Project Management Interview Questions
A project manager is responsible for all round progress and the end result of projects undertaken by the company. Hence, only a qualified person with impressive credentials will be chosen to be a project manager.
A project manager does not directly involve himself into the project. Rather, he directs and designs projects, and ensures that it is executed in the right way with the help of his team. Thus, along with credibility, a project manger must also be able to multitask, delegate responsibility, exercise control and have a vision to close a project successfully.
Projects vary according to the field. Thus, the interview questions will largely depend on which company you are applying to, and in what field. However, here are some common questions that can be expected at the time of interview.
- What is your experience in project management? How many years have you worked in this field?
Speak about your experience in project management. How did you start your career, what was your experience working as a trainee under another project manager; such information can be included as an answer to this question.
- Name a few significant projects that you have worked for. Tell us in detail about them.
Have a list of a few successful projects that you have handled in the past. Cover the details like your project plan, design, execution and feedback. You may also include information about the team composition, research and also the problem areas.
- When you plan for a project, do you anticipate the problem areas of it? Or, do you plan with such perfection that there are no problem areas? Give an example.
Now, this is a very tricky question to answer. However, the best option would be to settle with the former part of the question and say that you try to anticipate the difficulties in the project.
- Do you find it difficult to meet deadlines? What do you do to ensure the delivery of project within time?
Submitting a project well before the deadline is only possible through careful strategic planning. Thus, describe how your planning skills have helped you reach your goals.
- What according to you are the risks faced while executing the project?
Every project risks failure due to a lot of factors. Lack of proper planning, resource and information constraints, communication errors are a few other things that can affect the outcome or the execution of a project.
You can mention the risks that you have had to face while leading a project to its result.
You will also be asked behavioral/ competency based questions as listed below.
- Walk us through a difficult project you have had to experience.
- Would you call yourself a motivator? Can you provide us with an example?
- Tell us about the time when you had to work on a project with un-stretchable budget and limited resources. Despite the constraints, how was the project executed?
- Tell us about the time when you put in a lot of efforts for a project and it failed? What was the reason for the failure? How did you feel about it?
- Have you ever had to work with a difficult team? How did you manage to get the work done effectively?
