Project Manaverse

Project manager interview questions and answer tips (Top Ten!) 

If you are applying for a job as a project manager, then you’re going to want to read this article.  I’m going to share with you the top ten project manager interview questions I’ve come across during my eleven years in project management (both as an interviewee and a interviewer). 

Before we get stuck in with the interview questions, I’m going to share the typical structure of a project manager interview. 

• Part One – Getting to know you

The interviewer will ask general questions about you, your background and your project management experience.  Asking about your career background is standard, so I’m not going to include that in my top ten questions, but make sure you have a concise answer rehearsed!

• Part Two – Project manager competency based questions 

This is where the interviewer will get a sense of your project management competence, typically by asking questions in the format ‘can you give an example of when you have x?’   This is the largest section of the interview.

• Part Three – You ask questions about the role/organisation 

The interviewer will give you an opportunity to ask a few questions about the job.  This is typically the shortest section of the interview. 

Okay, now you know the structure, so let’s jump in with the top ten questions!

Top ten project manager interview questions

1. Why do you want to be a project manager? 

Or if you are already a project manager, why are you a project manager? This is an important question because it tells the interviewer if you are really serious about project management or if you just need a job. Put some thought into it. Personally, I enjoy being a project manager for a variety of reasons, including the following –

• Being responsible for delivering something that will impact a lot of people
• Being part of a team and the camaraderie it brings
• Leaving my comfort zone due to the challenges of difficult projects
• Being in charge of a team
• Knowing that everyday will be different due to the unique nature of projects

Check out my article on why I personally love being a project manager https://projectmanaverse.com/2022/02/24/why-i-love-being-a-project-manager/

1. What are your strengths and weaknesses?

This a great opportunity for you to show that you know what the key skills of a project manager are.  For example, are you organised? A good communicator?  A good leader?  Can you motivate people? Do you work well under pressure?   Read my article ‘key skills of a project manager’ for more examples of project management skills.

When talking about your weaknesses, you can use examples that could also be seen as strengths.  For example,

• ‘I sometimes take on too much work’, 
• ‘Sometimes I micromanage too much’ 
• ‘I don’t celebrate my successes enough’ 
• ‘I work too many hours’

However, please be honest in your answers. If you have a genuine develop need, it’s okay to say so. For example – ‘I’d like more experience scoping projects, and not just delivering them’.  

1. Can you walk us through the project management life cycle? 

This is an easy question for scoring interview points because it’s hard to get wrong (provided you have done your preparation!).  There are a few versions of the project life cycle so find the one that is most applicable to the industry your prospective job is in.  Do your homework and learn it well.  Practice explaining each stage aloud.  If you can articulate the purpose and key common deliverables of each project phase, you should be golden.

1. Can you give an example of when you have managed a project from beginning to end? 

A classic question.  This is a great opportunity to demonstrate your knowledge and experience of project management and project manager attributes.  

Give structure to your answer by walking through each stage of the project lifecycle, describing what you personally did along the way.  Talk about mobilising the team, pulling the scope together, creating the plan, estimating the cost.  Talk about how you kept the plan on track, motivated the team, sent communications, overcame key challenges.  Talk about how you implemented the project, closed it down and handed it over to the business. Conclude with your key learnings from the experience.  If you haven’t managed a project end to end, don’t worry.  Cover what you can, and then say what you would do for the areas you lack experience in.   

1. Can you give an example of when you have had to work with a variety of stakeholders to achieve an outcome? 

As a project manager, you will work with many different people from different areas of the business.  They will have different interests in the project and different levels of seniority.  Therefore, be sure to give specific examples of who the stakeholders were, and how you managed them differently.  Maybe for some of the more senior folk, you had regular one on one meetings.  Maybe some stakeholders you only sent email updates to.  Or perhaps some stakeholders you had to bring together in regular workshops.  Did you have to be more patient with some?  Or more attentive?  How did you work with them to achieve results? The purpose of this question is to determine your stakeholder management abilities, and how you adapt your style depending on the stakeholder, so do try to include several different stakeholders in your answer.  

For bonus points, you could describe how you created a stakeholder map at the start of the project. 

