Post on 15-Feb-2017
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PROJECT MANAGEMENT INTERVIEW QUESTIONS
▸ This is a working document, i will be adding more questions and answers.
▸ There’s a slide with the question, you should try to answer it before passing to the next slide where a possible answer is given, if you have doubts, nothing better than searching to check if you were right and i was wrong, that helps too :)
▸ If you have any feedback, visit www.pmworthy.com and leave me a message, also, when updating this file, it will be posted there as well.
▸ Good luck, and i hope this helps
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A Project is a group of activities that will lead to a final product or objective. It has a well defined start, objectives and finish. It is not a repetitive task and most of the times it has well defined Time, Scope and Cost constraints. It also must be aligned with the companies strategy.
A Program is a group of projects that all serve a greater and common goal.
WHAT IS THE IRON TRIANGLE (OR TRIPLE CONSTRAINT) REFERRING TO?
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It is well known that every project is limited by three main constraints, Scope, Time and Money, and that altering any of these will have consequences on the others.
*As a PM you’ll have to educate your clients (boss) about these constraints so that they are aware of the consequences.
DURING AN AUTOMOTIVE DEVELOPMENT PROJECT, YOUR PROJECT SUFFERS FROM AN UNEXPECTED BUDGET CUT AFTER SOME DISAPPOINTING SALES REPORTS. WHAT WOULD YOU SAY TO THE STAKEHOLDERS?
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You have to see this as managing the stakeholders expectations, if the budget for which the project was planned is cut, then you will have to analyze it’s impact on the other constraints. The Scope might be cut, Quality reduced or the Schedule altered. All these questions must be taken into consideration before deciding what to change and how. The most important constraint in this case is Cost.
DURING A PROJECT TO DEVELOP A NEW AIRBAG SYSTEM YOU ARE INFORMED THAT THE DELIVERY SCHEDULE HAS TO BE CUT 2 WEEKS SHORT SO THAT IT CAN BE READY FOR AN AUTO PARTS SHOW. WHAT WOULD BE YOUR MAIN CONCERN?
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This answer can be a bit subjective (as most in PM) but the main concern would be to maintain the quality standards and scope of the project, so more people would need to be added, and probably better qualified people so that there would not be needed much time to onboard them. The constraint here is Time.
YOU ARE IN THE MIDDLE OF A SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT PROJECT. THE CLIENT COME TO YOU ASKING FOR NEW FEATURES, TO ANSWER NEW NEEDS IMPOSED BY A CHANGE IN LEGISLATION. HOW WOULD YOU RESPOND?
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With this change in Scope we would need to evaluate the impact on the other constraints. There would be either a change in budget or time, or even in both. New estimations would need to be done and planned accordingly
WHAT WOULD YOU SAY ARE SOME KEY CHARACTERISTICS TO BEING A PROJECT MANAGER?
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A few might be: Being a good communicator, organized, be able to show empathy, fast learner, knowing when and being able to say “no”, able to stay focused on the objective and vision without getting sidetracked, handle pressure well.…
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In PM it’s the sequence of project activities that determine the shortest time possible for a project to be completed
WHO SHOULD BE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE DEFINING TASK DURATION WHEN PLANNING A PROJECT?
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D e fi n i t i o n , I n i t i a t i o n , P l a n n i n g , E x e c u t i o n , Monitoring&Controlling and Closure
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Basically anyone that has something to win or lose with the realization of the project.
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The project sponsor is the person that will be your best advocate for the success of the project, he’s the person that empowered you to become the project manager responsible and to whom you can turn when in need. He secures the funding of the project and is the final decision maker.
SHOULD YOU INCLUDE THE PROJECT CLIENTS (PEOPLE THAT WILL USE THE RESULT OF THE PROJECT) AND CHOSEN STAKEHOLDERS AT KEY POINTS DURING DEVELOPMENT?WHY?
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Yes, so that we can keep sure that what is being build is within the expectations and to find possible problems as soon as possible.
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When all the tasks have been successfully terminated, all tests passed, the client evaluated and was satisfied with the deliverables and all the lessons learned were documented.
