The main duty of this role is to oversee complete construction activity including labor and project. In this article, we will be sharing some of the questions with answers that you might be asked in your interview as a Site Supervisor.
1. Why Are You Interested In This Role?
I have been in this field for many years now and I have enjoyed working on different variety of projects. I am excited to be part of your new projects including both commercial and residential projects that you have planned. With my experience and skills, I am sure I will be a great fit for this role.
2. What Are The Roles Of The Site Supervisor?
The responsibilities include:
- Construction site inspection to ensure safety throughout the project,
- To be in contact with labor and sub-contractors,
- Training labor on safety and accident protocol,
- Make sure the site is safe to avoid any accidents,
- Keeping attendance records of labor,
- Understanding blueprint documents to pass on the same instructions to the labor and
- Ensuring efficiency in all operational activity and recommending changes if required.
3. What Are The Qualities That Asite Supervisor Needs To Be Successful?
The basic qualities required for this role are:
- Problem-solving skills,
- Leadership skills,
- Understanding of blueprints,
- Understanding of all machine operations required on-site,
- Communication Skills
- Organizational Skills and
- Understanding of safety regulations as per the law.
4. What Major Challenges Did You Face During Your Last Role? How Did You Manage Them?
One of the biggest challenges I have faced during my last role was managing a huge team for a project. I faced a lot of reporting issues and I discussed them with my supervisor regarding it. After talking to a few laborers, we devised a solution to request one team member from each unit to report directly to us. It helped us supervise better and micromanagement was avoided.
5. Describe Your Daily Routine As Site Supervisor?
I start my day at a construction site where I check the current status of the project along with a few discussions with the people at work. By mid-day, I check all construction supplies along with equipment to ensure there is no shortage at the site. Once it’s all done, I create a daily report to share with stakeholders at the end of the day so that also have an idea about the project on daily basis and they can give their relevant feedback in the meantime. This helps a lot with inefficiency.
6. Describe Briefly About Your Experience?
I started my first job in 2019 in a construction company uptown. In beginning, my responsibilities were a few construction projects monitoring and controlling costs as per the budget requirement. To ensure instructions are being followed, I also narrated the blueprint to the worker. Soon I was promoted within the same company where I was in charge of Inventory related to construction material and ordering as well.
7. What Kind Of Strategies And Mindset Are Required For This Role?
Presence of mind is required for this role because one should be keeping an eye on all construction activities at a site and creating reports for the stakeholders. To ensure safety at a site, one must know the rule and regulations as well.
8. What Is The Biggest Challenge You Foresee In This Job?
Finding a good vendor who provides quality material that is required for construction! These days it’s very hard to find someone reliable who can provide such material without any hassle. I believe that you have a few vendors on board so this will be sorted but expanding the network is required to match the cost of the construction budget.
9. How Do You Stay Motivated At Work?
I am always passionate about all my projects and I have always gotten a chance to work with amazing teams and dealers. To stay motivated during my working hours, I make sure I am keeping myself physically fit and active. I also keep my work life and personal life balanced where I spend quality time with my friends and family.
10. Describe A Time You Failed In This Role And The Lesson You Learned?
I cannot remember a time right now but I am sure that I have failed several times to reach this position. During all hard times, I have learned that my projects are only completed when supervised from the start and all teams are well synced with each other because it just smoothens the process and makes it easier for everyone to work with each other. To learn more about this industry, I took some certification in project management and the construction industry that has helped me perform better in this role. Due to the pandemic, most of the construction work was stopped and I had a lot of free time to invest so I thought it might be a good time to work on my skills and perform better.
11. Why Do You Feel You Are Qualified For This Role?
With my skills and experience in this field, I feel I am a perfect fit for this role. You can see what type of projects I have done to date that showcases my soft skills like project management, human resource management, and keen observer that helps me in site inspections throughout. I can train and assign tasks to team members while monitoring the site.
12. Share With Us Your Greatest Achievement
My greatest achievement is working on a heritage product in the city where we restored a few ancient buildings and it was well managed within the time duration and budget. I am proud that I was able to work on such a tricky project where all my skills were tested and I proved right.
13. What Is Construction Management?
It is a skill to manage the complete process of any type of construction that includes both commercial and residential. To meet the requirements of the budget and quality, Management ensures coordination between labor and raw material on the project till its inauguration.
14. How Are Projects Supervised?
To supervise the construction project, the following is taken care of :
- Ensuring safety and knowledge of risk and management to avoid accidents on site,
- Meeting the quality standards for not only the team working on it but also the public who will be using the end product,
- Ensuring the timeline will be met as per the commitment and the quality of the project will not be compromised at all,
- Ensuring the scope of the construction project is met and no important task is left behind and
- Integration of all aspects of the construction to make sure the project is completed successfully.
15. Have You Worked On Different Types Of Projects? Share Your Experience.
I have been in the field for 5 years now and I have gotten a chance to work with several different projects like apartment buildings and commercial projects like Community Centers and Shopping Centers. Before COVID19, I was working on a university project that was expanding its campus.
