Normally Achieve These?
The question seeks to reveal your competence. How do you go about your job and ensure that you succeed in your roles? Convince the interviewer that you have foreseeing strengths that can help you make and achieve long-range objectives.
Sample Answer
A large percentage of my job is spent making long-range objectives that must be achieved in the end. I usually ensure that the company generates as much revenue as possible by the end of the year and my team is in the best position at all times. To do that, I use my intuitive knowledge and experience in this field. The behavioral analysis also helps me make and achieve long-range objectives.
18. What Is Your Take and Experience on the Use of Technology In Management?
Such questions usually help interviewers reveal a bit of background information about a candidate. The best way to answer such a question is to be brief and straight to the point. Give a positive take and mention some of the technology you have used in your line of work.
Sample Answer
I believe that technology makes work more manageable, and firms should try as much as possible to automate their operations. I have used a number in my line of work, including planning and management software. I have also got some of the companies I have worked in hooked to several applications, given the recorded output. I have always used technology and new information to get the best results.
19. What Is Your Greatest Professional Strength As a Planning Manager?
Every job requires its fair share of qualities. For this question, you need to mention a strength that relates to one of the qualities of a planning manager. However, avoid general answers such as ‘people’s skills’ but instead offer a specific response.
Sample Answer
I am a persuasive communicator who can bring people on board and relay information in the most precise term possible. This quality has seen me put up formidable teams. I am also good at relationship building, which is necessary when working with different people. I once had to step out of my job description and mend the relationship between two managers in my place of work.
20. Why Should We Give You This Role Out of All The Candidates?
This is a chance to sell yourself. There is no specific answer, but the interviewer wants you to mention some of the things that make you stand out from the competitors. Do not talk badly of the other candidates, but instead use this opportunity as a chance to prove why you are the best candidate.
Sample Answer
This is a great question. I have not interacted with the other candidates and cannot give my opinion about them. However, I believe that my passion, resilience, and experience make me the best option for this job. I know how to handle difficult situations and bring people together towards a joint initiative. I also love what I do. I have made it a habit to give my all in my job, never stopping until I achieve whatever I set out to do. You will not, therefore, regret if I am granted this chance.
Conclusion
These are some of the commonest interview questions that you should expect in planning manager interviews. Take some time and go through them while also brainstorming unique answers that will impress the interviewer. We wish you well in your interview.
