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  • Hello there, my name is Richard McMunn from the interview training company PassMyInterview.com.

  • In this video tutorial, I'm going to teach you how to pass a Training Manager interview,

  • and in particular, I'm going to give you a number of common training manager interview

  • questions that come up often, and also tips to answer each question and then give you

  • suggested answers. So, my aim is to make you the STANDOUT CANDIDATE during your interview.

  • Now, I've been doing that for about 20 years through this CareerVidz YouTube channel and

  • we have about 220,000 subscribers. On that basis, PLEASE do make sure you SUBSCRIBE to

  • the channel so you don't miss out on any of the weekly top-scoring interview questions

  • and answer tutorials that I am providing my subscribers with. I would also very much appreciate

  • it if you gave the video a LIKE (thanks!) That always motivates me to create more content

  • for you. Thank you very much. As I say, my name is Richard McMunn. That's me there in

  • the center. I am actually a former Fire Officer Training Manager, and I spent about 17 years

  • in the Fire Service, and during some of that time I was a training manager. I promise you

  • the answers that I am going to provide you with are all top scoring. I've done lots of

  • research for you to save you the time. If you want to connect with me on LinkedIn.com,

  • I have put my link within the video description below the video so you can connect with me

  • there if you would like to. It is good to connect with like-minded people. OK, let's

  • get into the questions and answers for your training manager interview. Here we go. The

  • first question that we need to prepare for is, tell me about yourself and why you want

  • to become a training manager? With the answer to this question, we want to give people positive

  • key words and phrases that are a close match to the traits needed to be an effective training

  • manager. And as you know, as a training manager, you have a massive influential potential on

  • the productivity of an organization. If all of the staff are trained well, then they are

  • more likely to be safe, efficient and highly productive. We want to get off on the right

  • footing with this interview question, and answer. So, here it is. “I am an extremely

  • passionate and driven training manager who understands how important effective training

  • is to an organization such as yours. I take my work as a Training Manager seriously, and

  • I have a natural ability to assess the training needs of all staff as well as being able to

  • create definitive training and lesson plans based on the objectives of the organization

  • I am working for. I want to be a Training Manager because the traits I possess are a

  • perfect fit for the role. I have in-depth knowledge of my subject matter, I am a very

  • strong communicator, I am a creative thinker, and I am a very good listener who will ensure

  • the training needs of my employer are met continually throughout each year.” That's

  • a really good answer! It's positive in nature. It's concise, and it shows that you are confident

  • in your abilities to be a great training manager for their organization. So, the second interview

  • question we need to prepare for is, why do you want to work for our organization as a

  • training manager? Now, obviously, the salary for a training manager is quite a good one

  • across the board. And on that basis, they want to understand that you're not just joining

  • for the salary. And again, these are quite niche job roles, so not many of them come

  • up. The company wants to know, why do you want to work for our organization? Is it that

  • you just want the position, or have you REALLY looked into our organization? We want to give

  • them a strong answer that demonstrates you have thought carefully about working for their

  • organization. Here is my suggested answer. “I want to be a Training Manager for your

  • company because from what I discovered during my research, you not only take the training

  • of your staff seriously, but I feel confident you will support me in the role so I can provide

  • the right level of training, at the highest standards achievable. Some companies, in my

  • opinion, don’t take the training of their staff seriously and they are not only missing

  • out on improving the output of their employees, but they are also exposed to potential legal

  • challenges and litigation. You clearly do take the training of all staff seriously,

  • and on that basis, I will be free to achieve all of my objectives. In my role as Training

  • Manager, I will be able to help your organization develop by facilitating, supervising and delivering

  • training programs for all of your staff to enhance and improve their effectiveness within

  • the workplace, and also help you to achieve your commercial and financial objectives.”

  • Now, the reason why I put that last part in red is because you don't have to say that

  • final bit if you don't want to. I like that part because it shows that you understand

  • how training can improve effectiveness and help an organization achieve its commercial

  • objectives. You can either just do the top part in black, or if you want to include the

  • red part as well, please feel free to do so. On that basis, you can either pause the video

  • and take notes of these answers and use them in your own responses. Or, if you hold on,

  • I will tell you where you can download my full set of Training Manager Interview Questions

  • and High Scoring Answers soon! So, the next question that we want to cover is: Give me

  • an example of when you motivated other people? Some staff, understandably within organizations,

  • see training as a bit of a bind; as a bit of a hindrance. But as you and I know as training

  • managers, training is really, really important. Of course, there is the legal aspect, too,

  • in respect of safety and how important it is, but also it can improve job satisfaction

  • and it can also improve efficiency and output within an organization. But as a training

  • manager, you have to be a good MOTIVATOR. You have to effectively sell your training

  • to the staff and build a culture within the organization that makes people look forward

  • to the training they are going to receive and that they take it seriously. Because when

  • they take it seriously, they will do the training properly. Here is my suggested answer to the

  • interview question: Give me an example of when you motivated other people? This example

  • that is coming right now is what is called a behavioral type interview question. They

  • are very common during training manager interviews. Within your answer, you have to give a SPECIFIC

  • SITUATION you've been in where you motivated other people. Try and use a training environment

  • example if you can do, because that demonstrates you've already done that kind of thing before.

