Project Manager Interview Tips (Top Ten)
Over the past ten years, I’ve applied and interviewed for for six increasingly senior project roles, and I was successful in all cases. I have also interviewed over thirty prospective project assistants/managers, for permeant and contractor positions. Throughout this process I have observed a number of commonalities regarding interview technique. Strong candidates tend to do certain things, and weak candidates tend to do certain other things. I’ve distilled this experience down to create ten tips for a project manager interview. Let’s jump in.
- Use STARL
STARL is an acronym that stands for the following –
S – Situation
T – Task
A – Action
R – Result
L – Learning
We use these headings to give structure to answers that describe something we have done, for example, describing a time we have worked well under pressure.
STARL is very, very powerful. It helps us to prepare and remember answers. It helps us to tell a story that is easy for the interviewer to follow. It keeps us focused on answering the actual question and prevents us going off on a tangent. I’ll go through each letter one by one.
Situation
This is where you set the background and give the context. You are ‘setting the scene’ before beginning the story. For example, ‘At the time, I was working in the Finance department. There was a system called ‘BIGTIME’ we used for logging time sheets. BIGTIME was due to go out of vendor support…etc etc’
Task
Here, you describe the task or the job you took on. Continuing our BIGTIME example, ‘I was tasked with identifying options to resolve the currency issue, and then delivering the agreed option…etc etc’
Action
This is really the heart of the question. This is where you need to demonstrate that you have the quality or experience the interviewer is asking you about. You need to take them through, step by step, exactly what you did to execute the task, in a way that ensures the interviewer knows you have the ‘right stuff’. For example, ‘I ran a workshop to identify options, and then ran a cost/benefit analysis on each option. Following this, I pulled together a business case and secured approval to proceed with the project. I was able to mobilise a team, define the scope, create a plan and start delivering. Along the way..etc etc’ Of course, you should go into more detail, but hopefully you get the idea.
Result
The result is where you describe the ‘story ending’. What happened? What was the outcome? Did you ‘slay the dragon’? Continuing our example, ‘following the implementation, I managed a smooth Warranty phase with only a couple of minor issues. As I was able to achieve my target Go Live date, we were able to avoid additional support fees from the vendor, and continue enjoying full application support.
Learning
This is a great opportunity to show that you are constantly learning and growing as a project manager. Don’t be afraid to share a few mistakes, as long as you can demonstrate that you learned from the experience, as it will put you in a favourable light. It is a great chance to share project management insights that experienced project managers can relate to. To conclude our example, ‘My key learning from this experience, was how little time the testers actually had to spend on testing due to BAU demands. On my next project, I allowed for this by baking in more time in the test cycle. I also negotiated a dedicated resource who was ring fenced solely on my project.’
2. Be prepared
Project management interviews tend to follow the same structure with a similar theme of questions. Interviewers are looking for evidence of specific competencies or skills and want examples of when you have demonstrated those qualities. Therefore, you can find out what the typical project manager interview questions are and prepare some examples using the STARL model (see my post, ten project manager interview questions). Think about some of the projects you have worked on that were the most challenging. Think about the projects where you had the most responsibility. Base your examples around these projects. If you haven’t worked on many projects, feel free to use other work or home life examples where you have used the relevant skill (home renovations, planning a social event etc). The important thing here is that you come to the interview prepared, rather than trying to wing it on the day.
3. Do a mock interview first
This is one of the most productive things you can do to prepare for the real interview. I recommend finding someone quite senior to interview you, maybe there is someone in your current department you can ask. I also recommend finding someone that you don’t know that well, so that you don’t feel too comfortable in the interview. Do it in a formal setting and take it seriously. Wear a suit. The aim is to replicate the real interview conditions as much as possible. You will learn so much by doing this. Not only will you get to experience what it is like thinking on your feet and trying to keep cool, but you can also ask for feedback from the mock interviewer. This will help you to improve your technique and examples in readiness for the main event. As a bonus, it also shows to everyone how serious you are about the role (if you are going for a promotion in your current organisation).
