“Because I got laid off” isn’t an answer to “Why us?”
No real “why us”
This is coming more and more often in today's market. It's completely fine to say you were impacted by a layoff. However, that only explains why you are looking for a job, not why you want this job. If you haven't researched the product or the hiring team, and you can't articulate why you actually want to manage this specific team, it's a red flag.
The question that catches this
“Why do you want to manage this team, specifically?”
The “People Leader Only” trap
People-leader only
I have rejected several candidates because they only showed interest in being people managers. Yes, 1-on-1s and team health are critical, but an EM is still responsible for technical execution and delivery. If you only want to be a pure people leader (very valuable for sure!) but shy away from the technical scope of the team, you won't pass, as the market is becoming more and more demanding in tech and delivery skills.
The question that catches this
“You won't be coding day to day. So how do you stay close enough to the technical work to be accountable for what your team ships?”
Ignoring the specific context of the role
No research
This usually stems from a lack of research. For example, I was hiring for an internal product team, and candidates showed up completely unprepared to talk about internal adoption, stakeholder management, and those specific metrics.
The question that catches this
“From what you know about this team, what do you think its biggest problem is right now, and what would you do about it in your first 90 days?”
Underpreparing for the technical deep dive
Thin technical depth
Some candidates completely fail to revise their past projects before the interview. If you can't smoothly answer technical questions on systems you previously managed or the core technologies required for the job, it shows either a lack of preparation or a massive knowledge gap.
The question that catches this
“Walk me through the architecture of the last system your team owned. Why was it built that way, and what would you change?”
Vague impact and rambling
Impact hidden behind “we”
Too many candidates give vague answers that completely hide their personal impact behind what “we” (the team) did. Furthermore, it's seen as a red flag when a CV presents massive impacts on delivery and revenue, but the candidate doesn't show that same depth in the interview. If you claim to have driven a massive win on paper, you must be prepared to talk deeply about it. When candidates fail to elaborate on their biggest listed achievements, it makes me wonder if they actually drove that impact.
The question that catches this
“Take the biggest achievement on your CV. What was your part in it, and what would have happened without you?”
Not asking the right questions at the right moment
The questions round
Some candidates ask too many questions when the interview just gets started; some skip or do not ask enough interesting questions at the end. It's all about timing and quality in those questions.
An interview is indeed a chance for both sides to evaluate each other, but if you don't leave time for the interviewer to dig into your answers, you're hurting yourself. So, leave your biggest question to the end.
When it's your turn to ask questions, if you aren't asking high-quality questions, for example, about the engineering culture, the product roadmap, or the team's biggest bottlenecks, it reads as a lack of motivation, curiosity, or knowledge. It happened to me several times that I passed a candidate to the next round because her questions were spot-on despite previous pitfalls in her answers.
The question that catches this
“We've got five minutes left. What do you want to ask me?”
Let me know in the comments if that helps, and what else I can help with. For the full loop and the M1/M2 failure modes, see the Engineering Manager interview guide.
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