  • This is a very important tip: Make sure you use the STAR technique for structuring your

  • answer to behavioral type interview questions. What does that mean? Well, you start off and

  • you tell the interviewer the SITUATION that you were in. So briefly outline the situation

  • you found yourself in, then quickly explain the TASK that needed to be done, then explain

  • the ACTION you took to achieve the task. And that would be, in my opinion, the bulk of

  • your answer. And then finally, tell the interviewer the RESULTS following your actions. It's called

  • the STAR technique because it's situation, task, action and result. Here is my suggested

  • answer that uses the STAR technique: In a previous training role, I had the challenge

  • of motivating a workforce who appeared averse to continuous training and development. From

  • what I could gather, the workforce viewed training as a bind, and there was no motivation

  • to undertake the necessary training programs I wanted to deliver. It was my task to motivate

  • the staff and explain the benefits of continuous training and development. I started off each

  • training session by having an open and honest questions and answers session, whereby I encouraged

  • all staff to talk honestly about how they felt about training.

  • I answered all questions positively and gave genuine real-life examples of the dangers

  • of not training and developing staff, and also examples of how productivity, efficiency

  • and job satisfaction always improves once proper training is delivered and embraced.

  • Over time, my rapport and level of trust with all staff built to a point that everyone looked

  • forward to the training sessions and they saw them as a necessity in enabling them to

  • work to the high standards expected. By being patient, resilient and determined, I was able

  • to win around the employees and literally transform the training department within the

  • organization.” That's a great example of using the STAR technique to structure a behavioral

  • type interview question! Next interview question. What is the first thing you would change when

  • you start as our training manager? This is a difficult question because the majority

  • of people will think, okay, I need to go into an organization and change things straightaway.

  • But in my opinion, and in my experience as a manager and a business owner for many, many

  • years now, the worst thing you can do is to go into an organization and make immediate

  • changes unless they are requested, and also unless the organization is in danger from

  • a safety or compliance perspective. We need to be careful when answering this question.

  • Here is how I recommend you answer it. “The truth is, I would change nothing initially

  • without having first of all conducting a thorough appraisal and assessment of where the organization

  • is in regard to its training needs and the development needs of your staff.

  • The only exception to this rule, would be if I felt the organization was in danger from

  • a safety or compliance perspective. In which case, I would take robust and decisive training

  • development action. During the first 4 weeks in the position as Training Manager, I would

  • obtain a clear brief from you, the senior management team, as to what you want me to

  • achieve in the role. I would then conduct a training needs analysis before creating

  • a definitive plan of action that would allow me to create, facilitate and deliver comprehensive

  • training programs that support your staff to be effective in their roles, whilst at

  • the same time assisting the company to meet its commercial, financial and safety objectives.”

  • That is a really good answer because it shows that you are considered you are thinking about

  • the organization and it shows that you are smart and you are intelligent as a training

  • manager. And also, you are looking to obtain a brief from the senior management team because

  • as you and I know, for training to be effective, you have to work in synergy with the directors

  • and the company owners. You have to get them on board with the training and then also get

  • the staff on board, too. Next question. What is the difference between leadership and management?

  • As the training manager, you are both a leader and a manager. And this question comes up

  • a lot during training manager interview. So we need to give a great answer to it. Here

  • is my suggested answer. “In order to become a proficient and competent Training Manager,

  • you have to be good at both leadership and management. The primary difference between

  • leadership and management is that management is all about planning, organizing and making

  • good use of the resources you have available. Leadership, on the other hand, is how you

  • motivate, drive and steer a group of people or individuals towards a set goal. As the

  • Training Manager, I would be responsible for managing, facilitating and delivering the

  • training whilst also leading people towards embracing their training in a positive and

  • productive manner to help make your organization efficient and effective at meeting its goals

  • and objectives.” That's a good answer that shows that you fully understand the difference

  • between leadership and management. But more importantly, what you are doing there, is

  • you are demonstrating how both of those important traits tie in with the role of a training

  • manager. Next question, which comes up a lot during training manager interviews is: what

  • does diversity mean to you? So first of all, you have to know what diversity is within

  • an organization. But what does it mean to you and what does it mean to you as a training

  • manager? We need to really understand what it means and also genuinely understand how

  • diversity within an organization has a huge impact on its productivity and overall happiness

  • as a workforce. Here is my answer to this question: “Diversity means that everyone

  • is unique in their own right and that, as the Training Manager, I need to recognize

  • that everyone has individual differences and needs. Race, ethnicity, physical abilities,

  • political beliefs, gender, sexual orientation are all examples of differences within society

  • and also within organizations. If it wasn’t for the richness of diversity, an organization

  • would not, in my view, be able to reach its full potential. Diversity means understanding

  • that each individual is unique and recognizing all of our individual differences. As a Training

  • Manager, I always ensure I cater for everyone’s needs and requirements so the same standards

  • of training can be delivered.” So that is my own response. My own personal beliefs and

  • views based on what diversity would mean to me as a training manager. If you would like

  • to download my full set of Training Manager Interview Questions and Top Scoring Answers,

  • CLICK THAT LINK in the top right hand corner of the video. It takes you through to my website

  • PassMyInterview.com where you can download the full set. At the very least, go through

  • the website. Have a look at all of the questions that I recommend you prepare for. There's

  • the option to download the answers to help you during your preparation. I hope you've

  • enjoyed that. Don't forget if you want to connect with me on LinkedIN.com, my LinkedIn