How To Prepare For A Project Coordinator Interview

Whats The Difference Between Project Monitoring And Controlling

Monitoring includes determining differences between real project performances against the project baseline. Controlling comprises detecting repair for handling the variances and suggesting corrective measures.

Both project monitoring and controlling assist in keeping projects on track and are done from the beginning to the end of the project. These processes need to be planned as a part of the project management plan for the seamless functioning of the project lifecycle.

You may also like: The PMP Update, 2021 – Everything You Need to Know

What Do You See Yourself Doing In Five Years

This one is all about job commitment.

Some people make job hopping a career in of itself, and your answer here can be telling. Here, your interviewer is determining if you are:

• someone who sets goals
• someone who demonstrates commitment
• someone who is loyal

While no interviewer expects someone to stay at a company forever, try and craft your response in such a way that shows progression in your career, and alignment with the Companys needs and future. Again, self awareness is key your employer doesnt want to send you down an unwanted path, resulting in wasted time and energy for everyone.

Operational And Situational Questions

• In as much detail as possible, describe one of the more complex projects you worked on. Who was involved? What was the goal? What was your role in pulling it all together?
• What books or ideas help you in your work on a daily basis?
• Whats your approach to providing regular project updates to the rest of the team?
• What tools you use to track labor and expenses for a project?
• What kinds of reports have you prepared for clients and management teams?
• At previous jobs, how have you helped to reduce costs, save time, or increase revenue?
• If you report to more than one person, how do you prioritize your work?
• What would you do if you worked hard on a project, and your manager told you to abandon it and start from scratch in a different way?
• How do you keep your teammates motivated in the face of tight deadlines?
• Whats your approach to conducting productive meetings?
• Describe a time your teammates disagreed with the way a project was being executed. How did you handle it?
• Describe a time you had to give a client bad news about a project.
• How often do you liaise with clients on behalf of the company/your boss?
• How would you explain your role in this project to another team in this company?

You May Like: How To Successfully Interview Someone

Project Manager Interview Questions To Ask Your Candidates

We reached out to a number of hiring managers and scoured through Glassdoor and LinkedIn data to bring you the most popular project manager interview questionsand what to look for in candidate answers.

Your interview shouldnt be an oral version of the PMP exam . A good project manager interview is as much about revealing soft skillshow well a candidate can lead and work within a team, communicate, and mediateas it is about uncovering budgeting and scheduling skills.

In general, replies should indicate that a problem solver, and ethical person, and handle people well, says Ferenc Csizmás, a PMP in Budapest.

In other words, youre looking for someone who will get along with everyone and make your companys projects successful .

Dont worry: these seven project management interview questions, along with specific guidelines on what to look for in candidate responses, will help you find the right person for the job.

What Is The Biggest Mistake You’ve Made On A Project What Did You Learn From It

The aim of this question is to assess the candidate’s ability to admit to their mistakes and learn from them. What to look for in an answer:

• Honesty when answering
• Ability to learn from their mistakes
• Experience as a project manager

Example:

“The biggest mistake I’ve made on a project was creating a timeline and budget that weren’t realistic. The client had a budget and timeline in mind, and I wanted to make him happy. I overworked my team to try to fit that timeline and we still ended up going over. I learned to be more firm with clients when setting realistic timelines and budgets. I still aim to make clients happy, but I don’t want my team or my work to suffer in the process.”

Don’t Miss: What Are Questions You Get Asked At A Job Interview

What Are Your Strengths

While this question is an invitation to do some chest pounding, remember to illustrate strengths that will benefit the employer and arerelative to the position. For example:

• being a problem solver
• the ability to perform under pressure
• a positive attitude

Are typically all solid strengths, but again, consider the position. For example, mentioning you are an excellent team player in a job where you largely work alone suddenly becomes irrelevant to the employer and demonstrates a genuine lack of self awareness.

Beyond this, present your strengths with confidence this is not the time to be modest.

Top 38 Project Coordinator Interview Questions And Answers

ArticlesManagementTop 38 Project Coordinator Interview Questions and AnswersRahman

If you are appearing for a project coordinator interview, you need to be well-prepared for both technical and non-technical questions. This article will provide you with some of the most commonly-asked interview questions for a project coordinator profile.

Project coordinators are important management members of a project team in any organization. They are responsible for tracking and monitoring the overall progress of a project. They are the point of contact and are tasked with solving any troubleshooting issues that may arise. Reporting is an important part of the job too. These top Project Coordinator interview questions and answers will help you.

Recommended Reading: How To Prepare For Google Interview Software Engineer

Are There Any Projects That You Do Not Want To Work On

If you say you are fine with any project, it might imply that you do not know yourself enough to answer this question. Instead, it is better, to be honest, and communicate your preferences. But, if you are applying for a software project manager position and say you hate software development, a slight chance you will get the job. So, be a little smart.

