Interview guides

Logistics Professionals

Find logistics experts skilled in coordination, efficiency, and tech tools.

Initial Questions

Career & Motivation

  • What brought you to a career in logistics?
  • What challenges are you looking for in this position?
  • What do you know about our organization?

Problem-Solving & Decision-Making

  • Provide an example of a problem scenario where a client had a legitimate complaint. How did you manage both the problem and the relationship?
  • What is your decision-making process? Were you responsible for researching or guiding decisions with market, economic, and political environments in mind?

Innovation & Contribution

  • What suggestions have you made in procurement or logistics that were implemented? What impact did they have?
  • What are some of the key challenges executives should be aware of today (e.g., higher customer expectations, multi-channel networks, e-commerce, commodity price fluctuations, volatile transportation costs, technology gaps, real-time inventory visibility, AI adoption, supply chain instability)?
Management / Supervisor

Team Leadership

  • How many employees did you supervise, directly and indirectly, in your previous role? In which departments?
  • Were you responsible for hiring or staffing decisions?
  • Describe your leadership style. What would your team say about your communication approach?
  • How do you empower employees to work independently?

Performance & Feedback

  • How do you provide constructive feedback to underperforming employees?
  • Describe a time you delivered bad news to your team. What was the outcome?

Collaboration & Change Management

  • How often did you collaborate with managers or peers to set policies, procedures, goals, and objectives?
  • How would you lead during a major organizational change?
  • What controls did you put in place to ensure compliance with government regulations and positive audit results?

Health & Safety / HR Responsibilities

  • Have you had Joint Health and Safety training? Were you on a JOHSC Committee?
  • Did you train employees on health and safety policies?
  • Have you addressed workplace violence, threats, or harassment? What was your role and the outcome?

Employee Development

  • What methods or strategies do you use to allow employees to grow in their roles?
Materials Management

Responsibilities & Scope

  • What are the primary tasks of a Materials Manager?
  • In past roles, what materials, products, or services did you oversee?
  • What is the most unusual material you’ve sourced or purchased?

Procurement & Specifications

  • Have you developed solicitations or RFPs for materials?
  • Did you create technical specifications for supplies, products, or equipment?

Continuous Improvement

  • Do you rely on Six Sigma, Lean, or another method for continuous improvement?
  • How critical is forecasting to your work? What processes or technologies improve accuracy?

Vendor & Risk Management

  • Have you maintained vendor purchase histories and assessed suitability?
  • How do you respond to customer or supplier inquiries about order status, changes, or cancellations?
  • What sourcing strategies have you developed to control costs?
  • Share an example where you anticipated risks through data analysis and applied preventive controls.
  • Have you negotiated carrier rates and schedules?
  • What risk management controls have you implemented in supply agreements?

Metrics & Negotiation

  • How have you tracked and reported on metrics to reduce expenses and improve effectiveness?
  • Tell me about your ability to negotiate advantageous vendor terms.
  • Is there a formal Sales & Operations Planning (S&OP) process in place? What role did you play in it?
Dispatch

Operations & Communication

  • In past roles, did you dispatch workers, crews, equipment, or vehicles?
  • What communication tools did you use (mobile, radio, dispatch platforms)?
  • Did you coordinate vehicle or equipment repairs?
  • Have you created preventive maintenance schedules?

Customer & Personnel Management

  • What percentage of your day was spent addressing customer questions, problems, and service requests?
  • Have you prepared daily work/run schedules? How many employees or customers were involved?
  • How do you handle difficult customers? When do you escalate issues?
  • How do you handle a driver who won’t follow instructions?

Compliance & Safety

  • Do you monitor Driver’s Abstracts?
  • What would you do if you observed texting and driving?
  • How have you ensured driver safety in inclement weather?

Union & Territory Oversight

  • Have you dealt with unions? How were job bids handled?
  • What size territory have you overseen?

