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Project Management Interview
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You can also expect behavioral or competency-based questions that explore essential project manager skills such as team building and team management, planning and organizing, negotiation, problem-solving, leadership and adaptability. Lets start with the likely project management interview questions that explore your experience on project delivery. |
Tell us about your experience in managing different projects and how this can contribute to our position.
It is important to structure your interview answer because this is a multi-layered and fairly complex question. Start by explaining how you will answer the question. This keeps your answer on track and to the point.
"I will begin by giving you a short description of my last three projects. I will then detail the skills and abilities I developed as a result of each project and then demonstrate the value of these skills to this position."
You can then go on to provide a brief but concise summary of each project.
"I was the project manager for the XYZ project and this involved ..."
Then describe the skills you acquired during the project.
"I encountered a number of difficulties on this project that required an innovative approach. I used group problem solving sessions as one of these approaches. This worked well because it helped each team member to clarify their particular project role and responsibility and we were able to develop plans and realistic schedules that the whole project team contributed to ..."
Demonstrate how these skills will benefit the position and company.
"Projects now are faced with tighter budgets and fewer resources. This approach maximizes the available resources and keeps everyone focused and motivated for the duration of the project..."
Describe how you recently managed a diverse project team towards a common goal
Focus on your ability to delegate in a fair and practical way, how you clearly defined project roles and responsibilities, kept personality clashes and conflict to a minimum and monitored and fed back to the project team. Outline your management style and why it worked.
Describe the most complex project you have managed from start to finish
Provide a comprehensive answer remembering to explain the project as you would to a client and not to somebody who has been involved in the project.
The more complex a project the more formal processes and techniques are needed to effectively manage the work. Explain the purpose, value and implementation of the most critical aspects of the project including managing the project work plan, the project schedule, the project risks, the project issues and closing the project.
Be enthusiastic about your accomplishments and specify how your experience will benefit the company. Point out where you made a difference on the project in terms of expenditure, quality, efficiency, customer satisfaction and business and organizational success.
Standard Project Management Interview Questions:
How do you determine realistic schedules for the project?
Explain your methods for resource allocation.
How do you manage suppliers?
How do you inform all the stakeholders of the progress of the project on a regular basis?
How do you monitor risks to the project and mitigate them?
What tools do you use to monitor and control projects?
What project management methodologies are you most familiar with?
What project software have you used?
What change management processes have you used to ensure that change is introduced properly?
What are the practices you follow for closing a project and meeting the conditions required to establish closure?
What specific training have you had that would be relevant to this project manager job?
Answer your interview questions in a calm and assertive tone. Take time to gather your thoughts before answering, it is a key project manager skill to be able to process the facts before responding!
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Most project management candidates handle the questions designed to evaluate their technical proficiency well but tend to slip up on the project management interview questions that explore the behaviors or competencies required for a project manager position. Behaviors or competencies are important because over 80 percent of candidates lose the job offer due to their inability to demonstrate the required project manager behaviors. |
Go to the behavioral questions you can expect in your project management interview. Prepare good responses using the comprehensive answer guidelines.
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