We collected for you the Top 10 project management interview questions with tips and tricks on how to answer them.

1- What is project management?

Project Management Interview Answers: One of the common project management interview questions.

The model answer is: Project management is the application of tools and techniques available to ensure the defined tasks are completed properly and involves applying the knowledge & and skills of the project team members including the project manager. Proper completion implies the achievement of results within a given budget and time constraints. It usually means balancing the constraints of scope, budget, schedule, quality, risks, and resources.

2- What is Team Management?

The interviewer will be interested to know how you have managed any multidisciplinary project, like matrix management or even cross-country management.

“My co-workers will tell you that I am a team player and a colleague they can count on to pull their weight whether it’s a normal day or we’re in a crunch”.

3- Tell me about your Previous Experience.

Most candidates for assistant project management roles have already had a great deal of experience working on projects at different levels.

Start about a complex project you managed from start to finish to get the interviewer to feel your strongest points and skills. Look for examples of successful delivery while keeping everything on time, within budget, and to specifications. However, a project rarely goes exactly to plan, so finding out about times when things did not go so well and how he coped, adapted, and learned are equally important. This is a very famous question in a project management interview.

4-What is your definition of success?

The management interview questions are looking for work-related examples of how you measure success and when you realize reaching accomplishment.

Use a work-related example and keep your answer short and to the point.“In my opinion and as it relates to the workplace, success is a measurable variable. If you don’t measure your accomplishments, success is lost. Success can be tied to everything you do each day. If I plan to accomplish 3 tasks before the end of the day and I do so, then I have been successful. Success simply means accomplishing what you set out to do within the parameters you specify, whether they be time, money, learning, etc.”.

5- Have you ever faced any disagreements in your previous job? How did you solve it?

This is a tricky management interview question, you have to take into consideration several disagreements. They can be between employees, between the superior and the employees, or even between the client and the employees.
If you reply that you have never had any disagreements, the interviewer will wonder whether you were a key player in your skills or simply because you are a people pleaser.
Make sure that you come up with at least one incident where employees and superiors had differences in thought and you were instrumental in changing the scenario.

6-How does project scheduling help achieve project execution?

When the activity effort and resource estimates are known, getting the work done depends on how the tasks are sequenced. Dependencies with other activities have to be known.

The basic sequence is determined by what activities should be carried out first and what should follow. Unconnected tasks/activities can be sequenced in parallel to reduce project time. Most optimized sequencing would give you the best possible time needed given the resource allocation is ideal and there are no constraints there. Scheduling is done from the activities list prepared after WBS has been finalized.

7-Are you PMP certified?  If you are not certified, do you have a desire to attain a PMP certification?

Most employers are looking for PMP-certified project management vacancies. Be prepared to talk about your intentions in the project management interview, whether you already have it or you are currently in the planning stages of getting it.

8-What is EVM, earned value management?

At every monitoring point the planned value (PV), earned value (EV), and actual cost (AC) are monitored. PMB, performance measurement baseline is the aggregation of all planned values. Variances from baselines are determined and Schedule variance (SV) and cost variance (CV) are calculated. If earned value is equal to the planned value then the project is achieving what it is supposed to. If there is a schedule or cost variance is significant, appropriate action needs to be taken to correct the slips. Estimate at completion (EAC) is estimated and compared with a budget at completion. In case there is a slip, the cost consequences will be known.

9- Why did you leave your last job?

Always try to focus on something positive especially if you left your last job on bad terms. Be honest but also diplomatic and professional. If you left because you disliked your supervisor, be more specific. As the person conducting the interview, I will understand that you don’t work well with someone who is a micromanager and can determine how you would fit within the role on our team.

10-What is your salary expectation?

This question ensures both parties are on the same page, and postpone any talk of salary until all other issues about the job are resolved to both parties’ satisfaction. If pressed to answer, always state a range rather than a single figure, so there’s room for negotiation when the offer comes. You must be realistic in what you ask for knowing there are many qualified candidates out there. Be prepared to make a strong case for the top of the range.

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My final advice to you is to prepare yourself and try to collect more information about the company and its past and ongoing projects to give you an idea about what type of project management interview questions you will be asked.

You can also see the 90 Planning Interview Questions

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