In total, I managed 56 project team members during this project. But more resourceful is the project manager who knows when they’re over their head and asks for help from a mentor or a … We were working in a natural gas implementation project in Brazil. However, the most important ones are planning and execution. The best option to resolve a conflict is collaborating where all parties are happy. After convincing the customer that the new requirement was not in the project scope, he proposes that they can deliver this feature in one month as a change request. The first step to any successful project is hiring the perfect project manager and this can be done by asking the right project manager interview questions during the interview and hiring process. He adds that he was also responsible for convincing executive management for additional funding when needed. Note how confidently they answer. A good project manager knows that some conflict is inevitable -- and even healthy -- on a project … A typical human resources interview question! I had to speak with him but not demotivate him. I went through the position details and saw that you are looking for a 5+ years of IT project management experience with a special focus on screen touch sensors. What would you say is the most important skill of a Project Manager and why? We have gathered the eighteen project manager interview questions and answers that you will be asked, most probably, during your job interview. In this report, you will see your strengths, improvement areas, and how well your background and skills match the position that you applied for. To be a successful project manager, you have to choose your battles wisely. 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. This shows hints about your personality and how your colleagues think about you in the work environment. There can be hundreds of other applicants that you have to surpass to get a project manager job. For instance, a one-day delay in my project was causing 200 hundred construction workers to wait for our work to be completed. If you are applying for a project manager position that requires budget management, this kind of project manager interview questions will be elective ones. Gold plating is a technical term in project management. For instance, I create dashboards for waiting issues, waiting time, assignee etc in a project to monitor how well the project team is resolving issues. I told him that, If we deliver a website project with missing web pages, this will be unacceptable. Sometimes, no matter how much due diligence you put into assembling a skilled and experienced team for the project, someone underperforms or creates conflicts. I told the team that they did all they have to do. One of the key skills a PMO should possess is planning and managing an organization’s resources. Deadline of the project was Feb 15, 2016. These will make your answers stronger. If you wish to assess yourself in a real-like PM interview session, you can see our Project Manager Mock Interview solution as well. This question is not special for a project manager interview. Then, I work closely with the technical leaders of the project whether the project team member is doing gold plating. Moreover, if a project team member over performed during the project, I send a special email to his manager to appreciate his efforts. Expect interview questions that will assess your ability to lead a group and communicate effectively to members with … They’re experts in many things but not arrogantly so, in that they know the power of collaboration and can delegate work to focus on where their attention is needed most. We have tried to gather all questions that you will be asked (most probably) in your project manager interview session. This is one of the last questions that you will be asked in your project manager interview session. Then, he opens the conflict to voting. Naturally, if the candidate has specific skills they’ll be briefly sketched in the resume, but here’s your opportunity to get a deeper sense of where they stand in terms of budget management. When I am using Microsoft Project, I compare the actual values of the tasks with the baseline values. The 23 Best Project Manager Interview Questions. Most project managers heavily rely on Gantt charts when it comes to project planning and scheduling. Customer accepted the proposal and we fixed this conflict. Give a project manager the best tools on the planet. I wish we could have spoken face-to-face but she was in a business trip at that time. The last thing you want is a project manager who carries everything on their shoulders. Use the excellent sample interview answers as a guide to prepare your own winning answers and impress as the right job candidate. After getting the approval of the manager, he speaks with the team first and then communicates to the customer respectively. We contacted with three of the subscribers who reported this problem and asked them to re-initiate a call. It was a strange experience for me to see people better motivated on Mondays. 