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Best 25 Project Manager Interview Questions and Answers (2024)

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Finding the right project manager, who has the skill sets, experience and proper corporate cultural fit for your organization is not as easy as just posting a job listing. You need to meet the potential candidate and figure out if they’re suited for the job. That’s where having the right project manager interview questions comes in.

Project management interview questions will guide your decision-making process. Hire a leader with the project management and communication skills that’ll lead your projects to success by using these project manager interview questions.

Related: Free Project Management Templates and Spreadsheets for Excel

Types of Project Manager Interview Questions

There are two main types of project management interview questions, behavioral and scenario-based questions. These two different approaches help interviewers get as much information as possible from project managers.

Scenario-Based Project Manager Interview Questions

The purpose of scenario-based interview questions is to ask project manager candidates how they’d respond to hypothetical project management scenarios. Here, you can understand the thinking process of your project managers and look into their problem-solving skills, leadership style, knowledge of project management methods and tools, etc.

Behavioral Project Manager Interview Questions

This type of interview question asks for events that happened in the past. The purpose of these project manager interview questions is to get an idea of how the project manager has acted in the past, and how he or she applied applicable project management skills and knowledge to solve real-life problems.

The 25 project management interview questions below include these two types of questions. We hope they help you prepare for your PM interview.

Types of Project Manager Interviews

Most employers typically conduct several rounds of interviews to look at project managers through different lenses. This is done to get a better understanding of the technical capabilities of project managers, their past performance and their decision-making under different scenarios.

Here’s some expert advice from Devin Deen, certified scrum master and project manager expert. In the video below he explains some the main types of project manager interviews that you’ll need to go through to get a project management  role .

Top Project Manager Interview Questions and Answers

Here are some of the most common project manager interview questions that will help you find the best talent for your projects. They’re also helpful if you want to learn how to prepare for a project manager interview. There are different types of PM interview questions as well as some icebreakers to start the interview.

1. Tell me about yourself

This is a typical question for an interview and is a great way to break the ice and conversate. But you can get important information about the candidate’s past experiences, skills and education. You can also get a feel of how well this individual will adapt to the project manager role at your organization. A good way to do this is to ask the candidate to tell you a little about his or her past, present and future project management job expectations.

How to answer: Be honest in answering this and every question, but keep it brief. You can share relevant information about your upbringing. For example, was one of your parents a project manager? What in your upbringing shows you have the leadership or communication skills to manage a team and handle the pressure of a project ? If you have project management certification or prior positions that make you the ideal candidate, make sure to bring that up.

2. What’s your background, personally and professionally?

It’s important to get a snapshot of the applicant to bring their project manager resume into sharper focus. Knowing a bit about their life story unveils their soft skills and how they might respond to issues at work, and whether they’ll fit into the corporate culture.

How to answer: If you haven’t brought up your profession and educational background in the previous question, now’s the time to do so. It’s also good to bring up a personal anecdote that illustrates your leadership qualities. The same goes for their project management experience. Staying at a single job for a long time can be either bad or good for project managers, but you won’t know until you put their choice into context.

3. What’s your ideal project?

The ideal project is the one that you’re hiring for, of course! But on a serious note, try to get them to answer honestly. It’ll let you know what sort of projects they prefer to work on which gives a better feel for what kind of project management methodology excites them. This can help you place the project manager with the right project, or help them adapt to the project team you’re hiring them to manage.

How to answer: Be specific in answering this question. It’s best if you can relate a past project you worked on and why it checked all the boxes for you. If, for example, you’re applying to a construction company, then you’ll want to share a previous construction project that excited you, perhaps because of the length and complexity of the project. The more specific and passionate you are in your answer, the better you can show your enthusiasm for the work.

4. Have you worked in this industry before?

Does the candidate have project management experience in your industry? That’s important because they might excel at the project management methods your company uses or may have the right risk management skills to manage your projects. If they don’t, it’s not a deal breaker as much of project management is the same from industry to industry.

How to answer: If you’ve worked as a project manager, share that experience, such as how the prevalent projects panned out. But if you haven’t held a project manager position in the past yet have strong project management skills or certifications that relate to the industry of your potential new employer, that can make up for a lack of direct experience. Whether you do or don’t have experience, be confident as it shows you’re an authentic person who’s comfortable in the position.

project manager interview questions problem solving

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5. Have you managed remote teams?

Not all projects are executed under one roof and remote teams are common. With more dynamic project management tools and a global workforce to choose from, many project managers might never meet the members of their team, at least in person, but they’ll be able to work together using project management software. Then there are the necessary resources that’ll be outsourced, which involves a different resource management technique than when working with employees. Knowing how they’ve managed people and resources can help you get an overview of their leadership skills and be a crucial point in your decision to hire or not to hire.

How to answer: Again, honesty is key. Lying will only cause future troubles. If you’ve managed a remote team, talk about the challenges of leading a group of people who you never met face-to-face. How’d you build a cohesive team from a distributed group? How did you track progress, foster collaboration, etc.? If you haven’t managed a remote team, explain how you would or what team management experience you have and how it’d translate to a situation where the team was not working together under one roof.

6. How did your last project end?

This question is about discovering any lessons they learned from that project. Everything about project management is a learning experience, and each project offers lessons from which a good project manager grows.

How to answer: Don’t be vague. Answer the question with a specific example. Provide a quick overview of the project’s goals, deliverables , constraints and risks. Show how you dealt with those issues and brought the project to a successful conclusion. If the project failed, explain why, but don’t lay blame on others. You’re the project manager and the buck stops with you.

7. How do you prioritize tasks on a project?

Task management is important. There’s going to be more work in a day than can be accomplished, so any good project manager is going to have to determine what is crucial and what could be left undone if necessary. It’ll prove interesting and informative to see how the candidate makes these time management and task management decisions.

How to answer: If you can tether your answer to a real-life situation that’s best. Interviewers don’t want abstract answers. Explain how you review all the tasks for a particular project and then the decision-making process in prioritizing. For example, do you use the critical path method or some other technique? That will reveal a lot to the interviewer.

8. How do you foster team collaboration?

This behavioral question is a great way to gauge the candidate’s basic leadership and team management knowledge as well as their ability to use modern work management software and team collaboration apps. Project managers need to use tools to communicate with their team members whether they’re traditional, remote or hybrid teams.

How to answer: This question can be answered in two ways. You’ll want to give examples of how you facilitated collaboration with a team in the past by leading them through team-building exercises. But that just sets the stage for good collaboration. Next, you’ll want to talk about the project management software or other tools you used to connect teams so they could quickly and easily share files, comment on tasks, etc.

9. What was a challenging project, and how did you manage it?

This behavioral question takes the conversation from theoretical to practical. You can see how the project manager responded to real-life problems to help determine how they’d manage projects at your organization. This question also provides a sense of the person’s project management experience, such as how they lead teams and deal with conflicts. By asking about a challenging project, you can see how they apply their hard and soft skills when pushed to their limits and beyond.

How to answer: It’s a bit of a broken record, but the advice is important enough to repeat; be honest. Choose a real project that has challenged you. Set it up by explaining what those challenges were and explain how you addressed and resolved the challenges. It’s a bit of a balancing act as you want to make the project’s challenges real, but you also want to show how you dealt with them. Don’t take all the credit, though. Make sure to give credit to your team.

10. What’s the biggest mistake you’ve made on a project?

Everyone makes mistakes; character is defined by how you deal with them. This project management interview question allows you to first gauge the candidate’s honesty.

How to answer: This is another tricky question. If you say that you’ve never made a mistake, you can rest assured that the interviewer won’t believe you’re truthful and your resume will go into the circular file. However, when you share a mistake you’ve made, interviewers will note that you take responsibility for your actions, which reveals your level of maturity. Bonus points if you can show how that mistake was rectified by you and your team.

Interview Questions for Project Managers About Team Management

Projects are a team effort, so any project management interview will likely include questions about how you manage teams. Make sure you highlight team management skills such as leadership, communication skills, conflict resolution and interpersonal skills. The main purpose of these project management interview questions is that interviewers want to understand how well you can work with others, including project teams and stakeholders.

11. What’s your leadership style?

Talking about managing a project will inevitably lead to a discussion of leadership style . There are many ways to lead, and all have their pluses and minuses. Depending on the project, a project manager might have to pick and choose how they lead, ranging from a top-down approach to servant leadership. See how well-versed they are in leadership techniques and how they apply them to project management.

12. What’s your communication style?

This is another classic project management interview question that directly stems from asking about managing projects and leadership. A project manager is nothing if he has poor communication skills. They need to be able to speak to team members, stakeholders, vendors, etc. Each group needs a slightly different approach. Stakeholders want the broad strokes of the project management plan, while team members need more detail. If a project manager can’t clearly communicate, the project is doomed before it has begun.

Being a good communicator is only the start. Project management software helps you better target communication with your team and stakeholders. ProjectManager has project management tools like Gantt charts , kanban boards and project calendars to clearly communicate your project plan. Our online software allows you and your team to collaborate in real time. If someone has a question, they can tag another person on the team to get them into the conversation. Our email and in-app notifications make sure you’re never late for a meeting or an important stakeholder presentation. Try our tool for free today.

kanban board in projectmanager

13. How do you seek help outside of the project team?

This project manager interview question gives you information about the leadership and communication skills of your project manager candidate. Some project managers are going to think you want a person who’s wholly independent and pulls from an inner reservoir. But more resourceful is the project manager who knows when they’re over their head and asks for help from a mentor or a network of professionals.

14. How do you gain agreement with teams?

Where there are people, there are conflicts, and even the best projects have problems. Good teams collaborate and trust one another. If there’s a problem between two or more project team members, it must be resolved quickly. But this can also apply to stakeholders, vendors, etc. A project manager is a bit of a psychologist who must know how to resolve conflicts quickly.

15. Do you delegate?

The last thing you want is a project manager who carries everything on their shoulders. But this is a bit of a trick question or at least one that has an implicit question embedded in it. What you really want to know is not whether they delegate, but how they delegate work to their team members . This is a great way to weed out the micromanagers.

That doesn’t mean a project manager is absent from the process. Project management software has features to keep them aware of what their team is doing but not in the way. For example, ProjectManager has a board view that visualizes the workflow. The kanban allows managers to oversee their team as they work and make sure things are moving forward. Even better, if a potential block is spotted in the production, the manager can reallocate resources to keep the work moving forward.

16. How do you manage team members that aren’t working to their full potential?

Sometimes, no matter how much due diligence you put into assembling a skilled and experienced project team , someone underperforms or creates conflicts. While the project is rolling, you don’t have time to stop and tweak your team. Rather, the project manager must use problem-solving techniques and communication skills to deal with the problem. This comes up with even the best project team, so any capable project manager would know how to nip underperformance in the bud.

Interview Questions for Project Managers About Work Experience

Work experience is always important in any type of interview, and that’s true for project management interviews. Employers make these project manager interview questions because they need to make sure you have the necessary hands-on experience that’s required to be a good fit for their type of projects and that you have the capabilities to excel in their industry.

17. How do you deal when you’re overwhelmed or underperforming?

It’s easy to forget that project managers are people, too. They’re hired to perform project management processes and lead a project to success, but they can suffer the same setbacks as anyone on the team over the course of the project life cycle. The difference between a good and a great project manager is the ability to monitor oneself and respond proactively to any drop-offs in performance.

18. How do you work with customers, sponsors and stakeholders?

Even project managers have to answer to someone. Responding to executives, project sponsors and stakeholders requires a different approach than the one they’d use with teams and vendors. Part of their duties includes managing stakeholders who hold a position of authority over the project manager. That takes a subtle touch.

19. If the project isn’t adhering to schedule, how do you get it back on track?

Knowing that a project isn’t keeping to its schedule is only as important as being able to get the project back on track. Once a project manager is aware of the discrepancy between the actual project schedule and the schedule baseline estimated in the project plan, they need to take action, such as project crashing or fast-tracking. Any project manager worth hiring will be able to answer this with practical specifics. On these types of questions, it’s best to answer with the STAR method.

20. Do you have budget management experience?

It helps to drill down into specific aspects of the project management experience of your candidates. Naturally, if the candidate has specific skills, they’ll be briefly sketched in the resume. But here’s your opportunity to get a deeper sense of where they stand in terms of their experience with project management processes such as budget management. Project managers are known as planners. They create a project schedule and lead teams to success. But there’s often money involved, so they should know how to handle a project budget.

21. How do you know the project is off track?

Every project hits a snag along the way, but not every project manager is aware of that delay until the project budget or project schedule is affected. The ability to monitor and track the progress of a project and tell immediately when it’s not meeting the benchmarks you set in the project planning phase is perhaps the most important duty of a project manager. It’s also important to see if the project manager candidates have experience implementing a risk management plan to mitigate risks and keep projects on budget and schedule. ProjectManager has project dashboards to help project managers spot issues before they become serious problems.

22. What project management software do you prefer?

A project manager needs project management tools to plan , monitor and report on the project. There are many, from simple to complex. This question reveals first how up-to-date the candidate is regarding software and project management tools. Additionally, it provides a picture of what tools and processes they use to manage a project.

Most project managers heavily rely on Gantt charts when it comes to project planning and scheduling. ProjectManager has award-winning online Gantt charts that allow project managers to plan every phase of their projects. Managers can create dependencies, add milestones, assign tasks, manage workload and more—all from one screen. Any project manager you hire would appreciate the power of our planning tools.

Zoomed in manufacturing Gantt chart

23. What’s your preferred project management methodology?

There are almost as many ways to manage a project as there are projects. From traditional methods like waterfall to hybrid methodologies, you want a project manager who understands the many ways to work. And more importantly, can they use the project management methodology that best suits the work at hand?

Out-of-the-Box Project Manager Interview Questions

Lastly, employers will often make out-of-the-box questions to relieve the tension of the interview and be able to get a better idea of what the candidate’s personality is like.

24. How tall are the pyramids in Egypt?

Talk about not being prepared. Who’s going into a job interview with this information in their head? You don’t want an accurate answer to this question, but you do want to see how the project manager deals critically and seriously with the question. Because during the project, they’ll be sidelined with unexpected challenges and questions.

25. What’s something you don’t want us to know?

Ouch. Yes, you need to go there and make the candidate uncomfortable. It’s not that you want to learn some secret or catch them in an unethical act. Less important than the content of their answer is the way they deal with the question. You’ll get a better picture of the person instead of the persona they’re presenting. It also shows their communication skills while under pressure. It might seem cruel, but it’ll help you get to the heart of the person that you’re going to trust with the management of your project.

Tips for Preparing for a Project Manager Interview

One tip for preparing for your project manager interview is to get familiar with the above questions to give you a sense of confidence when in the interview. This will go a long way. People want to hire people that they can trust.

Other than that, you should do your homework. Research the organization you’re interviewing at and know their history and what they do. Also, study the job description and make sure you understand what’ll be expected of you.

If you know who the hiring manager is, you can also do a bit of research on them. You don’t want to come across as a stalker, but it could help you feel more comfortable having a bit of background on the person.

Finally, practice. Ask a friend you trust to be honest with you and ask them to act as the interviewer. They can ask the questions above. It’ll help you get comfortable answering them. Take constructive feedback from your friend and hone your answers and mannerisms to be the best applicant.

How ProjectManager Helps Project Managers

If you’re a project manager or are looking for one, then you have projects to execute. Projects need more than a good project manager to lead them, they need project management tools, too. ProjectManager is online project management software that helps project managers plan, monitor and report on the project, while team members collaborate on tasks online. It’s ideal for the whole organization.

Dashboards to Track Your Projects

Monitoring a project is the only way to make sure your team is aligned with the project plan. Online Gantt charts measure the progress of each task, but project managers want a bird’s-eye view. ProjectManager has a real-time dashboard that tracks six project metrics to help project managers monitor the overall progress of the project. The dashboard also helps project managers keep their stakeholders in the loop.

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Teams are a project’s most valuable resource. ProjectManager keeps team morale high by giving project managers the tools they need to manage their workload and make sure no one is given too many tasks while others are idle. ProjectManager also streamlines project timesheets and has features that manage project resources, so projects can deliver on stakeholder expectations.

Once you’ve gotten through the project manager interview process and a job offer has been made, then it’s up to you to provide them with the best tools to manage the project. ProjectManager is online project management software with real-time dashboards, online Gantt charts and a collaborative platform for your team. There’s no question, this is what your project manager will want. Try our award-winning software for free with this 30-day trial.

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15 project management interview questions and answers

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Landing a project management interview is a big accomplishment. But you’ll only get a chance at the job if you prepare for the interview properly. In this article, we cover some of the most commonly asked project management interview questions so you can ace this interview and get hired.

Take a deep breath—we’re here to help. If you have an interview for a project manager position coming up, this post is for you.

What does a project manager do?

Before we dive into the interview questions, let’s take a look at what a project manager actually does. 

The title project manager has changed significantly over the years. Initially, project manager roles were highly specialized technical positions, and project managers themselves were certified in complicated, complex project management tools. Luckily, modern project management tools have made project management accessible to a broader variety of roles—and now more often than not, a project manager is less focused on the technical element and more focused on aligning stakeholders, driving clarity, and hitting project goals. 

The definition of project management varies between companies, departments, and positions. For example, at Asana, we believe that if you manage projects, you’re a project manager—regardless of your job title. 

To get a sense of what your interviewer expects from you as a project manager, study the job description closely to understand the main responsibility of the position you applied for. Is it people management, cost management, risk management, program management , or something entirely different?

If you know what exactly your position will entail, you can use this information to better prepare for the interview. This will also help you figure out which of the questions and answers below are going to be the most helpful for your interview prep.

15 project management interview questions to practice

1. tell me about yourself..

While it’s technically not a question, more often than not, this is going to be the first thing an interviewer wants you to talk about. Think of your answer as your elevator pitch—this is your chance to briefly summarize who you are, why you’re here, and what makes you the best candidate.

What the question means: For the interviewer, it’s a great way to ease into a conversation, give the candidate a chance to settle in, and give a first impression. The interviewer wants to find out who you are as a person and why you’ve applied. 

How to answer: Briefly explain what your last or current position is. Then name a few skills you’ve learned in your previous job and how they’ve prepared you for this position. Stay positive, be truthful, and let your passion shine through. 

What not to say: Don’t just restate your resume. The interviewer has that right in front of them. Tell them something they don’t know and can’t find out from your resume alone. Also, keep it professional and read the room—not every interviewer cares about your new puppy (unfortunately).

2. Do you have experience working from home and managing a remote team?

Since working from home has become the norm for many companies, it’s possible that you’ll have to manage a fully remote team either now or in the future. Project manager positions are often team leads or project leads, so your interviewer may want to learn more about your experience in this area.

What the question means: Virtual managers face more challenges than managers who share the same office space as their teammates. The interviewer wants to find out if you have previous experience managing virtual teams .  

How to answer: If you have experience managing a remote team, that’s great! Talk about some of the challenges you’ve faced not being in-person and how you overcame them. If you don’t have a ton of relevant experience, talk about how you can use project management tools and team bonding exercises to connect, communicate, and collaborate with remote teams.

What not to say: Don’t downplay the challenge of keeping virtual team members motivated and engaged. Your interviewer needs to know that you take team morale seriously and understand what it takes to connect with your team in a remote world.

3. How do you keep your team motivated?

If your project team doesn’t feel motivated, they’ll struggle to complete their high impact work. This can cause project delays and lack of quality in your deliverables. As a project manager, one of your responsibilities is knowing how to keep your team motivated and moving towards the project objective .

What the question means: The interviewer wants to find out what your tactics are for keeping a team engaged and motivated. 

How to answer: You can start by describing the work environment you hope to build for your team. Besides a place where teammates feel valued, seen, and understood, it’s also important to set transparent goals and expectations for your team. Explain how setting realistic project milestones doesn’t just keep the project on track but also fosters effective teamwork.

What not to say: Don’t talk about monetary rewards like raises or promotions. Teams that complete their work for extrinsic motivation only aren’t going to feel as fulfilled as teams that feel an intrinsic motivation to perform well.

4. What is your leadership style of choice?

There are several different leadership styles out there and while some may be more popular than others, there is no right or wrong leadership style. In fact, your team members may benefit from different leadership styles depending on their unique personalities, the projects they’re currently working on, and the challenges they’re facing. 

What the question means: While the terms leadership and management are often used interchangeably, not every manager is a leader and not every leader is a manager. If the interviewer asks this question, they’re probably looking for someone who can be both—so it’s important that you know what your leadership style is. 

How to answer: Be sure that you know what different leadership styles entail. Know the risks and benefits of your leadership style so you can confidently answer follow-up questions about your specific leadership skills like:

As a democratic leader , how do you ensure that your team still trusts you when you make a decision without their input?

How do you approach conflict resolution as an affiliative leader?

As a transformational leader, how do you combat pressure your team may feel because of your constant involvement?

What is your communication style as a transactional leader ?

As a laissez-faire or delegative leader, how do you keep your team on track?

What not to say: Don’t wiggle your way out of the question by simply saying your leadership style depends on the situation. If that’s true and your leadership style is in fact situational , talk more about how you adapt your style and give examples of when you’d apply a supporting, coaching, delegating, or directing style.

5. How do you communicate bad news with your team?

Part of your job description as a project manager will be to deliver news to your team—good and bad. Whether you’re managing people or projects, at some point, you’ll likely have to relay bad news to your team.

The way you handle sticky situations, like communicating that you’re not hitting a project’s goals or are losing funding for an exciting initiative, will be a reflection of how qualified you are to be a manager.

What the question means: The interviewer likely wants to find out if you have both the integrity and communication skills to deliver bad news to your team without causing misunderstandings or issues.

How to answer: Acknowledge that the challenge of communicating bad news is that you have to balance representing and understanding both the emotional response of your team and the decision of higher level executives. Explain that the best way to effectively communicate bad news is to prepare yourself. 

Once you’ve prepared and practiced how you’ll deliver your message, you’ll do your best to use direct language when communicating the news to avoid misunderstandings. It’s also important that you set aside time for questions from your team and establish next steps so they feel prepared for what’s to come.

What not to say: Don’t try to answer this question with a positive spin. Bad news is bad news and there’s no reason to sell it as something it’s not. Instead, be realistic and ensure that you show the interviewer that you understand the potential risks and severity of a scenario like this.

[inline illustration] how to prepare for your job interview (infographic)

6. How do you prioritize tasks?

As a project manager your workday can change in an instant. New tasks, change requests, or a confused stakeholder who needs clarification right away can throw off your entire schedule. It’s important that you know how to prioritize work if you want to excel in this position.

What the question means: The interviewer is looking for a very direct and detailed answer on how you prioritize tasks. 

How to answer: Explain your go-to time management method . Perhaps you use the Eisenhower Matrix to find out which tasks need to be done right away or can be scheduled for later, delegated to someone else, or deleted altogether. 

Maybe you prefer to eat the frog and get your biggest and most complex task done first thing in the morning. Whatever your preferred method of task prioritization is, quickly explain what it is and give a specific example of how you’d apply it—or better yet, how you’ve applied it in the past.

What not to say: Don’t just say you go with the flow. A skilled manager will use tools and techniques to prioritize tasks by importance and urgency—so make sure to share your go-to approach with your interviewer.

7. How do you define an ideal project?

The answer to this is not “one that goes according to plan.” This question intends to find out more about what type of projects you prefer to work on.

What the question means: The interviewer wants to know what type of projects you feel most comfortable and confident working on. This is not going to be a guarantee that you’ll get the kind of project you describe but it’s going to give the interviewer a better sense of your skill set.

How to answer: The best way to answer this question is to be honest. Tell the interviewer what kinds of projects excite you the most. Perhaps you prefer projects that are super collaborative and innovative. Maybe you do your best work when a project is streamlined and there aren’t too many moving parts at the same time. Or you may do really well managing multiple small projects that run simultaneously. Whatever it is that you feel the most passionate about—tell the interviewer. And, if you can, give an example of a specific project you’ve done in the past that was really rewarding for you.

What not to say: Don’t lie and say you can handle any type of project. Even if that’s true, really dig into the type that excites you the most so your answer is more genuine.

8. How do you handle changes to a project?

Projects rarely go according to plan which is why your position is so important. As the project manager, you’ll be in charge of adjusting the schedule, communicating changes, and adopting them accordingly. 

What the question means: The interviewer wants to know what kind of problem-solving strategies you’re familiar with. Depending on the level of your position, they may also want to know how familiar you are with change management processes .

How to answer: Showcase your ability to adapt to unexpected or uncomfortable situations when answering this question. Convince the interviewer that you’re quick on your feet and have successfully handled project changes before.

What not to say: Don’t be vague. If you’re struggling to explain how you handle changes to a project, give a real life example instead. This will also show the interviewer that you’ve successfully managed a situation like this before.

9. What project management methods have you used in the past?

There are many different project management methodologies and chances are you’ve used or experienced more than one before. Whether you’re familiar with Agile work environments, the waterfall model, or running teams on Scrum —this is the time to showcase your knowledge.

What the question means: The interviewer wants to find out whether the project management methods you use fit the organization's style.

How to answer: Talk about the project management methodology you’re most familiar with and give an example of how you’ve used it. For example, you could talk about your experience with Scrum teams or talk about projects that you managed using Kanban boards . Explain why you used the given methodology and how it worked for your team and project.

What not to say: Don’t just toss around buzzwords. Make sure that you know what Agile means if you’re going to talk about applying this methodology. Interviewers notice whether or not you understand a methodology so it’s best to be prepared for follow-up questions.

10. What project management tools do you have experience with?

There is an array of project management software available and chances are, you’ve used your fair share of them. There really is no right or wrong answer to this question but you can get a few extra points if you personalize your answer.

What the question means: The interviewer wants to gain a sense of how many and what types of project management tools you’re familiar with.

How to answer: Truthfully answer what project management tools and software you’ve used in the past. If possible, find out what tools the company you’re interviewing for uses. You may find information on their website, a review site, or get this kind of insight from an employee via LinkedIn. With this information on hand, you can tailor your answer to the tool the company uses and let the interviewer know that you’ve used it or something similar in the past.