1. Can you describe how you manage risks and issues? 

First, you should describe what a risk is and what an issue is. Use real examples to bring your answer to life.  Next, you should make it clear that you understand that risks and issues need to be proactively managed.  It’s not enough to capture your risks in a log and then forgot about them.  This is not a tick box exercise.  You need to be taking action to – 

1. anticipate/identify risks 
2. reduce the likelihood of the risks occurring 
3. ensure the impact will be reduced if the risks occur

You need to articulate that if issues arise, then you are all over them and shutting them down as quickly as possible.  You do not tolerate issues dragging on for weeks on end.  Not on your watch.  

1. Can you give an example of when you have managed a project budget?

If you are able to include cost estimation as part of your example, then all the better.  Describe how you forecast the project cost, and then what you did to track it and keep it under control. We usually forecast the cost of the project for each month, and then monitor it through the project lifecycle, re-forecasting as required.  

Describe how you check your actual expenditure to the forecast each month, and how you manage the delta.  Describe how you ensure your resources are not charging too much to the project.  Describe what you do if you go over budget (e.g. reduce scope, try and do stuff for free, ask for more money, release non essential resources etc etc).

1. Can you give an example of overcoming a difficult challenge or situation? 

This question provides a good opportunity to demonstrate key project manager qualities like resourcefulness, resilience, problem solving and team working.  Project management is a challenging job and things often go wrong.  Sometimes you can go through what seem like ‘hellish’ periods on a project, and you have the joy of being responsible for them.  Your interviewer is looking to see if you are the type of person who can rise to the challenge and still function, keep cool, and be resilient enough to get through to the other side.  Be specific as to what you did to overcome the challenge.

1. Can you describe a time where you have had to resolve conflict during a project? 

This is a tricky one to answer, so think hard and try to remember a real example. Conflict can arise in many forms during a project.  Sometimes you have a toxic team member who is creating a bad atmosphere, sometimes a team member won’t pull their weight, sometimes you have two senior stakeholders who want to take a different approach, sometime the business team doesn’t trust the IT team.  Regardless, you need to resolve it.  

For me, the bread and butter of resolving conflict is getting people talking, understanding and emphasising with each perspective, and then trying to find some shared perspective or common ground.  That shared perspective is your portal to a relationship and resolving the conflict.

In your interview example, be very specific with the details of how you resolved the conflict.  It needs to be more than just arranging a meeting.  How did you facilitate the meeting?  How did you ensure all parties had a chance to share their perspectives?  How did you put a spotlight on the shared perspective?  Did you negotiate?  Did you propose a compromise?  Be specific!

1. Can you give an example of when you have had to influence a stakeholder? 

With every project, there will be occasions when you will need to influence people.  During the interview, it’s important you communicate how you influenced a person.  So think carefully about how you did it.  Did you take the time to explain the situation and give the complete background story? Did you provide more than one option, clearly articulate the pros and cons of each, and then make a recommendation?  Did you invite someone into the conversation to back you up, someone who the person you were trying to influence already trusted?  Did you involve the person you were trying to influence right from the start of the project, so they felt like part of the team? Some example of situations where you might need to influence include –

• Seeking approval for a business case 
  • Did you articulate well enough why the project needed doing? 
• Seeking approval for a design choice  
  • Did you put forward several options?  Was it clear why the proposed option was the best?
• Asking for more money to run the project
  • Had you shown you had looked at other options first (e.g. reduced scope)?  
• Getting someone to prioritise a piece of work for you above something else they are working on
  • Did you clearly explain what would happen if the work was not completed?  
• Motivating your team to meet aggressive timelines  
  • Had you been thanking them for past work?  Had you created team spirit and shared vision?  Had you created a sense of urgency in the team? 

So, there are my top ten project manager questions.  In my experience, these are very common so I hope you find them useful.  To finish off this blog, I’ll end with some tips for questions that you can ask the interviewer.  

Questions for the interviewer

Make sure you have at least two questions ready for the interviewer.  This is important.  Not having any questions about the job does not look good, as it seems like you have no interest.  Think carefully about what you want to know about the role.  If you do some research about the organisation, I’m sure plenty of genuine questions will pop into your head.  A few questions I have asked in the past are – 

• What is the biggest challenge your department is facing at the moment? 
• What sort of projects would I be managing? Can you give an example? 
• What size of projects would I be managing (budget, number of people in team)? 
• How many people are in your team?  Who would I be working with? 
• How long has your department been around? 

That brings me to the end of this blog.  Thank you for reading until the end and I hope you found it useful.  If you have any thoughts or questions, please leave them below in the comments section, I would love to read them.  Until the next time!