7 project manager interview questions and answers 1. Some project managers are going to think you want a person who is wholly independent and pulls from an inner-reservoir. Do you have the outsource personnel or supplier management experience? After two or three weeks, he was performing well again. On these types of questions, it’s best to answer with the STAR method. In that case, if the team member tells about the problem, I will do my best to help him. You should not say a salary and compensation expectation that is too much above your current package. If you are an experienced candidate, you may come across technical project manager interview questions on how to deal with the complexity of projects on the basis of your experience. Tips for answering: In your response, keep in mind the specific requirements listed in the job description.Plus, if there were any challenges that the interviewer brought up previously in the conversation, you can … When I am using Jira, I create my own dashboards for late tasks or open tasks. Budget management is a crucial aspect of project management. I added in the meeting that, we, as project team, met our deadlines and objectives. A good project manager must be able to resolve conflicts without hampering the motivation and relationship in the project team. And more importantly, can they use the project management methodology that best suits the work at hand? All of a sudden, I noticed a decent drop in his performance. In some cases, demotivation can be because of the problems in daily life of the project team members. However, the customer was telling that, their competitor has a referral program that boosts sales. From traditional methods like waterfall to hybrid methodologies, you want a project manager who understands the many ways to work. After I completed the initial project planning, I take a baseline. Junior Project Manager interview questions are tricky in many senses.. From one side, you need to show an understanding of Project Management. By asking about a challenging project, you can see how they act when pushed to their limits and beyond. Additionally, it provides a picture of what tools and processes they use to manage a project. After knowing the source of conflict, I look at the alternative solutions to resolve the conflict. If this is not possible, then, I try to analyze the pros and cons of different alternatives for resolving the conflict. This is critical for an employer because each employer expects a candidate to stay in the position for at least two years. Five members were from Brazil, three members were from UK, three members were from Spain, two members were from India and two members were from Qatar. There were three architects, six civil engineers and 47 construction workers in my team. After a couple of interviews, I got the job and since 2013, I am working at Accenture as Software Analyst. Talk about not being prepared. Online Gantt charts measure the progress of each task, but project managers want a bird’s-eye view. This made some of the project team members upset because we were working hard to complete the project on time but the project was postponed because of a customer-sourced delay. Before you can plan, execute and successfully complete a project, you must hire a project manager to manage it. Customer was on my neck and asking the situation each minute while we were trying to fix the issue. Talking about managing a project will inevitably lead to a discussion of leadership style. There were four software analysts and I worked as the lead analyst and supervised the other three analysts. A project manager is a difficult position to fill. Next time you have to recruit someone for your project team, why not try some of these? He was so angry and complaining that 87 subscribers reported that they could not originate a call from their phone. Therefore, keeping in mind the expected results help me to focus on what needs to be done during the project. This can be a picnic, a weekend trip or a dinner depending on the project budget or amount of the allowance provided by the company for these celebrations. Try our award-winning software for free with this 30-day trial. In your project, if you need database servers, and if these servers will be provided by a 3rd party company, this company is the supplier of your project. While there are a number of general skills and transferable professional experiences that go into the making of a successful project manager, a certain degree of … If the project team member is underperforming for a couple of weeks, I invite him to a coffee break. No, we also provided guidance on how you should answer these project manager interview questions. I experienced several conflicts arising in my projects during my career. These should not be more than two or three sentences. This comes up with even the best team, so any capable project manager would know how to nip underperformance in the bud. By its nature, conflicts seem to be resolved in favor of one side over another. Therefore, they were performing better on Mondays in our project since it is 2nd day of their workweek. They schedule and lead teams to success. These typical project manager job interview questions explore the type of projects you have managed, the project teams you have supervised and the contribution you can bring to the job opportunity. During your interview process, test candidates for their knowledge of systems and programs … But this is a bit of a trick question, or at least one that has an implicit question embedded in it. This project manager interview question will assess your risk management and communication management experience together. We were in the office, whole project team, in 45 minutes. The difference between a good and great project manager is the ability to monitor oneself and respond proactively to any drop offs in performance. tools to plan, monitor and report on the project. After delivering the customer referral program feature one month later, customer was happy with the final product. He highlights that he worked as the lead analyst in a project. This is great. Not all projects are executed under one roof. This helps in structuring the efforts and simplifying them into a series of logical and manageable steps. monitor and track the progress of a project, What Are Your Strengths & Weaknesses? Give a project manager the best tools on the planet and get ProjectManager.com. When I see an underperforming resource, first, I observe him whether it is a one-time issue or occurring frequently. Planning a project can feel like herding cats, with all the task lists and scheduling. However, I learned that, he just broke up with his long lasting girlfriend. It’s not that you want to learn some secret or catch them in an unethical act. Fair enough. Or, even if you reach your project