What not to say: Don’t judge any project management tools. You may have a favorite (Asana, right?) or even a tool that gives you a headache just thinking about it, but now is not the time to pass judgment. Simply list the tools you have experience with and explain your skill level if applicable.

11. Do you have experience with cost or budget management?

While not every project management position requires cost management knowledge, it’s a very common interview question for human resources, accounting, or finance management positions. So let’s take a look at the best way to answer it. 

What the question means: The interviewer is curious whether you’ve had to manage costs before and is likely looking for an example.

How to answer: If you don’t have experience managing budgets, be honest about it and let the interviewer know how you’re planning to build this skill. If you have budget or cost management experience, talk about the budget you’ve managed, what you were in charge of, and how you allocated additional resources when necessary.

What not to say: Don’t make up budgets you’ve never managed or talk about how you manage your personal budget if you don’t have professional experience. Being fiscally responsible is not the same as knowing how to manage a project budget. So be honest about your experience and skill level.

12. What motivates you to give your best in a project?

This is an excellent opportunity to talk about a project that went really well and explain why it was one of your best projects to date. Chances are, you were passionate, inspired your team, and led the project to success because you felt so motivated. 

What the question means: Motivation looks different to everyone. The interviewer wants to find out what keeps you motivated to get a better understanding of your personality.

How to answer: Think about what motivates you when you’re working. Is it a great team that loves to collaborate? Do you love showing up for work to solve problems? Do you get excited about learning new things and widening your skillset? Whatever satisfies and excites you to do your best in a project, share it with your interviewer and give an example if you can.

What not to say: Don’t say “money.” It’s obvious that money is a factor in why you’re motivated to show up for work every day but the interviewer is asking this question to find out what other factors drive you. 

13. Tell me about a challenge you’ve faced and how you handled it.

As a project manager, you’ll encounter plenty of challenging projects. Share a challenge that turned into a successful project or a great learning experience with your interviewer to prove that you can handle roadblocks or setbacks.

What the question means: The interviewer wants to learn more about your problem-solving skills and how you approach challenges. They’re looking for a specific example.

How to answer: The best way to answer this question is to apply the STAR method. This method allows you to break down a situation into four categories: 

Situation : Start with the situation you were in. For example, explain that your project team suddenly got smaller because two people were out sick for an extended period of time.

Task : Explain how you wanted to resolve the situation. For example, your goal was to ensure that you could still deliver the project on time.

Action : Describe the actions you took to reach your goal. For example, you first tried to get help from another team. When that didn’t work out, you had to outsource some of the simpler tasks to a freelancer to give your team the bandwidth for their work.

Result : Finish with the outcome of the situation. For example, hiring a freelancer allowed your team to focus on the important tasks and complete the project without delays. Plus, you ended up hiring that freelancer for your next project because they did such an amazing job supporting your team.

[inline illustration] STAR method: Situation, Task, Action, Result (infographic)

What not to say: Don’t talk about a personal challenge. The interviewer wants to know how you handle challenges like lack of resources, negative feedback, or project delays. Whether you have prior experience as a project manager or not, we’ve all faced difficult times at work before so talk about a situation where you showed how well you can handle a challenge.

14. Why are you looking to leave your current job?

Obviously there’s a reason you’re doing this job interview. And the interviewer is curious what you’re hoping to find here that you’re lacking at your current job.

What the question means: The interviewer wants to find out one of two things (or both): How do you speak of your former/current employer and what motivated you to apply for this position?

How to answer: Instead of looking back at your old or current employer, talk about what excites you most about this new opportunity. Are you excited about the possibility of relocating? Are you looking forward to gaining new skills or taking on more responsibilities? Perhaps you’re looking to improve your work-life balance and feel like this new company is the perfect place to do so. Let your excitement for the new role shine through—that will set you apart from other candidates.

What not to say: Don’t bash your former employer. No matter how dreadful your current or past job is or was, it’s important to look forward and stay positive in your interview.

15. Name three tactics you’ve used to develop and maintain great customer relationships.

Depending on your field, you may have to deal with customers or clients on a regular basis. If you’re skilled at creating and maintaining solid relationships, you’re going to be a great asset to your company.

What the question means: Happy clients or customers are important—the interviewer wants to know if you have more than one card up your sleeve when it comes to fostering meaningful professional relationships.

How to answer: Think about your past customer relationships and what they valued. Did they appreciate your quick and positive communication? Did you make them feel like they were your only client or customer? Did you consistently exceed their expectations? Were you able to understand their goals and speak their language? All of these are tactics proven to build and maintain strong business relationships. 

What not to say: Don’t brag about how great you are with clients or customers. Humility is one of the many tactics that help maintain positive professional relationships so make sure you’re staying humble in your interview to prove you’re capable of this.  

Tips for getting interviewed

Knowing what to say is important, but a job interview is about much more than just saying the right things. You’ll want to leave a great impression and make sure that your personality stands out from the rest of the candidate pool (especially in person or via Zoom). Here are our favorite tips to leave a great impression.

[inline illustration] how to make a great impression at a job interview (infographic)

Besides practicing your body language and answers to common interview questions, you should also familiarize yourself with common project management terms . That way, when they come up during the interview, you don’t have to ask what they mean first and potentially risk your chances of getting the job.

However, if you’re ever unsure about what the interviewer means with their question, don’t be afraid to ask for clarification. This can save both of you time and misunderstandings. 

Go get that job

Now that you know what to say (and what not to say) during your job interview, we’re sure you’re going to nail it. 

And if you land the job, make sure you utilize tools that make your life easier, like Asana’s project management software that’s designed to minimize app switching. That way, you and your new team can keep everything from messages to timelines in one place and focus on what’s really important.

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Home / Project Management / 18 Project Manager Interview Questions & Answers [2024 Updated]

Project Manager Interview

18 Project Manager Interview Questions & Answers [2024 Updated]

You are a professional and just applied to a project management position. The employer invites you to the project manager interview. However, you have not attended a job interview recently or you are nervous about the upcoming project manager interview. You need good project manager interview questions and answers to help you prepare.

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Do not worry. You are at the right place.

Below are 18 PM Common Interview questions and we will guide you on how to answer them one by one  with example answers. If you wish to assess yourself in a real-like PM interview session, check out our Project Manager Mock Interview solution as well.

Project Manager Mock Interview

18 Project Manager Interview Questions & Answers

We will go over the following questions and provide sample answers for each one.

  • Please describe yourself, and your background briefly.
  • What was the biggest or most challenging project you managed?
  • Do you have budget management experience?
  • Have you ever failed in a project? Do you have any experience in handling failures?
  • How do you monitor projects to see if it is going on track?
  • Can you tell me an example of how you communicated a failure to your team, manager, and customer?
  • How do you motivate your project team?
  • Do you have outsourcing personnel or supplier management experience?
  • Do you have international project team management experience?
  • How do you deal with gold plating in your project?
  • You managed the project work as per requirements. However, the customer is not happy with the result and does not accept the project. How would you convince the customer?
  • How do you deal with underperforming project team members?
  • How do you resolve conflicts in your projects?
  • What are the three words that describe you best?
  • Why should we hire you?
  • Where do you see yourself in five years?
  • What is your current salary and compensation package?
  • What is your salary expectation?

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We have gathered the eighteen project manager interview questions and answers that you will probably be asked during your job interview. Is that it? No, we also provide guidance on how you should answer these project manager interview questions.

Let’s go over the questions one by one and see how to answer each of them.

Project Manager Interview Questions & Answer #1: Please describe yourself, and your background briefly.

Actually, this is a typical project manager job interview question. You will see this question not only in a project manager interview but also in any job interview.

Consider this PM interview question as a self-promotion opportunity. Because, you will be speaking about your background, your education, work experience, and projects you have completed. If you are a new graduate, discuss your recent university projects. If you are an experienced professional, the job interviewer will look for the keywords in your background that will match the requirements of the job.

For instance, if you are a mid-professional (5+ years) looking for a project manager position, you should not start from your recent college experience when answering these project manager interview questions unless you recently completed your graduate degree (Masters or Doctorate). Briefly, describe your place of birth, where you grew up, and your university education. These should not be more than two or three sentences. Then, you should highlight the critical points in your background that are relevant to the position you applied for.

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For instance, let’s consider a software analyst working at a software company has applied for a project manager position. He does not have any project management experience. However, he wants to get this project manager position and the employer invited him to the project manager interview.

How should this person answer this Project Manager Interview question?

The sample answer for these kinds of project manager interview questions can be as below.

I was born in 1991 in New Jersey. I grew up in New Jersey and went to high school there. I have completed my university education at Georgia Institute of Technology in the field of computer science. After I graduated from university in 2013, I obtained a software analyst position at Accenture in Plano, Texas.  I have worked eight projects so far and the most significant project was a shopping cart customization project on the Walmart website. The Project took eight months to complete but it improved the shopping experience for Walmart customers shopping online. There were four software analysts on the project and I worked as the lead analyst and supervised the other three analysts . We were part of a project team that had a total of 21 members. As a result of my contributions to this successful project, I earned a job promotion.

This will not take more than two minutes to answer in the project manager interview session. As highlighted, the project manager candidate gives the critical points in his background that can qualify him for the project manager position. He highlights his position as the lead analyst on a project. This shows that he has good analytical and people management skills, which is crucial for a project manager position. He also adds that he got a promotion, which shows that his current employer appreciates and treasures him.

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Project Manager Interview Questions #2: What was the biggest or most challenging project you managed?

You have to be prepared for this type of project manager interview question. Because your answer to this question will show your skills and/or experience limitations. Note that, this question might come with follow up questions such as how many people were in the team, who you reported to on the project, and how many total projects you managed at the same time. Did you use a project plan? A project plan is like a business plan and your ability to design, build, manage, and communicate project plans is essential to your success as a project manager and ultimately in your career. Check out Master of Project Academy’s exclusive “ Sandbox ,” membership which includes example project management plans that accompany case studies and a template for developing project plans.

Before sitting in your project manager interview session, go through your experience. Choose the most challenging project that you were involved in.

Project Manager Interview

The following can be a good answer to this type of project manager interview question:

The most challenging project I was involved was the Golden Gate Bridge Construction Program. I managed the project responsible for constructing  the towers that will carry the bridge. There were three architects, six civil engineers and 47 construction workers on my team. In total, I managed 56 project team members during this project. The most challenging part of the project was meeting the deadlines as other projects were dependent on the critical path of my project. Any delay in my project caused financial costs on the rest of the project. For instance, a one-day delay in my project caused 200 hundred construction workers to wait for our work to be completed. And the cost of a one-day delay was around $80,000. This was a high pressure, stretch assignment with visibility by company executive management that I managed successfully by minimizing project delays while ensuring the utmost quality of work by my team members.

The first highlighted part in this answer shows the size of the project team that this project manager has managed. The second highlighted part stresses the challenge of the project financially. Try to provide numbers, budgets, and statistics. This will make your answers stronger.

PM Interview Question #3: Do you have budget management experience?

Budget management is a crucial aspect of project management. Therefore, this question is very important in a project manager interview as it can determine a candidate immediate potential value to the company. Depending on the roles and responsibilities of the project manager in a company, budget management might not be required by the project manager. For instance, project management positions in vendor companies may require budget management experience while service companies may not require project managers to have budget experience.

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If you are applying for a project manager position that requires budget management experience, reflect on projects you have completed that required you to be cost sensitive.

Assuming that you have budget management experience, here is how you can answer this interview question:

I have managed a diverse group of project budgets. Recently, I managed a $35 million dollar project budget. I was in charge of approving expenses and procurements in my projects. I corresponded directly with vendors during the procurement process and managed the reporting to the company finance department . When additional funding was needed, I organize meetings with the project sponsor to provide the reasons for additional funding. I was responsible for finding additional funding for the project when needed .

The first highlighted part of this answer shows that the candidate has a good level of budget management experience. The second highlighted part makes the answer even stronger. Also, the candidate notes that they were also responsible for convincing executive management for additional funding when needed.

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Project Manager Interview Questions #4: Have you ever failed in a project? Do you have experience handling failures?

Success and failures, these are inevitable facts of life and your professional career as well. It would not be wise to answer, “No, I never failed in a project”. This will not be received positively in your evaluation.

Actually, this project manager interview question assesses your risk management experience. Therefore, think of an event, meeting, activity, or a moment in a project where you had trouble. Then, answer this question accordingly.

Project Manager Interview

The following can be a good sample answer to this question:

When I managed a telecommunication project, my team deployed a new software package, and afterwards, subscribers of the telecom operator could not make calls from a specific region. This was a huge problem. We performed post deployment checks and everything was green . The next morning, I woke up to missed phone calls from my customer. He was very angry as 87 subscribers reported that they could not originate a call from their phone. I reassured the customer that my project team and I, would arrive on site in one hour to investigate and fix the problem. We were in the office in 45 minutes but as we investigated the problem we could not diagnose the root cause. To say the the customer was not happy was an  understatement; he was livid. All reported incidents were occurring in Louisville, Kentucky. Initially, we thought this was a local problem affecting only a part of the subscribers. We identified and contacted three subscribers who reported the problem and asked them to re-initiate a call. Concurrently, our software and test engineers logged their failing calls. After analysis, they found that a customized routing for Louisville was not updated by the customer during previous deployments . We updated the routing and the problem was resolved. It was the longest six hours of my life.

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If you look at the answer, the first part lists the steps the candidate took as the project manager by completing post-deployment tests to identify any failures. The second part highlights the severity of the issue.  The last part highlights how the candidate resolved the setback.

Project Manager Interview Questions #5: How do you monitor and determine a project’s progress?

This project manager interview question is about project management methodologies and project management processes. It will assess your monitoring and controlling skills and your familiarity with project management tools. The primary responsibility of the project manager is to complete a project scope on time and within budget in the agreed-to quality levels. To do this, a project manager must use his or her skills and key project management tools.

The following can be a good sample answer for this project manager interview question.

After I completed the initial project planning, I take a baseline. I use this baseline to compare the progress of the project and actual values against the baseline. Each week or in every two weeks, I forecast the duration and cost of remaining project activities with my team to determine whether the negotiated deadline and budget will be met. I use Microsoft Excel to keep track of issues with an issues log. I assign an open issue to a project resource or any external resource in the project issue log. I set a deadline for the issue and I follow the issue until it is resolved. I use Microsoft Project for creating a project plan. However, I have used Jira project management software tracking tool as well. When I am using Microsoft Project, I compare the actual values of the tasks with the baseline values. This helps me to see whether a task is on track, behind schedule or ahead of schedule. When I am using Jira, I create my own dashboards for late tasks or open tasks. I report these tasks to the assignees each week or more frequently if they are urgent.
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This answer shows the technical knowledge of the project manager candidate. Because he uses “baseline” and “issue log” terms. The answer also provides solid samples on how to monitor and control a project like taking baseline and comparing actual values against the baseline.

PM Interview Question #6: Can you tell me an example of how you communicated a failure to your team, manager, and customer?

This project manager interview question is a behavioral question that will assess your risk management and communication management experience together. Bear in your mind that, failures, emergencies, or critical points about a project must be communicated face to face. If face-to-face communication is not possible, then, you should choose a teleconference meeting or phone call.

Project Manager Interview

We were working on an online learning portal project of an oil company. Deadline of the project was Feb 15, 2020. Although we completed our development tasks and internal tasks on time, the customer could not complete their acceptance test on time. The customer executive management wanted the project delivered on time. However, since the executive management’s staff could not complete their acceptance tests, delivery was risky. First, I called my manager. I wish we could have spoken face-to-face but she was on a business trip at that time. I told her the situation. She agreed with me to speak about the risk of the situation with the customer. Then, I organized a meeting with the project team. I told the team that they performed well and met all the deadlines and objectives. However, the customer could not complete their acceptance tests on time. Therefore, we will be postponing the project launch for one month. This made some of the project team members upset because we worked hard to complete the project on time but the project was postponed because of the customer-sourced delay. Finally, I organized a meeting with executive management of the customer . During the meeting, I discussed with the project sponsor and executive managers of the customer that customer acceptance tests were not complete yet. In addition, if we launch the project, we might face critical problems in the live environment and this could cause dissatisfaction and loss of credibility with users . At the end of the meeting, executive managers agreed to wait till their team could complete the customer acceptance tests.

This answer shows that the project manager approaches the failure of communication systematically. First, he reports to his manager. If his manager did not accept the situation or if they proposed alternative ways with the project team and customer, he could have changed the approach to the team and customer respectively.

After getting the approval of the manager, he speaks with the team first and then communicates to the customer respectively.

Project Manager Job Interview Questions #7: How do you motivate the project team?

Project team motivation is crucial for the success of a project. If a project team is not motivated, it will be impossible to reach project objectives. Further, your team could reach the project objectives, but the project results are suboptimal quality.

This project manager interview question shows your leadership skills and for the interviewer, it is critical to get insights into the people management skills of the candidate.

The following is a sample answer to this question.

After I create the project baseline, I mark the milestones of the project. Then, I send this project plan to all project team members. Whenever we successfully reach a milestone, I organize an event to celebrate. This can be a cookout, a weekend trip or a dinner depending on the project budget or amount of the allowance provided by the company for these type of celebrations. Additionally, I try to celebrate the birthday of each project team member. I organize a 30 minutes break for celebration and invite all project team members to this break. Moreover, if a project team member over performed during the project, I send a special email to his manager to recognize his efforts . I know that these kinds of emails will be important for the line managers of the project team members when they are completing the annual performance evaluation of the employees. My appreciations will encourage opportunities for promotion or bonuses for the project team member.

This answer shows that the project manager candidate not only leads celebration activities such as milestones and birthday celebrations. She can also speak or contact the functional managers of the project team members to recognize project resources for promotion or better annual performance evaluation.

PM Job Interview Question #8: Do you have outsourcing personnel or supplier management experience?

Managing outsourced personnel or suppliers is a different project management skill. If you are applying to a company that works with outsourced personnel or suppliers, this project manager interview question will be an elective one.

If you have a project management experience in a vendor, most probably, you will have outsource and supplier management experience as well.

Let us first define what outsourcing is. Outsourced personnel are hired or acquired by a company for a limited time or for a specific project. For instance, assume that you are installing a database for a utility service provider as the scope of your project. You need a database administrator for this work. However, your company does not have a full-time database administrator. You have to hire or outsource the database administrator for a limited time to work on your project.

Suppliers can be providers of material, equipment, tools, etc. for  your project. In your project, if you need database servers, and if these servers will be provided by a 3 rd party company, this company will be the supplier of your project.

Project Manager Interview

After defining outsourcing and supplier management, let’s go through a sample answer for this project manager interview question:

I worked on a billing system project for a telecom operator. This project required installation of an Ericsson SDP product . Our company did not have a SDP product expert so  we had to outsource two SDP product experts for three months to work on our project. I managed the communication with Ericsson to outsource these two consultants and planned their start and end dates in the project. Further, the scope of the project called for us to install 24 servers of the SDP product in three different locations across the UK. So  we negotiated with a server installation company, Servus, to provide personnel to install the 24 SDP servers .   I managed the personnel from Ericsson and Servus, for the phase of the project in which we planned and executed the installation of the SDP product for the telecom operation.  Once the installation was complete, the consultants from Ericsson and Servus returned to their respective companies.

This answer demonstrates the outsourcing and supplier management experience of the project manager interview candidate.

Project Management Interview  #9: Do you have international project team management experience?

If the company you applied to is a multinational company, international project team management experience will be a critical evaluation factor. It might even include managing remote teams. If you don’t have this experience, be honest in your response.

If you have this type of experience, the interviewer may ask follow-on questions such as how you handled the experience and whether you had to navigate cultural differences.

The following can be a good answer to this project manager interview question.

I managed a team of 15 project team members from five different nations on a natural gas implementation project in Brazil. Members of the team included natural gas engineers, environmental engineers and civil engineers. Five members were from Brazil, three members were from UK, three members were from Spain, two members were from India and two members were from Qatar. It was a great experience to learn from different cultures when working with them. It was the first time I worked with project resources from a Muslim country, Qatar. While most of the project team members were having Monday syndrome, engineers from Qatar were performing better than other project team members on Mondays! After some time, I asked these engineers why they are more willing to work on Mondays. I learned that, their official weekends are on Friday and Saturday. Therefore, Sunday is their first weekday. Therefore, they performed better on Mondays since it is their 2 nd day of the work week. It was fascinating to see this and it made our overall team perform better.

The project manager candidate answers the question with numbers from a real project he managed. He also provides interesting benefits from having a diverse, international project team.

Project Manager Interview Questions #10: How do you deal with gold plating in your project?

This project manager interview question assesses your technical knowledge and scope management skills. Gold plating is a technical term in project management. Gold plating is delivering more than what is required in the scope. Gold plating is when the project team performs an extra activity and delivers extra work not within the scope of the project.

A good project manager must prevent gold plating in a project as it can cause delays and extra costs.

Project Manager Interview

The following is a good answer to this project manager interview question.

When I assign a task to a project team member, I clearly define the KPIs, requirements and scope of the task. Then, I work closely with the technical leaders to monitor whether gold plating is occurring on the project. We worked on a website development project for a large US e-commerce company. The customer requirement stipulated the homepage to load in less than three seconds across US. The developer of the homepage was a very skilled resource. Although she completed the homepage development before the deadline of the task and with a load time less than three seconds, she wanted to spend more time lowering the homepage load time even further. The project technical lead noticed this during a weekly meeting and notified me about the situation. The developer was an extremely skilled and motivated resource and I wanted to speak with her but not discourage her motivation. We met over a coffee break and first, I noted and conveyed my appreciation to her for her willing to go above and beyond what was asked of her. Then, I asked her understanding of gold plating and decided after hearing her response, to explain the need and implications of gold plating during a project. I expressed to her the priority is to finish and deliver the project scope first as I needed her and the other team members to be move the next tasks . I noted if deliver the website project with missing web pages we will be noncompliant with our project delivery. However, if we deliver a homepage with a load time less than three seconds, then we will have achieve the objective. Therefore, we need to deliver what is required first before diving into optimizations. She understood, finalized her task, and then requested her next task.

This answer shows the candidate’s knowledge about gold plating. The candidate also gives an example of gold plating by one of his team members in the project and how he resolved the issue.

PM Interview Question #11: You managed the project work as per requirements. However, the customer is not happy with the result and does not accept the product. How would you convince the customer?

This situation is very common and tough to deal with in project management. Although you delivered the project scope as agreed with the customer at the beginning of the project, the customer may not accept the product at the end of the project.

This project manager interview question assesses your persuasion and communication skills.

This interview question requires you to demonstrate your understanding of project scope and how your end product aligned with the customer’s intention. When a customer doesn’t accept a product, typically they may feel that the end product doesn’t meet the intended purpose. It is important to re-establish trust with the customer and assure the customer that you want to resolve his or her concerns with the delivered product.

At the end of my website development project, the customer was not happy with the delivered results and   did not accept the project. Our initial scope was delivering an ecommerce shopping website with five different pages: 1-Homepage 2-Login/Signup Page 3-Category Page 4-Product Page 5-Profile Page We have delivered this project scope at the end of the project. After the customer acceptance tests, they agreed that the features of these pages meet their initial requirements. However, the customer felt their competitor had a referral program that boosts their sales. The customer wants the same referral program feature as well. I organized a meeting with the project sponsor and customer testing team. I asked my manager to join the meeting as well. During that meeting, I step through the agreed-to project scope and showed how our deliverables meet the scope. I explain diplomatically that the customer referral program was not in the requirements list, agreed-to project scope and binding contract. The Project sponsor stated this is a critical requirement and they need it before launching the website. At this point, I explained that we can deliver this as a change request in one month.  The customer did not want to pay any additional cost for this feature. After some discussions, my manager proposed a revised cost for this additional feature. The customer accepted the proposal and we resolved this conflict. After delivering the customer referral program feature one month later, the customer was happy with the final product.

The project manager candidate must approach the question on conflict with calmness and clear logic. After convincing the customer that the new requirement was not in the project scope, he proposes that they can deliver this feature in one month as a change request. Therefore, he demonstrates his ability to propose options to resolve the customer concern with clear results.

project manager interview question

Project Manager Interview Questions #12: How do you deal with underperforming project team members?

If you are an experienced professional, you might have worked with an underperforming colleague. A colleague who doesn’t contribute to the team causes low morale, project productivity challenges, and  can contribute to employee turnover.  The project manager has to motivate all project resources to produce their best and address team members who underperform.

This project manager interview question assesses your people management skills. This question will show how you motivate your underperforming resources.

Project Manager Interview

When I see an underperforming resource, first, I observe the person to determine if this is a one-time issue or an ongoing problem. Everyone has different and diverse productivity levels. If it appears the project team member is underperforming for a couple of weeks, I invite her to a coffee break. First, I ask her how does she feel about the project, and whether she is happy to work on the project. Then, I ask her whether there is anything frustrating about the project, work or company. If there is a problem with the project, work or company, I will try to determine the root cause and then resolve the issue that is causing the teammate to underperform. In some cases, underperformance can stem from challenges in the team members’s personal life. If the team member discloses this, I do my best to support her in anyway I can. A software developer in my banking project was performing very well. All of a sudden, I noticed a drop in his performance. After a week passed, I talked to him. I thought he was demotivated because of recently issued promotions and bonus announcements in the company. However, I learned that he just broke up with his long time girlfriend. Since this was a personal issue, I tried my best to identify ways to support him. I organized a couple of team lunches to create a welcoming atmosphere that might help his mood. After two or three weeks, he was performing well again.

The project manager candidate describes how they approach an underperforming project team member step by step. Then, the candidate provides an example from a project, which demonstrates strong experience to this interview question.

PM Interview Question #13: How do you resolve conflicts in your projects?

Conflicts are inevitable in a project. A good project manager must be able to resolve conflicts without hampering the motivation and relationships in the project team. By its nature, conflicts are inevitable. However, with good communication skills and conflict resolution skills, you can resolve the conflicts in a win-win situation.

