Senior executives and human resource managers recognize project management as critical to business success. They understand that qualified and credentialed project managers are among their most valuable assets.

According to a survey conducted by the Project Management Institute, over $122 million is wasted in the United States for every $1 billion invested due to poor project performance. When it comes to hiring certified project managers, things become a little more complicated, and candidates are evaluated in a variety of ways.

Will the candidate fit into the organization's culture? Will the candidate get along with other team members and effectively lead them? Will the candidate meet the project's deadlines?

Successfully completing an interview is both an art and a science. There are many unknowns, but focusing on key areas or competencies and providing appropriate answers to questions based on them during the interview will help you get selected. Here is a list of areas or competencies that interviewers assess using the project management interview questions listed below.

Pointers on how to respond to them are also provided below to assist you in demonstrating that you are the right fit for the role of project manager.

Interview Questions for Project Managers (With Answers)

• How would you define a perfect project?

This is one of the most important project management interview questions because it wants to know what kind of projects you want to work on. By answering this question honestly, you open the door to managing projects that interest you or in which you excel. Your response should cover a variety of topics, such as whether you prefer to work in a team or alone, what kind of deadlines you prefer, whether you are interested in innovative and creative projects or not, and so on.

• In the post-COVID-19 world, working from home has become the new normal. How well prepared are you to manage a remote team?

In today's world, project managers frequently select their teams from a global labor pool and are expected to manage teams remotely. You should have the knowledge and skills to collaborate virtually with team members. It necessitates a different management strategy. Your response to this project management interview question should clearly describe the project management methodology you intend to use to manage people and resources in a remote setting.

• What is your task prioritization strategy?

Prioritization, regardless of project size or scope, is a critical concept that determines project success and timeliness. If your interviewer asks you about prioritization, explain how you distinguish between urgency and importance. You can explain how you decide what is important and discard what isn't. This project management interview question is also designed to assess your flexibility and adaptability while managing a project. Your response should demonstrate that you understand when to say no during the project.

• Based on your experience, what is the most desired skill required to become a successful project manager? Please provide us with a few examples of your previous projects.

If you have any experience with project management, you are probably aware that no single skill is sufficient for a successful career in the field. To be a successful project manager, you should have a variety of project management skills, such as leadership, communication, negotiation, and time management, to name a few. To respond quickly to this question, you should be able to justify why you chose a specific skill. You can support your answer with a couple of examples.

• Can you tell us about the most difficult projects you've managed so far? What steps did you take to overcome the obstacles?

The interview panel is interested in how you handle critical challenges and conflicting situations in a project. It would be preferable if you did not use examples of difficult team members or a lack of management support. As a project manager, you should be capable of dealing with such occurrences. Instead, concentrate on external factors such as an unexpected project cancellation or funding reduction in the middle of a large project. You should also explain how you dealt with challenges and managed the team in difficult situations.

• Imagine that the project has gone off the rails. What steps would you take to re-establish it?

When you realize a project is not progressing as planned in terms of time, budget, scope, or goals, your next top priority is to get it back on track. The project manager should be efficient enough to take the necessary steps to close the gap between actual and planned progress. Your response to this project management interview question could include readjusting resource management, determining the true cause of off-tracking, putting in extra effort, and other options.

• What was one of the most significant mistakes you made in previous projects? What effect has it had on your approach to work?

They say it's human to make mistakes. Your abilities are defined by how you handle errors. The interviewer intends to test your honesty and whether you accept responsibility for mistakes made in previous projects by asking this project management interview question. Instead of answering "no," you could mention a couple of errors. Make sure you demonstrate that you accept responsibility for the error, as this will reveal your maturity level. You can also explain how you resolved it.

• Could you tell us about a failed project? Have you had any similar encounters?

As a project manager, you will encounter both success and failure. It is also unwise to answer "no" to this question. Instead, consider a previous project event or phase where you failed. This project management interview question is also designed to assess your risk management experience. You must explain how you handled the situation.

