105 Project Management Interview Questions

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General
1. Can you describe the resonsibilities o! a roject manager"
#. $hat is the di!!erence between a roject and a rogram"
%. $hat are roject constraints" Can you give me a !ew seci!ic e&amles"
'. I! you could choose u to % so!tware tools to hel you manage a roject which would you
choose"
5. $hat is the most common mista(e roject managers ma(e"
). $hat is the most challenging roject you*ve managed"
+. ,ave you wor(ed with o!!shore teams" $hat challenges did you !ace"
-. Can you wal( me through the most recent roject you managed"
.eadershi
/. Can you tell me about a time you had to second guess the recommendations o! a 0M1 on your
team"
10. 2o olitics ever stress you out" ,ow do you handle it"
11. $hat are your ro!essional values 3 ethics"
1#. Can you tell me about a time you mentored someone"
1%. ,ow do you (ee your team insired in the !ace o! di!!iculties"
1'. $hat is better 4 control or trust"
15. $hat is your leadershi style"
1). ,ow do you handle the situation in which a ower!ul sta(eholder is ma(ing decisions that
you !eel are sending a roject o!! a cli!!"
I5 Project Management
1+. Can you give me e&amles that illustrate the di!!erence between business and technology
scoe cree"
1-. ,ow do you ensure that technology teams build what*s de!ined by roject re6uirements"
1/. ,ave you encountered develoers who add !eatures o! their own to a roduct" ,ow did you
handle the situation"
#0. $hat is enterrise architecture"
#1. $hat arti!acts does a solution architect tyically deliver !or a roject"
Methodologies
##. $hat is the water!all model"
#%. $hat tyes o! rojects are best adated to a water!all aroach"
#'. $hat are your thoughts about agile"
#5. $hat are the 5 rocess grous o! the PM789 Guide"
Project Integration Management
#). $hat is roject integration management"
:ns; Integration management is a collection of processes required to ensure that the various
elements of the projects are properly coordinated. It involves making trade-offs among competing
objectives and alternatives to meet or exceed stakeholder needs and expectations.
Comprised of:
Project plan development
Integrating and coordinating all project plans to create a consistent, coherent document
Project plan execution
Carrying out the project plan, according to the strategy, plan and activities as per the plan
Integrated change control
Coordinating changes across the project
roject plan development
Inputs !ools and techniques "utputs "ther planning inputs roject planning
methodology roject plan #istorical information $takeholder skills and kno%ledge
$upporting details "rgani&ational policies roject management information system
Constraints 'arned value management
(ssumptions
#+. $hat in!ormation is catured in a roject charter"
#-. ,ow do you handle a situation in which the sta(eholders assigned to your roject lac( the
re6uisite authority or abilities <e.g. too
junior="
#/. ,ow do you handle a roject that you !eel is doomed to !ailure because o! a lac( o! e&ecutive
suort"
%0. ,ow do you ensure that your team members are clear on the objectives o! a roject"
7y setting the goals to each and every team members
%1. ,ow do you manage team members who aear to be unroductive"
%#. ,ow do you manage internal con!lict within your roject team"
%%. $hat is a roject 0tatement o! $or( <08$="
:ns; The SOW is a valuable organisational tool to capture the work of the project. Its
value lies in its ability to capture all the critical work elements of your project and is
useful in two situations: to form a part of a contract with an eternal vendor or
consultant! or as an intermediate planning step for a large comple project where the
work is being done internally.
%'. $hat goes into a business case"
A business case document is a formal, written argument intended to convince a
decision maker to approve some kind of action. A well-crafted business case
explores all feasible approaches to a given problem and enables business owners to
select the option that best serves the organization. This guide explains the format
and content of a business case document and the processes involved in its creation.