objectives, project quality will suffer. They tell that I am working in a very well discipline, record every detail and approach in a systematic way to the problems in the project. Who is going into a job interview with this information in their head? We were working for an e-commerce website development project in US. In case any additional funding needed, I was organizing meeting with the project sponsor to express the reasons of additional funding. Project manager candidate approaches to the conflict with documents and rationally. A good project manager must prevent gold plating in a project. Project sponsor told that this is a critical requirement and they have to get it before launching the website. Before you can plan, execute and successfully complete a project, you must hire a project manager to manage it. My colleagues call me German. I have completed my university education in Georgia Institute of Technology in the field of computer science. One of a project manager's core responsibilities is managing groups of people. Some project managers are going to think you want a person who is wholly independent and pulls from an inner-reservoir. If you say a salary that is too much above the benchmark, you can even lose the job opportunity. This helps me to see whether a task is on track, behind schedule or ahead of schedule. I learnt that, their official weekends are on Friday and Saturday. However, when it comes to a Project … A project manager must tackle multiple tasks and issues. You should have received an email from us already. However, the customer is not happy with the result and does not accept the project. Resit Gulec, MBA, PMP, ITIL has over 10 years of work experience. For instance, if the cause of the conflict is a how to solve a technical issue in a software project, I show the options to the project team and expect the software developers to vote for the best option to resolve the conflict. You are looking for common project manager interview questions and answers. After that, I have expressed him that, we have a project scope to finish first and we have to deliver what is required first. This is obvious. Posted on February 22, 2019 March 1, 2019 by Andy Bosworth. Everyone makes mistakes; character is defined by how you deal with them. Package includes: - PM Interview Questions and Answers PDF- Sample PM Mock Interview Assessment Report- Karen's PM Interview Journey - She got a PM Job! Ouch. Depending on the project, a project manager might have to pick and choose how they lead, ranging from a top-down approach to servant leadership. There were 11 software developers and 6 test engineers. Actually, this is a typical project manager job interview question. If you are applying to a company that works with outsourcing personnel or suppliers, this project manager interview question will be an elective one. We were working on an online learning portal project of an oil company. This was causing a big pressure in executive management of the company and therefore it was a big challenge for me as well. We thought that this is a local problem affecting only a part of the subscribers. The dashboard also helps project managers keep their stakeholders in the loop. The sample answer for these kinds of project manager interview questions can be as below. First, he reports to his manager. Let us help you sharpen your interview skills and give you a real hands-on mock interview so you can get the job you deserve! I try to demonstrate the pros and cons of each resolution alternative analytically because numbers, figures, statistics and mathematical approach is the best way to convince people for a solution. So, how do you find that person who fits both the criteria of the job and the culture of your organization? Project took eight months to complete. The interviewer must say, “Wow, he knows what we exactly look for”. How do you deal with gold plating in your project? The following can be a good sample answer for this project manager interview question. Stakeholders want the broad strokes, while teams will need more detail. Assuming that you have budget management experience, you can answer this interview question as below: I have managed the project budgets in my projects as well. Enroll now in 360 Degree Project Manager Mock Interview. Knowing how they would manage people and resources can be a crucial point in your decision to hire or not to hire. I was in charge of approving expenses and procurements in my projects. When answering this project manager interview question, try to remember your positive attitudes and what your colleagues say about your work behavior. I use Microsoft Excel to keep track of issue log. Last year, I got a promotion from the employer and my title has changed as Lead Analyst. This answer shows the technical knowledge of the project manager candidate. Before going to your interview, go through your resume and prepare your own good examples from your project management experience for these questions. He understood me very well and when he was performing his other activities; he did only the scope of his task and then asked to get a new task. The project manager candidate answers the three words that describe him best first. This is an telling project manager interview question. You have to hire or outsource the database administrator for a limited time to work for your project. Good teams collaborate and trust one another. Bear in your mind that, failures, emergencies or critical points about a project must be communicated face to face. It was a great experience to learn from different cultures when working with them. Let’s go over the questions one-by-one and see how to answer each of them. Conflicts are inevitable in a project. Attend in Project Manager Mock Interview sessions, see how you perform, and improve your PM interview skills. If face-to-face communication is not possible, then, you should choose a teleconference meeting or phone call. - No Credit Card Required. For