Practice Answering Common Project Manager Interview Questions

Preparation is key in any interview but especially for a comprehensive and technical role like project management. You will likely be asked for your experience managing teams, specifically when dealing with conflict. Spend some time studying common project manager interview questions and prepare talking points to address them.

Read Also: What Are The Top Interview Questions

How Will You Implement Earned Value Management What Are Evm And Its Use

EVM is a project management methodology for computing the schedule and cost differences with the help of schedule and cost performance index. It helps in creating new performance and cost predictions in a project.

Source: projectmanager.com

EVM is a pragmatic technique for determining the discrepancies and performance of a project numerically to help the team in making forecasts and planning relevant preventive measures for handling the variances.

A PM should know how to implement EVM by maintaining a project schedule listing all the project tasks along with their start/end dates and budget. This schedule will act as a reference point to measure the project progress.

What Factors Do You See In Practice That Influence Quality Safe Patient

The recruiter wants to know how familiar you are with clinical practices. Mention some of the factors you feel affect the quality of patient care.

Sample Answer

The clinical trial coordinator perceives complex environmental factors that impact nurse and patient outcomes, such as the quality of staffing resources, job stress, anxiety, workload, effective communication, teamwork, leadership, and management.

Also Check: How To Prepare For A Star Interview

Project Manager Interview Questions #: How Do You Monitor Projects Whether It Is Going On Track

This project manager interview question will assess your monitoring and controlling skills and your familiarity with project management tools. The primary responsibility of the project manager is completing a project scope on time and on budget in the agreed quality levels. To do this, a project manager must use his or her skills and project management tools.

The following can be a good sample answer for this project manager interview question.

After I completed the initial project planning, I take a baseline. I use this baseline to compare the progress of the project and actual values against the baseline. Each week or in every two weeks, I forecast the duration and cost of remaining project activities with my team to determine whether the negotiated deadline and budget will be met. I use Microsoft Excel to keep track of issue log. I assign an open issue to a project resource or any external resource in project issue log. I set a deadline for the issue and I follow the issue until it is resolved. I use Microsoft Project for creating project plan. However, I have used Jira software tracking tool as well. When I am using Microsoft Project, I compare the actual values of the tasks with the baseline values. This helps me to see whether a task is on track, behind schedule or ahead of schedule. When I am using Jira, I create my own dashboards for late tasks or open tasks. I report these tasks to the assignees each week or more frequently if they are urgent.

What Is Your Delegation Style

This is a question that is designed to ask about leadership skills. Explain what has been best for you and use examples of how your delegation style has worked well in the past. Even if youve never technically led a team before, its important to find an example of how you mightve delegated in the past.

FREE Introduction to Project Management Course

Also Check: What To Say In Interview Thank You Email

Focus On Efficiency And Effectively Reaching Goals

A truly successful project manager is able to effectively delegate tasks and use resources to reach their goals. Furthermore, they do so by empoweringâinstead of overly managingâthe members of their team. They must be able to approach and prioritize their tasks in order to manage their time and resources in a way that is efficient and effective. During your interview, make sure that your answers reflect your ability to remain focused during stressful situations.

What Are The Qualities That A Clinical Research Coordinator Needs To Be Successful

Here, the interviewer is assessing if you are conversant with the qualities of a good clinical research coordinator. State several qualities of a clinical research coordinator and keep it brief but precise.

Sample Answer

Besides having strong and exceptional organizational skills, a great Clinical Research Coordinator possesses excellent written and verbal communication skills. When communicating with study participants, he or she should well explain a complex research protocol using excellent presentation skills. In addition, a clinical research coordinator should have the ability to build good relationships with people, motivate others and be keen to details.

to download 3000+ Project Management Documents: Complete Library of Project Management Templates, Processes, Plans, Checklists, Forms, Tools, Presentation Slides and Infographics. Suitable For All Industries.

You May Like: How To Prepare For Data Engineer Interview

Interpersonal Skills Are Required For This Job Because You Will Be Delegating Duties To Many People How Would You Rate Your Interpersonal Skills

Delegating duties or responsibilities is an essential part of the work of a project coordinator. For this purpose, the coordinator has to have excellent interpersonal skills to help execute their tasks. It would be best if you looked out for:

• Great communication skills
• Strong leadership capabilities

Example:

“I’m good at delegating responsibilities and following up on them. My experience in administration has helped a lot with this task. I also understand the importance of maintaining good relationships with all team members. I’m able to do this as a result of my interpersonal skills, including great communication skills and high patience levels.”

Microsoft Program Manager Interview Process And Prep 80 Sample Interview Questions Included

Youâd be hard-pressed to find anyone whose life has not been influenced by a Microsoft product directly or indirectly. That is the sheer magnitude of scale at which this tech giant operates. And right at the center of this action is a Microsoft Program Manager.

