How to answer the 5 most common Project Manager Interview Questions

The 5 key interview questions

Download these practice interview questions

1. What qualities do you have that make you an effective project manager?

Try to hit some of the points below in your answer:

• Organised
• Hard Working
• Attention to Detail
• Results Focused
• Highly Motivated
• Flexible Approach
• Excellent Interpersonal skills

2. When given a new project what approach would take to start the project and ensure it runs smoothly?

Good answers to this question are:

• Review Business Case and objectives to understand what is required
• Initiate project through
  • Project brief
  • Initiation workshop
  • Project Initiation Document (PID)
• Project planning
  • Planning session
  • Estimating, past, experts, complexity
  • Work Breakdown Structure
  • Gantt chart
  • Assign staff to tasks
• Agreeing roles and responsibilities
• Resource management
  • Have I got enough resource?
  • Have I got the right kind of resource?
  • Do I know how to get extra resource if required?
• Risk and Issues management
  • Create and maintain risk register
  • Create and maintain issue log
  • Ensure high level risks and issues are escalated as required

3. Can you tell me about a time when you have identified a risk to a project? What did you do about the risk?

Good answers to this question are:

• Enter the risk on the risk register
• Assess the likelihood of the risk occurring
• Assess the impact if the risk occurs
• Identify a mitigating action
• Choose the most appropriate response to the risk e.g. transfer, accept, reduce, contingency
• Ensure high level risks are escalated as required

4. Describe how you monitored and reported progress on a project you have managed

Good answers:

Manage and report on progress

• Update project plan
• Weekly/regular project meetings
• Daily stand-up or Scrum calls
• Weekly reporting

Project monitoring

• Use of Earned Value Analysis
• S-Curve
• Tracking Gantt
• Baselining
• Team reporting of progress
• Milestone Slipchart

5. Describe a project you feel was a great success and one that failed

Successful project - good answers

• Delivered to time, cost and scope
• Challenging, but achieved deadline
• Happy stakeholders
• Met business case
• Achieved KPIs
• Won a prize

Failed project - good answers

• The project was not well defined, so I delayed it, so requirements could be properly defined. I then restarted the project with a change request agreed for a new go live date.
• The project was already failing, but I managed to turn it around to meet time, cost or budget
• The project missed the original go live date, but I flagged that the date was not achievable, re-baselined the schedule and the project was very well received by the stakeholders.
• The project widget was not sufficiently tested by the customer, so as part of the post- project review I developed new guidance on user acceptance testing for future projects.
• The project was delivered £x k over budget, but the forecast overspend was twice that before I reduced the scope, bringing it within the 10% cost tolerance that could be approved by the Project Board.

Practice scenario questions for a Project Manager interview

Scenario 1 - Difficult person in initiation workshop

You are running an initiation workshop for your project. One of the Subject Manager Experts constantly challenges your authority by questioning the validity of project management. How would you handle the situation?

Good answer:

1. Stay calm and in control
2. Call for a comfort break
3. Take the SME to one side and discuss the situation with him
4. If he is not willing to take a positive role in the meeting advise him you will end the meeting, make an entry into the Risk Register regarding the failure of the workshop
5. Escalate the Risk to the project office and speak to the person's manager.

Scenario 2 - Project team member is not delivering / progressing their work

A resource on your project is responsible for a task that is sitting on the critical path. A few weeks prior to delivery you are nervous that the task is not going to be delivered due to the abilities of the individual. This individual is also your friend. How would you handle this situation?

Good answers:

• Sit down with the person and talk to them about where they are and if they are facing any barriers
• Make sure they are clear on the deadlines
• Speak to the procurement's manager and agree a plan of action with them
• Enter this concern as a highly probable project risk
• Escalate to the project office requesting the resource be replaced with a more appropriate person.

Download these practice interview questions