instance, assume that you are installing a database for a utility service provider in the scope of your project. I was working for a billing system project for a telecom operator. Hint: Do not risk your next PM Job Interview! Customer was getting angrier each minute because as the time passes, number of complaints started to increase. Considering your current salary and compensation package, you should tell your expectations. This interview question assesses whether you have a career plan and if it fits with the position. Review project manager interview questions that explore the quality of your experience in managing projects.. The same goes for their professional history. You can’t feel confident that you’re choosing the right candidate for a job when you have to base your decision on an hour-long interview. Therefore, we will be postponing the project launch for one month. I was thinking that he was demotivated because of recent promotion and bonus announcements in the company. As they work, you see their progress. The primary responsibility of the project manager is completing a project scope on time and on budget in the agreed quality levels. Because gold plating can cause delays and extra cost in the project. Examples of project management interview questions: To help you get started, here are six popular project management interview questions, along with our advice on how to answer them effectively: 1. Developer of the homepage was a very skilled resource. For the best answer to this project manager interview question, you can search for the recent news of the company before the interview. Gold plating is delivering more than what is required in the scope. Actually, this is a typical project manager job interview question. If they don’t, it’s not a game-closer. Finally, I organized a meeting with executive management of the customer. I told her the situation. If you are an experienced professional, you might have worked with a demotivated or underperforming colleague. At the end of the meeting, executive managers were agreed to wait till customer acceptance tests completion. However, your company does not have a full-time database administrator. The project manager must motivate underperforming resources in a project. Fair enough. After all, they aren’t as much about the job, but rather about you and your background. A project manager needs tools to plan, monitor and report on the project. Although he completed the homepage development before the deadline of the task and with a loading time less than three seconds, he was trying to lower the homepage loading time. I have over nine years of experience. I have worked in eight projects until now and the biggest one was shopping cart customization project of Walmart website. It’s important to get a snapshot of the applicant to bring their project manager resume into sharper focus. I will learn a lot from Apple culture as well. Any project manager worth hiring will be able to answer this with practical specifics. The employer invited you to the project manager interview. Actually, we did all post deployment tests and everything was green. Before sitting in your project manager interview session, go through your experience. Over the past 7 years I’ve hired more than 70 digital project managers and interviewed hundreds of project manager candidates. What don’t you want to work on? It will let you know what sort of projects they prefer to work on. Similarly, I record the number of codes each developer produces a day to forecast remaining activities in the project. PMP Boot Camp Options: How to Choose Your PMP Training? 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’ve put together my 10 killer interview questions for hiring a project manager. Because, Apple is my dream company that I would love to work for. A software developer in my banking project was performing very well. Then, the project manager candidate adds that he is planning to get relevant professional certifications to improve his project management skills. They need to have same program feature as well. ProjectManager.com has a real-time dashboard that tracks six project metrics to help project managers monitor the overall progress of the project. Then, I send this project plan to all project team members. Project Manager Interview Questions; 7 Project Manager Interview Questions and Answers . Additionally, I try to celebrate birthday of each project team member. Be honest when you are responding to this question. I managed the communication with Ericsson to outsource these two consultants and planned their start and end dates in the project. When preparing for your interview, think about a few scenarios of questions you may be asked depending on your industry. Even project managers have to answer to someone. This project manager interview question assesses your convincing and justification skills. This question also provides a sense of the person, such as how they lead teams and deal with conflicts. Staying at a single job for a long time can be either bad or good, but you won’t know until you put their choice into context. The following can be a good answer to this interview question. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AHJ6KpqdOmU, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xEQKpzrlDqs. After customer acceptance tests, they agreed that the features of these pages meet their initial requirements. It’s ideal for the whole organization. In total, project team had over 20 members. He is not forcing or directing on what needs to be done in the project. I want to proceed my career as a project manager for the following three years. This is a great way to weed out the micromanagers. Perhaps they have strong skills that relate to your industry, even if they don’t have direct experience. The following can be a good answer to this type of project manager interview questions. There’s no question, this is what your project manager will want. This answer shows the knowledge of the project manager candidate about the gold plating term. The ideal project is the one that you’re hiring for of course! October 13, 2015. One you’ve gotten through the project manager interview process and a job offer has been made, then it’s up to you to provide them with the best tools to manage the project. 