Most IT managers get to the role of management through years of technical work, progressing from technicians to system administrators and so on. This is quite a common question when applying for IT manager roles, so make sure you have a list of your previous technical roles handy if this applies to you. What is your technical background, if any? You can expect questions about their technical upskilling and studying, as well as how involved you think a manager should be in an individual’s decision to upskill. The technical aspect of these questions also encompasses the technical skills of your IT staff. If you are looking to land the role of IT manager in a small-to-medium-sized company, then you can probably expect to be helping out with the actual work when things get busy, while a larger multi-site company will probably have very specific job functions that they want you to perform. Try to think about how your role as IT manager makes sense within the context of the company that you are applying to. Some IT managers need to have had the practical experience in the field so that they can properly manage expectations in times of system failures and give the appropriate responses to questions from the executives within the company. Some companies put more of an emphasis on the financial and regulatory requirements of the IT department, but not all. Having a technical background is not always necessary for the role of IT manager. What they really want to know is how you deal with technical challenges in the role, how you get the right people to tackle the jobs and if you do any of this work yourself. Technical abilities for staff and management questionsįinding out about your qualifications is easy for the interviewer they just need to look at your resumé.

You may find that there is no apparent order to the questions that you get asked in your interview. The order of these questions is not important because each interviewer may prioritize the question types differently, so don’t get too hung up on the order. Both types of question are essential for this role, so getting the answers right is essential if you are looking to be successful in your next interview. Some of these questions are generic managerial questions that apply to almost every role where a manager is needed, while others will be more specific to the field of IT. Each of these categories will help you to better understand what the role of an IT manager is and how these functions are all broken down into different skill sets.

Sample manager interview questions