Facilities manager interview questions and answers pdf

1. How would you ensure the needs of all working staff are met?

Candidates should describe adopting a methodical, highly organized approach to managing their workload. Look for candidates who keep detailed accounts of all business activities and undertake preemptive action to ensure their needs are always met and that candidates never fall behind with their duties.

2. Managing facilities comes with a lot of pressure. How do you perform under pressure?

Candidates should describe past experiences where they successfully managed high-pressure situations and the skills they've developed working in those situations.

3. What, in your opinion, is the most important quality in a facilities manager?

Candidates should list good organizational skills and attention to detail as key characteristics in a facilities manager.

4. How would you settle a dispute between yourself and a building employee?

Facilities Managers often deal with workers who are unhappy with building services. In such events, candidates need to utilize good listening skills to understand what their concerns are and keep them informed as to the status of maintenance or repairs. Always keeping them informed is critical.

5. Describe an experience where you made a mistake in your duties. How did you rectify your error?

Candidates should acknowledge the importance of diligence in their duties and how oversight can lead to operational difficulties for the housed business. Look for stories where candidates erred, rectified their error and learned a valuable lesson from the experience.

Facilities Manager Interview Questions (With Example Answers)

The position of facilities manager can be a highly coveted job. With openings in both the government and private sectors, it’s a high-paying career, especially for women in the workforce.

What does all of that mean for you? It means you’ll likely be facing steep competition for the job, which means you need to stand apart from other candidates.

If you want to shine in your interview, you’re going to need to do more than simply polish your resume summary and send a nice follow-up email after the interview. You need to do some serious interview prep work before the big day.

In addition to coming up with a list of questions to ask the hiring manager before accepting any offers, it’s also a good idea to thoroughly review interview questions you know are likely going to be asked.

Below are some sample interview questions and answers for a facilities manager:

1. What experience do you have with facilitating metrics and data?

   Although this may be a basic interview question, it’s immediately going to give the hiring manager valuable insight whether you know your stuff or you don’t.

   As a former facilities manager at another company, I’m knowledgeable about managing a team, inspecting facilities, creating reports, collecting data, reallocating space that isn’t being utilized to its full potential, negotiating budgets, and adhering to government standards and regulations.

2. Describe a past experience with crisis management.

   This type of question may come in a variety of different forms so that an interviewer may provide additional context.

   Was it a financial crisis or trouble with an employee? Did you have to make a split-second decision during an emergency with the building, such as a fire or power outage? Try to be prepared by having a few different examples in mind and ready to go.

   I run regular fire and inclement weather drills. One afternoon last summer, a tornado touched down not too far from our facility. I’m pleased to say that all of my employees did exactly what they were supposed to do.

   They were relatively calm and knew what was expected of them since they had been prepared. While you can’t plan for every crisis, I do believe that proper preparation can go a long way to minimizing a potential catastrophe.

3. How would you approach facility maintenance?

   When answering this question, try to look at it in two parts: elaborate on your proactive and reactive measures. Talk about what you would do to prevent problems as well as how you would handle the everyday tasks.

   I would take a proactive approach and start by planning a daily inspection of each building to ensure everything is running smoothly. I have an open-door policy and regularly speak with staff to supervise their work and address any existing or potential problems with the facilities.

   I like to keep busy, and my goal is to do a thorough analysis of the facilities and then propose feasible plans of continuous renovation for each building to make sure everything is up-to-date and operating at peak efficiency.

4. Are you familiar with Facilities Manager technologies?

   Types of FM technologies the hiring manager is most likely looking for would include:

   • Integrated Workplace Management System (IWMS)

   • Computer-Aided Facilities Management (CAFM)

   • Computerized Maintenance Management System (CMMS)

   • Enterprise Asset Management (EAM)

   If you aren’t familiar with the type of technology used at the company, stress your willingness to learn it. Be prepared for the hiring manager to probe even deeper and ask about managing data, floor plans, employee directories, et cetera.

   I worked with IWMS and EAM technologies in my previous role. I know your company heavily utilizes CMMS, and while I haven’t had much personal use with it in the workplace, I have taken part in online tutorials, and I am looking forward to continuing with my education and learning more.

5. What would you consider to be a facility manager’s most important role?

   While there isn’t a wrong answer to this question, the way you respond will give a hiring manager a glimpse at your mindset and priorities.

   If you talk about optimizing budgets and slashing overhead costs, your focus is on a fiscal approach. If you talk about training and upskilling employees, it shows that your primary concern is the human aspect of the workplace.

   I believe a facility manager’s most important role is to ensure all needs are being met for the employees in order to ensure maximum efficiency and profit for the company. That includes a safe, stable environment, functional equipment and adequate training in the facility’s machinery and technology.

6. In your opinion, how do facility management impact company goals?

   This is a big-picture inquiry. If you can tie your goals as a facility manager into the company’s goals, you’re going to be in a great position.

   I believe if a company is going to operate like a well-oiled machine and maximize profits, it needs to have the right tools and workspace so employees can do their best work. That includes utilizing technology in a way that can optimize workflow without breaking the budget.

   Regular inspections and maintenance can prolong the life span of equipment and prevent interruptions. In my opinion, the functionality and cleanliness of a company’s facilities is a direct reflection on the quality of the company.

7. How would you support the company’s changing digital workplace?

   Technology changes rapidly, and a hiring manager will ask this question to gauge if you’re ready to keep up with innovative new updates. When considering your answer, remember to think about the different ways a digital workplace affects flexibility, connectivity, and mobility.

