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Sample Project Manager Interview Questions And Answers

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How Do You Set Project Goals How Do You Monitor The Progress Of Those Goals

PROJECT MANAGER Interview Questions and Answers!

What theyre asking: A project wont get done without clear goals. And, typically, its up to the project manager to establish those objectives and keep a finger on the pulse of progress as well. This question is pretty straightforward. The interviewer wants to know how you handle those two important tasks — setting SMART goals and monitoring progress toward those goals.

How to answer: As mentioned above, questions like this — that relate directly to what skills and qualifications you bring to the table — deserve a thoughtful, detailed and tactical response. Dont just skate over your approach. Dive into any frameworks or tools you use to make this process more streamlined for you and your project team. Try something like this:

“Im a big believer in setting SMART goals. Ensuring that the project teams goals are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound helps to confirm that were setting ourselves up for success. I also make sure to sit down with the project team when setting goals in order to incorporate their own thoughts and opinions on where we should be headed. I find thats important for increasing excitement around the goal while also maintaining realistic objectives. As far as monitoring progress, I use a combination of smaller milestones to keep an eye on progress, regular check-ins, and the always helpful Gantt Chart to ensure were moving in the right direction.”

Project Manager Interview Questions #: Have You Ever Failed In A Project Do You Have Experience Handling Failures

Success and failures, these are inevitable facts of life and your professional career as well. It would not be wise to answer, No, I never failed in a project. This will not be received positively in your evaluation.

Actually, this project manager interview question assesses your risk management experience. Therefore, think of an event, meeting, activity, or a moment in a project where you had trouble. Then, answer this question accordingly.

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

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If you look at the answer, the first part lists the steps the candidate took as the project manager by completing post-deployment tests to identify any failures. The second part highlights the severity of the issue. The last part highlights how the candidate resolved the setback.

Q2 As A Project Manager How Will You Earn Trust Within A Team

The interviewer will assess your leadership qualities via scenario-based project manager interview questions and answers. You can highlight the following points while answering this question:

  • Giving special attention to creating proper networking opportunities for team members and allowing them to share their capabilities
  • Relying on the truth
  • Admitting mistakes
  • Allowing others to improvise on their work rather than being intolerable to mistakes

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What Are The Top 3 Lessons Learned From Your Past Projects

Interview Question Intent

The interview wants to know what youve learned from past projects and how youve learned from those experiences. The interviewer is also listening for any similar lesson learned that could be applied to the current project.

Interview Answer Guidance

Every project manager understands lessons learned are conducted , however, many organizations dont implement the lessons learned. This is another opportunity to highlight your experience and demonstrate how you and your team learned from past experience. As you prepare for the interview, think back to your past projects and identify what you would have done differently. By sharing your experiences with real-world examples, it further demonstrates your project management background.

What Is The Most Complicated Project You Managed

Related materials: 111 project management interview questions. Ebook ...

Other versions

  • What is the largest or most complex project that you have managed?
  • How many projects you have managed at the same time?
  • What was the most challenging part of your previous project?

Interview Question Intent

The interviewer wants to hear about a significant challenge and how you overcame the challenge. Projects always have complex challenges and interviewers want to learn about your problem solving skills.

Interview Answer Guidance

This is another opportunity to provide specific details about a project challenge and how you and your team overcame the obstacle. Projects are tough and the prospective employer is looking for leaders who can solve problems. Remember to detail how you handled the specific complications versus escalating up to your manager to resolve. Complicated projects often require stakeholder support so dont be hesitant to indicate when you escalated to project sponsors for support. However, your first answer shouldnt be I got my boss involved to solve a complicated issue.

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Do You Know Anything About The Pareto Principle/analysis

This is again a knowledge-based question. The Pareto principle states that 80% of the results come from 20% of the actions. This is a statistical analysis that is used by project managers to prioritize work. If you have enough experience as a project manager, most likely you have used this principle or at least a variation of it. Apart from explaining what it is, talk about how you used it in your previous job

What Factors Are Responsible For Impediments In Scrum During The Project Planning Process

The scrum team may face challenges throughout the project, and hiring managers typically want to understand how project managers identify these issues and resolve them. Identify challenges in the scrum process and suggest some solutions to them. Alternatively, you could give examples from your work experience in your answer.

Example:âA few factors responsible for challenges in the scrum process are a lack of resources or team members, conflicts between departments, operational issues, a lack of cooperation between stakeholders and technical glitches within the software.As a project manager, I try to satisfy customer demands by delivering products on time and according to their requirements. Effective communication between all collaborators helps resolve conflict issues. It is also important to communicate the team’s requirements to the upper management to resolve operational and technical barriers in the project execution process.’