This project manager interview question assesses your conflict resolution and communication management skills.

The following can be a good answer to this question.

I have experienced conflicts on projects I have led over the years . The first thing to look when a conflict arises is to identify the source of conflict . Conflicts can occur between two project team members, between the team member and his lead, between two stakeholders etc. After knowing the source of conflict, I look at alternative solutions to resolve the conflict . The best option to resolve a conflict is identify solutions to satisfy all parties. Of course, I try to find a win-win situation first. If this is not possible, then, I try to analyze the pros and cons of different alternatives to resolve the conflict. I try to analyze and demonstrate the pros and cons of each resolution because an approach rooted in logic, numbers, figures, and statistics is the best way to convince parties of conflict to accept a solution that benefits them. After showing the alternative solutions, I guide people to rethink the conflict to reach a consensus. If this is not possible, I try to solve the conflict by vote. For instance, if the cause of the conflict is how to solve a technical issue in a software project, I show the options to the project team and expect the software developers to vote for the best option to resolve the conflict.

The project manager candidate tries to solve the conflict for a win-win situation. Then, the candidate demonstrates different alternatives in a logical manner. If you can describe a solution logically and with concrete factors such as statistics, numbers, figures, etc. you will eliminate most of the arguments. Then, the candidate uses voting to reach a conclusion in the conflict. In this way, the project manager ensures that the majority will decide the solution rather than dictating the solution to the team.

Project Manager Interview Question #14: What are the three words that describe you best?

This is actually a cliché interview question generally asked by human resources personnel. This shows hints about your personality and how your colleagues think about you in the work environment.

When answering this project manager interview question, try to remember your positive attitudes and what your colleagues say about your work behavior.

Project Manager Interview

The following can be a good sample answer to this interview question.

The best three words that would describe me are disciplined, results-driven and analytical thinker. My colleagues call me The German. I am not German but they say that my work ethic is very well disciplined as I record every detail of my projects and have a very systematic method to project problems. When I work on a project or task, I always keep in mind this question: “What is the expected result?” Sometimes, if you forget what you are trying to achieve, you can deviate from your targets. Therefore, keeping in mind the expected results helps me to focus on what needs to be done during the project. I try to rationalize status, progress and alternative solutions to a problem. I do this by approaching a problem analytically. For instance, I create dashboards that track issues, wait time, issue assignee etc in a project to monitor how well the project team is resolving issues. Similarly, I record the number of codes each developer produces a day to forecast remaining activities in the project.

The project manager candidate answers the three words that best describe him. Then, he gives examples and justifications for each word.

PM Job Interview Question #15: Why should we hire you?

This question is not just for a project manager interview. Most human resources personnel ask this question to evaluate a candidate during job interviews.

There can be hundreds of other applicants that you have to surpass to get a project manager job. Your background, skills, and resume should be impressive and match the requirements of the job description.  However, you have to be unique when providing an answer to this question. The interviewer must say, “Wow, he is the right person for the job.”

For the best answer to this project manager interview question, search for recent news on the company before the interview. A recent financial report, investment, or research and development announcement  from the company can be useful in answering this question.

The following can be a good answer to this interview question:

When I got email notification that Apple is looking for a project manager, I was very excited. Because, Apple is my dream company that I would love to work for. I went through the position details and saw that it required 5+ years of IT project management experience with a special focus on screen touch sensors. I have more than seven years of project management experience in software development projects. I worked for Elo for three years and managed their inductive LED screen development project . I heard in recent news that Apple is planning to remove the “home” button from the iPhone and move the features of the “home” button to the screen. My software project management experience at a LED screen company will be very beneficial for similar projects at Apple and the company will teach me the best way to deliver high quality products.

The project manager candidate highlights how he saw the position vacancy and why he applied. Then, he clarifies why his experience fulfills the the position requirements. He also adds that while he will be providing benefits to the company, he will also learn a lot from Apple as well.

Hint: Do not risk your next PM Job Interview!  Attend a  Project Manager Mock Interview session to see how you perform, and improve your PM interview skills.

Project Manager Interview Question #16: Where do you see yourself in five years?

A typical human resources interview question! This interview question assesses whether you have a career plan and if it fits with the position.

For a project manager interview, you have to draw a career plan that fits a project management path.

Project Manager Interview

The following can be a good answer to this interview question.

I have over nine years of experience including the last four with direct direct project leader experience. I want to advance my career as a project manager for the next three years. Then, I would like to evaluate management-level opportunities, such as a program manager, that will allow me to grow at the company. I have PMP certification . I am planning to take the ITIL foundation certification exam to improve my IT service management skills and PSM-1 certification to improve my agile project management skills. I am certain that project management experience in this company will add tremendous value to my professional background.

The project manager candidate highlights his desire to continue as a project manager for the next three years. This is critical for an employer because each employer expects a candidate to stay in the position for at least two years. Then, the project manager candidate adds that he is planning to get relevant professional certifications to improve his project management skills.

  • Do you want to hear what our students say about our PMP courses? You can watch this video!

PM Job Interview Question #17: What is your current salary and compensation package?

This can be difficult question. Note that, human resources departments are very well aware of industry salary benchmarks. Therefore, if you don’t want to disclose your salary, state your salary expectations as noted in the next interview question. This will provide an opening to negotiate your salary and overall compensation .

If you say a salary that is too high above the benchmark, you may not receive the job offer  as there will be a limit to what the company can pay for this position.

project manager interview questions and answers

Project Management Interview Question #18: What is your salary expectation?

This is one of the last questions that you will be asked in your project manager interview session. There is not a single right answer to this question. However, the common practice is, to aim to increase your salary by at least 20% in your next job.

Prior to the interview, research typical salary ranges for this position at the company using glass door, indeed or any other salary information website. Then, during the interview, briefly, explain your expectations for your desired salary and overall compensation.

We have tried to gather all questions that you will be probably be asked in your project manager interview session. We have also provided sample answers to each interview question. Note that, these are our recommendations, and depending on the industry and the position you applied for, answers to these project manager interview questions can vary.

Before going to your interview, go through your resume and prepare your own good examples from your project management experience for these questions.

We have a 360 Degree Project Manager Mock Interview program for professionals, like you, who want to prepare for a project manager interview.

In this program, you send us your resume and details of the position you applied for. Then, our expert project manager interviewer prepares customized questions for you. You come together with the interviewer at the time you will select from the available slots of our project manager interviewer. During the project manager mock interview session, the interviewer will ask you realistic questions that you will be most likely asked in your real interview. Then, the interviewer will be preparing a detailed assessment report about your project manager’s mock interview performance. In this report, you will see your strengths, improvement areas, and how well your background and skills match the position that you applied for.

You can see a sample assessment report .

Project Manager Interview Report

Let us help you sharpen your interview skills and give you a real hands-on mock interview so you can get the job you deserve!

Enroll now in 360 Degree Project Manager Mock Interview.

PMP certification ultima guide author

Resit Gulec, MBA, PMP, ITIL has over 10 years of work experience. Resit worked in 20+ countries, managed million-dollar budget projects, and several people. He worked as an engineer and manager in multinational companies including Alcatel-Lucent and Ericsson. Resit trained 125,000+ professionals for the PMP certification exam since 2014. Resit is the Chief Growth Officer of Master of Project Academy.  Master of Project Academy has appeared in hundreds of media outlets including Yahoo Finance and Wall Street Journal.

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Interview Questions

Comprehensive Interview Guide: 60+ Professions Explored in Detail

15 Most Common Project Manager Interview Questions and Answers

By Sherice Jacob

Published: October 22, 2023

Whether you’re a seasoned professional or new to the field or project management, you will likely face a set of common, yet challenging, interview questions aimed at assessing your aptitude for planning, organizing, securing, and managing resources to achieve specific goals. In this article, we’ll provide a comprehensive guide to the most frequently asked project manager interview questions and how to answer them effectively.

What qualities and skills are hiring managers looking for in a Project Manager?

  • Leadership Skills

The ability to lead a team is crucial. A good project manager can inspire their team, set clear objectives, resolve conflicts, and ensure that everyone is working towards the same goal.

  • Communication Skills

Project Managers need to be excellent communicators. They must effectively liaise with clients, stakeholders, and team members, ensuring that everyone is informed about project updates, changes, and issues that may arise.

  • Risk Management

An understanding of how to assess, mitigate, and manage risks is vital. The hiring manager would be interested in a candidate’s ability to foresee potential problems and plan ways to circumvent them.

  • Organizational Skills

Managing multiple tasks and people while keeping track of deadlines requires exceptional organizational abilities. A project manager needs to be methodical and efficient in their approach.

  • Problem-Solving Skills

Project management often involves dealing with unexpected issues. The ability to think critically, make informed decisions, and find effective solutions under pressure is a key quality in a project manager.

1. Tell us a bit about yourself.

A hiring manager would ask this question as an ice breaker to make you comfortable and to get a sense of who you are as a person, as well as your communication skills. They’re interested in how you perceive yourself professionally, your career trajectory, and what you’re looking for in your next role.

  • Start by summarizing your professional background.
  • Highlight experiences and skills relevant to the project management role.
  • Be concise and avoid rambling.
  • Include a touch of your personal interests or hobbies to show your human side.
  • Show enthusiasm for the position you’re interviewing for.

Don’ts

  • Recite your entire resume verbatim – they already have that information.
  • Discuss too many personal details not relevant to the job.
  • Spend too much time on this question.
  • Be negative or discuss topics such as previous conflict at work.
  • Talk about sensitive topics such as religion, politics, etc.

Sample Answer:

“I’ve been working in project management for about seven years now. I began my career as a Junior Project Coordinator at XYZ Corp, where I developed my skills in team coordination and project scheduling. Over time, I grew into a full-fledged Project Manager role at ABC Company, managing multiple high-stake projects end-to-end. I particularly enjoy the challenges that come with large, complex projects, and I’ve honed my skills in risk management and problem-solving to successfully deliver them. In addition to my professional interests, I also enjoy hiking and landscape photography, which I find great for developing patience and attention to detail – attributes I find useful in my project management role as well. This opportunity with your company caught my eye because of your innovative approach to project management, especially your use of AI in project tracking.”

2. Why do you want to leave your current position?

This question is often asked by hiring managers to gauge your motivations for leaving your current role and seeking a new one. They want to understand your career goals, your commitment, and your ability to handle professional transitions. This question also helps them identify any potential red flags, such as conflicts or disagreements at work.

  • Be honest but diplomatic in your response.
  • Highlight any opportunities for growth that you see in the new role.
  • Discuss positive aspects about the new company or role that attract you.
  • Maintain a professional tone even when discussing any difficulties in your current role.
  • Keep your answer focused on your professional goals and aspirations.
  • Speak negatively about your current or past employer.
  • Share too many personal details or vent about your current job.
  • Discuss financial motivations as your primary reason for leaving.
  • Give the impression that you change jobs frequently.
  • Indicate any issues with commitment to your role or responsibility.
“While I’ve learned a lot and thoroughly enjoyed my time at my current company, I believe that this is the right time for me to seek new challenges and broaden my horizons. I have a strong interest in your company’s focus on AI-driven project management, which aligns with my own interest in leveraging technology to improve efficiency in project delivery. I see this role as a fantastic opportunity to advance my skills and contribute to a field I am passionate about. I’m not leaving due to any negative issues at my current job, but rather being drawn towards the exciting opportunities that this role presents.”

3. How would your coworkers describe you?

This question is a way for hiring managers to learn about your interpersonal skills, team dynamics, and self-awareness. It’s an opportunity for you to highlight your strengths from a different perspective, but it also requires tact and honesty. They want to see if you’re a good fit for their team and work culture.

  • Highlight qualities that are relevant to the role and the team.
  • Speak honestly about your strengths and positive attributes.
  • Mention any feedback you’ve received from colleagues.
  • Relate your attributes back to the job and its requirements.
  • Talk about how you collaborate and interact with your coworkers.
  • Exaggerate or make up qualities that aren’t true.
  • Only focus on the technical skills – soft skills are equally important.
  • Speak negatively about your coworkers or suggest you didn’t get along.
  • Use generic terms without providing specific examples.
  • Ignore the part of the question about how your coworkers would describe you – it’s not just about your self-perception.
“If you were to ask my colleagues, I believe they’d say I’m a reliable team member who is always ready to put in the extra effort to ensure our project success. They would probably mention my problem-solving skills as well. I often find myself in situations where I have to think quickly and find solutions to unexpected issues. On a more personal level, they would likely describe me as approachable and supportive. I believe in fostering a cooperative work environment, so I always try to be there for my team, whether they need help with a project issue or just a listening ear.”

4. Where do you see yourself in five years?

Hiring managers ask this question to understand your long-term career goals , ambitions, and how this role fits into your overall professional plan. They want to assess your commitment to the industry and the company, and whether your aspirations align with the potential growth opportunities within the organization.

  • Align your future goals with the job and company you’re interviewing for.
  • Showcase ambition, but balance it with realism.
  • Mention specific skills or roles you would like to take on in the future.
  • Convey commitment to the industry and profession.
  • Demonstrate that you’ve thought about your career path.
  • Give an impression that you see this job as a short-term stepping stone.
  • Provide a vague or non-specific answer.
  • Suggest that you plan to switch industries or roles completely.
  • Mention personal or private plans that don’t relate to your career.
  • Overpromise or set expectations that are unrealistic.
“In five years, I see myself growing within the project management field and ideally within this organization. I hope to take on more strategic roles where I can leverage my skills to drive project execution at a higher level. I’m particularly interested in deepening my knowledge of AI-based project management tools, which I believe will shape the future of this industry. I aim to become a leading expert in this area, contributing to the company’s success and innovation.”

5. What is your greatest professional achievement?

By asking this question, a hiring manager is trying to gauge what you consider important in your career and what you consider to be an “achievement” . They’re interested in understanding what motivates you, how you define success , and how your accomplishments could potentially benefit their organization.

  • Highlight an achievement that is relevant to the job you’re interviewing for.
  • Use the STAR method (Situation, Task, Action, Result) to structure your answer.
  • Quantify the results of your achievement, if possible.
  • Show passion and enthusiasm for your achievement.
  • Connect the achievement to the values or goals of the company you’re interviewing with.
  • Choose an achievement that isn’t related to your professional life.
  • Exaggerate or lie about your achievements.
  • Forget to mention the impact of your achievement on the organization or team.
  • Neglect the process or challenges you faced in achieving that result.
  • Overlook the teamwork and collaboration involved in your achievement.
“One of my most significant achievements was leading a large-scale project at my current company that resulted in a 20% reduction in project delivery time. We were tasked with implementing a new project management tool across all departments. I was responsible for overseeing the integration, conducting training sessions, and ensuring the smooth transition from the old system. Despite the initial resistance and the steep learning curve, my team and I managed to successfully complete the implementation within the deadline. The new tool increased the efficiency of our project processes, reducing project delivery time by a fifth and saving significant resources. This experience was incredibly fulfilling, knowing that our efforts had a substantial, positive impact on the company’s efficiency and productivity.”

6. How do you initiate a project? What steps do you usually follow?

Hiring managers pose this question to evaluate your methodology for initiating a project, which offers insight into your strategic thinking, planning skills, and understanding of project management principles. They want to see if you have a systematic approach and if you understand all the necessary steps to kick-start a project effectively.

  • Walk through your typical process in a clear, step-by-step manner.
  • Discuss how you define the project’s scope and objectives.
  • Explain how you identify stakeholders and their needs.
  • Highlight your understanding of risk assessment and planning.
  • Mention how you set timelines, milestones, and allocate resources.
  • Provide a generic answer without specific steps.
  • Forget to mention the importance of communication and stakeholder buy-in.
  • Skip over the planning or risk-assessment stages.
  • Neglect to discuss how you adapt your approach to different projects.
  • Ignore the importance of team involvement and collaboration in initiating a project.
“Initiating a project is a critical phase, and I follow a structured approach to ensure it starts off on the right foot. Firstly, I define the project scope, objectives, and deliverables. What are we trying to achieve? What’s in scope and what’s out? Defining these clearly helps set expectations and guide the entire project. Next, I identify the key stakeholders and initiate dialogues to understand their needs and expectations. Their buy-in is crucial for the project’s success. Once I have the scope and stakeholder buy-in, I develop the project plan. This includes identifying tasks, estimating time and resources needed, and setting timelines and milestones. Simultaneously, I perform a risk assessment to identify potential obstacles and prepare mitigation strategies. Finally, I set up a kick-off meeting with the project team to discuss the plan, delegate tasks, and foster a sense of shared responsibility and excitement about the project. Throughout this process, communication is key – making sure everyone involved understands their roles and the project goals.”

7. Can you describe a project that did not go as planned, and how you managed it?

Hiring managers ask this question to see how you handle setbacks, your problem-solving abilities, and your resilience. They’re interested in understanding your approach to risk management, your ability to adapt and change course when needed, and your capacity to learn from mistakes.

  • Choose a specific example where you faced significant challenges.
  • Use the STAR method (Situation, Task, Action, Result) to describe the situation.
  • Discuss the steps you took to manage the situation.
  • Highlight any lessons learned and how you have applied them since.
  • Show resilience and problem-solving skills in your response.
  • Blame others for the project not going as planned.
  • Choose an example where the project failure was due to a lack of effort or oversight on your part.
  • Skip over what you learned from the experience.
  • Portray the situation as insurmountable or out of your control.
  • Be overly negative or dwell too much on the failure.
“Sure, not every project goes as planned, and I recall a time when we were tasked with implementing a new software system across the organization. Despite our initial timeline and risk assessments, we faced significant pushback from a few departments resistant to the change, and the project was delayed significantly. Rather than forcing the change, we took a step back to reassess our approach. We initiated a series of meetings and workshops with the reluctant teams to better understand their concerns and show the benefits of the new system. We also offered additional training sessions to ease the transition. Concurrently, we revised our project plan and communicated the new timeline and approach to all stakeholders. Despite the initial delays, the project was successfully implemented, albeit on a longer timeline.”

8. How do you handle changes to a project scope or timeline?

The intention behind this question is for hiring managers to understand how adaptable you are in managing project changes. They’re interested in knowing your ability to balance scope modifications with project timelines and resources, and how effectively you communicate these changes to stakeholders and the team.

  • Discuss your approach to evaluating and incorporating changes.
  • Mention your ability to reassess and adjust project plans and resources as needed.
  • Highlight your communication methods for informing stakeholders and team members of changes.
  • Discuss the importance of documenting changes for future reference.
  • Highlight your understanding of the balance between accommodating changes and maintaining the project’s goals.
  • Give an impression that you rigidly resist any changes.
  • Overlook the necessity of stakeholder communication when changes occur.
  • Neglect the aspect of evaluating the impacts of changes on project goals.
  • Ignore the possibility of negotiating or pushing back on changes if necessary.
  • Forget to mention how you manage team stress or concerns regarding changes.
“Managing changes in a project scope or timeline is a common aspect of project management. My approach is first to evaluate the necessity and impact of the proposed changes. This includes reassessing timelines, resources, and the potential effects on the project’s end goals. Once I have a clear understanding, I update the project plan and discuss the changes with the project team. I believe in maintaining transparent communication, so everyone understands why the changes are necessary and how we’ll adapt to them. Next, I communicate these changes to the stakeholders, discussing the reasons behind them and their impact on the project outcomes. I’ve found that being upfront and transparent helps maintain their trust and support. Finally, I document all changes meticulously. This helps in managing any further changes and serves as a learning tool for future projects.”

9. Can you discuss your experience with budget management in projects?

By asking this question, hiring managers want to understand your ability to manage project finances effectively. They’re interested in seeing how you allocate resources, monitor expenditure, and maintain the project within its budget. Your answer can provide them with insights into your planning, strategic thinking, and financial acumen.

  • Discuss specific projects where you were responsible for budget management.
  • Explain your approach to budget planning and allocation.
  • Discuss how you track and control project expenditure.
  • Mention any instances where you had to adjust the budget and how you handled it.
  • Highlight any tools or software you use for budget management.
  • Forget to discuss the importance of communication with stakeholders about budget matters.
  • Ignore the challenges that can arise with budget management.
  • Skip over any steps you take to prevent overspending.
  • Fail to highlight the importance of budget management in successful project delivery.
“Budget management is a key aspect of successful project delivery, and I have considerable experience in this area from my previous roles. I’ve been responsible for the financial management of projects ranging from small initiatives to large-scale, multi-departmental endeavors. My approach to budget management starts with a detailed budget plan at the project’s onset. This involves aligning with the project scope and objectives, estimating costs for resources, and setting aside contingencies for unexpected expenses. I believe in involving key stakeholders during this planning phase to ensure alignment and transparency. Throughout the project, I closely track expenditure against the budget. I use project management tools, which allow for real-time tracking of expenses. If costs begin to exceed budget estimates, I proactively identify the causes and implement corrective measures. This could be reallocating resources, negotiating with vendors, or if necessary, discussing budget adjustments with stakeholders.”

10. How do you manage and motivate a project team during a challenging phase of a project?

This question aims to evaluate your leadership skills , particularly in difficult situations. The hiring manager wants to understand how you maintain team morale, facilitate communication, and lead your team to overcome challenges. Your approach to these situations will provide insight into your management style and emotional intelligence.

  • Discuss specific strategies you use to motivate and manage your team.
  • Emphasize your communication skills and how you use them to keep the team informed and aligned.
  • Share examples of how you’ve successfully managed a team through a challenging project phase.
  • Highlight your ability to maintain a positive environment, even under stress.
  • Discuss your approach to problem-solving and how you involve the team in this process.
  • Give an impression that you ignore or downplay the challenges.
  • Forget to mention how you acknowledge the team’s efforts and hard work.
  • Ignore the aspect of emotional intelligence in managing teams.
  • Overlook the importance of individual team member’s needs and concerns.
  • Fail to discuss how you learn from these challenging situations.
“Managing a project team during challenging times requires a balance of strong leadership, clear communication, and emotional intelligence. In such situations, I first ensure that the team is fully aware of the challenges we’re facing. Transparency fosters trust and makes the team feel involved. We discuss the issues at hand openly, brainstorm possible solutions, and decide on our approach collaboratively. This involvement often leads to innovative solutions and gives the team a sense of ownership over the problem-solving process. To keep morale high, I always emphasize the bigger picture – reminding the team of the value of the project and their critical role in it. I also acknowledge their efforts and celebrate small victories along the way. Personal recognition can go a long way in boosting morale. Finally, I maintain an open-door policy, encouraging team members to voice any concerns or ideas. Understanding their perspective not only helps in managing the current situation but also contributes to my growth as a leader.”

11. How familiar are you with project management methodologies like Agile or Waterfall?

When a hiring manager asks about your familiarity with project management methodologies, they’re looking to understand your practical knowledge and experience. They’re interested in how you’ve used these methodologies in real project situations, your flexibility in adapting to different methods, and your perspective on the best use cases for each.

  • Share your experience with the specific methodologies mentioned.
  • Explain the key principles and benefits of each methodology.
  • Discuss how you’ve used these methodologies in past projects.
  • Highlight your adaptability to use different methodologies as per the project requirements.
  • Discuss how you choose which methodology to use for a particular project.
  • Only provide theoretical knowledge without examples of practical application.
  • Speak negatively about any methodology.
  • Give an impression that you rigidly stick to one methodology without considering project specifics.
  • Overlook the importance of team understanding and buy-in when implementing a methodology.
  • Ignore discussing your continuous learning efforts to stay updated on new project management methodologies and practices.
“In my role as a Project Manager, I’ve had the opportunity to work with both Agile and Waterfall methodologies and have gained substantial understanding and experience in both. Waterfall methodology, with its linear and sequential approach, works well for projects with clearly defined requirements and where changes are less likely. One of the large-scale software implementation projects I led used the Waterfall methodology, as the requirements were well defined and changes were minimal. On the other hand, Agile methodology has been instrumental for projects where requirements are likely to evolve and quick adaptation is needed. In one of my previous roles, we used Scrum, an Agile framework, for software development projects. The iterative approach allowed us to incorporate feedback quickly and deliver value to customers in short sprints. Choosing a methodology largely depends on the project’s nature, team structure, and stakeholder expectations. In my experience, understanding the strengths and limitations of each methodology allows for flexibility and adaptation as per the project requirements”

12. Can you explain how you deal with a team member who is not contributing as expected?

This question allows hiring managers to assess your conflict resolution and people management skills. They’re interested in knowing how you handle underperformance within your team, how you maintain the project’s progress, and ensure a positive work environment. It demonstrates your leadership style and ability to handle sensitive situations.

  • Discuss your approach to understanding the root cause of underperformance.
  • Share how you communicate your expectations and provide constructive feedback.
  • Explain your strategies for supporting and encouraging team members.
  • Describe how you maintain the balance between addressing the issue and preserving team morale.
  • Discuss how you measure performance and track improvement.
  • Give an impression that you ignore or avoid confronting the issue.
  • Be overly harsh or negative about underperforming team members.
  • Neglect the importance of private and respectful conversations.
  • Overlook potential solutions like additional training, reassignment of tasks, or mentorship.
  • Forget to mention how you ensure fairness and consistency in managing performance.
“Dealing with a team member not contributing as expected can be a challenging aspect of project management, but it’s crucial for maintaining the project’s progress and a positive team environment. If a team member’s performance is not up to the mark, my first step is to understand why. This typically involves a private, one-on-one conversation where I communicate my observations and give them an opportunity to share their perspective. It’s important to approach this conversation with empathy and an open mind, as the issue might stem from something outside of their control. Once I understand the root cause, we can work together on a plan to improve their performance. This could involve additional training, mentoring, or potentially reassigning tasks to better match their skills. I believe in giving constructive feedback, setting clear expectations, and providing support to help them improve. Throughout this process, I monitor their performance and provide regular feedback. If the situation doesn’t improve despite our efforts, I’d consider other actions in line with company policies.”