6 interview questions for new project managers. Then, I explained him what the gold plating is. This project manager interview question assesses your people management skills. What is your current salary and compensation package. I managed up to 35 million dollar project budget. Teams are a project’s most valuable resource. This is an telling project manager interview question. 22 Feb. A competent project manager will need to have numerous skills and attributes to be successful. A project management interview need not be dreaded. However, he wants to get this project manager position and the employer invited him to the project manager interview. The most challenging part of the project was meeting the deadlines. Project managers frequently work on a variety of projects. PMP® Online Training - 35 Hours - 99.6% Pass Rate, PMP® Online Class - 4 Days - Weekday & Weekend Sessions, Are You a PMP? They need to be able to speak to team members, stakeholders, vendors, etc. As a project manager … Do you have budget management experience? Can you tell me an example of how you communicated a failure to your team, manager, and customer? 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. Every project hits a snag along the way, but not every project manager is aware of that delay until it’s more pronounced or even beyond repair. Then, I explained that customer referral program was not mentioned anywhere in the requirements list, agreed project scope and in contract as well. Most of the human resources personnel ask this question to evaluate a candidate during job interviews. Then there are the necessary resources that will be outsourced, which involves a different management technique than when working with employees. How do you deal with underperforming project team members? From another – you must demonstrate practical skills relevant to the role. 10 Most Revealing Behavioral Interview Questions for Employers, 11 Must-Have Project Management Excel Templates (Updated Sept. 2019), Microsoft Project Viewer - View & Edit MPP Files. Depending on the roles and responsibilities of the project manager in a company, budget management might not be required by the project manager. It also shows their communication skills while under pressure. I called him for a coffee in a break. Life Cycle – Project Manager Interview Questions. Because he uses “baseline” and “issue log” terms. While most of the project team members were having Monday syndrome, engineers from Qatar were performing better than other project team members on Mondays! It was the first time for me to work with project resources coming from a Muslim country, Qatar. The second highlighted part makes the answer even stronger. During that meeting, I have gone through the agreed project scope and showed how our deliverables meet the initial scope. I tried to calm down the customer on the phone and told him that we, as whole project team, will be arriving on site in one hour to investigate the problem and fix it. This answer shows that the project manager candidate does not do only regular celebration activities like milestones and birthday celebrations. This will not take more than two minutes if you speak it in a project manager interview session. They are hired to perform and lead a project to success, but they can suffer the same setbacks as anyone on the team. She agreed with me to speak about the risk of the situation with the customer. Ace This Interview Question. Start planning your projects. Therefore, we need to deliver what is required first before diving into optimizations. Then, the interviewer will be preparing a detailed assessment report about your project manager mock interview performance. Because, depending on the daily life, each person can have fluctuating motivation level. Here, the interviewer wants to know if you have undertaken such a task in the past. Because, during the project they will be sidelined with unexpected challenges and questions. Start 30-Day Free Trial. Part of their duties includes managing stakeholders who hold a position of authority over the project manager. This is actually a cliché interview question generally asked by human resources personnel. Because, you will be telling about your background, your education, work experience, and projects you have completed. What should this guy answer to this Project Manager Interview question? The project manager candidate describes how he approaches a demotivated project team member step-by-step. We have also provided sample answers to each interview question. It was a personal issue, however, I tried my best to motivate him. During the project manager mock interview session, the interviewer will ask you realistic questions that you will be asked most likely in your real interview. A homepage with a loading time less than three seconds across us to ask your candidates you don’t time! Of these executive managers were agreed to wait for our work to be able to resolve the in. Platform for your interview process, test candidates for their technical aptitude and experience necessary to successfully lead projects describe. Well aware of industry salary benchmarks which is crucial for a utility provider! Biggest failure I had to install 24 servers of the applicant to bring their project manager interview that., even if you reach your project manager ’ s go through your resume and prepare own. A timeline with our online Gantt charts when it comes to project planning, I invite him to problem... How to nip underperformance in the project manager job killer interview questions and ultimate! 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