Skip to main content
Project Management Master Business Administration MBA
PM.MBA is an official BVOP® partner of the BVOP® Management Certification program Common Project Manager Interview Questions and Answers Get Certified

Common Project Manager Interview Questions and Answers

Author: Liam James Published on: Monday Mar 14, 2022

The project manager applies for a job like everyone else and has to answer interview questions. That is why every project manager must be well prepared by learning common project manager interview questions and answers.

Common Project Manager Interview Questions and Answers

In this article, we present some suitable sample topics.

What specific training do you have that would be relevant to this work of the project manager?

I graduated from BVOP.org, which gave me a decent project manager certificate. During the course, I got acquainted with the basic tools and theory, which prepared me very well for my future work as a project manager. We looked in detail at each activity that a project manager goes through in each project, and even upgraded over traditional training by looking at examples of more modern tools and good practices.

Which project management software and tools do you prefer to use and why?

One widely used tool is the Gantt Chart - I think this tool is very suitable for any project, as it visually illustrates the progress of the project and can easily make adjustments.

With the help of Gant Chart, we can easily track all the individual tasks of the project, how they depend on each other, what is the progress of each task, and the estimated deadline for completion of each of the tasks.

Of course, we use many other tools that aim to facilitate the work of the team and present it in a more understandable way.

One such visualization tool is Mind Map - with its help I depict the functional requirements of the project, as well as user stories.

From my experience, I have noticed that the team understands the requirements much better when they visualize them as successive steps. Reference: "Project Manager Interview Questions and How to Answer"

Last but not least, Excel is a very useful tool that helps us with planning and calculating a variety of activities.

Also, so far I have worked with company-specific management software. I believe that their benefits are enormous and I welcome any new technologies that would facilitate the work process. Reference: https://www.muzonet.com/

How do you prefer to provide status updates?

Depending on the stakeholder - different departments, teams, external companies, directors, may have different communication needs, different response capabilities and will most likely prefer different communication channels.

In the most general case, I would provide information via email - so the update of the project can be tracked quickly and clearly. Reference: https://customessaysonline.net/

Two important documents that can illustrate the update of the project are the Stage end Report and the Release plan. Stage end Report contains information on the progress of the project up to a certain date and may include topics for discussion, improvement, and recommendations.

A Release plan, in turn, informs the various stakeholders about what is to be done, who will do it, and what exactly will change in the project. I would also organize weekly / monthly meetings with individual stakeholders.

How do you close a project?

At the end of each project, the parties make a thorough review of the state of everything that has happened and been produced.

The closure of the project is inevitably associated with a number of documents composed of various important points that had to be implemented. This type of documentation is especially important for finalizing the transaction between the organization and the client.

One important aspect that I like to do at the end of each project is to describe the so-called Lessons learned.

In a meeting with the team, we go through all the difficulties during the project and discuss what lessons we have learned from the situation and how we can avoid these difficulties in the future. Everything is recorded in the Lessons Learned Log.

Have you worked on a project that failed? Tell me what happened?

Fortunately, I haven't worked on a failed project. I think one of the main reasons for a failed project is the lack of communication.

My experience so far has shown me that timely communication can solve any problem, and therefore each stakeholder must be aware of their responsibilities and clearly understand the consequences of delayed and unresponsive correspondence.

I always encourage my teams to share with me in time any difficulties they experience. So I am confident that all the requirements of the project are understood, everyone knows their responsibility, and creates an atmosphere of sharing and openness in the team.

I also keep in touch with the client, in case of misunderstandings we always return together to the scope of the project, and in case of need for corrections, I note how this will affect the variables of the project.

I strive to inspire confidence in both the team and the client and directors. My goal is to justify their trust, to be responsive, and to encourage communication and warm relationships between us.

MORE ON THE TOPIC

“Sample job interview questions for a project manager”

A job interview for a project manager usually involves a wide variety of questions. In the following sample job interview questions and answers…

“Project manager interview questions”

The appropriate project manager must be hired before a project can be planned, implemented, and successfully…

“Top tips and trends for managers and modern management in 2022”

Every manager and leader in an organization must know how to lead positively, constructively, and productively. The management of projects and organizations using…

“Common Project Manager Interview Questions and Answers for 2022 (example)”

Every project manager must be well prepared for a job interview. Having a lot of skills and good knowledge of project management practices and tools is not…

“Questions for a project manager interview”

We present questions for a project manager interview. You can use them for your interview sessions in discussions with candidates…

“Top tips and trends for managers in 2022”

Every manager in 2022 should have read the top tips and trends for managing businesses and organizations…

“Project Manager and HR Specialist interview questions with examples”

In the following article, we share interview questions for the positions of Project Manager and HR Specialist for technology organization…

“The Project Manager and their responsibilities – how to become one”

Who is the project manager” and “How to become a project manager” are two common questions today. Most of the major Internet projects…

If you have ideas for more questions and answers for a project manager interview, please share them in the comments below.

What makes a project manager successful?

A combination of skills and qualities is what makes a project manager more successful than standing out with one particular one. Of course, expert knowledge in the field and accumulated experience from participation in various situations and circumstances contribute enormously to the development of such staff. My opinion is even that a project manager who has faced difficult situations and even had cases of failure would learn extremely important aspects and build a pretty good idea of ​​what should and should not happen during his work.

When was the last time you didn't delegate?

During one of the sprints of the last year, I had a task that I judged that I would handle on my own and in a good time frame, and I would not delegate tasks to any of my team. Actually, I managed and the task was completed successfully, but I don't think it was the best and optimal approach.

What was the consequence of not delegating?

The consequence was that I was the only one familiar with how the task was done. Subsequently, I had to hold a meeting/session to tell my team colleagues how the work was done and how, in my absence, they would deal with a problem in the process.

This resulted in taking more time than I expected. I learned that it would be better to involve someone from my team to do part of the assignment as agreed upon us. In this way, the knowledge of the procedure would not remain only on my face and we could probably save some time, and discussing the procedure with another professional could be more optimal with a good effect on the final result.

Comments to "Common Project Manager Interview Questions and Answers"

  1. Stoyan Kirilov
    Would you advise project manager candidates to provide certifications when applying for jobs? And what certifications are good for them to have?
Related posts:
Author

Web site
Your Comment
 
×

Become a CERTIFIED Project Manager

Online Exam: $280 $130 Get a FREE Mock Exam