13. What project management tools have you used, and how proficient are you in them?

This question is asked to determine your familiarity with various project management tools, your adaptability to new technologies, and how you leverage these tools to effectively manage and deliver projects. It provides the hiring manager with insights into your technical competency and your ability to work within their operational environment.

  • Mention specific project management tools you’ve used.
  • Explain how you used these tools in your project management work.
  • Discuss your level of proficiency in these tools.
  • Highlight any training or certifications you have related to these tools.
  • Discuss your adaptability to learning and using new tools.
  • Be dishonest about your proficiency level.
  • Only mention the names of the tools without explaining how you used them.
  • Give an impression that you are not willing to learn or adapt to new tools.
  • Forget to discuss how these tools helped improve project efficiency.
  • Neglect to mention any collaboration tools you’ve used along with project management tools.
“In my project management career, I’ve had the opportunity to work with several tools that have greatly enhanced the efficiency and effectiveness of my work. For project scheduling and tracking, I’m proficient in using Microsoft Project. I’ve used it to develop project plans, assign resources, and monitor progress. I’ve also utilized it for risk management and to perform what-if scenario analyses. For more Agile-based projects, I’ve used tools like Jira and Trello for managing tasks, tracking project progress, and maintaining transparency with the team. They’ve been especially helpful in the Scrum methodology, where tasks, backlogs, and sprints need to be managed seamlessly. For team communication and collaboration, I’ve extensively used Slack and Microsoft Teams. They’ve been vital for keeping the team connected, sharing updates, and conducting virtual meetings . In addition, I’ve also used Excel for budget management and Google Drive for document sharing and collaboration.”

14. How do you ensure quality and satisfaction in the project’s deliverables?

This question is aimed at understanding your approach to ensuring the quality of project deliverables and stakeholder satisfaction. Hiring managers are interested in your knowledge and application of quality management principles, how you monitor and measure quality, and your ability to align the project outcomes with stakeholder expectations.

  • Discuss your approach to quality planning at the project’s outset.
  • Describe how you monitor and control quality during the project lifecycle.
  • Talk about your strategy to align deliverables with stakeholder expectations.
  • Mention any quality management tools or methodologies you use.
  • Discuss how you gather feedback and make necessary improvements.
  • Overlook the importance of planning for quality from the beginning.
  • Neglect to mention how you involve the team in maintaining quality.
  • Ignore the role of continuous improvement in quality management.
  • Forget to discuss the importance of clear and regular communication with stakeholders.
  • Fail to mention how you handle situations when deliverables don’t meet quality standards.
“Ensuring quality and satisfaction in a project’s deliverables is a multi-step process that begins right from the planning stage. At the start of the project, I work with stakeholders to understand their expectations and define quality standards for the project deliverables. This sets a clear target for what we aim to achieve. During the project lifecycle, I monitor the quality of work at regular intervals. I use tools and methodologies like the Plan-Do-Check-Act cycle, quality audits, and control charts to measure performance against the set standards. The project team is closely involved in this process, fostering a culture of quality within the team. Communication also plays a crucial role in ensuring stakeholder satisfaction. I keep stakeholders updated on the project’s progress, seek their input where necessary, and address any concerns promptly. This helps in managing their expectations and maintaining their confidence in the project’s direction.”

15. Can you describe how you report project status and progress to stakeholders?

This question aims to gauge your communication skills and how effectively you can keep stakeholders informed about the project’s status and progress. It also helps the hiring manager understand your ability to tailor your communication to different audiences, your transparency, and your skill in managing expectations and building trust with stakeholders.

  • Share your approach to determining what information is important to stakeholders.
  • Explain how you tailor your communication to different stakeholders.
  • Discuss how frequently you communicate project status.
  • Describe the tools or formats you use for reporting.
  • Highlight your commitment to transparency and managing stakeholder expectations.
  • Neglect the importance of regular and timely communication.
  • Overlook the need to tailor your communication to different audiences.
  • Ignore discussing any challenges you’ve faced in reporting and how you’ve overcome them.
  • Forget to mention how you handle negative updates or bad news.
  • Avoid discussing your approach to soliciting feedback from stakeholders.
“Reporting project status and progress to stakeholders is a critical aspect of project management. It not only keeps stakeholders informed but also helps build trust and manage their expectations. At the beginning of the project, I determine what information is important to each stakeholder group.I believe in regular and timely communication. Typically, I provide weekly status updates and monthly detailed reports. However, the frequency and level of detail can vary depending on the project’s phase and stakeholder needs. I maintain transparency in my communication. If there’s bad news, I share it promptly along with a plan for mitigation. I’ve found that stakeholders appreciate honesty and proactive communication. Finally, I use these communications as an opportunity to solicit feedback from stakeholders. Their perspectives can provide valuable insights for ongoing improvement and aligning the project outcomes more closely with their expectations.”

Your Next Steps Toward a Career as a Project Manager

Securing a project management position entails demonstrating a wide range of skills and competencies during the interview. From showcasing your ability to handle project initiation, planning, and execution, to illustrating your aptitude for managing team dynamics, handling changes, ensuring quality, and communicating effectively with stakeholders, each question you answer provides a window into your potential effectiveness as a project manager. 

Remember, each response should be truthful, backed by real-world experiences, and tailored to the job and the company you’re applying to.

Interview Resources

  • 8 Things to Say in an Interview to Impress
  • Answers to “Why Are You the Best Candidate for This Position?”
  • Asking for Feedback After a Job Rejection: Do’s and Don’ts

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15 Questions to Ask During a Project Manager Interview

Anja Simic

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Project managers are responsible for planning, executing, and monitoring projects to ensure their successful completion. That means managing teams, resources, timelines, and budgets– ensuring the objectives are met.

Key facts and data

  • Median salary: The   median salary for a mid-level project manager   is $60,923 (USD) a year.
  • Industry growth: The project management profession is expected to grow by 6% from 2022 to 2032, according to BLS.
  • Typical entry-level education: Most employers require a bachelor's degree in a relevant field, such as business, engineering, or information technology.

With the demand for skilled project managers increasing, it is important for recruiters to ask relevant questions to assess candidates' abilities. In this article, we will provide 15 common interview questions for project managers, along with their aims, key skills assessed, what to look for in answers, and example responses.

1. How do you prioritize tasks in a project?

Aim:   Assess the candidate's ability to manage multiple tasks and prioritize them effectively.

Key skills assessed:   Time management, organizational skills, multitasking.

What to look for:

Look for candidates who mention techniques such as the Eisenhower Matrix or the Critical Path Method, and emphasize the importance of aligning tasks with project objectives and deadlines.

Example answer

"I prioritize tasks by using the Eisenhower Matrix, categorizing them into four quadrants based on their urgency and importance. This helps me focus on high-priority tasks that align with the project's goals."

2. Can you describe your approach to risk management?

Aim:   Evaluate the candidate's understanding of risk identification, assessment, and mitigation.

Key skills assessed:   Risk management, problem-solving, analytical skills.

What to look for

Look for candidates who demonstrate their ability to identify potential risks, assess their impact and likelihood, and develop strategies to mitigate or minimize them.

"I conduct a thorough risk assessment, identifying potential risks and their impact on the project. I then develop contingency plans and regularly monitor and communicate risks to stakeholders to ensure timely mitigation."

3. How do you handle conflicts within a project team?

Aim:   Assess the candidate's interpersonal skills and ability to resolve conflicts in a professional manner.

Key skills assessed:   Communication skills, conflict resolution, leadership.

Look for candidates who emphasize open communication, active listening, and the ability to mediate conflicts to maintain a positive team dynamic.

"I believe in open communication and fostering a collaborative environment. I address conflicts by facilitating respectful discussions, actively listening to all parties involved, and finding mutually agreeable solutions that benefit the project and the team."

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4. How do you ensure effective communication with stakeholders?

Aim:   Evaluate the candidate's ability to manage relationships and communicate project updates and progress.

Key skills assessed:   Communication, stakeholder management, negotiation.

Look for candidates who emphasize the importance of understanding stakeholders' needs, regular communication, and adapting the communication style to different stakeholders.

"I prioritize effective communication with stakeholders by actively engaging with them. I want to understand their expectations, and provide regular project updates through tailored communication channels. I am also open to their feedback and address any concerns or issues promptly."

5. How do you manage project budgets and ensure financial accountability?

Aim:   Assess the candidate's ability to manage project finances and ensure accountability in resources management.

Key skills assessed:   Financial management, budgeting, attention to detail, resourcefulness.

Look for candidates who showcase their experience in budgeting, monitoring expenses, and tracking financial metrics. They should also mention their use of specific software or tools for accurate financial reporting.

"I manage project budgets by developing detailed cost estimates, tracking expenses, and regularly reviewing financial reports. I ensure financial accountability by regularly communicating with the finance team, conducting variance analysis, and making adjustments as necessary."

6. Describe a time when a project faced unexpected challenges and how you handled them.

Aim:   Evaluate the candidate's problem-solving skills and ability to adapt to unexpected situations.

Key skills assessed:   Problem-solving, adaptability, decision-making.

Look for candidates who can provide a specific example, highlight the steps they took to address the challenges, and demonstrate their ability to make effective decisions under pressure.

"During a project, we faced unexpected challenges when a key team member resigned. I quickly assessed the impact, redistributed the workload among the existing team members, and actively communicated with stakeholders to manage expectations. This ensured that the project stayed on track despite the decrease in human resources."

7. How do you ensure that project deliverables meet quality standards?

Aim:   Assess the candidate's understanding of quality management and their commitment to delivering high-quality outcomes.

Key skills assessed:   Quality management, attention to detail, problem-solving.

Look for candidates who emphasize the importance of quality control processes, adherence to standards, and continuous improvement. They should also mention techniques such as quality audits or peer reviews.

"I ensure that project deliverables meet quality standards by implementing quality control processes, conducting regular inspections, and involving stakeholders in the review process. I also encourage a culture of continuous improvement, where lessons learned from previous projects are applied to enhance quality."

8. How do you manage project stakeholders with conflicting priorities?

Aim:   To evaluate the candidate's ability to navigate conflicting priorities and ensure project success.

Key skills assessed:   Stakeholder management, negotiation, influencing.

Look for candidates who demonstrate their ability to understand and align stakeholder expectations, negotiate win-win solutions, and effectively communicate trade-offs when conflicting priorities arise.

"When managing stakeholders with conflicting priorities, I strive to understand their needs and expectations. I schedule meetings to address concerns, facilitate discussions to find common ground, and make transparent decisions based on project objectives. By keeping stakeholders informed and involved, I can navigate conflicting priorities and ensure project success."

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9. How do you handle scope creep in a project?

Aim:   Assess the candidate's ability to manage project scope and prevent scope creep.

Key skills assessed:   Scope management, change management, assertiveness.

Look for candidates who emphasize the importance of defining project scope clearly, engaging stakeholders in scope discussions, and using change management processes to evaluate and manage scope changes.

" I start by defining project scope clearly and involving stakeholders in the scope definition process. When scope changes are requested, I evaluate their impact on project objectives, timelines, and resources. I then follow the change management process, which involves assessing the feasibility of the change, estimating its impact, and obtaining stakeholder buy-in before proceeding."

10. How do you ensure effective collaboration and coordination among project team members?

Aim:   To evaluate the candidate's ability to foster collaboration and coordination in a project team.

Key skills assessed:   Team management, communication skills, leadership.

Look for candidates who emphasize the importance of effective communication, setting clear expectations, and creating a collaborative team culture. They should mention using collaboration tools or project management software to streamline communication and track progress.

"I ensure effective collaboration and coordination among project team members by setting clear expectations, actively promoting open communication, and leveraging collaboration tools such as project management software. Regular team meetings, status updates, and assigning clear roles and responsibilities help create a collaborative and accountable team environment."

11. How do you ensure that projects are delivered on time?

Aim:   Assess the candidate's ability to manage project timelines and ensure timely delivery.

Key skills assessed:   Time management, planning, problem-solving.

Look for candidates who emphasize the importance of effective project planning, setting realistic deadlines, and regularly monitoring progress. They should mention techniques such as creating project schedules, using Gantt charts, or implementing agile methodologies.

"To ensure timely delivery, I start by creating a detailed project schedule that includes all the necessary tasks and milestones. I regularly monitor progress, identify potential delays, and take proactive measures to address them. Using techniques like the Critical Path Method helps me prioritize tasks and ensure deadlines are met."

12. Can you describe a situation where you had to manage competing priorities from multiple projects?

Aim:   Evaluate the candidate's ability to manage multiple projects and prioritize competing priorities.

Key skills assessed:   Time management, prioritization, multitasking.

Look for candidates who can provide a specific example, highlight their approach to managing competing priorities, and demonstrate their ability to balance workload and meet project deadlines.

"I had to manage competing priorities from multiple projects when I was assigned to lead two high-priority initiatives simultaneously. I prioritized tasks by aligning them with project objectives and deadlines. I also delegated tasks to team members based on their strengths and had open communication with stakeholders to manage expectations. By maintaining a clear focus on project outcomes and effectively managing my time, I successfully delivered both projects on schedule."

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13. How do you ensure effective knowledge transfer and documentation at the end of a project?

Aim:   Assess the candidate's understanding of knowledge management and the importance of capturing project learnings.

Key skills assessed:   Knowledge management, documentation, attention to detail.

Look for candidates who emphasize the value of lessons learned, creating documentation, and leveraging project management software or tools for knowledge transfer. They should also mention their approach to capturing and disseminating project knowledge.

"At the end of a project, I ensure effective knowledge transfer by conducting lessons-learned sessions with the project team. We document best practices, challenges encountered, and recommendations for future projects. I also encourage team members to share their individual learnings and insights, and store project documentation in a centralized repository for easy access."

14. Can you describe your experience with managing virtual or remote project teams?

Aim:   Evaluate the candidate's ability to manage virtual or remote teams effectively.

Key skills assessed:   Remote team management, communication, adaptability.

Look for candidates who bring up their experience with remote team management, mention tools or technologies used for virtual collaboration and asynchronous work, and emphasize the importance of clear communication and setting expectations.

"I have experience managing virtual teams across different time zones and locations. To ensure effective collaboration, I use collaborative tools, project management software, and asynchronous communication channels. Establishing clear communication protocols, setting expectations, and providing regular updates help create a cohesive and efficient virtual team environment."

15. How do you stay updated with the latest project management trends and best practices?

Aim:   Assess the candidate's commitment to continuous learning and professional development.

Key skills assessed:   Adaptability, analytical skills, self-motivation.

Look for candidates who mention their involvement in professional associations, participation in project management conferences, or reading industry publications. They should demonstrate a willingness to learn and apply new trends or best practices.

"I am an active member of professional associations such as the Project Management Institute (PMI). I attend seminars, webinars, and conferences, and I dedicate time each week to read industry publications. I also actively seek feedback from colleagues and mentors to continuously improve my skills and knowledge."

By asking these PM interview queries, recruiters can effortlessly assess candidates' skills and expertise. Meanwhile, candidates can ready themselves by knowing exactly how to showcase their experiences, accomplishments, and expertise relevant to the project manager position.

Additional resources

  • Project Manager Job Description Template : Use this customizable template for your open roles and attract the right candidates worldwide.
  • Recruitment Email Template Package : use these email templates to set up your recruitment comms in no time.
  • International Hiring Guide : Stay in the know with a free guide to hiring and paying an international workforce.

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How To Answer Project Management Interview Questions

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Andrew Conrad

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A good project manager has excellent communication, organization, and problem solving skills. Here’s how to put all of that on display during an interview.

As a project management job candidate, you already know what type of bad interview answers to avoid from a mile away. (“My biggest weakness is that I’m a perfectionist!”)

But it can be a little harder to prepare for some of the curveball questions hiring managers like to throw at candidates just to see how good they are on their toes. As a project manager job candidate preparing for your next big interview, it’s imperative that you’re prepared to show hiring managers that you communicate well, possess exceptional organizational and problem solving skills, can negotiate and mediate, and that you’re a natural leader.

To be clear, hiring managers don’t want to stump candidate after candidate with their clever questions. In fact, our 2021 Recruiting Strategy survey (methodology below) found that more than half of the recruiters surveyed are finding that it takes more time than usual to fill job openings, and that a lack of qualified job seekers is their biggest obstacle to hiring. Don’t you think that they’d much rather find someone who can answer their project management interview questions successfully so that they can hire that qualified candidate (you!) and then move on to filling the next opening?

However, it’s not only a laborious, time consuming process for hiring managers. According to Indeed , the average job seeker spends between five to 10 hours preparing for a single job interview. In this article, we’ll help you make the most of that preparation time so that you’re ready to ace the interview and get hired.

How to answer 7 common project management interview questions

It takes essentially a full day of work (on top of the full time job that you may already have) just to prepare for something that may not even lead to a new job. And assuming that you’ll go through multiple interviews before landing your next job, that extra time can really add up and become a drain on your resources. That’s why it’s so important to prepare for multiple project management interviews in the most efficient way possible.

Your interview shouldn’t be an oral version of the PMP exam . After all, our 2021 Emotional Intelligence in the Workplace survey (methodology below) found that less than 10% of the more than 500 full-time project managers surveyed were not certified and did not plan to get certified.

What is the PMP?

The PMP, or Project Management Professional, is a leading project management certification offered by the Project Management Institute. It ensures that candidates are highly skilled with project management people (soft) skills, process (technical) skills, and business environment (organizational) skills. Learn more about the PMP and the PMP exam here.

That means that proving your certification bona fides and technical skills is more of a checklist item to get into the interview in the first place rather than a way to differentiate yourself from the other candidates.

That’s why a good project manager interview is more about exhibiting your soft skills—how well you can lead and work within a project team, communicate, and mediate—than it is about proving your budgeting and scheduling skills or waxing poetic about agile project management.

“In general, (a candidate’s) replies should indicate that (they’re) a problem solver, and ethical person, and handle people well,” says Ferenc Csizmás , a PMP in Budapest.

In other words, you want to show the decision-maker sitting across the table from you that you work well with others while leading successful projects. (No sweat, right?)

Don’t worry: These seven project management interview questions—along with specific guidelines on what to touch on in your answer—will help you stand out from the crowd and get a call back after your next project management interview.

Let’s get started.

1. can you tell me about your organizational skills.

Other versions of this interview question:

How do you prioritize your workload?

When have your organizational skills helped keep a project on track?

How do you organize an average workweek?

There’s no such thing as a disorganized, successful project. You might get lucky and have a project that manages to be a success despite running into a bunch of issues, but at some point every project needs someone to take charge of timelines, budget, and scope.

It’s not so important exactly which system you use to stay organized, as long as you show the interviewer(s) that you have a system to stay organized in the first place. Mobile task management app ? Desktop software? Spreadsheet? Notepad? A combination of all of the above?

Any system is fine, as long as you can make a strong case that it has worked and it will continue to work in the environment you’ll be working in moving forward. Bonus points if you can illustrate this with real-world examples: “I check my project management app on the train every morning to see which tasks need to be completed that day. In fact, last month I saved a project from falling behind schedule with this system.”

The last thing you want to do is to tell the hiring manager that you just sit back and wait for problems to arise and then try to put out the fires.

What to display

Specific stories that demonstrate how you keep projects on track, whether it’s with a specific project management system or your own hybrid of separate apps (task management, collaboration, etc.) If you’re struggling to come up with these examples, ask a senior coworker or manager/mentor for ideas. It’s easy to get so caught up in your work routine that you don’t even notice your own highlights.

2. Tell me about a time when your stakeholders didn’t agree on a project. How did you proceed?

Tell me about your experience managing up to senior stakeholders.

How do you encourage cooperation on your teams?

Which soft skills are most important for a good project manager to have?

Monster.com notes that companies are interested in project managers who can inspire cooperation between all parties.

Interviewers are likely to ask you this question to draw out stories that will reveal whether you have the necessary soft skills to deal with friction on the job. Past work experience foreshadows future work behaviors, so come armed with examples that show how your personality, priorities, and skills help resolve conflict and move a project forward.

Try to recall stories from your previous project management experience that underscore your mediation skills, making sure to provide the context and outline the actions you took in response, and how those actions helped ensure the success of the project.

“One of my favorite questions is ‘Tell me about the most challenging project you’ve ever lead and how you overcame challenges (and) issues?’ Then let them talk. I’ll jot down a couple follow-up questions, but that question has uncovered a lot for me,” says Jason Orloske , a VP of operations in Fargo, ND.

Try to avoid vague, evasive answers, or talking about how you had to get tough with a stakeholder to resolve a conflict. Remember, yelling at someone isn’t a soft skill.

Evidence of a soft touch that can be used to resolve conflicts and mediate between parties. Start by thinking of projects you worked on that didn’t go as planned where miscommunication led to that project failure. Talk about how you acted as an intermediary and the approach you took to bridge communication gaps, even if the project still ultimately failed. You’re not trying to prove that you can save every single project (because you can’t); you’re trying to demonstrate the actions you took as a project manager to give your projects the best chance to succeed.

3. Have you ever experienced project failure? What happened?

Tell me about a time you failed.

What’s a challenging situation you experienced while working on a project? How did you deal with it? What did you learn?

Can you think of a time where you learned from your mistakes?

It happens to everyone: A project went too far out of scope, became too expensive, or was behind on delivery—and ultimately failed. And if this hasn’t happened to you yet, it probably just means that you haven’t worked on enough projects.

The important thing is that you don’t look at project failures on your watch as something to hide or be ashamed of, but as an opportunity to illustrate how you learn and grow from mistakes. Interviewers generally ask this question to see how you respond to setbacks, not to find out if you have a 100% project success rate.

Lily Zhang of The Muse suggests that if you can’t give a realistic answer (“I’ve actually never experienced project failure!”), the interviewer is unlikely to trust you enough to bring you into their organization.

Come to the interview equipped with a couple stories of how you dealt with project setbacks or outright failures, and be straightforward about what happened, even if it was partly your fault. Avoid trying to downplay your responsibility or shifting blame, and explain what you learned from the experience and how you’ve applied it to future projects.

Evidence of how you respond positively to adversity and failure, along with the lessons you learned from those situations. The Project Management Institute found that only around 70% of projects met their original goals, while more than 10% of projects were deemed complete failures. Discuss project failures as evidence of your experience, using the lessons you learned as badges of honor.

4. What projects do you not want to work on?

What kinds of projects interest you the most? Why?

Do you work better with introverted or extroverted people?

Tell us about a project that you didn't find enjoyable.

Every project manager would like to believe they can handle any type of project, from agriculture to aerospace, working with every type of person. But the reality is that most project managers have strengths and weaknesses, with preferred industries and types of projects they excel at.

If you tell an interviewer that you love managing projects in any setting and you’re an ace at every type of project, they’ll mentally move on to their next interview.

Good candidates are honest. Are you more of a software development project manager, or have you thrived with creative media campaigns? If you’ve never worked on a manufacturing floor, let the interviewer know that, even if the job might involve that type of work. If you’re honest, and the interview goes well, those experience gaps might not be so important.

Be comfortable telling the interviewer what you like and dislike; that way when you’re hired, your new manager will know where your strengths lie and how they can help you build experience in other areas.

The industries and project types you have experience with (IT? Creative? Construction?) as well as a willingness to admit where you lack experience and want to grow. Another way to frame this answer is to discuss types of projects that you want to work on but haven’t yet had the opportunity. Don’t dodge the question by avoiding discussing project types that you don’t like, but transition into projects that you do want to work on to display your versatility and willingness to learn and grow.

5. Are you familiar with project management software?

Which project management tools have you worked with? Do you have a software preference?

How do you like to document your project progress?

Do you have an IT background? Can you code?

Project management software is used everywhere. And it's not just for highly technical organizations. Our research shows that every industry from marketing to healthcare (and everything in-between) uses project management software.

More importantly, 92% of those organizations are happy with their project management tool. So if you have actual experience with a company’s project management tool of choice, you could be putting yourself at the head of the class of candidates.

Come prepared with a list of the project management software you've used in the past, what you like and dislike about different project management systems, and how you plan to use project management software to manage projects at the company you’re interviewing with.

Your experience with various project management software and technology, and how you plan to apply that experience to the system that your prospective employer is already using. Our buyers guide can help you get up to speed with all the basics of project management software, from common features to recent trends, and our project management software shortlist can help you familiarize yourself with the top options in the market.

6. How do you deal with difficult team members?

What do you do as a project leader when team members struggle to complete their project tasks on time?

How do you handle insubordination, team infighting, and/or poor team communication?

How do you deal with rude clients?

Project management flows a lot smoother when everyone is meeting deadlines and producing quality results. Unfortunately, there will always be times when some individuals struggle to deliver. Hiring managers want to know how you plan to deal with these interpersonal and personnel issues before they’re comfortable adding you to their team.

You’ll want to display that you have an innate understanding of the proper approach to dealing with difficult team members who communicate poorly, miss deadlines, produce low-quality work, or all of the above. You can score bonus points by providing examples of how you helped improve the work processes of team members in previous roles.

"Most good PM [interview] questions will be scenario questions (e.g., What would you do in this situation?) and better yet, would be role plays requiring the candidate to pitch a recommendation," says Kiron Bondale , PMP and Agile coach.

How you would use your soft skills to deal with difficult situations and difficult project team members to save a project. For bonus points, talk about how you approach these difficult situations in a remote environment—for example, when to use a video call instead of a direct message in your collaboration tool— since so many project teams are now dispersed . It’s also a good idea to include some strategies that you’ve used in the past to bridge a communication gap or resolve a conflict.

7. How many gas stations are in New York City?

Other versions of this interview question (sourced from Glassdoor interview accounts ):

How many grand pianos do you think there are in Austin, and tell me how you arrived at that number?

How have you defied complacency?

Your project sponsor walks into your office on Monday morning and tells you that you can double your budget because she's leaving the company to join the circus and she doesn't care what you do with the money. What do you do next?

Good project managers will be able to thoughtfully answer questions that seemingly come out of nowhere. But your interviewer isn’t just trying to catch you off guard to make you uncomfortable and watch you squirm.