Problem-Solving

  • Walk me through a time-sensitive order/delivery. How did you ensure success?
  • Have you used historic data to anticipate delivery requirements?
Transportation & Distribution

Regulatory Knowledge

  • Are you familiar with air, ocean, and ground transportation safety regulations?
  • How do you ensure compliance with customs requirements for imports/exports?

Cost & Error Management

  • Do you have experience analyzing transportation costs and developing budgets?
  • What shipment errors have you dealt with, and how did you resolve them?

Geography & Distribution

  • Are you familiar with cross-border distribution (Canada, North America, international)?
  • How has Canadian geography impacted your logistics strategies?

Systems & Planning

  • What route planning training have you received?
  • Do you have experience with Transportation Management Systems (TMS)?
  • Have you negotiated with third-party logistics (3PL) partners? How did you secure best rates and coverage?
  • Do you have experience planning loads or routes?

Risk Management

  • How do you manage risks in transportation and distribution?
Warehouse

Operations & Security

  • What interests you about working in warehouse operations?
  • Have you designed or optimized storage space?
  • How do you prevent loss or theft in shipments?

Technology & Tools

  • Have you used RF scanners, voice pick systems, or Warehouse Management Systems (WMS)?
  • Do you have forklift endorsements/licenses?

Safety & Compliance

  • What is the safest way to lift a heavy box?
  • How do you ensure materials are stored securely?
  • Do you have WHMIS training? Why is it important?
  • Are you familiar with Material Safety Data Sheets?

Customer Service

  • How have you handled delivering bad news (e.g., a missed shipping deadline)?

Special Handling

  • Do you have experience with dangerous or high-value goods?

Other Experience

  • Describe your experience with pricing, labelling, and assembling merchandise.
Inventory

Systems & Accuracy

  • What inventory management software are you familiar with?
  • How do you ensure inventory accuracy? What motivates you?

Key Metrics

  • How do you measure and increase fill rate?
  • How often do you do inventory counts? Have you used cycle counts?
  • What experience do you have investigating shortages or discrepancies?

Lean & Efficiency

  • Are you familiar with Lean initiatives? How have they reduced waste or increased efficiency?
  • How do you manage expiry dates to prevent short-coded product?

Financial & Strategic Considerations

  • How do you determine inventory value?
  • Why is inventory turnover important?
  • What re-order point systems have you used?
  • What’s the importance of Economic Order Quantity (EOQ)?

Forecasting & Recalls

  • Can forecasting improve inventory control?
  • Do you have experience handling product recalls?
  • Explain the Inventory ABC classification process and its benefits.
Scheduling & Planning

Systems & Scheduling

  • Have you scheduled work crews, equipment, or vehicles?
  • How much experience do you have with ERP/MRP systems?
  • How have you used these systems for production schedules and reporting?

Performance & KPIs

  • What KPIs have you used to schedule and improve operations?
  • How did this data impact processes? Share a success story.

Collaboration & Conflict Resolution

  • How did you manage supplier issues that disrupted schedules?
  • Share a scenario where you had to manage interdepartmental conflict.

Continuous Improvement

  • Tell me about a continuous improvement that succeeded — and one that failed. What would you change?

Master Scheduling

  • How do you define the Master Scheduling Process?
  • How does sales interface with MPS?
  • How often should MPS communicate with sales (weekly, daily)?
  • What system tools have you used for MPS?
  • What role does MPS play in top-level management processes?

New Product Introduction (NPI)

  • What’s your role in NPI?
  • Does your process include measured deliverables and review gates?

Inventory Strategies

  • What strategies do you use (FIFO, LIFO, etc.)?
  • How many product families have you overseen?
Soft Skills Questions for Logistics Professionals
  • Tell me about a time you had to explain a complex logistics issue to a non-technical stakeholder. How did you ensure they understood?
  • How have you delivered bad news to a client about a delay or shortage? What was your approach?
  • Walk me through a situation where a shipment was at risk. What steps did you take to resolve it?
  • How do you balance cost efficiency with customer satisfaction when making quick decisions?
  • Tell me about a conflict with a supplier, driver, or colleague. How did you resolve it?
  • Describe a time when external factors (weather, customs, political disruption) impacted your plan. How did you adapt?
  • How do you manage high-pressure situations when multiple urgent deadlines collide?
  • What’s your approach when a critical technology system (ERP, WMS, TMS) goes down?
  • How do you motivate warehouse staff, drivers, or team members during peak demand periods?
  • Share an example of how you coached or mentored someone to improve performance.
  • How have you encouraged colleagues or teams to adopt new technology or AI-driven tools?
  • What workplace culture helps logistics teams succeed, and what role do you play in building it?
Supply Chain Management