Program Managers or PMs are also known as Technical Program Managers or TPMs. At Microsoft, PMs are expected to deep-dive into technical aspects when planning, designing, and outlining the roadmap of a product, in addition to performing all the duties required of a product manager. In this article, weâll cover everything you need to know about the Microsoft Program Manager hiring process:

Don’t Miss: How To Watch Prince Harry And Meghan Interview

Project Manager Interview Question #1: Where Do You See Yourself In Five Years

A typical human resources interview question! This interview question assesses whether you have a career plan and if it fits with the position.

For a project manager interview, you have to draw a career plan that fits a project management path.

The following can be a good answer to this interview question.

I have over nine years of experience. Last four years is project management experience. I want to proceed my career as a project manager for the following three years. Then, I would like to evaluate the further level of management position opportunities, such as program manager or project manager opportunities, that will be arising in the company.

I have PMP certification. I am planning to take ITIL foundation certification to improve my IT service management skills and PSM-1 certification to improve my agile project management skills.

I am pretty sure that project management experience in this company will add a lot to my professional background.

The project manager candidate highlights that he will be proceeding his career as project manager for the following three years. This is critical for an employer because each employer expects a candidate to stay in the position for at least two years. Then, the project manager candidate adds that he is planning to get relevant professional certifications to improve his project management skills.

Pm Interview Question #1: How Do You Resolve Conflicts In Your Projects

Conflicts are inevitable in a project. A good project manager must be able to resolve conflicts without hampering the motivation and relationship in the project team. By its nature, conflicts seem to be resolved in favor of one side over another. However, with good communication and conflict resolution skills, you can resolve the conflicts in a win-win situation.

This project manager interview question assesses your conflict resolution and communication management skills.

The following can be a good sample answer to this question.

Project manager candidate approaches to solve the conflict in a win-win situation. Then, he approaches to demonstrate different alternatives in a mathematical approach. This is great. Because, if you can describe a solution mathematically with statistics, numbers, figures, etc. you will eliminate most of the arguments about the topic. Then, he opens the conflict to voting. In this way, he ensures that the majority will decide what will be the solution. He is not forcing or directing on what needs to be done in the project.

You May Like: How To Interview For Customer Service Job

What Are The Techniques That You Can Use To Collect Project Requirements

Requirement collection and final concurrence happen with the project stakeholders with the help of functional experts and business analysts.

The crucial techniques used for requirement gathering are:

• Data gathering
• Data analysis
• Observation
• Affinity diagram
• Prioritization of the requirements by using techniques like MoSCoW
• Prototyping

Gathered requirements can be classified into different categories such as transition, reliability, functional, non-functional, security, quality, and regulatory and user-interface-drive. They help the team in visualizing different aspects of the project requirements and addressing them accordingly.

What Are The Activities That You Plan To Perform During The Closing Of A Project

The closing phase is quite crucial and is the introspection span for the team by consolidating all the lessons learned.

The activities that help in making the process hassle-free are:

• Examining and ensuring all the project criteria have been fulfilled.
• Consolidating and handing over the final deliverables to stakeholders.
• Submitting all the documents such as manuals, SOPs, and so on to the customer and taking a formal signing-off.
• Creating the final project report highlighting the key points and consolidating lessons learned for future reference.
• Concluding all the financial dealings with vendors and suppliers.
• Rewarding project contributors.

Precise project closing gives an orderly end to the project and helps in moving on to the next step seamlessly.

You May Like: How To Prepare For A Social Media Manager Interview

Explain The Meaning Of Risk Breakdownstructure

To answer this risk management interview question, you need to understand the interviewer is interested in knowing whether you are familiar with risk management tools.

Tip1: Describe the meaning of a risk breakdown structure

Tip2: Give power to your answer by mentioning all important points

Sample Answer

A risk breakdown structure or RBS is a representation of risks in a hierarchical manner. An RBS begins with the risks at higher levels and goes down to the risks at the finest level. With different levels, it is easier to streamline risks. Besides, it makes it quicker to identify risks categorically with the focus being accorded to specific risk categories.

Pm Interview Question #: Can You Tell Me An Example Of How You Communicated A Failure To Your Team Manager And Customer

This project manager interview question will assess your risk management and communication management experience together. Bear in your mind that, failures, emergencies or critical points about a project must be communicated face to face. If face-to-face communication is not possible, then, you should choose a teleconference meeting or phone call.

The following can be a good sample answer for this project manager interview question.

This answer shows that the project manager approaches the failure of communication systematically. First, he reports to his manager. If his manager would not accept the situation or propose alternative ways with the project team and customer, he could have changed the approach to the team and customer respectively.

After getting the approval of the manager, he speaks with the team first and then communicates to the customer respectively.

Also Check: How To Prepare For An Interview At Amazon