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A tangible or intangible product that has resulted from project execution.
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Usually the Waterfall method is used when developing projects that have well known and defined parts, and where there is a complete knowledge of all the requirements at the beginning with practically no probability of change. Agile is used when those requirements can’t be very well defined or it makes more sense to get feedback frequently and build the product in an iterative way.
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Talk about how you keep track of the budget, time and scope constraints. How you keep track of tasks completed, risks, milestones and all the measurements you make to be sure you’re going within the constraints.
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You should have this answer thought out a bit, it seems simples but when pressed for it it will be better if you have some topics prepared. Be careful not to sound rehearsed.
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The Project Life Cycle refers to a series of activities which are necessary to fulfill project goals or objectives. Projects vary in size and complexity, but, no matter how large or small, all projects can be mapped to the following life cycle structure.
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It’s a request for a change in something that was already approved to be developed.
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It’s a tricky question, but a risk can be positive (being that it’s an unforeseen event), and in that case the idea is to explore it or enhance it’s probability of happening instead of avoiding it.
WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN BOTTOM UP AND TOP DOWN APPROACH TO ESTIMATION?
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Study the differences between these two so that you are fresh on when to use one or the other. An important point is that, Top-down (or analogous estimation) is used when developing a project similar to others already done, it’s a faster approach, the bottom up is more detailed and useful as a team work exercise but also takes more time.
HOW WOULD YOU HANDLE A CUSTOMER THAT IS ALWAYS ASKING FOR INFORMATION ON HIS PROJECT AND TRYING TO MANAGE THE TASKS?
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This is basically a problem in communication, you would have to talk to the person and ask how he would prefer to be informed about the project status and assure him that his feedback would be welcome at the meetings scheduled for that purpose.
WHAT DO YOU THING IS ONE OF THE MOST COMMON REASONS FOR IT PROJECTS NOT BEING DONE ON TIME?
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Again, this is a bit subjective, but most of the time the problem is Scope Creep, and this can be avoided by using agile methodologies and involving the stakeholders frequently to make sure the project is going in the right direction. It is also important to adequately inform the stakeholders of the impact of adding scope.
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It’s a good thing, during the audits, people from outside the project are able to analyze the work and find possible problems, this will help to ensure everything is as planned when the project goes to the client and avoid finding out failures late in the project.
HOW DO YOU HANDLE A TEAM MEMBER THAT DOES NOT KEEP HIS DEADLINES?
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This should be taken care in two steps, a first warning done informally trying to understand what was the problem that led to him missing the deadline. If it happens again and there were no unpredicted factors involved, and the estimates are considered good, the member should receive a formal warning that could involve his boss outside the project.
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The PMI defines it as: “an uncertain event or condition that, if it occurs, has a positive or negative effect on a project's objectives”.
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This is a question that is used to see if you actually bothered to do your research about the company and know their values, their work environment, etc, or if you just applied to any job opening. Leave a good impression.
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Do your homework and ask insightful questions, try to know what would be expected of you if you got the job in the first couple of months. Ask about something interesting that you discovered about the company. Never ask how much you will earn, that will come up eventually, also don’t ask how soon can you take time off and that kind of thing.
INTERVIEW TIPS
▸ Practice (you’re already doing that, great!)
▸ Research the company/job you’re applying to.
▸ Arrive a bit early, but not too early.
▸ Get ready, bring a couple of copies of your CV, just in case, a small notepad and a pen to take notes (it’s still better than using your phone for that..)
▸ Relax, remember that your body language tells a lot and you want to appear confident.
▸ Talk, but also let talk.
▸ Send a short follow up e-mail to the people you’ve interviewed with reiterating your interest and thanking for theirs.
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THANK YOU! IF YOU FOUND THIS USEFUL PLEASE FEEL FREE TO SHARE IT WITH YOUR FRIENDS AND VISIT MY SITE FOR MORE, TO LEAVE FEEDBACK OR JUST TO LET ME KNOW HOW IT WENT. GO FOR IT, AND GOOD LUCK
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