Related: 16 Types Of Scrum Master Certifications And Their Benefits

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How Would You Handle The Failure Of A Project

The interviewer asks this question to check if you can handle the failure of a project professionally. Frame your answer on the learning you get from a failed project and how you would use it to prevent future failures.

Sample answer:As a project manager, I have built the capacity to handle both successes and failures rationally. I would work with the team to dissect the cause of the failure and use it as a learning moment. I would also ensure that the failure does not impact the morale of the team and the workplace.

Enhance Your Project Manager Resume

PROJECT MANAGER Interview Questions & ANSWERS! (How to PASS a Project Management Job Interview!)

As you gain experience and skills in this field, take the time to enhance your resume. Review project manager job listings, from entry-level to advanced roles, to find out what companies are looking for.

Highlight your qualifications that match the job requirements and feature them prominently on your resume.

Use action verbs to describe tasks you performed in previous roles, and when possible, emphasize any quantifiable outcomes.

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What Are The Important Processes For Project Integration Management

It starts with a project charter development. Project management plan development is another important activity. Direct and manage project execution and monitor and control are plans that are to be followed all through the project. Closing of the project is the final set of activities for integration management. Since changes are often unavoidable an integrated change management plan must be developed to guide all changes systematically.

Share A Challenging Situation That You Experienced While Working On A Project How Did You Deal With It What Did You Learn

For this kind of question- Concise your response with little hesitation, and use your Critical thinking skills to answer. Make sure, while giving answers, Put a specific examples of how you managed the project. For simple guideline, Your Answer Might be following these Points-

  • Size of the Project– Explain what was the size of the project and in what ways it was difficult to manage.
  • Team size- How many applicants in the team.
  • Manage Multiple Projects– How you would have managed multiple projects at once.
  • Explain how you overcome the challenges Through the numbers, statistics or budgets to broaden your understanding of the problematic experience while also strengthening their answer.

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Are You Ready For Your Project Manager Interview Start Your Job Search Today

Now that you’ve seen these sample project manager interview questions and answers, you can start your job search by creating your profile on Monster. You’ll receive job alerts on a regular basis, and once you’ve submitted your CV, we’ll match you with project manager positions that fit your background and career goals. Its also a great way for recruiters to find you online.

Can You Tell An Example Of A Failed Project Have You Had Any Such Experiences

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Many factors can contribute to project failure, including a lack of experience, poor communication skills, time constraints, unavailability of resources, and disputes with other team members or managers. Failures are not a problem if you end up learning something from that experience. In the example you provide, make sure that you highlight how you dealt with a difficult challenge and how you evaluated the setback.

The ideal method is to talk about a specific incident where you missed a deadline due to unanticipated or unplanned circumstances, but take personal responsibility for the failure and discuss what youre doing to prevent it from happening again.

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Tell Me About Your Favorite Project That Youve Managed And What You Enjoyed About It

What theyre asking: Expect a fair share of behavioral interview questionsthese are questions that ask you to recall and explain specific examples and experiencesduring your project manager interview. This question, in particular, is a way for the interviewer to gauge what sort of project management experience you have under your belt, what sorts of projects you excel at managing and how much passion you have for the role.

How to answer: With any sort of behavioral interview question, you want to be as specific as possible. You dont need to go into painstaking detail, but you should be prepared to elaborate with real situations and explanations. Try something like this:

“I really enjoyed managing the implementation of at my last company. It gave me an opportunity to evaluate and refine any processes that werent really working for us. Additionally, I enjoyed being able to collaborate with every department in our office to ensure their needs were being met. It was challenging but definitely rewarding!”

Whats Your Leadership Style

There are several methods to lead, each with its benefits and drawbacks. When it comes to project management, it’s impossible to avoid bringing up a leadership style. A project manager may have to choose how they lead depending on the project, from top-down to servant leadership. Examine their understanding of leadership approaches and apply them to project management.

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Q29 What Is The Pareto Principle Analysis

Answer: Pareto is a mathematical decision-making method. It is used primarily for the identification of a small range of tasks that can have a significant overall impact. This theory fits the Pareto Principle, which suggests 80% of the outcomes come from 20% of the actions. It helps to prioritize the job, especially in large projects with several tasks.

Q21 Explain What Is Work Breakdown Structure And Its Effect On The Work Estimates Of Tasks/activities

The 9 Most Common Project Manager Interview Questions and Answers for 2022

The work breakdown structure defines the work activities required for the completion of the project and the sub-activities as are necessary for each of those works. It has a hierarchical structure that segregates concrete / main activities into logical sub-activities.