They’re trying to assess your business acumen and problem-solving skills with a disguised case study question. Don’t waste time or energy trying to memorize exact answers to questions like these—that’s not the point. Just be prepared to ask follow-up questions (Do private gas stations count? Marine gas stations? Should the number include closed gas stations or gas stations that are under construction?) and attempt to reason out a ballpark guess.

Take notes, ask questions, stay calm, use logic and creativity, and come up with a reasonable estimate. You're not trying to guess the exact number of jellybeans in the jar, you're trying to show that you’re capable of taking on an unexpected challenge.

The ability to stay composed in an unexpected situation, along with the ability to apply past experience to a unique problem on the fly. If you have enough time, come prepared with a few brain teasers of your own . This serves two purposes: You might be able to remove the element of surprise that your interviewer is trying to spring on you, but you can also share some of your favorites to break the ice and show that you enjoy thinking critically through problems.

Get up to speed for your new project manager job

Now that you've used these questions to nail the project manager interview and secure your great new project management job, make sure you have all the resources you need to thrive and contribute to the success of your new organization.

We've got you covered on our project management blog. Start here:

4 Steps To Build an Effective Project Risk Management Process

What Is Project Risk Management? Here’s Everything You Need To Know

How To Manage Risks: A Guide for Project Managers

Methodology

Capterra conducted the Emotional Intelligence in the Workplace Survey in December 2021 of 528 U.S.-based professionals who manage projects at their small to midsize business. Respondents were screened for employment status (full-time), size of business (two to 500 employees), and involvement in project management (extremely involved).

The Capterra Recruiting Strategy Survey was conducted in July 2021. We collected 300 responses from workers with recruiting responsibilities at U.S. employers. The goal of this survey was to learn how much companies are struggling with recruiting and hiring, and what solutions they’ve considered to improve recruiting and hiring outcomes.

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About the author.

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Andrew Conrad is a senior content writer at Capterra, covering business intelligence, retail, and construction, among other markets. As a seven-time award winner in the Maryland, Delaware, D.C. and Suburban Newspapers of America editorial contests, Andrew’s work has been featured in the Baltimore Sun and PSFK. He lives in Austin with his wife, son, and their rescue dog, Piper.

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69 project manager interview questions to ask top candidates

69 project manager interview questions to ask top candidates

Does your team need a confident and skilled project manager to lead and manage complex tasks? Are you struggling to find the best methods to review your applicants? The two most straightforward approaches include using a skills test and interviewing candidates with a pre-set list of questions. 

Head to our test library for the best Project Management skills test to assess your candidates. You can use the test directly after sourcing applicants, which will help you figure out who to invite to an interview. 

Then, you can use some of the 69 project manager interview questions below to gain a deeper understanding of your applicants’ skills. 

Create your list with the help of our questions and interview candidates effortlessly.

Table of contents

25 general project manager questions to ask applicants, 7 general project manager interview questions and answers, 23 project manager questions about definitions, 7 project manager interview questions and answers related to definitions, 21 situational project manager questions to ask candidates, 7 situational project manager interview questions and answers, what are the most important skills for project managers and how can you assess them, what are the advantages of using skills tests before interviewing project managers, hire the best project manager to help your team succeed.

25 general project manager questions

Here are 25 general project manager interview questions with which you can start the interview. These will enable you to evaluate whether your applicants have the right foundational knowledge and project management abilities to match your requirements.

What is your definition of a perfect project?

Would you consider yourself prepared for remote team management?

Which skills are essential for project managers?

Which skills do you need to improve as a project manager?

Describe the most challenging projects you’ve been in charge of.

Name the biggest mistake of your recent project management career.

Describe a project that failed. How did you handle it, and what did you learn?

Explain what you understand by team forming.

Describe your leadership style.

Describe your communication style.

Explain how you offer feedback to your team.

Explain how you would manage team performance.

Explain how you motivate individuals within a team.

Explain how you delegate effectively.

Name three short-term career goals you hope to achieve as a project manager.

How do you know who a stakeholder is in your business?

Explain why maintaining a traceability matrix is essential.

Describe the most successful project your team has completed.

Which skills are essential for implementing an escalation path?

Describe your most recent project.

Why are leadership skills necessary for project managers?

Why is time management important for project managers?

Which approach would you use to start a new project management job on the right foot?

Explain why being proactive is vital for project managers.

Name six risks you may encounter in a project.

general project manager interview questions and answers

Below, we’ve provided answers to the top seven questions from the previous section. Use the sample responses to review your candidates’ general project management experience and knowledge.

1. Would you consider yourself prepared for remote team management?

When answering this project management interview question, applicants may cite specific problems they are prepared to handle when managing remote teams. 

Can your candidates help team members overcome isolation and distractions, and deal with the lack of in-person supervision? Can they set up regular meetings, encourage social interactions, support remote team members who may experience stress, and be empathetic?

2. Which approach would you use to start a new project management job on the right foot?

There are several critical approaches your applicants may use to begin a new project management job successfully. 

The first step your applicant may mention is to learn the role’s demands. They must also understand their client’s requirements and their team members’ abilities. Your candidates must also know how to take the initiative and develop new skills on the job.

3. Why are leadership skills important for project managers?

Leadership skills are critical for project managers, but can your applicants explain why? Do they know that being able to motivate and inspire team members are two fundamental leadership subskills that can encourage a team to meet its targets? 

When responding to this project manager interview question, candidates may also discuss their leadership style. For instance, a project manager may favor a coaching style over a democratic leadership style or vice-versa. 

Assess your applicants’ leadership skills with a Leadership and People Management test .

4. Why is time management important for project managers?

Precise time estimates require exceptional time management skills. 

If the next project manager you hire has the right time management skills, they should be able to avoid delays during project completion. They should understand that time management skills can help teams prevent schedule overruns. 

Consider our Time Management skills test if you need to review your applicants’ time management skills.

5. Which skills do you need to improve as a project manager?

Not every project manager will have every skill you need them to have. As long as they’re working to improve their skills, that’s okay. 

For example, let’s suppose your applicant lacks remote team management expertise. In that case, they may seek additional training when they join your organization or even look for ways to gain some experience at their current position, before they change jobs.

6. Explain how you motivate individuals within a team.

From offering praise to career advice, your applicants should have their methods to motivate others. In coordination with team leads, project managers may also offer bonuses to employees who have achieved exceptional results. 

Whichever method they have used in the past, consider the outcome on team members’ motivation and ask applicants whether the team’s performance was positively impacted. 

7. How do you know who a stakeholder is in your business?

Skilled project managers should know who the stakeholders in a business are and how to identify them from the start. 

There are several methods a candidate may mention. For instance, your candidate may assess whether a person supplies resources, supports the team, provides guidelines, or allocates funds to learn whether they are a stakeholder in the business.

23 project manager questions on definitions

There are 23 project manager interview questions about definitions in this section. Ask your applicants some of these questions to gauge their technical project management knowledge.

Explain what risk is in a project.

Explain what an issue is in a project.

Explain what RAID means in project management.

Define gold plating in project management.

Explain what monitoring a project involves.

Explain what controlling refers to in project management.

Explain the difference between monitoring and controlling a project.

Define EVM in project management.

Define stakeholder analysis.

Define and explain what a power-interest grid is.

Explain what a fishbone diagram is.

Explain what work breakdown structure refers to.

Define the Pareto principle .

Explain what a traceability matrix is.

Explain what a project is.

Explain what a program means.

Explain what portfolio means.

Define risk impact.

Define risk probability.

Explain what the triple constraint triangle refers to.

Explain what budget management refers to.

What is fast-tracking?

What is crashing?

project manager interview questions and answers related to definitions

Below, you’ll find the answers to seven of the project manager interview questions about definitions. Use them to determine whether your candidates are a good match to the position.

1. Explain the difference between monitoring and controlling a project.

Even though they both enable project managers to ensure projects run smoothly, there is one critical difference between monitoring and controlling a project. While monitoring a project involves pinpointing the inconsistencies between the baseline and the results of a project, controlling involves highlighting the options to repair project deviations. 

2. Name five items you always include in your project plan.

Skilled project managers should understand that several actions can make project planning easier, such as to: 

Evaluate the project’s requirements

Consider the scope and budget

Estimate costs

Focus on the schedule 

Monitor the project

3. Explain what controlling refers to in project management.

Controlling is an important aspect of project management, and your applicants should be able to outline what it means. Can they explain that finding and suggesting options to correct any deviations from the project is a critical aspect of controlling that enables the project to run efficiently?

4. Explain what work breakdown structure refers to.

Do your applicants understand that the work breakdown structure (also known as a WBD) enables project managers to identify the critical elements that make up a project? Are they aware that the WBD also refers to the outline of the sub-activities that contribute to the project? 

Capable project managers should also know that a WBD uses a hierarchical structure and that sub-activities are placed underneath the core activities.

5. Explain what RAID means in project management.

Candidates should know that RAID refers to the risks, actions, issues, and decisions that make up a project. Knowledgeable project managers will also know that a RAID log helps project organizers to track and monitor the risks and issues and make decisions for projects in an efficient way. Check whether your candidates can define the four parts of the RAID acronym and if they have used this concept to manage projects.

6. Explain what a power-interest grid is.

Can your interviewees explain that a power-interest grid is an excellent method to classify and distinguish stakeholders? As a project manager plots the stakeholder on the grid, it’s easy to find their respective power position in the business. Applicants should know that power-interest grids use different categories, helping project managers to identify each stakeholder’s role and relevance to the project. 

7. Explain what the triple constraint triangle refers to.

Since the triple constraint triangle is critical in helping project managers handle restrictions in a project, look for candidates who understand what it refers to. Applicants should be able to highlight the three essential aspects of the triple constraint triangle, which are time, money, and scope. Check whether your candidates understand why each triple constraint is necessary for project planning and completion.

situational project manager questions to ask candidates

Here are 21 situational project manager interview questions you can ask your candidates to determine how they respond to challenging situations.

Which method would you use to implement EVM for a project?

Which techniques would you use to explain a project’s scope?

How would you prioritize tasks efficiently?

You notice that a project is not progressing as planned. How do you rectify this?

You notice that two team members have clashed. How do you handle this?

In which situation would you choose to escalate an issue?

Which is your favorite project management software?

Name four motivational theories that you could use to keep your team inspired.

A team member finds it difficult to arrange face-to-face meetings. How do you handle this challenge?

Which method would you use to review the responsibilities you have delegated?

Which method would you use to set team goals?

Your project’s scope is changing. How do you handle this?

Which time management method would you use to complete projects on time?

How do you remain proactive when making decisions?

Name five steps you would take to manage project risk.

Which method would you use to handle the execution of a project?

Which approach would you use to address the underperformance of a team member?

Which approach would you use to handle a challenging stakeholder?

Have you ever had to tackle scope creep? Which method did you use?

Which method would you use if your clients were dissatisfied with your team’s work?

How do you earn your team’s trust as a project manager?

situational project manager interview questions and answers

Use the answers to these seven situational project manager interview questions to assess your applicants’ responses and see whether they have what it takes to succeed in your company.

1. Which method would you use to implement EVM for a project?

Not only should applicants know what EVM refers to, but they should also know how to implement it effectively. Do your candidates know that EVM is short for earned value management? Are they aware that this method helps project managers determine if there are any discrepancies in the project? 

Skilled applicants should understand that a project schedule is one of the most straightforward methods to use EVM. A project manager’s schedule should list every activity, the beginning and end date, and the budget.

2. Which approach would you use to address the underperformance of a team member?

Project managers can take several essential steps to handle the underperformance of a team member. Can your applicants name them? 

Some of the key ways to address a team member’s insufficient performance include to:

Have an informal chat with them

Get to the root cause of the poor performance

Offer the right support and advice

Suggest a change of roles or tasks

Assist the team member in adjusting to the role

3. Which approach would you use to handle a challenging stakeholder?

Several steps can help project managers handle challenging stakeholders. Do your candidates know which approaches they can use to achieve this? 

Some of the main approaches they can use are to:

Understand the requirements of the stakeholder

Meet with the stakeholder regularly

Learn the factors that drive or motivate them

Share their point of view and discuss approaches

Sharing their team’s point of view 

4. Name five steps you would take to manage project risk.

Risk planning is critical for project managers. The process can minimize project issues and increase the chances of success. 

Can your candidates explain the five critical steps required to manage risk successfully? These are to: 

Discover the main risks

Analyze the risks and other potential challenges

Prioritize the order in which the team should handle each risk

Create a risk response

Monitor the risks 

5. What is your favorite project management tool?

Several software tools are available to help project managers in their work. Look for signs that your applicant has used different project management software tools in recent projects. For example, applicants may mention that they have used ProjectManager’s Gantt charts or the Gantt charts in GanttPro. Look for candidates who know the advantages and disadvantages of different tools and are able to explain the reasoning behind their choice.

6. How would you prioritize tasks efficiently?

Since task prioritization is critical, listen for signs that your candidates can handle it successfully to meet deadlines. 

When explaining how they prioritize tasks efficiently, applicants may mention a few methods, including the following:

List every task and responsibility required

Distinguish between urgent and less-urgent tasks

Weigh up how important each task is

Put the tasks in order depending on their importance

Be prepared to switch priority if new tasks are more urgent

7. Name four motivational theories that you could use to keep your team inspired.

Does your applicant understand which motivational theories are essential to help drive their teams to success? Candidates may mention the following examples when responding to this interview question:

Maslow’s motivation theory

Vroom’s expectancy theory 

Herzberg’s two-factor theory

McClelland’s human motivation theory

Project managers’ most important skills include leadership, problem-solving, critical thinking, communication, and time management, among others.

The fastest and most efficient method to assess these vital skills is to use a skills assessment. If you use TestGorilla, you can combine up to five tests in a single assessment to get a precise idea of your applicants’ strengths. 

Here are some of the tests you may consider:

important skills for project managers

1. Leadership and People Management test

Review your applicants’ leadership and management skills, including planning, support, guidance, feedback, and delegation, by using our Leadership and People Management test. You’ll also find out which applicants are eager to lead and can align the team members’ abilities with the targets of your organization.

2. Problem-solving test

Assess your applicants’ ability to find the right solutions to problems using our Problem-solving test . Find out whether applicants can create schedules, analyze information to solve complex problems, and apply logic to implement decisions.

3. Critical-thinking test

When hiring for a project management role, you need to assess whether applicants are able to use their analytical skills to assess a situation and judge it correctly. Learn whether your next project manager can use deductive reasoning, observe relationships between cause and effect, and evaluate information effectively when managing projects and teams with a Critical-thinking test .

4. Communication test

Use our Communication skills test to determine whether your next project manager has the right communication skills to interact with their team and stakeholders easily. 

With our test, you can learn if your applicants can handle the responsibilities of the job: Are they able to provide clear information about a project’s next steps, use active listening, and understand written communication? 

5. Time-management test

From prioritization to planning, there are several skills you can review with our Time-management test. Find out whether your candidates have the right time management skills to lead projects to completion within a specific timeframe. 

Recommended reading: 10 qualities of a top project manager you should know

There are several advantages of testing applicants’ skills before interviewing them. 

Not only does this method help you avoid unconscious bias, but it also ensures you pick the best candidates for your organization, projects, and team based on their actual performance and test results rather than on information in their CVs. 

Plus, you can evaluate several skills at the same time, which gives you a full overview of your applicants’ abilities. At the bottom of your hiring funnel, you’ll have no problem choosing between two candidates who perform equally well during the interview phase: Simply check their test scores to see who is better. 

Even though a skilled project manager can be difficult to find, with some preparation and the right hiring tools, you can make the process much simpler. Use skills testing and the right project manager interview questions and you’ll be sure to hire the perfect match.

When you use skills tests such as the Project-management test , remember to always administer them at the first opportunity you get, i.e. immediately after candidates apply for your open position. This way, you can quickly eliminate unskilled applicants and only spend time with the best of the bunch. Plus, you’ll be able to limit bias and speed up hiring. 

Use TestGorilla’s assessments and the interview questions in this article to assess your applicants and hire the best project manager for your organization. 

Sign up for a TestGorilla free plan .

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Project Manager Interview Questions

The most important interview questions for Project Managers, and how to answer them

Getting Started as a Project Manager

  • What is a Project Manager
  • How to Become
  • Certifications
  • Tools & Software
  • LinkedIn Guide
  • Interview Questions
  • Work-Life Balance
  • Professional Goals
  • Resume Examples
  • Cover Letter Examples

Interviewing as a Project Manager

Types of questions to expect in a project manager interview, behavioral questions, technical project management questions, case study and scenario-based questions, leadership and team management questions, stakeholder management and communication questions, preparing for a project manager interview, how to prepare for a project manager interview.

  • Research the Company and Its Industry: Gain a deep understanding of the company's projects, industry, and the specific challenges it faces. This insight will allow you to tailor your responses to show how your skills can address their unique needs.
  • Master Project Management Methodologies: Be prepared to discuss various project management methodologies such as Agile, Waterfall, PRINCE2, and how you have applied them in past projects. Highlighting your flexibility and adaptability in using different methodologies is crucial.
  • Review Your Project Portfolio: Be ready to discuss specific projects you have managed, challenges you faced, how you overcame them, and the outcomes. Use the STAR (Situation, Task, Action, Result) technique to structure your responses.
  • Understand the Tools of the Trade: Familiarize yourself with common project management software and tools such as Microsoft Project, JIRA, Asana, or Trello. Be prepared to discuss how you have used these tools to manage projects effectively.
  • Prepare for Behavioral Questions: Expect questions about how you handle conflict, manage teams, and communicate with stakeholders. Reflect on past experiences where you demonstrated leadership and problem-solving skills.
  • Develop Questions for the Interviewer: Prepare thoughtful questions that show your interest in the company's approach to project management and how they measure success. Inquiring about their expectations for the role can also demonstrate your forward-thinking mindset.
  • Conduct Mock Interviews: Practice with a mentor, friend, or colleague to refine your answers, get comfortable with your delivery, and receive constructive feedback.
  • Review Financial and Business Acumen: Brush up on your understanding of business cases, ROI, budget management, and resource allocation, as these are often relevant to project management discussions.

Stay Organized with Interview Tracking

project manager interview questions problem solving

Project Manager Interview Questions and Answers

"how do you initiate a new project", how to answer it, example answer, "how do you manage project scope and avoid scope creep", "describe your approach to project scheduling and time management.", "can you give an example of how you've managed a project budget", "how do you handle stakeholder communication and reporting", "how do you lead and motivate your project team", "describe a time when you had to manage a high-risk project.", "how do you ensure quality in your projects", which questions should you ask in a project manager interview, good questions to ask the interviewer, "can you describe the project management methodologies the team employs and how they are chosen for each project", "what are the primary challenges your project teams are facing, and how could someone in this role help to address them", "how does the company measure project success, and what role does the project manager play in achieving those metrics", "can you tell me about opportunities for professional development and advancement for project managers within the company", what does a good project manager candidate look like, leadership and team management, organizational abilities, risk management, communication and stakeholder engagement, adaptability and problem-solving, technical proficiency, results-oriented mindset, interview faqs for project managers, what is the most common interview question for project managers, what's the best way to discuss past failures or challenges in a project manager interview, how can i effectively showcase problem-solving skills in a project manager interview.

Project Manager Job Title Guide

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Related Interview Guides

Driving agile teams to deliver high-value projects, fostering adaptability and growth

Driving tech projects from concept to completion, ensuring efficiency and quality

Orchestrating multiple projects, ensuring alignment with strategic objectives and goals

Orchestrating project details, ensuring smooth execution from inception to completion

Leading agile teams, optimizing workflow and ensuring timely, quality project delivery

Driving tech projects from conception to completion, ensuring efficiency and innovation

Start Your Project Manager Career with Teal

Job Description Keywords for Resumes

Table of Contents

Most popular project management interview questions, project management interview questions and answers, project management interview questions on domain knowledge , project manager interview questions on clear communication, project manager interview questions on consistency and integrity, project manager interview questions on customer orientation, project manager interview questions on developing others, project manager interview questions on effective delegation, project manager interview questions on goal focus, project manager interview questions on managing ambiguity and risks, project manager interview questions on prioritizing and time management, project manager interview questions on proactive decision making, miscellaneous project management questions and answers, wrapping up, top 70+ project manager interview questions and answers.

Top 70+ Project Manager Interview Questions and Answers

In a project manager interview, you will be asked questions that will test your knowledge of people skills, technical abilities, and response to specific scenarios. Senior executives and HR managers recognize project management as indispensable to business success. They know that skilled and credentialed project managers are among their most valuable resources.

The Project Management Institute reports in a survey that in the U.S., over $122 million gets wasted for every $1 billion invested due to poor project performance. When it comes to hiring certified project managers , things get a little tricky, and candidates are reviewed in several ways. Will the candidate fit into the culture of the organization? Will the candidate get along with other team members and lead them effectively? Will the candidate deliver on the project goals on time?

Getting through an interview successfully is both an art and a science. There are a lot of unknowns, but focusing on key areas or competencies and giving the right answers to the questions based on them in the interview helps you get selected. The video below will take you through some of the most popular questions that you may face in your Project Manager interviews. Here we discuss the list of most popular questions you can expect in an interview and how you can frame your answers.

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1. Tell us about your most successful project.

2. How do you define an ideal project? 

3. Define processes and process groups in a project management framework. 

4. When would you escalate an issue?

5. What’s the difference between project monitoring and controlling?

6. What are stakeholder analysis and Power-Interest Grid used for?

7. How do you monitor and review the delegated responsibilities?

8. What is a traceability matrix?

9. What are the steps for efficient risk planning?

10. What is the difference between risk impact and risk probability?

Here are a few questions that you are likely to encounter in your interview as a project manager. Use this list for inspiration when preparing stories based on your past experiences. 

1. Tell us about yourself.

It is a common question that the interview usually starts with. The interviewer aims to summarize your journey and your primary skills to determine the follow-up questions and establish how well you might fit into the role. 

An excellent answer to this question would be to mention your present status, then go into the past with the companies you have worked for, at what positions, your strengths and the number of successful projects you have worked on. Do mention your years of experience; if you are a fresher, elaborate on your education. Finish the answer by mentioning your professional goals or what you hope to achieve at this job.

2. Can you briefly tell us about the last project you worked on?

The interviewer is looking for some aspects in your answer to place your seniority, determine the type of projects you have experience working on, your working style, the size of the team you handled and so on.

Start by mentioning the crucial points of the project. Ensure to include the team size, goal, deliverables and the approach used to complete it. Elaborate on the result by using some key statistics and metrics attained by the end of it. It is good to answer honestly and mention things that went well and anything you learned.

3. Tell us about an incident where something went wrong in your project while you were managing it.

Challenges often arise in projects. The interviewer's main aim here is to know the nature of the problem and how you dealt with it. They want to understand if you can work under pressure and your strategy to deal with unforeseen setbacks.

Describe the project, the problem, and why it went wrong. Follow this up with the solution that you were expected to execute. This is where you will elaborate on how you tackled the problem and mention how it solved it, the project's outcomes, and what you learned from it. 

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4. Tell us about your most successful project.

The recruiter wants to understand your definition of success through this question. While meeting the budget, deadlines, goals and deliverables are essential elements of success, it could also be incorporating change, tackling problems, adapting to change, and so on.

You can use this chance to elaborate on your strengths. While telling your success story, elaborate on your role and contributions, and acknowledge your team's efforts. Mention any critical factors that led to the success of the project.

5. Do you have any experience with budget management?

A specific question like this is aimed at understanding your skills. If you do not have any experience, it is best to be honest about it and share any budgeting experience you have from your personal life. Also, mention how good you are at picking up new skills.

If you do have professional budget management experience, it will be an added advantage to your candidature. Elaborate with specific project examples and outcomes. 

6. What is a project plan?

The interviewer wants to know your technical understanding of the different aspects of a project. Elaborate on the elements of a project plan that you know, such as milestones, team members and tasks. Then follow it up with how you have worked with it in the past, brief about its key features and how its implementation in your project led to a successful outcome.

7. How do you facilitate an environment of collaboration on your team?

Collaboration, teamwork and motivation are essential to achieve positive goals and fostering a supportive, positive work environment is essential. It is best to elaborate on this answer with an example from your past experience on how you facilitate good communication. Moreover, mention any strategies or techniques you use, such as team-building exercises, creating communication structures or starting meetings with icebreakers.

8. How do you define an ideal project? 

This question, being one of the most important project management interview questions, intends to know the type of projects you would like to take up. By answering this question honestly, you open up an opportunity to manage projects that excite you or those in which you can excel. Your answer should include multiple points such as whether you like to work as part of a team or alone, the kind of deadlines you prefer, whether you are interested in innovative and creative projects or not, and more. 

Earn 60 PDUs: Pick from 6 Courses

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9. Work from home has become the new normal in the post-COVID-19-world. How well are you prepared to manage a remote team?  

In the present world, project managers often choose their teams from a global workforce and are expected to manage teams remotely. You should be equipped with the knowledge and skills to work with team members virtually. It calls for a different management technique. Your answer to this project management interview question should clearly describe the project management methodology you may choose to manage people and resources in a remote environment. 

10. How do you determine the prioritization of tasks in any project?

A vital element of project management is the ability to prioritize tasks optimally. The interviewer seeks to know how you would prioritize tasks and why. They might also follow up with a question about your ability to work on multiple projects simultaneously.

Frame the answer in a way that ties to the objectives and interests of the project. Explain the prioritization process using a combination of the project's goals, constraints, and stakeholders' needs. You could also mention setting deadlines, identifying critical path tasks, or balancing resources across multiple projects. To illustrate your approach, use examples from prior experiences or hypothetical scenarios.

11. What is the most desired skill that is required to become a successful project manager, according to your experience? Please give us a couple of examples regarding your past projects. 

If you are experienced in project management, you might probably know that there is no single skill that is enough for a successful career in the field. To be a successful project manager, you should possess multiple project management skills like leadership skills , communication skills , negotiation skills, and time management skills , to name a few. To answer this question promptly, you should be able to justify why you have chosen a particular skill. You can include a couple of examples to substantiate your answer. 

