Mastering General Management Interviews: Insights from a Mock Interview
- June 19, 2025
- Mock interviews
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Preparing for a general management interview can feel like a big leap, but mock interviews offer a fantastic way to sharpen your skills and boost your confidence. In this blog, we’ll dive into part 1 of a mock interview practice session by GoCrackIt between mentor Siddhartha Banerjee and a candidate gearing up for a general management role at a leading global manufacturer. This blog reveals three of the many practical tips on understanding the interview process and mastering behavioural questions discussed in their conversation.
Mentor Profile
Siddhartha Banerjee, a PGP graduate from IIM Ahmedabad, is an accomplished leader with over 15 years of experience in general management, marketing, business development, and brand management across diverse industries. Currently, he serves as Head of Marketing at Gocrackit, leveraging his expertise to drive strategic growth. His previous roles include Head of Marketing & Business Development at Lighthouse Learning, Head of Marketing at Orchids The International School, and COO at Gocrackit and many more
Glimpses from the session
Understanding the Interview Process
The session begins with Siddhartha asking the candidate about their expectations for the interview:
Siddhartha: Did this company communicate the format of the interviews?
Candidate: As far as I know, there are two rounds: a group discussion and a personal interview with the CEO.
Siddhartha: That’s correct. For general management roles, expect behavioural rounds mixed with resume-based questions. They’re hiring for a fast-track leadership role, so they’ll focus on cultural fit, values, and your ability to work across divisions like operations, finance, or strategic projects.
Siddhartha explains that the company values candidates who can collaborate across teams, for business impact such as boosting sales, which involves sales, marketing, and operations. This highlights the need to showcase not just skills but also the skills which are aligned with the company’s culture and leadership requirement.
Tackling Behavioural Questions
Next, Siddhartha digs into the Candidate’s past interview experiences to prepare for behavioural questions:
Siddhartha: Besides this, what other interviews have you faced in which behavioural questions were asked?
Candidate: They asked about managing a team under a tight sales target, handling work pressure, and leading a long-term project.
Siddhartha uses these questions to emphasise that this recruiter will likely ask similar questions. Behavioural questions test how you’ve handled real situations, so having specific examples, like leading a team under pressure, is crucial.
Structuring Answers with SAR
Candidate shares an example answer, and Siddhartha refines it using the situation-action-result (SAR) format:
Candidate: At a previous company, I led an initiative to develop a new sales channel. After 1.5 years, we weren’t profitable, and pressure was high… I researched and found some products had low profit-to-effort ratios. I removed those and focused on high-revenue products. This strategy made the channel profitable.
Siddhartha: Your answer’s structure is good: situation, actions, results. To make answers even crisper, can you use this structure & tell me this answer again.
Candidate: I started a sales channel on an Indian Fashion e-commerce company… After 1.5 years, we were just breaking even. Research showed some listings had low revenue-to-effort ratios. I delisted those, focused on high-revenue products, and now that became our top e-commerce channel.
became our top e-commerce channel.
Siddhartha: Yes, this is slightly better because you clearly explained what you identified and acted on. Now you should focus on bringing some result numbers in this, if possible to make it even impactful.
The SAR format keeps answers concise and impactful. Siddhartha also notes that it’s fine to pause and think during an interview, ensuring structure of your response.
This practice interview reveals key strategies for general management interviews: understand the process, prepare specific stories/ examples for behavioural questions, and use SAR to structure your answers.
Whether you’re honing your skills with mock interviews online or seeking online interview practice, these tips will help you shine. Start preparing today—maybe even google mock interview resources, or better, visit Gocrackit for extra practice!
Get ready for part 2, where we will share powerful tips to conquer tricky interview questions. You won’t want to miss this!
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