An Introduction to People Management

Engineering managers are team leaders first. Effective teams are action-oriented, collaborative, and complementary with company culture. Building great teams isn't easy - EMs must hire the right people at the right time, match engineers to projects that excite them, and offer guidance in good times and bad. In the interview process, these skills are evaluated through people management questions.

You'll run into these throughout your interview. They have much in common with behavioral questions in that they're either based on your experience or hypothetical, and are meant to test how you'll react in realistic management scenarios. At a high level, you're evaluated on how you work with others. Interviewers are looking for leadership qualities such adaptability, open-mindedness, communication, and people skills. This is why you put together a story bank in earlier lessons; get ready to use it starting now.

What to expect

You'll get "light" people management questions in your hiring manager screen, but they're a major focus of the on-site. Depending on the company, your recruiter might send you a list of behavioral-type questions to prepare. You should also be aware of the company's core values and try to align your answers accordingly.

Common questions come in the form of:

• "Tell me about a time when you..." faced adversity, made a mistake, had to course-correct mid-project, etc.
• "How do you deal with..." poor performers, burnout, a superstar, etc.
• "Describe your philosophy on..." team decision-making, recruiting, cross-functional partners, your team members' career growth

Execution questions also fall under your team leadership responsibilities, so you can expect questions like:

• How do you balance product quality with requests?
• How do you manage multi-quarter projects?
• How do you manage multiple requests to your team? How do you deal with competing priorities?

What the interview assesses

Each company is different, but most evaluate leadership skills. The dimensions most commonly assessed are:

• Ability to manage in all directions: Managing your team is a given, but you'll also need to manage up to your bosses and company leadership, and across to cross-functional partners and other EMs. Are you able to effectively alter your communication to different audiences? Are you able to represent your team's interest?
• Communication skills: Can you cut through the noise to give your team direction and support? Are you able to effectively communicate why the work you do is important? Can you take that knowledge and motivate a team?
• Culture fit: Do you embody company values? Are you open to feedback and differing perspectives in order to get things done? Can you help resolve conflict?

How to prepare

The rest of this module will walk you through the main categories of people management questions. We've gathered advice from several engineering leaders and recorded video interviews to help you craft your own polished answer. Armed with your story bank, you'll be able to demonstrate leadership and success in working with others by the end of this course.