12. Tell us about the most challenging projects you have managed so far? What were the steps you have taken to tackle the challenges?

Here, the interview panel wants to know how you respond to critical challenges and deal with conflicting situations in a project. It would be best if you did not refer to examples where you had to manage tough team members or lack of support from management. As a project manager, you should be smart enough to handle such occurrences. Instead, focus on external factors like a situation where the project was unexpectedly called off, or funding was reduced in the middle of an extensive project. Also, you should explain how you tackled the challenges and managed the team during tough situations. 

13. Suppose the project has gone off the rails. What steps would you take to get it back on track?

Once you realize a project is not going as per the pre-planned time, budget, scope, or goals, the next top priority is to get it back on track. The project manager should be efficient enough to take the necessary steps to resolve the discrepancy between actual progress and planned progress. Your answer to this project management interview question may include re-adjusting resource management, finding the real cause of off-tracking, putting in extra effort, and more. 

14. Which was one of the biggest mistakes you have committed in your past projects? How has it impacted your approach to work? 

To err is human, they say. It is how you deal with the errors that define your skills. By asking this project management interview question, the interviewer intends to check your honesty and whether you take responsibility of mistakes you have made in your past projects. Rather than giving a ‘no’ for the answer, you can mention a couple of mistakes. Make sure you show that you take responsibility for the mistake as it is a way to reveal your maturity level. Also, you can explain how you had resolved it.

15. Can you tell us an example of a failed project? Have you had any such experiences? 

Success and failure are part of your career as a project manager . It is not wise to answer ‘no’ to this question as well. Instead, you can think of an event or phase in your previous projects where you have experienced failure. This project management interview question aims to check your experience in managing risk too. You need to include how you have handled the issue. 

16. Suppose the customer is not happy about the quality of the project outcomes. How do you handle the situation? What is your way of handling an unhappy stakeholder?

As a project manager, you will be answerable when the customers are unhappy about the project outcomes. While you answer this project management interview question, you should be able to reveal how much you value the customers and that you would accept their authority without being critical. You can say that you will try to make the necessary modifications that the customer is looking for. You can explain the steps you have taken to ensure regular interaction with the customer throughout the project. Also, you can say that you will communicate effectively to make the customer understand that the outcomes are within the scope of the project.  

17. What is your strategy to deal with internal conflicts among the team members? 

Here, the interviewer is trying to understand your mediation skills and how impartial you are while resolving conflicts. You can explain why there is a necessity to listen to both the parties and understand both perspectives. Your answer should include how you convince both the parties to come to a conclusion that works best for the project at hand and delivers a win-win situation. Also, it would help if you communicate how you ensure that both of them are not benefitting at the loss of the other.

18. Define processes and process groups in a project management framework. 

This project management interview question aims to understand your domain knowledge. In a project management framework, processes refer to the defined way of doing tasks for completing the project successfully. On the other hand, process groups are a collection of processes that are carried out at various stages during the project . Initiation, Planning, Executing, Monitoring & Control, and Closing are the five process groups.   

Read more: What is a Project Management Plan and How to Create One

19. Can you explain the differences between risk and issues? What are the major types of risks that may be encountered in a project?

Risks refer to an uncertain event or situation in the future that would bring a negative or positive impact on the project goals. Issues apply to any event or situation that currently impacts the project objectives . In other words, risk focuses on future events while issues are more of present occurrences. Issues are often considered negative, say a team member suddenly resigns from the organization. Risks would be either positive or negative.

The following are the most common forms of project risks:

Market Risk, Schedule Risk, Cost Risk, Resource Risk, Performance Risk, Technology Risk, Governance Risk, Legal Risk, External Risk, Strategic Risk, Operational Risk are all factors to consider.

20. Explain the concept of RAID in project management.

As you know, RAID is a critical tool for any project manager. It stands for Risks, Actions, Issues, and Decisions. To define it, RAID is a tool used by project managers to track risks, actions, issues, and decisions in an organized way. While answering the project management interview question, you should include the definitions of these four concepts as well. 

21. What are the techniques you may use to define the scope of a project? 

With this question, the interview panel is trying to understand your knowledge in the concerned domain. You can explain these various concepts involved in defining the scope of the project that include – Product Breakdown, Requirement Analysis, Systems Engineering, Systems Analysis, Value Engineering, Value Analysis, and Alternatives Analysis. 

22. Describe the team forming process you follow in project management. 

A project manager should possess knowledge about the various stages that a team goes through during the project; hence, this is one of the common questions asked in interviews and exams on project management. Forming, Storming, Norming, Performing, and Adjourning comprises the five development stages in team formation. While you answer this project management interview question, you should describe each of these steps with clarity of thought. 

23. What do you know about the triple constraint triangle of project management?

Any project has restrictions and hazards that must be handled to be successful in the end. Project managers should know that time, scope, and money are the three critical restrictions. These are sometimes known as the project management triangle or the three restrictions. 

This is yet another technical question in which the interviewer assesses your technical knowledge and how you use it in your day-to-day job. Explain the definition and how you would use it.

24. How will you avoid gold plating?

  • To prevent gold plating, the top management should first stay away from anything above the requirements and scope baseline.
  • Secondly, We need to look at the project's scope from the outside. An independent auditor or inspector can quickly detect gold plating by verifying the deliverables to the project's scope baseline.

25. When would you escalate an issue?

Consider escalating a problem at work if:

  • The problem might cause a project delay or budget overrun.
  • You've attempted to reach an agreement and establish a common ground with everyone concerned.
  • You've previously tried and failed to solve the problem with various methods.
  • You or other teammates are forced to take on a large quantity of extra work due to the problem.

26. What’s your leadership style?

There are several methods to lead, each with its benefits and drawbacks. When it comes to project management, it's impossible to avoid bringing up a leadership style . A project manager may have to choose how they lead depending on the project, from top-down to servant leadership. Examine their understanding of leadership approaches and apply them to project management.

27. What project management software do you prefer?

Most project managers depend largely on Gantt charts regarding project planning and scheduling. Award-winning online Gantt charts in ProjectManager allow project managers to plan every aspect of their projects. Managers may use one screen to build dependencies, set milestones, assign tasks, manage workload, and more. The capability of our planning tools would wow any general contractor you employ.

A project manager needs project management tools to plan, monitor, and report on a project. There are several options, ranging from simple to sophisticated. This question exposes, first and foremost, how current the candidate is with software and project management technologies. It also gives an overview of the tools and techniques they employ to manage a project.

Related learning: What is Trello and How To Use It ?

Related learning: What Is Asana Project Management Tool & How Does It Work ?

28. What’s the difference between project monitoring and controlling?

Monitoring entails identifying discrepancies between actual project results and the project baseline, whereas Controlling entails identifying repair options for deviations and recommending corrective actions.

Both project monitoring and control are used to keep projects on track and carried out from start to finish. These procedures must be planned as part of the project management strategy for the project life cycle to go well.

29. How will you implement Earned Value Management? What is EVM and its use?

EVM is a practical approach for statistically determining project discrepancies and performance to aid the team in forecasting and planning appropriate preventative steps for dealing with variations. EVM is a project management approach that uses a schedule and cost performance index to calculate schedule and cost variances. It aids in the development of new project performance and cost estimates. 

A PM should use EVM by keeping a project schedule that lists all of the project activities and their start/end dates and budget. This timeline will serve as a benchmark against which the project's progress will be measured.

30. What is stakeholder analysis and Power-Interest Grid used for?

Stakeholder analysis involves compiling a list of all potential stakeholders who will be involved in some manner with the project. 

A power-interest grid aids in the classification of stakeholders based on their relevance and influence. These two aids in developing all-important stakeholder engagement strategies for diverse groups by outlining the positions of the project's stakeholders. 

31. What is the difference between Program, Project, and Portfolio?

  • A program is a sequence of interconnected initiatives handled as a unit. It is transient, just like a project, but it lasts longer. The program adheres to high-level plans that are supplemented by numerous specific plans.
  • A project is an attempt to develop a one-of-a-kind solution or product. It is transient and has a solid start and endpoint. The emphasis is on precise delivery.
  • A portfolio is a vast collection of projects and operations handled by a single group to achieve a strategic aim. It is permanent and integrated with strategic planning, unlike projects and programs. 

32. Explain Ishikawa/ Fishbone diagrams.

A root cause analysis for a specific problem is performed using an Ishikawa or Fishbone diagram. The essential advantage of this tool is its clear depiction and effectiveness in studying complicated issues with hidden elements. This enables the project manager to go beyond the symptoms and treat the root problems.

33. What is the process of calculating the three-point estimating method?

The three-point estimate can be calculated in two different ways:

  • PERT Distribution E = (P+4M+O)/6 
  • Triangular Distribution E = (P+M+O)/3 Beta

Where P denotes pessimist, O is optimist, and M denotes most likely.

34. What is Work Breakdown Structure (WBD)?

The Work Breakdown Structure is used to identify the project's core work activities and the different sub-activities that may be required to complete each activity. With a top-down or bottom-up approach, WBD's structure follows a hierarchical pattern, with core activities split off into sub-activities housed under each parent.

35. What is the Pareto principle analysis?

The 80/20 principle is another name for the Pareto principle. The efforts of 20% of the people produce 80% of the results. This approach aids in the prioritization of activities based on their significance rather than their urgency.

36. What are the motivation theories and formal techniques to keep a team motivated?

A project manager must keep the entire team motivated all of the time. The following motivation theories are helpful for project success:

  • McGregor's Hypothesis
  • McClelland's Hypothesis
  • Maslow's Theory of Motivation
  • Theory of Hertzberg
  • Vroom's Prediction Theory

A good project manager should have 2 features—experience, as well as an in-depth understanding of project management theories. While one without the other hinders performance, to be the ideal project manager, you must have a solid foundation in project management principles. The following question is often asked by interviewers to test the candidate’s domain knowledge and skills:

37. What are the three key challenges for our industry today, and how can these be tackled effectively?

This question will test your knowledge about the project management industry. Not only should you describe three relevant challenges, but possible solutions as well. Good examples can include challenges you’ve had personal experience with, along with effective solutions that you’ve used. Think about the top challenges of the industry in which the organization operates. Your response will reveal your understanding of the industry, the market, current challenges, and possible solutions. This knowledge is critical to the success of any project manager, as you will be tackling these challenges inside the organization if you get hired.

One of the essential skills for project managers is communication. Without this, everything else fails. Communication is the life and blood of any project. It is claimed at PMI® Research Conference that about 90 percent of a project manager’s time is spent communicating. In today's siloed organizations, communication happens between various groups and levels, including internal as well as external groups of stakeholders . Here are two communication-related questions asked to candidates:

38. What were the communication challenges on your last project?

As a project manager, you’ll need to communicate with your team for all projects effectively. Communication challenges will arise; nobody expects that this won’t happen. What the interviewer wants to see, however, is how you’ve handled these challenges in the past. It needs to be evident that even with communication issues, you were still able to work with your team effectively. For example, perhaps instead of being able to have face-to-face meetings when necessary, you were able to put together webchat meetings. Think of a time when something like this happened and how you dealt with the communication challenges efficiently to ensure that the project outcome was still a good one.

39. What is your communication style with your team?

If your interviewer asks this, you’ll want to assure him or her that you are an effective communicator who motivates others on your team. Not only should good project managers be encouraging when delegating to their team, but they should also be clear in their expectations. Make sure you point out that you understand the significance of being an effective communicator as a project manager. While the first question helps the interviewer assess how effectively you can handle communication in challenging situations, the second question helps understand how you engage with others, whether you demonstrate good sense and judgment, and are able to use language effectively.

Honesty and trustworthiness are of utmost importance in the world of business. Project managers manage critical responsibilities and resources such as material, money, and human resources. They also represent the organization to employees, customers, and vendors. They are role models for their team members. Any lack of consistency and integrity can cost the organization a lot more than money. Therefore, the key questions asked to the candidate will be:

40. How do you communicate bad news?

It’s likely you’ve had to deliver bad news in the past as a project manager, and your interviewer wants to see how, exactly, you go about doing so. They want to see that you’re considerate and upfront with everyone, that you have all of the facts first, and that you’ve thought about how this news will impact all of your team members—not just the person you’re delivering the bad news to directly.

41. How have you handled disgruntled employees?

The interviewer wants to see that you’re a critical thinker and an effective problem solver. Even if you don’t have a specific example to talk about, explain that you always care about your team members and would want to uncover the root of the problem, and find out why, exactly, they’re unhappy. While it may not be possible to please every disgruntled employee, the interviewer just wants to see that you would make an effort to rectify the situation and be professional about everything.

42. What are some examples of times you’ve kept your promise even when that might have been difficult?

Think about a time when you reluctantly agreed to a challenging request, because as a project manager, you’re expected to make things happen. Explain to the interviewer how you managed to juggle your tasks and effectively manage your time to ensure that you would be able to follow through with an ambiguous promise. Even though you may have had a lot on your plate, interviewers want to hear specific examples that show you were still successful in accommodating additional requests.

Project managers are responsible for understanding the need of the customer and responding in a timely, efficient manner in ways that meet customer expectations. They are also responsible for establishing and maintaining effective relationships and gaining the trust and respect of customers. Here are a few questions that are usually asked to gauge the candidate's customer orientation:

43. How do you ensure you and your team deliver or exceed customer expectations?

In a nutshell, the interviewer wants to see how, in detail, you’re able to succeed as a project manager. After all, meeting (or exceeding) customer expectations when it comes to project delivery is your ultimate goal. It’s important not to be vague and give a generalized answer; you’ll want to give precise examples and details about your process.

44. What are some best practices you’ve used to develop excellent customer relationships?

Current clients make the best repeat customers, and it’s important to maintain excellent relationships, beyond just delivering them what they paid for. The person interviewing you wants to know you feel this way also, so as you explain the ways you’ve maintained excellent customer relationships, be sure to stress the importance of always having a very happy customer.

A project manager relies on the team to execute activities to achieve the desired results. It is crucial that a project manager can assess talent, contribute actively towards developing, mentor, and coach team members, and offer constructive feedback to them. Responses to the following questions will reveal if you are someone who can motivate the members of a team:

45. How do you go about managing the performance of your team?

It’s important to show that you have leadership skills when you answer this question. Be thorough about your daily tasks when it comes to managing your team’s performance—for example, perhaps you hold weekly strategy discussions and meetings. You’ll also want to provide specific examples of how your management style has resulted in positive team performance.

46. How do you motivate team members?

It’s crucial as a leader to not only ensure your team stays on the right track but also gets motivated about the projects they’re working on. Maybe you give praise for a job well done as a form of motivation. As long as you can demonstrate past examples of how you’ve motivated team members, there’s not a right or wrong answer here.

47. What are some of the tools and resources you’ve used to develop your team?

This is your chance to show your knowledge of some of the many different technologies that project managers use these days. Be sure to name any software programs, online tools, and other things that you’ve used to complete your daily tasks. Be sure also to explain that you are always open and eager to learn new tools or programs.

One of the key success factors for a project manager is effective delegation. How effectively can you get work done through others? The delegation must happen through empowerment without interference or loss of control. The following questions will determine if you are good at delegating:

48. What is your delegation style?

This is a question that is designed to ask about leadership skills. Explain what has been best for you and use examples of how your delegation style has worked well in the past. Even if you’ve never technically led a team before, it’s important to find an example of how you might’ve delegated in the past.

49. How easily do you delegate responsibility?

Easily delegating responsibility is an essential quality of any project manager. Be sure to discuss a relevant example that assures the interviewer that delegating responsibility comes naturally to you.

50. How do you monitor and review the delegated responsibilities?

As a project manager, it’s important to routinely stay on top of your team members’ tasks and responsibilities. Discuss how you do this with specific examples—whether it’s by scheduling brief meetings, using project management software , and so on.

Being focused on goals is essential for project managers. You need a clear focus to succeed. It is important for candidates to demonstrate the ability to align resources to achieve key objectives, to plan and identify ways to improve and achieve greater efficiency and to monitor and fine-tune execution with agility, hard work, perseverance, and good judgment. Key questions asked in this area are:

51. What are your career and project goals for the next six months?

Be honest about any short-term project goals you have currently, as this shows the interviewer that you are enthusiastic about your projects and that you’re goal-oriented. When it comes to discussing your career goals, be sure to include the company you’re interviewing with as part of your goals. If you’re interviewing with a recruiter for job placement, you may not have a specific company in mind, and that’s okay—just be sure to be clear about what type of role you see yourself working in.

52. How do you set goals for your team? And how do you track these goals?

Whether it’s deadline goals or overall project goals, setting goals is an important part of being a project manager, as it motivates team members and helps to keep projects on track. Be sure to give specific examples that demonstrate how you’ve set goals for your team in the past and how you’ve tracked these goals. For instance, you might have set a project completion goal for a specific project that required everyone to complete their part by a certain date. Perhaps you regularly checked in with team members to see if any obstacles could stop them from meeting that deadline and if so, you offered possible solutions.

A project manager has to deal with uncertainty. It is important that you can identify and prioritize risks and take appropriate action in ambiguous situations. It is equally important to manage others’ concerns in changing environments. To assess competency in this area, the following scenario-based questions are often asked:

53. Describe two areas in your current project, where there is a high level of uncertainty. How do you tackle these uncertainties?

No project goes without a hitch, and people expect that. What your interviewer wants to see is how you handle anything that can result in a potential setback. An effective project manager should always have a few tricks up his or her sleeve.

54. How do you control changes to your project?

Some level of change is inevitable, but as a project manager, it’s important to adapt to those changes quickly. Explain to your interviewer how you continue to keep your team on track whenever any project changes pop up.

A project manager must tackle multiple tasks and issues. To be a successful project manager, you have to choose your battles wisely. Since resources are always limited, they need to be prioritized. Time is a valuable resource for the project because once lost; it cannot be recovered easily. As a result, Project time management is one of the key skills for any project manager. The following questions are asked to assess whether you are capable of taking up the responsibility for creating efficient ways to execute tasks:

55. How do you ensure that your project is always on track?

Your interviewer wants to understand your work process and see that you’re detail-oriented. Explain how you check in with your team throughout a project. For example, you may want to point out that you believe effective and regular communication is key to ensuring that a project stays on track.

56. What tools do you use as a manager to plan your activities as well as that of your team?

From meetings to project management programs and everything in between, there’s an endless list of tools and processes that project managers use to stay organized. Be sure to list as many tools as you can think of that you’re familiar with to demonstrate your knowledge of project management software and other tools.

A project manager needs to be able to identify and prevent issues from impacting the project adversely. It is important that the candidate demonstrates the ability to take proactive steps, avoid procrastination, and not shy away from making tough decisions. Thus, candidates are often asked to share examples and real-life scenarios from their projects and life where they made proactive decisions. Here are a few such questions:

57. Give a few examples of proactive decision-making in your past projects and your life in general.

It’s always important to take the initiative as a project manager, and your interviewer wants to see just how you do that. Think of specific project examples that included a lot of proactive decision-making, but don’t also be afraid to include examples that don’t include the workplace.

58. Can you give me a few examples of a time when you made a tough decision, and it backfired?

This question is a tough one for candidates to handle as it tells the interviewer how honest you are with yourself and compels you to talk about an instance when you failed. Your interviewer wants to see how you handle setbacks because no matter how good you are at your job, they will happen. Most importantly, they want to know what you learned from these experiences. When you give your examples, explain how you used those setbacks to improve as a project manager overall.

59. How do you identify stakeholders?

You can identify stakeholders if they perform any of the following actions:

  • Furnishing funds
  • Supplying resources
  • Being the end customers
  • Supporting you
  • Giving guidelines/regulations

60. Why do you need to know more about stakeholders?

Knowing about stakeholders will help you engage them. The project's success means fulfilling the stakeholders' objectives and expectations. So engaging will result in project success. 

61. What is a traceability matrix?

A requirement traceability matrix shows the relationship between requirements and other artifacts. It also documents document requirements, tests, test results, and issues. 

62. Is maintaining a requirement traceability matrix crucial?

The requirement traceability matrix tracks each requirement at every stage of the project development. It ensures that no phase closes before you fulfill the requirements. Additionally, you also avoid missing any essentials. 

63. What details should a project plan include?

The project prepares the project plan. It includes details about:

  • Project execution
  • Project monitoring
  • Project completion

64. What are the steps for efficient risk planning?

Efficient risk planning minimizes threats and maximizes opportunities. The risk planning steps are:

  • Discovering risks
  • Analyzing potential risks
  • Prioritizing risks
  • Developing risk response
  • Maintaining risk register

65. How will you tackle project execution?

Project managers can handle project execution by leading the team of project stakeholders, sponsors, and peers. They should demonstrate excellent communication and intrapersonal skills.

66. How should you deal with an underperforming team member?

You should deal with an underperforming team member as follows:

  • Informal conversation
  • Understand underlying cause
  • possibility of role change
  • Replace the underperforming resource

67. How to handle a difficult stakeholder?

To manage a difficult stakeholder:

  • Identify and manage them closely
  • Listen and understand what the stakeholders say
  • Arrange a meeting with them
  • Understand what motivates them
  • Make them understand your point of view

68. What are the steps to consider when your project is off track?

If your project is off track, you can do the following:

  • Review and assess the situation
  • Understand the extent of the problem
  • Develop and implement a plan of action
  • Get help from a high-performance team

69. What are the project management methodologies in your project?

The top ten project management methodologies are:

  • Waterfall Methodologies
  • Agile Methodology
  • Scrum Methodology
  • Critical Path Method
  • Kanban Method
  • Extreme Programming
  • Lean Methodology

70. What is the difference between risk impact and risk probability?

Risk Impact measures the extent of the damage in the event of a disaster. And Risk Probability tells the likelihood of the disaster. 

71. How can an individual manage a challenging project?

You can manage a challenging project by:

  • Sticking to the plan
  • Identifying the project scope, goals, stakeholders, and requirements
  • Picking the right people for the team
  • Managing time efficiently
  • Seeking help when required
  • Visualizing the result

72. What is the life cycle of a project?

A project’s life cycle includes:

  • Initiating 

The interview questions cover the most important project management skills and competencies that the candidate will not only be tested on during an interview but also will need to succeed as a project manager. Knowing the right answers alone isn’t enough. Simplilearn offers PMP® Certification Training programs that can help you acquire and build on these skills further, and prepare you to get beyond the interview and land the job!

PMBOK®, PMP®, and PMI® have registered trademarks of the Project Management Institute, Inc.

1) What are the 5 key roles as a project manager?

The key roles of a project manager include: 

  • Project Planning Expert
  • Team Leader and Motivator
  • Risk Manager
  • Stakeholder Manager
  • Quality Assurance Enforcer

2) What are the 3 most important things for a project manager?

The important things for a project manager are: 

  • Effective Communication
  • Time and Resource Management
  • Adaptability and Problem-Solving

3) What is a project process?

A project process is a systematic series of activities from project initiation to completion, including stages like initiation, planning, execution, monitoring, control, and closure.

Our Project Management Courses Duration And Fees

Project Management Courses typically range from a few weeks to several months, with fees varying based on program and institution.

Recommended Reads

Project Management Interview Guide

7 Questions Every PMP® Student Asks About Project Management

What is Project Management?

An Introduction to Project Management: A Beginner’s Guide

Eleven Important Questions for PMP® Certification Exam

What is Agile Project Management?

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Project Manager Interview Questions

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Top 50+ Project Manager Interview Questions 2024

  • Top 12 tips to help you prepare for project manager interview:
  • 1. Can you talk about the last project you worked on?
  • 2. What was your most successful project?
  • 3. How do you prioritize the tasks in a project?
  • 4. What is your leadership style?
  • 5. How do you handle conflict within your team?
  • 6. What are the steps to consider when your project is off track?
  • 7. What steps will you take if you find that one of the project tasks requires more time than you anticipated?
  • 8. How do you manage your team while working from home?
  • 9. How will you identify stakeholders and why do you need to know more about them?
  • 10. What is stakeholder analysis and Power-Interest Grid used for?
  • 11. What is the difference between Project, Program, and Portfolio?
  • 12. What are the skills that a Project Manager should possess?
  • 13. How to start your job as a new Project Manager?
  • 14. What are the processes and process groups in the project management framework?
  • 15. What are the knowledge areas and how relevant are they in a project?
  • 16. How should you handle a difficult stakeholder involved in your project?
  • 17. What is RAID in Project Management?
  • 18. Which is your preferred project management methodology in your projects?
  • 19. What are the tools usually used for improving the process activities?
  • 20. How to manage under-performing team members?
  • 21. What are the stages of forming a team?
  • 22. Being a project manager how will you gain your team’s agreement for results?
  • 23. Explain Ishikawa/ Fishbone diagrams.
  • 24. What is the process of calculating the three-point estimating method?
  • 25. What is Work Breakdown Structure (WBD)?
  • 26. What is the difference between risk and issues?
  • 27. What is the difference between Risk Impact and Risk Probability?
  • 28. Why is it important for a project manager to be proactive?
  • 29. Which communication style do you prefer to use in your projects?
  • 30. What is the Pareto principle analysis?
  • 31. What is the triple constraint triangle in project management?
  • 32. What are the major types of risks that may be encountered in a project?
  • 33. What should be done if the customers are not pleased with the quality or results of the product by the end of the project?
  • 34. What is budget management?
  • 35. What is a requirement traceability matrix? What is its importance?
  • 36. How can an individual manage a difficult project? What are the steps taken to tackle it?
  • 37. What is gold plating? How can you avoid it?
  • 38. What is the difference between project monitoring and project controlling?
  • 39. What is EVM or Earned Value Management and its use? How can it be implemented?
  • 40. What is the fast-tracking technique and the crashing technique? Which is better?
  • 41. What are the steps taken for risk planning?
  • 42. What are time and material contracts?
  • 43. What kind of bid documents would you use for procurement management and what kind of contract types should be used for engaging with contractors and suppliers?
  • 44. How would you plan to tackle project execution?
  • 45. What are the motivation theories and formal techniques to keep a team motivated?
  • 46. What are conflict management techniques to manage conflicts between stakeholders and team members?
  • 47. What is the difference between trend analysis and variance analysis?
  • 48. What is the difference between corrective and preventive actions?
  • 49. How should a project manager communicate a failure to his team?
  • 50. How do you deal with changes to your project?
  • 51. How do you define an ideal project?
  • 52. How do you strategize your tasks?
  • 53. Tell us about the challenges you have faced while working on the projects? What steps did you take to tackle those challenges?
  • 54. Can you tell an example of a failed project? Have you had any such experiences?
  • 55. What are the 4 main roles of a project manager?
  • FAQs Related to Project Manager

Welcome to our blog on project manager interview questions, where we’ll dive into the key aspects of interviewing for the role of a project manager. Whether you’re a seasoned project management professional or just starting your journey in this field, the interview process can be both exciting and nerve-wracking. But fear not! We’re here to help you prepare effectively by covering the essential project manager interview questions (PM interview questions) that you might encounter during your job hunt.