• Assume the customer is dissatisfied with the project's results. How do you deal with the situation? How do you handle a disgruntled stakeholder?

When customers are dissatisfied with the project's outcomes, you will be held accountable as a project manager. As you respond to this project management interview question, you should be able to demonstrate how much you value customers and how you would accept their authority without being critical. You can say that you will try to make the necessary changes that the customer requires. You can describe the steps you took to ensure consistent interaction with the customer throughout the project. You can also state that you will communicate effectively in order to satisfy the customer.

• What is your strategy for dealing with internal team conflicts?

The interviewer is attempting to assess your mediation skills and impartiality in conflict resolution. You can explain why it is necessary to listen to both parties and understand both points of view. Your response should include how you persuade both parties to reach a decision that is best for the project at hand and results in a win-win situation. It would also be beneficial if you communicated how you intend to ensure that neither of them benefits at the expense of the other.

• In a project management framework, define processes and process groups.

The purpose of this project management interview question is to assess your domain knowledge. Processes in a project management framework refer to the defined method of carrying out tasks in order to successfully complete the project. Process groups, on the other hand, are a collection of processes that are carried out at various stages of the project. The five process groups are Initiation, Planning, Execution, Monitoring & Control, and Closing.

• Could you explain the distinction between risk and issue? What are the most common types of risks that may arise during the course of a project?

Risks are future events or situations that could have a negative or positive impact on the project's goals. Issues refer to any current event or situation that has an impact on the project's objectives. In other words, risk is concerned with future events, whereas issues are concerned with current occurrences. Issues are frequently viewed negatively, such as when a team member abruptly resigns from the organization. The risks could be positive or negative.

The most common types of project risks are as follows:

Consider market risk, schedule risk, cost risk, resource risk, performance risk, technology risk, governance risk, legal risk, external risk, strategic risk, and operational risk.

• Describe the RAID concept in project management.

As you are aware, RAID is an essential tool for any project manager. It is an acronym that stands for Risks, Actions, Issues, and Decisions. RAID is a tool used by project managers to keep track of risks, actions, issues, and decisions in an organized manner. You should include the definitions of these four concepts in your response to the project management interview question.

• What methods can you use to define the scope of a project?

The interview panel is attempting to understand your knowledge in the relevant domain by asking this question. You can explain the following concepts involved in project scope definition: Product Breakdown, Requirement Analysis, Systems Engineering, Systems Analysis, Value Engineering, Value Analysis, and Alternatives Analysis.

• Describe your project management team formation process.

A project manager should be familiar with the various stages that a team goes through during a project; thus, this is one of the most common questions asked in project management interviews and exams. The five development stages in team formation are Forming, Storming, Norming, Performing, and Adjourning. When answering this project management interview question, you should describe each of these steps clearly.

• How well do you understand the project management triple constraint triangle?

Any project has constraints and hazards that must be addressed in order for it to be successful in the end. Time, scope, and money are the three most important constraints for project managers to understand. These are sometimes referred to as the project management triangle or the three constraints.

Another technical question in which the interviewer evaluates your technical knowledge and how you apply it in your day-to-day job. Describe the definition and how you would apply it.

• How are you going to avoid gold plating?

To avoid gold plating, top management should first avoid anything beyond the requirements and scope baseline.

Second, we must examine the project's scope from the outside. By comparing the deliverables to the project's scope baseline, an independent auditor or inspector can quickly detect gold plating.

• When would you escalate a problem?

Consider escalating a workplace problem if:

-The issue could result in a project delay or budget overrun.

-You've tried to reach an agreement and find common ground with everyone involved.

-You've tried and failed to solve the problem using various methods in the past.

-Because of the issue, you or your teammates are forced to take on a significant amount of extra work.

• How would you describe your leadership style?

There are several ways to lead, each with advantages and disadvantages. It's impossible to discuss project management without mentioning leadership style. Depending on the project, a project manager may have to choose between top-down and servant leadership. Examine their understanding of leadership styles and how they apply to project management.

