The job-seeker's guide to project management interview questions

There are project managers at all different levels of experience and skills. Accordingly, a range of different project management interview questions exists.

Nevertheless, there are some common questions all project managers need to be prepared for. If you focus on these and think up effective answers, you will place yourself well ahead of the pack.

Let's get into these interview questions and possible approaches to answering them.

# Tell me about your project management experience

Many job seekers dread open ended questions like this.

Yet, the fact is that these questions are an excellent opportunity to put your best foot forward and set the tone for the entire interview. The person asking the question is in effect, giving you a lot of control over the meeting.

The key to answering this question well is to prepare for it in advance. You need to present a structured answer. One way of doing it is to say that you will highlight two / three of your past projects.

Then you can briefly outline each project, how the project tied into your organization, the challenges / risk factors you faced in the projects. Mention how you worked your way around those situations. Be sure to demonstrate how teamwork is one of your strengths.

Highlight the skills you exercised and developed as a result of being involved in these projects.

Further, show how you benefited your company with these skills. For instance, maybe one of the projects you did was delivered on time despite a tight budget and manpower constraints. Showcase this and other similar ways you helped your organization (keeping everyone focused and motivated, utilizing existing resources fully, etc).

In short, try to demonstrate that you are an excellent project manager and that you bring valuable abilities and experience to the table for your prospective employer.

# Tell us about how you handle disagreements at your workplace

As a project manager, you are not new to disagreements! You have to deal with diverse pulls and pressures from clients, superiors and team members involved in the project.

When answering this question, mention one or two specific instances of how you were instrumental in bringing about balance and agreement in a scenario where people where wanting to go in different directions.

At any rate, never say that you do not have to face any disagreements or conflicts at your job! That is simply not true.

# How do you prepare your business / project plan?

This sort of question is typically reserved for senior project management professionals who have considerable experience in the field.

The interviewers would want to know if you have prepared and monitored business plans and budgets relating to the project. They'd like to know what leeway you had in this regard (which is an indication of how much responsibility you actually had).

They also want to get a feel for how you monitor and report project parameters like costs, revenues, measures of quality, time frames and so on. Some job interviewers may want to know your experience with business and project management software including SAP, BANN, etc.

Being well prepared for common project management interview questions with sensible answers is the key to getting the job offers you want, on the terms you desire.