Project 0coe Management
%5. 2o roject managers rovide estimates" $hy 3 why not"
%). Can you tell me about a roject you managed that went over time 3 budget" $hat would you
do di!!erently ne&t time"
%+. $hat techni6ues do you use to minimi>e scoe cree"
%-. ,ow do you communicate scoe to sta(eholders"
%/. $hat is a change management system" $hy is it use!ul"
'0. ,ow do you revent gold;lating scoe cree"
'1. In our industry? what ercentage o! rojects go over budget"
'#. $hat is the di!!erence between roject scoe and roduct scoe"
'%. ,ow do you manage the situation in which your team is roviding estimates that you !eel are
too otimistic"
''. ,ow do you manage the situation in which your team is roviding estimates that you !eel are
!ar too high"
Project 5ime Management
'5. $hat is roject decomosition"
'). $hat is a wor( brea(down structure"
'+. $hat are roject deendencies" Can you give me e&amles o! di!!erent tyes o!
deendencies"
'-. $hat is the di!!erence between a to;down and bottom;u estimate"
'/. ,ow do you establish accurate estimates"
50. $hat is the urose o! resource leveling"
51. Can you give me some e&amles o! tyical roject constraints"
5#. $hat value do milestones add to your schedule"
5%. ,ow do you deliver a roject to a hard;deadline that*s rede!ined by the roject sonsor"
5'. :re you !amiliar with any schedule comression techni6ues"
55. $hat is the tyical imact o! schedule comression"
5). $hat techni6ues do you use to bring a badly delayed roject bac( on schedule"
5+. $hen do you need to re;baseline a roject"
5-. Can you give me an e&amle o! a roject rogress metric"
Project Cost Management
5/. $hat !inancial measures do you use to evaluate the !easibility o! a roject <e.g. in a business
case="
)0. $hat is net resent value" ,ow is it use!ul"
)1. $hat is an oortunity cost"
)#. Can you give me an e&amle o! ay;bac(" ,ow is it calculated"
)%. $hat is return on investment"
)'. $hat is the di!!erence between internal rate o! return and return on investment"
)5. ,ave you develoed a cost management lan" $hat did you include in the lan"
)). $ho articiates in roject budgeting"
)+. $hat arti!acts do you need to have be!ore rearing a budget"
)-. ,ow do you monitor 3 control a budget"
)/. $hat is a roject cash !low"
+0. $hat is earned value"
+1. $hy do rojects go over budget" ,ow can this be revented"
+#. Can you give me an e&amle o! a roductivity metric"
+%. $hat strategies have you used in the ast to (ee rojects on budget"
Project Quality Management
+'. ,ow do you measure roject 6uality"
+5. ,ow do you lan roject 6uality"
+). Can you give me some e&amles o! 6uantitative metrics you*ve used to measure roject
6uality"
Project ,uman @esource Management
++. Can you tell me about the most di!!icult sta(eholder you*ve dealt with"
+-. 2o you re!er a collocated team" $hat are the challenges you*ve !aced wor(ing with remote
teams"
+/. ,ow do you hel a low er!ormer to imrove"
-0. ,ow do you ensure retention o! to er!ormers on your team"
Project Communications Management
-1. ,ow do you handle a sta(eholder who doesn*t read your communications and doesn*t attend
your meetings"
-#. ,ow do you ensure that roject communication is e!!ective"
-%. 2o you tyically gather communication re6uirements !rom all sta(eholders"
-'. ,ave you develoed a communication lan" $hat did you ut in it"
-5. Can you give me an e&amle o! a time you had di!!iculty managing sta(eholder
e&ectations"
-). $hat metrics do you use to get the attention o! imortant sta(eholders during the roject
e&ecution hase"
-+. :re you a good listener" $hy is this imortant"
--. $hat !actors ma(e !or e!!ective verbal communication" $hat about visual communication"
-/. $hat is a communication matri&"
/0. 2o you hold roject er!ormance review meetings" $hat is discussed"
/1. ,ow do you reort roject variances"
/#. $hat is the most common tye o! roject variance"
Project @is( Management
/%. ,ow do you identi!y roject ris(s"
/'. $hat is a ris( resonse lan"
/5. ,ow do you estimate the robability o! a ris("
/). ,ow do you assess the imact o! a ris("
/+. ,ow do you minimi>e ris(s"
/-. ,ow do you ensure that ris(s are identi!ied as early as ossible"
Project Procurement Management
//. ,ave you recruited a roject team" $hat rocess did you !ollow" $hat challenges did you
!ace"
100. In what situation would you recommend a !i&;rice contract" ,ow about a time and
materials contract"
101. $hat is a cost;reimbursable contract"
10#. $hat is an incentive !ee"
10%. ,ave you roduced a re6uest !or roosal <@AP=" $hat in!ormation did it contain"
10'. :re you a good negotiator" $hat is your techni6ue"
105. $hat is a material breach o! contract"