• Do you have a favorite project management software?

When it comes to project planning and scheduling, most project managers rely heavily on Gantt charts. Project Manager's award-winning online Gantt charts enable project managers to plan every aspect of their projects. Managers can create dependencies, set milestones, assign tasks, manage workload, and more all from a single screen. Our planning tools' capabilities would astound any general contractor you hire.

• What is the distinction between project monitoring and project control? Monitoring is the process of identifying discrepancies between actual project results and the project baseline, whereas controlling is the process of identifying repair options for deviations and recommending corrective actions.

Both project monitoring and control are used to keep projects on track and completed from beginning to end. For the project life cycle to be successful, these procedures must be planned as part of the project management strategy.

To plan, monitor, and report on a project, a project manager requires project management tools. There are a variety of options available, ranging from simple to sophisticated. This question reveals, first and foremost, the candidate's familiarity with software and project management technologies. It also provides an overview of the tools and techniques used to manage projects.

• How will you put Earned Value Management into action? What is EVM and how is it used?

EVM is a practical method for statistically determining project discrepancies and performance in order to assist the team in forecasting and planning appropriate preventative measures for dealing with variations. EVM is a project management approach that calculates schedule and cost variances using a schedule and cost performance index. It contributes to the creation of new project performance and cost estimates.

A project manager should use EVM by keeping a project schedule that includes all project activities, their start/end dates, and budget. This timeline will be used to gauge how far the project has progressed.

• What is the purpose of stakeholder analysis and the Power-Interest Grid?

Stakeholder analysis entails compiling a list of all potential stakeholders who will be involved with the project in some way.

A power-interest grid assists in categorizing stakeholders based on their importance and influence. These two aid in the development of critical stakeholder engagement strategies for diverse groups by outlining the project's stakeholders' positions.

• What is the distinction between a program, a project, and a portfolio?

A program is a series of interconnected initiatives that are managed as a whole. It is fleeting, like a project, but it lasts longer. The program follows high-level plans that are supplemented by a variety of specific plans.

A project is an attempt to create a unique solution or product. It is transitory and has a distinct beginning and endpoint. The emphasis is on precision.

A portfolio is a large collection of projects and operations that are managed by a single group in order to achieve a strategic goal. Unlike projects and programs, it is ongoing and integrated into strategic planning.

• Describe Ishikawa and Fishbone diagrams.

An Ishikawa or Fishbone diagram is used to perform a root cause analysis for a specific problem. The primary benefit of this tool is its clarity and effectiveness in studying complex issues with hidden elements. This allows the project manager to go beyond the symptoms and treat the underlying issues.

• How do you calculate the three-point estimating method?

The three-point estimate can be computed in two ways:

E = (P+4M+O)/6 PERT Distribution

E = (P+M+O)/3 Beta Triangular Distribution

Where P stands for pessimist, O stands for optimist, and M stands for most likely.

• What exactly is a Work Breakdown Structure (WBD)?

The Work Breakdown Structure is used to identify the core work activities of the project as well as the various sub-activities that may be required to complete each activity. WBD's structure follows a hierarchical pattern, with core activities split off into sub-activities housed under each parent, whether the approach is top-down or bottom-up.

• What exactly is a Pareto principle analysis?

The Pareto principle is also known as the 80/20 principle. 80% of the results are produced by the efforts of 20% of the people. This method assists in prioritizing activities based on their importance rather than their urgency.

29. What are the motivation theories and formal techniques for motivating a team?

A project manager must constantly motivate the entire team. The following motivation theories can aid project success:

• The McClelland Hypothesis

• Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs

• Hertzberg's Theory

• The Vroom Prediction Theory

The areas mentioned above, as well as the project management interview questions that go with them, are not exhaustive. Nonetheless, the interview questions cover the most critical project management skills and competencies that the candidate will not only be tested on during the interview but will also require to succeed as a project manager.