Project Manager Skills Interview
Author:
Opportunity @ WorkOpportunity @ Work is a non-profit whose mission is to advance economic opportunity by helping STARS candidates (i.e. those Skilled Through Alternative Routes, rather than a bachelor's degree) get hired based on job-relevant skills. Their templates are designed to give candidates an opportunity to showcase their transferrable skills and help organizations find the candidate who will perform most successfully in their role.
Focus area:
Question
1
Imagine a project is due to launch in six weeks, but you sense that the timeline is a risk and it won't likely be completed by then. How would you address this timeline issue, and why?
What does this question reveal?
Candidate has the ability to identify risks and manage solutions to complete the project
Explore tips
- Discusses communicating the risk to the team/leadership and seeking support
- Identifies areas that pose the biggest risk and suggests mitigation strategies
- Discusses exploring the trade-offs of pushing back the timeline
- Considers reallocating resources (e.g. to increase/decrease capacity)
- Discusses documenting changes/updates and closely monitoring progress
Question
2
Imagine you are managing two projects simultaneously with the [insert team 1 name] and the [insert team 2 name]. How would you monitor progress and ensure the objectives are met for both projects?
What does this question reveal?
Candidate has the ability to apply a structured approach to managing multiple projects effectively
Explore tips
- Discusses setting specific goals and allocates responsibilities accordingly
- Prioritizes each project's tasks based on importance and urgency
- Maintains open communication with teams to align expectations and solve problems
- Implements a system to track progress and other relevant project metrics
- Suggests methods/tools for monitoring task completion and goal attainment
Question
3
Tell me about a time where you set an effective budget and walk me through the process of how you created and maintained it ? How could you apply these budgeting skills to a project you are managing?
What does this question reveal?
Candidate has the ability to apply a structured method when managing a budget
Explore tips
- Outlines a structured method/approach
- Considers cost categories and uses past data to inform plan
- Breaks down scenario into task and estimates cost based on resources required
- Considers contingencies in budget plan to ensure accuracy
- Suggests consulting relevant stakeholders and to seek approval when complete
Question
4
Imagine a project/program you are managing requires additional resources and has unexpected expenses but has already exceeded its budget. What would you do?
What does this question reveal?
Candidate has the ability to effectively manage budget constraints and demands during projects
Explore tips
- Suggests reassessing spending plan and key objectives to decide best strategy
- Considers reducing project scope/time or identifying lower-cost resources
- Analyzes whether certain resources can be reallocated based on priorities
- Suggests approaching appropriate stakeholders to revise the budget if necessary
- Relies on contingency reserve to allow flexibility/reduce risk of budget overrun
Question
5
As a Project Manager, scheduling for projects/programs is a really important part of your role. If you were assigned a new project to lead, how would you plan and monitor the project's schedule?
What does this question reveal?
Candidate has the ability to create and manage a project calendar to monitor who is doing what, and when
Explore tips
- Breaks project down into tasks and identifies who is responsible for what
- Considers task interdependencies when creating the schedule
- Identifies key metrics and milestones to track progress and completion
- Suggests using software to manage schedule (e.g. excel, gantt chart)
- Updates schedule throughout to ensure all tasks are assigned and completed
Question
6
If you were in charge of managing a project, you would inevitably have to deal with scheduling conflicts. What practices would you use to mitigate scheduling conflicts and/or managing them effectively?
What does this question reveal?
Candidate has the ability to apply effective scheduling practices to mitigate and manage conflicts
Explore tips
- Suggests increasing visibility of schedule (master schedule, helpful software)
- Strategically considers resources when planning and identifies dependencies)
- Discusses planning ahead of time and monitoring progress
- Considers common causes of conflicts (e.g. inaccurate resources/dependencies)
- Discusses best practices and learnings to mitigate/manage conflicts