   I would start by making sure every employee has the digital tools they need, whether they work primarily on-site or remotely. If necessary, I would explore various training options for employees who don’t feel confident using the technology.

   That could be a hands-on training session or coaching program, whatever seems appropriate. As the company explores new tools and programs, I would meet with the reps and see how user-friendly updates would be and what kind would the training employees need.

8. Why do you believe that you are the best candidate for this Facilities Manager position?

   This question can come in many forms, including “Why should we hire you?” or “Why do you think you would do well at this job?”

   Your response should be all about selling yourself and highlighting your strengths. Prior to the interview, make a list of your positive attributes and then narrow them down to the top five that are most relevant to a facilities manager position. Your goal should be to demonstrate your professional ambition and enthusiasm.

   I perform well under pressure and am a quick learner on the job. Motivating and mentoring my team to take pride in what they do and work together to accomplish the company’s goals while also helping each member work toward their personal career goals is something that’s very fulfilling to me.

   I believe the brand pillars of this company closely align to the career path I’m on.

9. What steps would you take to guarantee that the facilities meet health, security, and environmental standards as well as all government regulations?

   A great method to answering this question would be to prove your knowledge about standards and regulations by listing a few of them that you know buildings in your area are prone to struggling with and explaining how you would address them.

   I would make sure that all supervisors are familiar with the regulations so we can quickly and efficiently address any situations that arise. Regular inspections to make sure the facilities are meeting all standards are a must. If an inspector has any concerns or recommendations, I would be sure to address them immediately.

10. How would you approach making changes? For example, hiring a new cleaning company for one of the facilities?

    Situational questions like this are designed to make you think on your feet and put yourself into the role in an instant. The key is to prove you would take a responsible, methodical approach.

    I would allocate a budget and then spend some time researching candidates and reading customer reviews. I like to check references and reach out to other facility managers to inquire about their satisfaction with the service.

    If everything checked out, I would then meet with the company representatives, explain the work, ask them questions, and then let them make an offer. While price is certainly a factor, I wouldn’t necessarily pick the cheapest option because I value quality.

11. Describe your style of leadership.

    This is a common interview question, especially for management positions. It’s a great time to talk about a glowing past experience, but if you don’t have management experience under your belt yet, you can focus on examples from your personal life, such as leading a team in a group project or coaching a loved one through a difficult period.

    I care deeply about my team and want to see everyone succeed. Team-building activities are something I’m fond of, and if I notice someone struggling at work even though I know they have the potential to do a great job, I like to talk to the employee, find out if everything is all right at work and in their personal life, and see what I can do to help them get back on track.

    That was the case with a fulfillment supervisor at my previous job. After a private conversation, I learned that he was going through a tough divorce, which was affecting his work.

    I was able to rework his schedule so he could pick his daughter up after school on weekdays. His work and attitude improved, and I didn’t lose a valuable employee who had been with the company for several years.

12. How do you stay up to date on the latest trends for facility management?

    The best answer is going to encapsulate your adaptability to change as well as your thirst for expanding your knowledge and being a lifelong learner. A hiring manager doesn’t want someone stubbornly stuck in the old ways; he or she is looking for an innovative employee ready to change with the times and technology.

    As a member of my local IFMA chapter, I regularly attend meetings and network with other professionals in the region to learn about what other managers are doing at their facilities.

    I also enjoy listening to podcasts about the topics on my way to and from work. I love hearing about cutting-edge solutions and thinking about how new methods and ideas can improve my facilities.

13. What is your motivation to be the best facilities manager you can be?

    This is a personal question with multiple different answer possibilities. There aren’t really any wrong answers, but some main motivation examples you might want to focus on include achievement, challenge, and recognition.

    I want to be successful at my job, and I’ve always been motivated by the challenge of solving problems and finishing projects on time. Being thorough and producing quality work is a point of personal pride for me.

14. Describe how you have used or plan to use data in your decision-making process.

    It’s one thing to say, “I want to do this because I think it’ll be great”, and another thing to say, “I want to do this because the data indicates that it would increase productivity.” Hiring managers want to see that you have a reason and method for implementing changes.

    This type of question is a great opportunity to show off your problem-solving skills as well as technology and data-collection methods you’re familiar with.

    In my previous position, the team collaborated on an in-depth analysis of space utilization in relation to efficiency. We used IoT sensors to collect the data and quickly determined that 80% of the private offices were not being used most of the time. We decided to re-envision those spaces to suit the needs of the company better.

    Some of the part-time remote managers were willing to share one office on a rotating schedule so it could be used by one employee on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday while the other used it on Tuesday and Thursday. Other offices were converted into conference rooms and reservable workspaces so employees could schedule time slots.

    Our space utilization improved by almost 60% after those implementations were made. I would like to start with a similar space-utilization analysis here and see if some of those same improvements could be made.

15. In what ways would you push to improve the workplace experience?

    Employee retention is an important concern for many companies. After all the time, money, and resources that go into onboarding, training, and upskilling, they don’t want to lose that investment.

    When answering this question, carefully consider a variety of factors, including safe working conditions, company culture, and workplace technology.

    I think the culture here is one of the strongest features of the company, and I want to make sure that overall working conditions are up to par.

    I would like to evaluate the technological needs and make sure that we are using updated equipment and ensuring that employees are properly trained and upskilled if necessary, so they can work in tandem with the devices.

    I also want to review the safety protocols and see if employees have concerns that might indicate areas of improvement or lapses in disability resources. I want my team to feel safe and comfortable at work.

How do I prepare for a facilities manager interview?

What are the 3 main tasks of facilities management?

What are the 10 most common interview questions and answers for managers?

Why do you want to work in facilities?