4. Say ‘I’ not ‘we’
I have heard this time and time again when interviewing prospective project managers. Their examples are filled with ‘we did this, and we did that’. That doesn’t tell me enough. That could mean you sat meekly in workshop and didn’t say anything, while everyone else moved things forward. What did you specifically do? Did you select the right people for the workshop? Did you set the workshop up and define the objectives? Did you run the workshop and keep things on track? How specifically did you keep things on track? Did you ensure the next steps and actions were agreed? Did you make sure the actions were completed? How did you do that? Be specific in what you did to move the project forward. Don’t say we, say I.
5. Take your time before you answer
If the interviewer asks you something you haven’t prepared for, do not launch immediately into an answer just for the sake of filling the silence. If you do that, you are in danger of waffling, going off on tangents and not answering the question properly. Instead, say something like ‘that’s a good question, let me just take a minute to think of an example’. And then do that. Take a minute to think of an example, and then quickly formulate the structure in your head before you answer. It will probably feel (to you) like you are taking an eternity but in reality you can probably do this in under a minute. When you are ready, confidently resume eye contact with the interviewer, smile and say ‘okay, I have one…’
One last tip on this, make sure you listen to the question carefully, and answer what they have asked. Don’t be afraid to ask them to repeat the question if you want to be sure (but don’t ask them to repeat every question). If you really find yourself drawing a blank, you can ask to come back to the question later. If you honestly can’t think of an example, be honest and say ‘I haven’t come across that situation before, but if I ever do, here is what I would do..’
6. Prepare a development plan
You’ve probably heard the famous question ‘where do you see yourself in five years?’ It’s actually quite a common question, although it may take a slightly different form (e.g. what are your career aspirations?). Rather than mumbling a vague and tentative response, how much more impactful would it be to actually pull out and confidently walk through a development plan? One that shows exactly where you are planning to be in five years and how you will get there? How many people would do that? In my experience, not many, which means you will be much more memorable.
The development plan can be quite straight forward. Even just a timeline with a few key milestones e.g. get a role in this department, get a mentor, learn about this area of the business, take on a big project, take on these responsibilities, apply for this role etc etc. Make sure you include the past year or two on the plan, so you can show that you are already on the path.
If they don’t ask you about your aspirations, I would still share your plan with them at the end of the interview.
7. Draw diagrams
This is not essential, but it can certainly help. If you are trying to explain a concept, or a system, or a method, it often helps the interviewer to understand if you draw a diagram. Take a notepad and pen with you into the interview. I remember I did this very thing in my interview for a junior project manager role. I was asked to explain the project life cycle, so I actually got up and drew it out on a whiteboard. Again, doing things like this will make you more memorable and stand out from the competition. When I did it, I was told after that it was one of the highlights of my interview.
8. Don’t bullshit
Experienced project managers can tell pretty quickly if someone is being authentic and have true experience or if they have just read ‘Project Management for Dummies’ the week before. Be truthful with your answers. Sure, if you have forgotten some of the details, it’s okay to make a little bit up to fill in the gaps, provided the overall example you used actually happened. However, if you honestly can’t think of an example, be honest and say ‘I haven’t come across that situation before, but if I ever do, here is what I would do..’ At least you can show that you have an understanding of what they are looking for.
What you lack in experience you can make up for with passion and enthusiasm. It can be quite refreshing to give a chance to someone who may not have the most experience, but is clearly hungry to learn and progress.
9. Bring some feedback with you
If you have received in any positive feedback from your current role or previous roles, print it out and bring it with you. It’s better if you can print the original email (assuming the feedback was provided that way). This will be extremely useful to your interviewers, as it is evidence and reassurance that you can do a good job and people are willing to put this in writing. Save it until the end, and just say you would like to leave it with them to look over if they have time.
10. Prepare some good questions
At the end of the interview, you will invariably be asked if you have any questions. This is a good opportunity to make an impression by asking something a bit different. For example, what is your team’s biggest challenge right now? Is learning and development encouraged? Is having a mentor part of your culture? Put some thought into it ahead of the interview. Do a little research about the organisation and I’m sure questions will pop up naturally. Whatever you do, don’t say you don’t have any questions!
Good luck!
I hope you found my top ten interview tips helpful, and thanks for readying until the end! If you have any thoughts or questions, please leave them below in the comment section. Until the next time!
Project Manaverse 