Scope & Responsibilities

  • Describe your role in managing supply chain operations (planning, inventory, purchasing, forecasting, warehousing, transportation).
  • What products, facilities, or financial responsibilities did you manage?
  • What geographies did your role cover?

Strategy & Best Practices

  • Have you developed supply chain strategies? What elements did they include?
  • How did you identify best practices and implement them?

Trends & Analytics

  • What trends have you observed in regulatory compliance, vendors, or customers over the past decade?
  • What analytics or reports did you rely on? Which were most useful?

Risk & Vendor Management

  • How did you identify and manage supply chain risks?
  • What vendor relationships did you oversee daily?
  • Why are supplier audits critical? What are the key elements?

Training & Change Management

  • Did you develop supply chain training or technical manuals?
  • What tools or techniques would you use to implement cost-saving operational changes? How would you secure stakeholder buy-in?

Contracts & Negotiation

  • Name the essential elements of a contract.
  • What are your negotiation strategies?
  • How do you address vendors that repeatedly fail to deliver?

Global Considerations

  • What does “net 30” mean?
  • How has the Canadian dollar impacted your work?
  • Have you used e-procurement systems? How did they reduce costs or overhead?
  • Have you participated in online reverse auctions? Were outcomes successful beyond cost savings?
  • Do you have experience managing tariffs and taxes in global logistics?
Software & AI Questions for Logisitics Professionals

Enterprise & Supply Chain Systems

  • What ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) or MRP (Materials Requirements Planning) systems have you worked with? (e.g., SAP, Oracle NetSuite, Microsoft Dynamics, JD Edwards)
  • Have you used TMS (Transportation Management Systems) or WMS (Warehouse Management Systems)? Which platforms, and for what functions?
  • How have you used inventory management software to track stock, lead times, and demand planning?
  • Have you worked with e-procurement platforms (Ariba, Coupa, Jaggaer)? How did they improve cost savings or reduce paperwork?

Data & Analytics

  • What logistics or supply chain KPIs have you tracked (on-time delivery, fill rates, inventory turnover, cost per mile, etc.)?
  • Which tools have you used for data visualization and reporting (Excel, Power BI, Tableau, Qlik)?
  • Can you describe a time when you used trend analysis or predictive analytics to improve forecasting?
  • How do you ensure accuracy and integrity of data used in decision-making?

Communication & Collaboration Tools

  • What digital tools have you relied on to coordinate across teams (Teams, Slack, Zoom, Asana, Trello)?
  • Have you used digital scheduling platforms or route optimization apps (e.g., Project44, FourKites, Shipwell)?
  • How do you ensure smooth communication between warehouse, drivers, and clients using technology?

Automation & Emerging Technologies

  • Have you used automation in logistics operations (e.g., robotic picking systems, automated guided vehicles, drone inventory checks)?
  • Have you integrated IoT (Internet of Things) solutions such as smart sensors, RFID, or GPS trackers into logistics workflows?
  • Have you been part of a project that used blockchain for supply chain transparency or smart contracts?

AI & Predictive Tools

  • Have you used AI-powered forecasting or demand planning tools? What impact did they have on inventory accuracy?
  • How have you worked with AI chatbots or virtual assistants to handle routine customer or supplier inquiries?
  • Have you used AI-driven route optimization or predictive maintenance tools for fleets or equipment?
  • If AI-generated data flagged a risk that conflicted with your experience, how would you verify and act on it?
  • How do you balance efficiency gained through AI with the human judgment needed in logistics decision-making?

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