Two approaches do exist:

  • Top-down attitude
  • Towards the bottom

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Q6 How Will You Prioritize Tasks In Your Project

It is crucial to prioritize tasks in a project, mainly when it is lengthy. It helps to ensure that the project is finished successfully and in good time. To prioritize the activities, you should follow the instructions below:

  • Label the duties and the activities
  • Differentiate between critical and essential
  • Assess the importance of each function
  • Approximate efforts organize the tasks
  • Stay resilient and ready to accommodate
  • Remember when to answer NO

Whats Your Communication Style

This is another classic project management interview question that directly stems from asking about managing projects and leadership. A project manager is nothing if he has poor communication skills. They need to be able to speak to team members, stakeholders, vendors, etc. Each group will need a slightly different approach. Stakeholders want the broad strokes of the project management plan, while team members will need more detail. If a project manager cant clearly communicate, the project is doomed before it has begun.

Being a good communicator is only the start. Project management software helps you better target that communication with your team and stakeholders. ProjectManager has project management tools like Gantt charts, kanban boards and project calendars to clearly communicate your project plan. Our cloud-based software allows you and your team to collaborate in real-time. If someone has a question, they only need to tag another person on the team to get them into the conversation. Our email and in-app notifications make sure youre never late for a meeting or an important stakeholder presentation. Try our tool for free today.

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How Do You Seek Help Outside Of The Project Team

This project manager interview question gives you information about the leadership and communication skills of your project manager candidate. Some project managers are going to think you want a person who is wholly independent and pulls from an inner reservoir. Fair enough. But more resourceful is the project manager who knows when theyre over their head and asks for help from a mentor or a network of professionals.

Can You Tell Us How Youve Demonstrated Creativity To Solve A Past Problem

Management interview questions for hiring senior

Interview Question Intent

Complex projects require creative solutions. The interviewer wants to understand how youve brought creative solutions based on your past experiences.

Interview Answer Guidance

Project management can actually be pretty dry with updating project schedule, communicating status and follow up on tasks. Creativity may seem hard to demonstrate but I would look for problem solving examples that demonstrate creative thinking. I often use brainstorming with mind maps as a creative solution for problem solving. If you ever created a fishbone diagram or an Ishikawa diagram to determine a problems root causes, then you can use those a creativity examples.

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How Will You Manage The Team Members Who Are Not Working To Their Full Potential

To bring the best out of your team members, you must:

  • Try to avoid any type of emotional confrontation with the team and stakeholders
  • Encourage them to think and act in their own ways
  • Help your team members in developing their decision-making abilities
  • Develop their performance tolerance threshold
  • Strengthen the potential of weak employees by surrounding them with those even stronger
  • Understand what motivates your employees
  • Show your employees where they fit in the company mission and vision
  • Arrange a proper follow-up process
  • Reward and appreciate their improvement to encourage them more
  • Be ready to let them go if there is no scope of improvement

How Do You Determine The Communication Needs Of Stakeholders

The communication needs of stakeholders depend on their position in the power/influence grid, power/interest grid as also impact/influence grid. Salience modeling is another technique to determine who is the most effective for the interest of the project. This is a qualitative assessment and will determine the kind and details of communications they need on the project.

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How Do You Work With Customers Sponsors And Stakeholders

Even project managers have to answer to someone. Responding to executives, project sponsors and stakeholders requires a different approach than the one they would use with teams and vendors. Part of their duties includes managing stakeholders who hold a position of authority over the project manager. That takes a subtle touch.

Could You Talk About Times When You Made Proactive Decisions On Projects

Top 50 Project Manager Interview Questions and Answers | Project Management Interview Questions

The ability to think two, three, or four steps ahead is a good skill for a Project Manager to have, and this question is a great opportunity to showcase that skill. You could consider discussing your analytical skills in answering this question and how those skills have helped you make decisions to prevent problems from happening later. You can also reiterate a time you learned from a previous experience and how that lesson has stuck with you throughout your career.

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Describe Your Experience In This Industry

Familiarize yourself as much as you can with the companyâs industry before the interview. Learn what the top issues are by reading news articles and listening to podcasts, or reaching out to project managers in similar roles and asking about their experiences.

How to answer: Come prepared to talk about any experience youâve had in the industry. Academic or professional background is great. If you donât have these, you can talk about what youâve learned about the industry, and why you want to work in it. Mention any skills or knowledge that are transferable as well.

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