Project managers play a critical role in the success of any organization. They are the orchestrators of projects, responsible for planning, executing, monitoring, and delivering them within scope, time, and budget constraints. To excel in this role, you need a combination of technical skills, leadership abilities, and excellent communication.

In this blog, we’ll explore common project management interview questions that hiring managers often use to assess candidates’ suitability for the position. We’ll provide insights into how to answer them effectively, share tips for demonstrating your expertise, and offer guidance on what employers are looking for in a project manager.

Whether you’re looking to break into the field of project management or are a seasoned pro seeking your next career move, read on to equip yourself with the knowledge and confidence needed to ace your project manager interview. Let’s get started!

Preparing for a project manager interview can be a rigorous process, but with the right strategies and practice, you can increase your chances of success.

  • Review the job description thoroughly to understand the specific requirements and responsibilities of the role. Tailor your responses to align with what the employer is looking for.
  • Familiarize yourself with the company’s culture, values, industry, and recent projects. This knowledge will help you demonstrate your genuine interest in the organization.
  • Prepare concise and impactful stories that showcase your project management experience. Use the STAR (Situation, Task, Action, Result) method to structure your responses.
  • Project managers need strong leadership skills. Be prepared to discuss times when you’ve led teams, resolved conflicts, and motivated individuals to achieve common goals.
  • Brush up on project management methodologies, tools, and software. Expect questions about your experience with Agile, Scrum, Waterfall, or other methodologies.
  • Project managers must be effective communicators. Highlight your ability to convey complex information clearly to stakeholders, team members, and clients.
  • Be ready to discuss your approach to identifying, assessing, and mitigating risks in projects. Provide examples of how you’ve managed unexpected challenges.
  • Project managers often deal with conflicts. Share experiences where you successfully resolved conflicts within your team or with stakeholders.
  • Project managers must manage schedules and resources efficiently. Discuss your strategies for optimizing resource allocation and meeting deadlines.
  • Explain how you engage and manage relationships with project stakeholders, including clients, team members, and executives.
  • Show your ability to adapt to changing project requirements and priorities. Share examples of how you’ve adjusted strategies to ensure project success.
  • Prepare thoughtful questions to ask the interviewer. This demonstrates your interest in the role and helps you assess if the company is the right fit for you.

Let us take a look at some more interview questions that will help you build a successful project management career.

Here is a list of commonly asked project manager interview questions. You can use this list to prepare and gather your thoughts regarding your past work experience.

The recruiter may want to understand more about what kind of projects you have previously worked on, what you are used to, what approach you may have used in the past, how many people were in your team, and more such details. Here, you can talk about the important aspects of a project such as how to achieve the overall goal within the time frame. Talking about metrics or how you may have added value to the overall project might be a good idea here.

This question gives you the opportunity to talk about a project where you were able to achieve success. There can be various reasons why a project was successful and can be measured based on the end goal, budget, deadlines, and more. You can demonstrate your strengths, don’t undersell yourself. This is an opportunity to showcase what you have worked on and a project you are proud of. Talk about the key elements that made the project a success.

One of the most important things to do is to prioritize the tasks. It helps in successfully completing the projects within the deadline. To prioritize the tasks in a project, you can follow the points mentioned below:

  • Make a list of the tasks and responsibilities
  • Differentiate between urgent and important tasks
  • Assess the importance of each task
  • Order the tasks by valued efforts
  • Stay flexible and ready to adapt
  • Know precisely when to say NO

Talk about how you would prioritize a set of tasks in the most effective manner in a given project.

Every Project Manager must possess leadership skills . The basic characteristics of leadership are motivating, guiding, directing, and managing the team. Leaders bring the best out of the members of their team. They motivate others to create, innovate, and perform. Take this opportunity to talk about your leadership style. There are different leadership styles such as autocratic, democratic, coaching, bureaucratic, and more. Tell the recruiter about your management style and why it is a good way to manage a team.

Conflicts are inevitable, but it does not necessarily have to be destructive. The problem is not that the conflict exists, but how you choose to handle it. When approached positively, conflict promotes diverse ideas. Every conflict is unique, so there is no one-size-fits-all approach to handling them all. There are several aspects that go into determining which strategy is ideal for settling conflicts.

To properly respond to this question, assure the interviewer that you are a good listener who can accept conflicting viewpoints without being offended. Start by having an informal meeting with each team member to settle disputes within the team. Rather than making assumptions, it is preferable to listen to people’s concerns in a secure environment. Find the source of the conflict and work to resolve it while keeping everyone’s best interests in mind.

Once you have determined that your project is going to exceed the limit of budget, time, or fails to meet the goals, you need to execute the following steps.

  • Do a root cause analysis
  • Return to the original plan or goal
  • Engage in resource optimization 
  • Communicate with stakeholders and clients

To answer this question, you can give an example of a past experience where you were handling a project and things started to go off track. You use the opportunity to talk about how you along with your team were able to bring the project back on track eventually.

steps to consider when your project is off track

Accurate time estimates are required to establish realistic deadlines, avoid schedule overruns and minimize delays. However, it is not always so easy to predict the duration of project tasks in advance. Even if you have all the information necessary to get a reliable estimate, you may make a mistake, and your own mind can play tricks on you and incline you towards making a wrong decision. Such an unconscious tendency to make wrong time estimates is known as the planning fallacy, which turns out to be the primary reason why we fail to meet deadlines ever so often.

To avoid the planning fallacy, other experts should be included in the estimating process. Inviting people to participate in project time estimation allows you to consider a variety of challenges and possibilities that you wouldn’t be able to find on your own. Also, you need reliable and high-quality data to make correct time estimations.

It is challenging enough to collaborate and work when everyone is in the same building. Managing people while you and your team work remotely, on the other hand, is a whole different ballgame. Project managers need to be aware of how working from home may create feelings of isolation among the team members. First of all, it’s critical to understand the common difficulties, from isolation to distractions to lack of face-to-face supervision.

Then managers can support remote workers with regular meetings, opportunities for social interactions, and ongoing encouragement and emotional support. Especially in the context of an abrupt change to remote work, it is crucial for managers to acknowledge stress, listen to employees’ concerns, and empathize with their problems.

Identifying stakeholders starts with the beginning of a project. You need to know about them because it is significant for the success of the projects. The reason is simple; projects are undertaken to fulfil their objectives as well as expectations. 

Stakeholder analysis is the process of preparing a list of all the possible stakeholders who are going to be associated with the project in some way. A power-interest grid helps in categorizing stakeholders on the basis of their importance and impact. This two help in listing the positions of the stakeholders in the project to develop all the relevant stakeholder engagement strategies for various groups.

Project – It is an effort to come up with a unique solution or product. It is temporary in nature and has a start and endpoint which are defined. The main focus is on detailed delivery.

Program – It is a set of interrelated projects which are managed together. Just like a project, it is also temporary in nature but lasts longer. The program follows high-level plans that are backed up by many detailed plans.

Portfolio – It is a bunch of projects as well as operations that are managed by one group so that the strategic goal can be achieved. Unlike project and program, it is permanent in nature and aligned with the strategic planning.

The significant skills that should be possessed by a Project manager are:

  • Personal Organization
  • Communication
  • Team Management
  • Negotiation Power
  • Risk Management

Things that you need to take care of to start a job as a new Project Manager are:

  • Listen, observe and learn
  • Understand the needs and wants of your clients
  • Know your team members and their personalities
  • Take the opportunity as well as initiative to learn some new skills
  • Help out around the workplace
  • Try to master the tools that are mostly used by your company 

A process is a certain way of carrying out the tasks that are involved in the completion of a project successfully. In a project management framework, there are around 49 processes. A process group is a collection of processes that are applicable in several stages of the project.

Knowledge areas are the technical subject matter which is important for successful project management. The 49 processes are part of the knowledge areas where they are grouped on the basis of their commonalities. The ten knowledge areas of the project management framework are:

  • Project Communications Management
  • Project Integration Management
  • Project Scope Management
  • Project Cost Management
  • Project Schedule Management
  • Project Quality Management
  • Project Procurement Management
  • Project Resource Management
  • Project Risk Management
  • Project Stakeholder Management

Here are some points to remember to handle a difficult stakeholder in your project:

  • Accept their authority without arguing
  • Do not show any negative emotion
  • Try to understand their problem
  • You can ask for their advice and listen to them
  • Be honest with the decisions you make
  • Try to praise them whenever possible and try to create the connection
  • Enhance your communication

RAID is an acronym for Risk, Assumptions, Issue, and Dependencies, which are important factors in the success or failure of the project.

A Project Manager must wear many hats and apply various management techniques and methodologies to ensure that the project is successful. To select the apt methodology for a project, you need to consider various factors, including the goal of the project, stakeholders, risks, cost, resources, complexity, and constraints.

The commonly used tools in the industry include:

  • Comparing and Baselining a Process
  • Flow-charting
  • Value-Stream Mapping
  • Cause and Effect Analysis
  • Hypothesis Testing

To ensure that all the team members are working to their optimum potential, we can take the following steps:

  • Create performance guidelines for all roles
  • Identify and coach poorly performing team members
  • Raise the skill level of the team members with simulations, exercises, and training initiatives
  • Appreciate the well-performing members publicly
  • For severely under-performing team members, create improvement plans
  • Provide enough in-the-moment feedback to address performance gaps.

The five stages of team development were created by Bruce Tucman, and it sheds light on the process of how a team comes together and all the way to the dispersal of the team for a project. The various stages are Forming, Storming, Norming, Performing, and Adjourning.

To build agreement for results, some of the useful techniques are:

  • Creating SMART objectives
  • Provide real-time feedback and periodic reviews
  • Establish RACI
  • Harness collaborative approach
  • Set clear expectations early and often.

Ishikawa or Fishbone diagram is used for carrying out a root cause analysis for a particular problem. The main benefit of this tool is the clear visualization and its utility in analyzing complex problems which may have hidden factors contributing to them. This helps the project manager look past the symptoms and address the underlying causes.

The two ways through which three-point estimation can be calculated are:

Work Breakdown Structure (WBD) is used to define the work activities, essential for the project, and the various sub-activities that may be instrumental in the completion of each activity. The structure of WBD follows a hierarchical pattern with the main activities branched off in sub-activities, housed under each parent, with a top-down or bottom-up approach.

This is one of the frequently asked project manager interview questions.

The differences between risks and issues can be as follows:

  • Risks present the future possibilities that may arise in a project while the issues are based on the present status of the project.
  • Risks can be positive in nature as well as negative, while the issues are predominantly negative.
  • Risk documentation is carried out in the Risk Register while the issues are documented in the Issue Register.

Risk impact denotes the cost of the risk that can happen in a project while Risk Probability refers to the likelihood of the risk occurring project.

Being proactive enables a project manager to estimate the future risk and issues that can occur in a project. This allows them to formulate workarounds and take preventive actions to ensure that the impact of the issues and risks are minimized.

As a project manager, you may need to shift your style of communication to suit the needs of the project and your team members. Based on this, you can choose between the fours styles of communication which are

The Pareto principle is also known as the 80/20 principle. 80% of the results originate from 20% of the efforts. This analysis helps in prioritizing the tasks based on their impact instead of their urgency.

It is a combination of three components that are the most important restrictions on the projects. The three constraints are time, cost, and scope.

The major types of risks that you may encounter in a project are:

  • Market Risk
  • Schedule Risk
  • Resource Risk
  • Performance Risk
  • Technology Risk
  • Governance Risk
  • External Risk
  • Strategic Risk
  • Operational Risk

Tips to handle a dissatisfied customer:

  • You must show and make the customers feel that you value them
  • You must try to understand why they are not satisfied
  • You must try to figure out the kind of modifications they want
  • Try to Implement the modifications if there is any scope
  • If it is not possible, you can try to convince and explain to the customer

The practice of monitoring and tracking revenue and expenses is known as budgetary management. Companies often have budgets for individual departments as well as an overall company budget

Budgets often have four aspects:

  • Operating expenses,
  • Capital expenses,
  • Employee Expenses.

There are two main responsibilities for successful budgetary management:

  • Budget preparation:

Creating a budget include calculating expenses, establishing spending restrictions, and establishing a tracking system.

  • Budget tracking:

Budget tracking is keeping a running account of all spending and income in order to reconcile the department, real cash flow with its costs.

A requirements traceability matrix is a document that shows how requirements and other artefacts are related. It is used to demonstrate that requirements have been met.

Requirements traceability is important to effectively manage your requirements of:

  • Meeting Goals
  • Running the Right Tests
  • Making Decisions
  • Managing Projects

Despite the availability of numerous resources, project management tools, training materials, and adaptable techniques, businesses continue to waste millions of dollars annually and struggle to address project management challenges and issues.

  • Defining the Goals And Objectives
  • Keeping Teams on The Same Page
  • Have proper accountability
  • Proper team communication

Gold plating is the technique of altering a project scope beyond what was originally agreed upon. The process of gold plating takes time. Feature creep, which involves adding enhancements to a project at the client request, is quite similar to this approach.

  • Establish a rule: Never allow team members to add more features without first obtaining client approval and conducting a PMP-approved review of how they will influence the project.
  • Follow PMP procedure: Determine what to do if team members believe more work is required outside of the scope of the initial project.
  • Communicate and monitor: Keep the lines of communication open throughout the project and keep an eye on the work to avoid gold plating.

Monitoring is the process of gathering, collecting, and reporting project data that is relevant to the project manager and other stakeholders.

Control makes use of the data and information collected to bring real performance in line with the plan.

Earned value management (EVM) is a project management system that measures project performance by combining time, price, and scope.

It can be implemented by:

  • Establish a project work breakdown structure
  • Establish a project schedule
  • Calculate and baseline Planned Revenue
  • Track Earned Revenue and Actual Effort
  • Track project performance and adjust Earned Revenue

Fast Tracking

  • To shorten the timeline, activities or phases are carried out in simultaneously
  • Rework and risk are both increased as a result of this.
  • Only when activities/phases may be overlapped to reduce project length does it work. Works exclusively for activities that require additional resources.
  • To condense the timeline, more resources are added to the activities or phases.
  • Increases the expense of doing business, as well as the risk and cost of doing business.
  • Only works for tasks when adding more resources will cut the time of the activity. It is dependent on the requirements. Fast-tracking is the greatest option if you can manage it. Because there is no additional charge for fast-tracking. Crashing, on the other hand, can assist pull timings in significantly in specific instances. For example, in construction projects, more employees can complete the wall sooner.

The 4 essential steps of the Risk Management Process are:

  • Identify the risk
  • Assess the risk
  • Treat the risk
  • Monitor and Report on the risk

This type of contract comes with aspects of both cost-reimbursable as well as fixed-price contracts. This contract is almost like the cost-reimbursable type arrangement where there is no absolute end. 

The bid documents that can be sued for procurement management include:

  • Procurement Statement of Work (SOW)
  • Request for Information (RFI)
  • Invitation for Bid (IFB)
  • Request for proposal (RFP)
  • Invitation for Quote (IFQ)
  • Purchase Order (PO)

The types of contracts used for engaging with contractors and suppliers are:

  • Time and Materials Contract
  • Fixed-Price Contract
  • Cost Reimbursable Contract

The project manager has to work as a leader and collaborate with the project stakeholders, peers, sponsors to handle a project execution effectively. The project manager has to be excellent in communication as well as interpersonal skills.

A project manager needs to ensure that the entire team is constantly motivated. For the success of a project, the motivation theories are:

  • McGregor’s Theory
  • Maslow’s Theory
  • Vroom’s Expectancy Theory
  • Hertzberg’s Theory
  • McClelland’s Theory

The project manager must know the fundamentals of these theories and be able to implement them for the team’s success.

Conflicts take place in any project because of disagreements between team members and stakeholders. The Project manager must intervene in one such situation and resolve the issue.

Some conflict management techniques are:

  • Problem-solving/collaborating 
  • Competing/Forcing
  • Accommodating
  • Avoiding/Withdrawing
  • Reconciling/Compromising

Variance analysis is the computing method of the difference or variance between the projected and the actual performance. Trend analysis is used to identify the emerging patterns in the course of the project, and it helps in course correction for the project.

A preventive action is taken periodically to ensure that any and all possibilities of variance are taken care of beforehand so that the project deliverable cannot get impacted. The corrective measure, on the other hand, is taken once the variance has already occurred. 

Once the failure has been confirmed by the project manager, he/she must call a meeting and clearly call out the result of the project as a failure. However, instead of finding someone to blame, the project manager must move on to the positives of the project. The learning outcomes that have come up as a result of the project should be discussed and noted down so that it provides valuable experience to the project team and the project manager for future projects.

As we all operate in the VUCA world, it is common to see changes in most projects these days. That is why as a project manager, it is imperative to remain flexible and adaptable to deal with any changes brought in the project by the stakeholder. For this, a detailed change management plan must be executed.

An ideal project is one that is:

  • Relevant to the needs and expectations of people.
  • Not too expensive depending on the costs and benefits involved.
  • In line with one’s ethical principles.

You need to categorize your tasks into urgent and important tasks. Also, you need to figure out the tasks that you can delegate to someone else. Assigning the right task to the right person is crucial while delegating tasks to ensure the productivity of the team. While delegating responsibilities, make sure that the team members will be able to learn new skills and gain knowledge, which will prepare them for greater responsibilities in the future.

Here are a few tips to strategize your tasks more efficiently:

  • Set clear expectations from the beginning.
  • Review progress regularly using updates and feedback from the team.
  • Set realistic deadlines for each task depending on the complexity of the task.
  • Say ‘no’ when you don’t have the bandwidth for an additional task.
  • Focus on just one task at a time.
  • Make a checklist and keep track of important deadlines.

Being a project manager is not simple. You have to wear many hats depending on the situation. Here are a few challenges that project managers face frequently-

  • Lack of communication – Effective communication is critical to the project’s success. To ensure that all stakeholders are involved in the process, you must have timely and transparent communication techniques. To keep everyone up to date, project managers can use various collaboration and project management tools available in the market. Furthermore, having regular short meetings few times a week can help prevent miscommunication.
  • Lack of clear goals – Clarity of goals is one of the most critical needs for a project’s success. A project manager should develop SMART goals right at the outset of a project. Once you’ve established goals for your project team, make them clear to your teammates.

Many factors can contribute to project failure, including a lack of experience, poor communication skills, time constraints, unavailability of resources, and disputes with other team members or managers. Failures are not a problem if you end up learning something from that experience. In the example you provide, make sure that you highlight how you dealt with a difficult challenge and how you evaluated the setback.

The ideal method is to talk about a specific incident where you missed a deadline due to unanticipated or unplanned circumstances, but take personal responsibility for the failure and discuss what you’re doing to prevent it from happening again.

Project managers play a multifaceted role in the successful execution of projects. While their responsibilities can vary depending on the organization and the project’s nature, there are four main roles that project managers typically fulfill:

  • Project managers are responsible for developing a comprehensive project plan. This includes defining project objectives, scope, goals, and deliverables. They create a detailed project schedule, allocate resources, and establish budgets. This role involves setting the overall project strategy and ensuring alignment with the organization’s goals.
  • During the execution phase, project managers lead their teams in carrying out the project plan. They coordinate activities, assign tasks, and monitor progress to ensure that the project stays on track. This role involves problem-solving, risk management, and adapting to changes as they arise.
  • Effective communication is crucial in project management. Project managers act as liaisons between the project team, stakeholders, clients, and other relevant parties. They ensure that all stakeholders are informed about project progress, changes, and any potential issues. Building and maintaining positive relationships with stakeholders is a key aspect of this role.
  • Project managers are responsible for ensuring that the project meets quality standards and delivers the intended results. They conduct quality checks, review deliverables, and make necessary adjustments to maintain quality throughout the project lifecycle. This role involves verifying that the project’s outcomes align with the initial objectives and scope.

Q: How do I prepare for a project manager interview? 

A: To prepare for a project manager interview, you first need to have sound knowledge of your field and domain. If you want growth in the role of project management, you can even pursue a course on the subject.

Q: What are the five essential qualities of a project manager? 

A: The five most important qualities of a project manager are Communication, Time Management, Leadership, Problem Solving, and Organizational Awareness.

Q: How do you demonstrate your project management skills in an interview? 

A: To demonstrate your skills in an interview of project management, you have to emphasize your knowledge as well as experience, prove good communication skills,  outline the organizational techniques, highlight customer satisfaction, and talk about various tools that are mostly used in project management.

Q: What are the 5 stages of project management? 

A: The five stages of project management include Project Initiation, Project Planning, Project Execution, Project Monitoring & Controlling, and Project Closing.

Q: Who can be a project manager?

A: Anyone can be a project manager, provided the individual has a strong aptitude at organization/communication/planning. Project managers can excel in their careers if they are in the right environment with great mentors.

Q: What are the basic roles of project managers?

A: Project managers usually take care of the planning, procurement, execution, and closing of the projects. A project manager handles a project entirely.

These interview questions for the project manager will help you to apply for the role of project manager position. Preparing for these questions and adding your unique experience will bring you closer to your desired job position. If you wish to boost your chances, you can undergo a professionally designed course on project management offered by Great Learning .

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Top 20 Problem Solving Interview Questions (Example Answers Included)

Mike Simpson 0 Comments

project manager interview questions problem solving

By Mike Simpson

When candidates prepare for interviews, they usually focus on highlighting their leadership, communication, teamwork, and similar crucial soft skills . However, not everyone gets ready for problem-solving interview questions. And that can be a big mistake.

Problem-solving is relevant to nearly any job on the planet. Yes, it’s more prevalent in certain industries, but it’s helpful almost everywhere.

Regardless of the role you want to land, you may be asked to provide problem-solving examples or describe how you would deal with specific situations. That’s why being ready to showcase your problem-solving skills is so vital.

If you aren’t sure who to tackle problem-solving questions, don’t worry, we have your back. Come with us as we explore this exciting part of the interview process, as well as some problem-solving interview questions and example answers.

What Is Problem-Solving?

When you’re trying to land a position, there’s a good chance you’ll face some problem-solving interview questions. But what exactly is problem-solving? And why is it so important to hiring managers?

Well, the good folks at Merriam-Webster define problem-solving as “the process or act of finding a solution to a problem.” While that may seem like common sense, there’s a critical part to that definition that should catch your eye.

What part is that? The word “process.”

In the end, problem-solving is an activity. It’s your ability to take appropriate steps to find answers, determine how to proceed, or otherwise overcome the challenge.

Being great at it usually means having a range of helpful problem-solving skills and traits. Research, diligence, patience, attention-to-detail , collaboration… they can all play a role. So can analytical thinking , creativity, and open-mindedness.

But why do hiring managers worry about your problem-solving skills? Well, mainly, because every job comes with its fair share of problems.

While problem-solving is relevant to scientific, technical, legal, medical, and a whole slew of other careers. It helps you overcome challenges and deal with the unexpected. It plays a role in troubleshooting and innovation. That’s why it matters to hiring managers.

How to Answer Problem-Solving Interview Questions

Okay, before we get to our examples, let’s take a quick second to talk about strategy. Knowing how to answer problem-solving interview questions is crucial. Why? Because the hiring manager might ask you something that you don’t anticipate.

Problem-solving interview questions are all about seeing how you think. As a result, they can be a bit… unconventional.

These aren’t your run-of-the-mill job interview questions . Instead, they are tricky behavioral interview questions . After all, the goal is to find out how you approach problem-solving, so most are going to feature scenarios, brainteasers, or something similar.

So, having a great strategy means knowing how to deal with behavioral questions. Luckily, there are a couple of tools that can help.

First, when it comes to the classic approach to behavioral interview questions, look no further than the STAR Method . With the STAR method, you learn how to turn your answers into captivating stories. This makes your responses tons more engaging, ensuring you keep the hiring manager’s attention from beginning to end.

Now, should you stop with the STAR Method? Of course not. If you want to take your answers to the next level, spend some time with the Tailoring Method , too.

With the Tailoring Method, it’s all about relevance. So, if you get a chance to choose an example that demonstrates your problem-solving skills, this is really the way to go.

We also wanted to let you know that we created an amazing free cheat sheet that will give you word-for-word answers for some of the toughest interview questions you are going to face in your upcoming interview. After all, hiring managers will often ask you more generalized interview questions!

Click below to get your free PDF now:

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Top 3 Problem-Solving-Based Interview Questions

Alright, here is what you’ve been waiting for: the problem-solving questions and sample answers.

While many questions in this category are job-specific, these tend to apply to nearly any job. That means there’s a good chance you’ll come across them at some point in your career, making them a great starting point when you’re practicing for an interview.

So, let’s dive in, shall we? Here’s a look at the top three problem-solving interview questions and example responses.

1. Can you tell me about a time when you had to solve a challenging problem?

In the land of problem-solving questions, this one might be your best-case scenario. It lets you choose your own problem-solving examples to highlight, putting you in complete control.

When you choose an example, go with one that is relevant to what you’ll face in the role. The closer the match, the better the answer is in the eyes of the hiring manager.

