Retail and hospitality
A store manager first round should show whether a candidate can run a team, read the store’s numbers, and keep standards up on a Saturday when two people don’t show up. Ask for real stores and real decisions. General leadership talk tells you very little.
Follow-up questions show whether a candidate made the decisions they describe or watched someone else make them.
What to screen for
The questions
Ask them in order. Listen for specifics: what happened, what they did, how it ended.
Strong answer
Breaks it down: footfall, conversion, average basket, stock availability and staffing at peak hours, then picks one thing to fix first.
Weak answer
Blames the weather or head office, or says they’d tell the team to sell more.
Strong answer
Checks process first, like deliveries, markdowns and counting errors, then looks at patterns by time and area, and follows the loss prevention process without accusing anyone early.
Weak answer
Assumes it’s theft by staff and starts questioning people.
Strong answer
Has a fair, known rule for requests, talks to both, looks for cover or a split, and explains the decision directly.
Weak answer
Gives it to whoever asked first without thinking, or refuses both to avoid the conversation.
Strong answer
Describes the specific gap, the feedback they gave, what they changed in the person’s shifts or training, and how they checked progress.
Weak answer
Talks about motivating people in general terms.
Strong answer
Starts from last year’s busy hours, plans cover for deliveries and tills, books extra staff early, and keeps a backup list.
Weak answer
Adds more hours for everyone and hopes it works out.
Strong answer
Listens to the customer and puts it right for them, then hears the staff member’s side privately before deciding what happens.
Weak answer
Disciplines the employee on the spot, or dismisses the customer to protect the team.
Strong answer
Puts it in as asked, measures what happens, and raises a specific, evidenced case for changing it.
Weak answer
Ignores the instruction, or complains to the team about head office.
Strong answer
Explains the steps that led there, how they documented it, how the conversation went, and how they looked after the rest of the team.
Weak answer
Has always avoided it, or describes it with no process at all.
Before the interview
Quick facts to read alongside the interview. They aren’t scored.
Listen for
Avoid
Use this in LessRounds
Paste the questions into a scripted interview, add the scorecard skills, and share one link. Every store manager candidate gets the same questions, and you get a score for each skill with the quote behind it.
People and operations first. Ask about coaching, scheduling, stock loss and missed targets. Those are the problems a store manager solves every week.
Both can work. Screen internal candidates the same way as outside ones, with the same questions, so the decision rests on how they answer rather than who they already know.
Start with 10 free interviews a month. No card, no sales call.