16. Before You Start A Project, What Do You Do?
I always understand the brief document of the project that mentions the objectives of the construction to understand the requirement. The brief also mentions a tentative timeline. Once I know both information, I calculate what sort of labor will be working with me and how many members I need to complete the project. If it’s a short timeline then obviously I will be hiring extra people that will increase the cost.I also ask the stakeholder if they have any architects on board otherwise I connect them with possible designers as per their preferences. One team is on board and the layout is finalized, I set milestones with the client so that everyone can achieve them step by step and there are no surprises in the end. Once done, I identify the suppliers who will be providing the construction material and equipment that will be needed throughout the project, and quality will be maintained too. The last part is to get the necessary license from the local authorities to approve the project so that work can begin.
17. To Start Work, What Are The Necessary Licenses Required?
It is entirely dependent on the type of project. The most common licenses are the following as per law:
- Assessment of Environmental Impact
- Fire and Safety Licensing,
- Permission for Planning,
- Permission for Construction and Planning,
- Consent for Advertisement and
- Certifications of development
18. What Is Your Hiring Process Like For A Project?
I hire people based on skillset and experience. Once hired, I prefer to enhance their skills and knowledge with my experience and knowledge. While training, I make sure that the quality of the project is not compromised at all. I also boost the team’s morale which automatically improves productivity and there are fewer chances of conflicts between the teams too. On the other hand, I also improve team spirit and encourage expertise sharing and knowledge sharing that helps everyone learn effectively.
19. Which Software Do You Use For Management Purposes?
I have full command over BuiltTools as my previous role involved its training and usage. The other 2 tools which I have worked on are WorkFlowMax and Procure. I researched that you use different tools for management purposes. If there is any new tool you are using, I am sure I can learn it fast as well.
20. How Do You Ensure Safety At Work?
I follow the law and I make sure that all my team follows it too.
- Proper training of workers to use tools and equipment around the site.
- Mandatory dust protection essentials for all workers working on the site. It includes nose masks and goggles. I also have filtration systems in place with a containment tent and unit that helps in the process.
- Using exhaust ventilation to control the fumes from the diesel vehicles
- Usage of machinery to handle heavy items like forklifts, electric hoists, or even hand-powered. I also ensure that heavy materials are present near the storage area when delivered.
- Ensuring a fresh supply of air in the tunnel or confined areas,
- Construction and Installation of stairwells, corridors, or site cabins to prevent slips. Overall minimizes the chances of injury due to uneven and slippery surfaces in the area.
- Mandatory helmets in the uniform to protect the workers against any falling object,
- Mandatory usage of noise protection gear like earplugs and muffs and
- Make sure that all construction sites are protected against any weather changes
21. To Meet The Timeline And Budget, How Do You Ensure This?
I make sure that I am communicating the expectations of the client with the relevant team members from time to time. I also have debriefed meetings within the teams to share updates with the ones in charge. With this, the in-charge can evaluate the status of the project which helps in timeline and budget management.I believe that If I have an open-door policy with the team on board, they feel important and work passionately to achieve great results. It has always worked for me in all these years. Budget and schedule are two important aspects of any construction project. With team meetings together, we can find ways to improve the efficiency of the teams and ensure the schedule and budget frame. I am also open to listening to any challenges that a team might be facing and helping them find a possible solution to ace the project.
22. Imagine If You Are Facing A Timeline Issue On A Project. How Will You Handle It?
In such a situation, I would immediately call a quick team meeting and have a healthy discussion related to the time management issue we are facing. I will make sure that there are no blame games during the meeting on any individual or any particular team member. After knowing the causes of the delay, I will discuss it with the project in charge so that it can be communicated to the client timely. This is a stressful situation and I make sure to remain calm because my panic is going to affect the team directly. From the next project onwards, I will make sure that I am keeping a proper check and balance with the team to meet the timeline requirement with them.
23. How Do You Motivate Your Team?
I will listen to team challenges and if they have any ideas, they should be able to communicate with me in a friendly manner. I believe that such a team’s interaction helps in running a project smoothly. To ensure the input of all workers involved in the project, I will make sure that I involve other key members in this task too.
I have friendly behavior with all team members but I also keep my professional distance so that work is not compromised. I do believe that motivated teams can do wonders at work and it’s only possible when the leader is doing the right training throughout in hard skills or soft skills.
24. Have You Passed The SSSTS Course? What Is It About?
Yes, I cleared the course a year ago. The site Supervisor Training Scheme is a training course requirement for all construction supervisors. This ensures that all supervisors on the site have the skill to monitor and communicate safe working methods that are essential for the construction requirement. One of the major topics that are covered under the SSSTS course is risk assessment. Without this, construction sites can become unsafe for all workers. If you notice, many incidents at a construction site happen due to workers falling from height. All this can be avoided if a course is taken by the supervisor onboard.
25. Are You Trained With OSHA30?
Yes, I took this training at the start of my career as it was mandatory for the position. The training helped me in understanding safety codes and identification of safety issues and be able to report them timely and come up with an action plan. It is a regulation by the government and is taught by professional trainers. The training comprises workplace safety as well that shares information regarding using motor vehicles at the construction site and handling any fire at the location too. If there are any hazardous materials used, OSHA 30 ensures the safety and safe use of explosives at the worksite. Any person who is trained as per OSHA 30 can identify and report any hazardous situation.
If I join here, I will be planning a training session with all team members to get on board with this training so that safety can be ensured by all.
Conclusion
These 25 questions are surely going to help in acing the first round of interviews as aSite Supervisor. Good luck! Here is a small tip from us: Wear a nice shirt or dress and walk into the room with confidence. Also, take your updated resume in a hard copy with you. Don’t forget to Smile!