EXAMPLE ANSWER:

“While working as a mobile telecom support specialist for a large organization, we had to transition our MDM service from one vendor to another within 45 days. This personally physically handling 500 devices within the agency. Devices had to be gathered from the headquarters and satellite offices, which were located all across the state, something that was challenging even without the tight deadline. I approached the situation by identifying the location assignment of all personnel within the organization, enabling me to estimate transit times for receiving the devices. Next, I timed out how many devices I could personally update in a day. Together, this allowed me to create a general timeline. After that, I coordinated with each location, both expressing the urgency of adhering to deadlines and scheduling bulk shipping options. While there were occasional bouts of resistance, I worked with location leaders to calm concerns and facilitate action. While performing all of the updates was daunting, my approach to organizing the event made it a success. Ultimately, the entire transition was finished five days before the deadline, exceeding the expectations of many.”

2. Describe a time where you made a mistake. What did you do to fix it?

While this might not look like it’s based on problem-solving on the surface, it actually is. When you make a mistake, it creates a challenge, one you have to work your way through. At a minimum, it’s an opportunity to highlight problem-solving skills, even if you don’t address the topic directly.

When you choose an example, you want to go with a situation where the end was positive. However, the issue still has to be significant, causing something negative to happen in the moment that you, ideally, overcame.

“When I first began in a supervisory role, I had trouble setting down my individual contributor hat. I tried to keep up with my past duties while also taking on the responsibilities of my new role. As a result, I began rushing and introduced an error into the code of the software my team was updating. The error led to a memory leak. We became aware of the issue when the performance was hindered, though we didn’t immediately know the cause. I dove back into the code, reviewing recent changes, and, ultimately, determined the issue was a mistake on my end. When I made that discovery, I took several steps. First, I let my team know that the error was mine and let them know its nature. Second, I worked with my team to correct the issue, resolving the memory leak. Finally, I took this as a lesson about delegation. I began assigning work to my team more effectively, a move that allowed me to excel as a manager and help them thrive as contributors. It was a crucial learning moment, one that I have valued every day since.”

3. If you identify a potential risk in a project, what steps do you take to prevent it?

Yes, this is also a problem-solving question. The difference is, with this one, it’s not about fixing an issue; it’s about stopping it from happening. Still, you use problem-solving skills along the way, so it falls in this question category.

If you can, use an example of a moment when you mitigated risk in the past. If you haven’t had that opportunity, approach it theoretically, discussing the steps you would take to prevent an issue from developing.

“If I identify a potential risk in a project, my first step is to assess the various factors that could lead to a poor outcome. Prevention requires analysis. Ensuring I fully understand what can trigger the undesired event creates the right foundation, allowing me to figure out how to reduce the likelihood of those events occurring. Once I have the right level of understanding, I come up with a mitigation plan. Exactly what this includes varies depending on the nature of the issue, though it usually involves various steps and checks designed to monitor the project as it progresses to spot paths that may make the problem more likely to happen. I find this approach effective as it combines knowledge and ongoing vigilance. That way, if the project begins to head into risky territory, I can correct its trajectory.”

17 More Problem-Solving-Based Interview Questions

In the world of problem-solving questions, some apply to a wide range of jobs, while others are more niche. For example, customer service reps and IT helpdesk professionals both encounter challenges, but not usually the same kind.

As a result, some of the questions in this list may be more relevant to certain careers than others. However, they all give you insights into what this kind of question looks like, making them worth reviewing.

Here are 17 more problem-solving interview questions you might face off against during your job search:

  • How would you describe your problem-solving skills?
  • Can you tell me about a time when you had to use creativity to deal with an obstacle?
  • Describe a time when you discovered an unmet customer need while assisting a customer and found a way to meet it.
  • If you were faced with an upset customer, how would you diffuse the situation?
  • Tell me about a time when you had to troubleshoot a complex issue.
  • Imagine you were overseeing a project and needed a particular item. You have two choices of vendors: one that can deliver on time but would be over budget, and one that’s under budget but would deliver one week later than you need it. How do you figure out which approach to use?
  • Your manager wants to upgrade a tool you regularly use for your job and wants your recommendation. How do you formulate one?
  • A supplier has said that an item you need for a project isn’t going to be delivered as scheduled, something that would cause your project to fall behind schedule. What do you do to try and keep the timeline on target?
  • Can you share an example of a moment where you encountered a unique problem you and your colleagues had never seen before? How did you figure out what to do?
  • Imagine you were scheduled to give a presentation with a colleague, and your colleague called in sick right before it was set to begin. What would you do?
  • If you are given two urgent tasks from different members of the leadership team, both with the same tight deadline, how do you choose which to tackle first?
  • Tell me about a time you and a colleague didn’t see eye-to-eye. How did you decide what to do?
  • Describe your troubleshooting process.
  • Tell me about a time where there was a problem that you weren’t able to solve. What happened?
  • In your opening, what skills or traits make a person an exceptional problem-solver?
  • When you face a problem that requires action, do you usually jump in or take a moment to carefully assess the situation?
  • When you encounter a new problem you’ve never seen before, what is the first step that you take?

Putting It All Together

At this point, you should have a solid idea of how to approach problem-solving interview questions. Use the tips above to your advantage. That way, you can thrive during your next interview.

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  • What Is Your Greatest Weakness?
  • What Is Your Greatest Strength?
  • Tell Me About Yourself
  • Why Should We Hire You?

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top project management interview questions

Top 20 Project Management Interview Questions and Answers

Going for a project management interview? Go through these top project management interview questions and prepare yourself to crack the interview.

Project Managers are required across the industry and interview process for Project Managers is different for technical developers or senior developer level. The reason is very simple, organizations have a big stake in projects and compensation which is involved. Project Stake, because the hired candidate will be responsible for the project success or project failure in which the organization has invested. And compensation because the project manager and any further senior management roles have to offer good compensation which is up to market standards.

Let’s have a look at the important areas and corresponding top project management interview questions for those areas. Definitely, this is only one viewpoint and there can be thousands of questions related to project management in the interviews with multiple viewpoints.

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The focus of the organization has been drifted towards agility and flexibility in the projects due to which interview questions are also focused on the same. It’s rare that today’s organizations only need a project management specialist who knows only the traditional ways of handling projects. Keeping this in mind, we’ve created the list of top project management interview questions with the detailed answers that will help aspirants to crack the interview.

Top 20 Project Management Interview Questions

It is not very simple to crack a project management interview, the interviewer may ask you different types of questions to check your knowledge and skills at various perspectives. So, it is very important to prepare yourself with some of the latest project management interview questions to crack the interview. Understanding the value of good preparation, here we create a broad list of top project management interview questions and answers under different categories.

Experience-based Project Management Interview Questions

In this section, we cover some of the general project management interview questions that interviewer asks to check the knowledge of the candidate he/she has gained through the previous experience. If you are a fresher in project management, you may be asked some basic questions about yourself. Let’s prepare with these project management questions.

1. Share one of the challenging situation you have faced & what is the greatest challenge you feel in the offered job?

Answer: This question is basically to identify if you have experience in handling challenging situations and also if you are aware of challenges in your new role. An interviewer will also check if you are a good fit for the offered position while you are answering this question.

The person should try to use this opportunity to showcase his/her skills to handle the situations and also to show how challenging environment boost you do work.

2. What is your one greatest weakness & one greatest strength?

Answer:   Weakness and strengths are there to everyone. This question is to judge whether you are open for improvements and whether you are aware of your own self in terms of your strengths.

There is no need to show oneself as the perfectionist that may work against you. You may need to smartly put your weakness to show you have areas of improvement thought you are good at it. Similarly, strengths you showcase should be in line with the need of the job and not of your personal choice. This question is very simple and repetitive but interviewer makes many decisions based on the answers you give.

3. How do you handle pressure situation? Do you use some creative problem-solving techniques?

Answer:   This is one of the most common project management interview questions asked to check how much knowledge you have about the subject as well as management along with whether you have really faced tough project situations.

This is an opportunity to express the already handled situation with one or two examples. Problem-solving techniques may be a keyword for you to understand that interviewer is trying to judge if you know about some techniques commonly used by Project Managers like root cause analysis with the help of 5 whys etc. 

4. Do you believe in team development? Can you share instances where you did that for your teams?

Answer:   Team development and team management skill along with mentoring and leadership for the success of the project are very important for good project management. This question is to understand if you believe in that.

Team Development

In this answer, you need to express the people management skills you have developed with few examples. You may explain team development procedure to demonstrate your knowledge. You need to showcase your leadership, mentoring, conflict management as well as team grooming skills. 

5. What do you believe more in, a Leader or a Manager and why?

Answer:   This question lies among the best project management interview questions asked to check the agile mindset where rather than managers, leaders are required and the team is self-organizing.

It’s important to answer this question as honestly as possible because both qualities are required for multiple scenarios. Leadership is required for Project Management as without that a manager can’t become a great mentor and role model for the team. At the same time, the manager is required to manage the project efficiently and has to take some tough decisions during the course of the project.

6. Why should our organization hire you for this role? Give a few reasons.

Answer:   This one is to hear from you if you fit the job. Confidence and readiness for the adaptation are also judged.

The focus while answering this question should be to express how perfectly you fit the job requirements. In case of interviewer ask a question saying you don’t meet something, try to show your keenness and readiness to learn the cosmetic gaps. This is also an opportunity to express if any important point is missed in earlier questions

7. What is the reason for you to quit your current organization?

Answer:   This is a general but very important project management interview question for a senior position like Project Manager. The organization is trying to judge how ethically your answer and put forward your earlier organization.

Some people start saying negative things about an organization which will act very badly. The focus should be to give reasons like career growth, keenness towards organization you are getting interviewed. No blame game as organizations will change tomorrow and whatever you are saying for ‘X’ organization similarly you would say in future of the interviewed organization in the future. Just be cautious about this and answer.

Project-based Project Management Interview Questions

The job of the interviewer is to find the best candidate for the position who could lead the project to the success. So, he will ask few questions to check your knowledge on handling projects. So, you need to be prepared with the details of the projects you have handled in your previous jobs. Let’s go through the following project management interview questions and get ready for the interview.

8. What’s the most important thing for a project manager to do?

Answer: Generally, this question can have multiple thoughts in the mind of interviewer and answer should be based on your homework about the organization i.e. whether the organization is inclined towards traditional Project Management or Agile. More the inclination towards one, the answer should be amended accordingly.

The point here is Project Manager can be expected as an integrator which is the most important thing for an ideal Project Manager to do but if the organization is agile focused, the answer should be more towards flexibility in management and inclined towards leadership. Agile doesn’t believe in traditional Project Management of allocating work and monitoring rather it believes in self-organized and self-motivated teams.

9. What is one main driver towards project success? For you, Project success is defined in terms of what?

Answer:   In this project management interview question, the interviewer wants to check if you know about project success drivers based on triple constraints and the metrics e.g. schedule variance, cost variance, and other indexes.

One should be ready with the metrics used in your earlier projects and knowledge about Project Management EVM metrics. The drivers of project success in a traditional project management way will be expected majorly related to triple constraints, however, the person also has to touch upon agile projects success drivers which should be nothing but working software and regular demonstrations to the client. As per the job profile and organization, you have to take this call

10. How flexible schedule helps in a project? Do we need to compress schedule if required?

Answer:   This is one of the latest project management interview questions that judges a major quality required for Project Management i.e. schedule. Project schedule and monitoring of the deadlines & milestones is a day to day activity for a manager and one has to be ready with this question.

Flexible word in the question emphasizes indirectly on the agile way of working so definitely flexibility should be related to welcoming change. But in the next section of the question the intent is if it’s a regular project are you aware of schedule compression methods as well as experienced in such situations of schedule challenges.

11. What are the risks during any project? How will you manage them?

Answer: During the project manager interview, you may definitely face this question because the interviewer wants to know if you are able to work on risk handling in a proper way or not. In any project, there will be several kinds of risks for sure and you have to handle it with the proper knowledge to make sure about the success of the project.

Risk Management

The project risks will depend on several factors including internal or external as well as technical. It will also depend on the type of project and the team working on it. Risk assessment and handling should be essential qualities in any project manager.

12. How can you know if the project is going off track?

Answer: Every project is unique and it is important for the manager to track and monitor the complete process to immediately know if the project is going on the right way or not. It may be one of the most common project management interview questions that you may need to face during the interview for the post of project manager.

With the help of the right tools for tracking and monitoring for the process of the project, it is possible to know if the project is going off track. With early detection of such kind of risks, you can make be required changes according to the Benchmarks in the project.

13. What will be the ideal project for you?

Answer: Most of the candidates will definitely go for the project that they are hiring for. However, it will be better to be honest while going to answer this type of project manager interview questions during the interview. There will not be any such ideal project but there may be some of the specific areas of work that you will like according to your organization.

It will be better to go with your strong points and make sure that it is relevant to the organization where you are going to join as a project manager. make sure to make some research and know about the type of projects that they will give you during your work.

14. Do you need any kind of help outside of your project team?

Answer: Of course, you are not the person that knows everything and no one is perfect in everything.in any kind of project, you may definitely require the help of other employees of the organization and you may need to discuss several things that will ensure the successful progress of the project.

During the interview, you should not say no in the answer to this project manager interview question but you should handle it in an appropriate way. You can say that there are many come situations when you may need any kind of help of other people but it will all depend on the situation.

Management-based Project Management Interview Questions

For a project manager position, it is important to have good management skills so that you can work properly as a team and bring the project to the success. So, during a project management interview, you may come across multiple questions related to management. So, read the following some of the best project management interview questions to be asked and prepare yourself to crack the interview.

15. How do you provide status at different Management levels? Any tool you have used?

Answer:   In this type of project manager interview questions, time is to evaluate your management skill to demonstrate the project progress. It will also judge if you know what level of details should be communicated at different levels as well as to different stakeholders.

Reporting is one form of communication. Communication management and stakeholder’s management are two areas where a project manager spends maximum time. The answer should focus on your understanding of communication needs and stakeholders understanding. Examples from your past experience about some tough project manager will help

16. How do you manage office politics?

Answer: Conflict management is an area where project success is dependent as if not resolved at right time, it can create a lot of issues. This question is trying to judge your conflict management skills.

The answer to this question should be theoretical knowledge about different conflict management techniques like Avoid, confront etc. as well 2-3 examples from earlier experience. These kinds of management skills generally come from skills. One should be prepared for it by having certain examples thought through in advance.

17. What are the different kinds of tools that you can use for project management?

Answer: It is true that the tools can make the work much easier and f about any specific tool used by the company, you can go with the tool used by the company, you can go with that one with good knowledge. Otherwise, it will be better than you can make research in the markets to know about some of the most popular and useful tools.

With the knowledge of these tools, you will definitely get better chances of a successful interview for the post of project manager so make sure to go with the tools you have previously used or had some knowledge about.

18. How will you improve the knowledge about project management?

Answer: For any company, it is always a big investment to hire employees. They always want to see the improvements in your skills and knowledge after the post of project manager.you will definitely get lots of improvements in your knowledge and skills with the time and with the projects.

However, it will be good if you are going to use the tools available in the market as well as you will need to join the workshops so that you can grow your knowledge in this field to provide more benefits to the organization.

19. What is the preferred methodology for project management for you?

Answer: There are several different ways to manage any kind of project for the organization. You will need to get complete information about all these methods when you are going to prepare for the interview.

Either you can use traditional methods like the waterfall or you can go with hybrid methods for project management as a manager in the company. You will need to make changes in the method according to the type of project and the current situations in the workplace.

20. How will you manage a change request with the proper handling?

Answer: It is a very normal thing in any company to find the requirement of any kind of specific change in the final project or product. In this situation, the manager of the project will need to handle the change request in the proper way.

First of all, you will need to analyze the situation and the possibility of the required changes in the project. There may be some of the specific things that you can easily change while you may need to waste lots of time and money for some of the other changes. The estimation of the final project and cost will also depend on when you are going to face such kind of change the request.

Preparing to become a certified project management professional ? Here’s is the list of articles that will help you in your  Project Management Certifications Preparation .

So, here we’ve covered top project management interview questions and answers. Hope these questions will prove as a helpful resource in your preparation for the project management interview. As these are only 20 questions, you may find them very less to get prepared for the interview. So, to help you more, we have recently written another blog 30 most common project management interview questions . So, prepare with these best 50 project management interview questions and get ready to crack the project management interview.

Project Manager role is a very important role in a project and so high priority would be given for this interview as the employer is looking for the multiple skills in the candidate applying for the role. The role requires competencies in all the skills and also being able to show good adaptability and decision making skills. Here we have listed out the most important points that would be discussed and given priority by the employers in choosing a person for the Project Manager post.

Having a certification in project management also proves as an add-on and increases your chances of being selected in the interview. We at Whizlabs are aimed to help you in having a bright career and so we bring  project management certifications online training and practice tests  for you . These project management certifications training courses help you to bring your career one level up.

So, join us today and take a step ahead towards bright project management career!

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30 Lead Project Manager Interview Questions and Answers

Common Lead Project Manager interview questions, how to answer them, and example answers from a certified career coach.

project manager interview questions problem solving

In the world of project management, taking on a leadership role requires not only an acute understanding of your industry’s logistics and operations but also strong interpersonal skills to effectively guide your team towards success. As you prepare for an interview for a Lead Project Manager position, it’s essential to reflect on your past experiences and formulate articulate responses that demonstrate your ability to handle this multifaceted job.

To assist in your preparation, we’ve curated a list of frequently asked questions during lead project manager interviews. Along with these questions, we’ll provide detailed explanations and sample answers to help you convey your expertise, leadership style, and problem-solving skills confidently and convincingly. Let’s get started!

1. Can you outline your experience managing large-scale projects from conception to completion?

As a lead project manager, you are the captain steering the ship. The interviewer wants to assess your experience and ability to handle the lifecycle of a project. This includes the birth of an idea, planning, execution, monitoring, and the final delivery. They want to see if you can lead a team, manage resources, and ensure projects are completed on time and within budget.

Example: “I have over a decade of experience managing large-scale projects. My approach involves defining project objectives, identifying key stakeholders, and setting timelines from the onset.

For instance, I once led a team to develop an enterprise software solution for a multinational corporation. The project had a tight deadline, but through effective resource allocation and risk management, we delivered on time without compromising quality.

Throughout my career, I’ve honed my skills in communication, leadership, and problem-solving. These competencies have been instrumental in successfully steering complex projects to completion while ensuring stakeholder satisfaction.”

2. In your opinion, what are the key elements to successful project management?

The core of project management is all about organizing and managing resources in a way that these resources deliver all the work required to complete a project within defined scope, time, and cost constraints. A project is a temporary and one-time endeavor undertaken to create a unique product or service, which brings about beneficial change or added value. Therefore, understanding the key elements to successful project management helps interviewers gauge your abilities to manage all aspects of a project effectively, in order to lead it to successful completion.

Example: “Successful project management hinges on four key elements.

1) Clear Communication: Ensuring all team members understand their roles, responsibilities and the overall project goals is crucial.

2) Planning & Organization: A well-structured plan that outlines tasks, deadlines, and resources can effectively guide a project to completion.

3) Risk Management: Identifying potential issues early on allows for proactive problem-solving, reducing delays or setbacks.

4) Leadership: A good project manager motivates the team, resolves conflicts, and drives the project forward. They should be able to make tough decisions when necessary while maintaining a positive work environment.”

3. Describe a time when you had to manage a project with a very tight deadline. How did you ensure it was completed on time?

Project managers are often required to work under immense pressure and tight deadlines. This question will give the interviewer an insight into your ability to manage time, resources, and team members effectively. It will also provide a glimpse into your problem-solving skills, strategic thinking, and how you handle stress in high-pressure situations.

Example: “In a previous project, we had to deliver an upgraded software system in a month. I started by breaking down the work into manageable tasks and assigning them to team members based on their expertise.

To ensure efficiency, I implemented daily stand-up meetings for progress updates. This helped identify any potential bottlenecks early and allowed us to adjust our approach as needed.

I also ensured that all stakeholders were regularly updated about the project’s status. This transparency encouraged everyone to stay focused and committed to meeting the deadline.

Despite the pressure, we delivered the project on time without compromising quality. It was a testament to effective planning, clear communication, and teamwork.”

4. How do you handle communication within a diverse project team?

Effective communication is a cornerstone of successful project management, particularly when teams are diverse. This diversity could be in terms of skills, experience, and also cultural backgrounds. Interviewers want to see that you can navigate these complexities and still deliver clear, concise, and effective communication to ensure the project stays on track. They want to know if you understand the nuances of communication styles and if you can adapt your approach to meet the needs of different team members.

Example: “Effective communication within a diverse project team requires cultural sensitivity, active listening, and clear articulation of ideas. I encourage open dialogue to understand different perspectives and foster inclusivity. Tools like Slack or Microsoft Teams can aid in this process by providing platforms for transparent conversation.

Moreover, regular meetings help ensure everyone is on the same page. During these, I emphasize each member’s role and how it contributes to the overall project goal.

It’s also crucial to consider language barriers that may exist, so visual aids and written summaries can be beneficial. By addressing potential communication challenges proactively, we can work efficiently as a cohesive unit.”

5. How do you manage risk and uncertainty in a project?

The very nature of project management involves navigating uncertainties and risks. When selecting a lead project manager, employers need to be confident that you have the strategic foresight and problem-solving skills to manage potential pitfalls and keep the project on track. Your ability to anticipate, identify, and mitigate risk is a critical factor in ensuring project success.

Example: “Managing risk and uncertainty in a project involves proactive planning, continuous monitoring, and swift response.

In the initial stages, I conduct a thorough risk assessment to identify potential issues that could derail the project. This includes analyzing factors such as resource availability, technological challenges, and stakeholder expectations.

Once risks are identified, I prioritize them based on their impact and likelihood of occurrence. A mitigation strategy is then developed for each risk, which may involve avoiding, transferring, or accepting the risk depending on its nature.

Throughout the project lifecycle, I continually monitor these risks and adjust our strategies as necessary. Communication plays a crucial role here; I ensure all team members are aware of the risks and understand how to respond should they materialize.

Uncertainty is inherent in any project, but with a robust risk management process, it can be effectively managed.”

6. Can you provide examples of the project management tools you are proficient in and explain how you have utilized them in previous roles?

As a lead project manager, you are expected to not only be familiar with but also proficient in using project management tools. These tools are critical for keeping projects on track and ensuring that all members of the team are on the same page. By asking this question, hiring managers are seeking to understand your technical abilities, your familiarity with project management tools, and your ability to use them effectively to lead and manage projects.

Example: “I am proficient in using project management tools such as Microsoft Project, JIRA, and Asana.

In my experience, I have used Microsoft Project to develop comprehensive project schedules, track progress, manage budgets, and analyze workloads. The tool’s robust features allowed me to effectively plan, monitor, and deliver projects on time and within budget.

With JIRA, I managed software development projects by tracking issues, assigning tasks, and monitoring team productivity. It was instrumental in ensuring effective communication among team members and stakeholders.

Asana helped streamline workflow by organizing tasks and deadlines. Its user-friendly interface made it easier for the team to stay updated with their responsibilities, enhancing overall efficiency and productivity.”

7. Could you describe a time when a project did not go as planned and how you handled it?

Project management is all about adaptability. Even with the most meticulous planning, things can go awry and unforeseen circumstances can arise. Therefore, the interviewer wants to see how you handle unexpected hitches and still steer the project to completion. They’re probing for your problem-solving skills, flexibility, and ability to keep a cool head under pressure.

Example: “In one instance, a key supplier failed to deliver crucial materials for our project. This threatened to derail our timeline and budget.

I immediately convened the team to brainstorm solutions. We identified an alternative supplier who could expedite delivery at a higher cost.

To offset this, we optimized other areas of the project without compromising quality. This experience reinforced the importance of contingency planning and proactive problem-solving in project management.”

8. How do you ensure all stakeholders are aligned and understand the project’s objectives?

An effective project manager needs to ensure that everyone involved in the project, from team members to executives, fully understands the project’s objectives. This question is designed to reveal your communication and leadership skills, as well as your ability to manage expectations, keep everyone on the same page, and drive the project towards its goals. It’s essential to have everyone aligned to prevent misunderstandings and miscommunications that can derail a project.

Example: “To ensure all stakeholders are aligned and understand the project’s objectives, I believe in clear communication from the start. This involves defining the project goals, scope, deliverables, and timelines explicitly.

I also conduct regular meetings to update everyone on progress, address concerns, and maintain transparency. Using collaborative tools can further facilitate this process by providing a platform for real-time updates and discussions.

Moreover, it is crucial to identify and consider each stakeholder’s individual interests and expectations. By incorporating their feedback and addressing their concerns, we can foster a sense of ownership and commitment towards the project’s success.”

9. What strategies do you use to motivate your team during a long-term project?

The longevity and success of any project is greatly dependent on the motivation and commitment of the team members involved. As a Lead Project Manager, you are not only expected to oversee the project, but also keep the team engaged, productive, and motivated. Therefore, understanding your strategies for motivating your team in the long-term provides insight into your leadership style and your ability to maintain high performance levels over time.

Example: “Motivation is crucial in long-term projects. I aim to maintain an open line of communication, ensuring each team member feels heard and valued. Regular feedback sessions help identify any issues early on.

Setting clear goals and milestones provides a sense of direction and achievement. Celebrating these small wins boosts morale and motivation.

I also believe in the power of autonomy. Empowering team members to take ownership of tasks increases their engagement and commitment to the project.

Lastly, acknowledging hard work and rewarding outstanding performance are key motivators. This can be as simple as verbal recognition or more formal rewards. It’s about creating a positive, motivating environment where everyone strives for success.”

10. How do you manage project scope creep?

The essence of project management is to keep everything on track and within the set parameters. However, in reality, projects can sometimes grow beyond their initial parameters – this is what’s referred to as ‘scope creep’. When this happens, it can derail the project, causing delays and cost overruns. Interviewers want to know how you, as a potential project manager, can anticipate, manage, and mitigate scope creep, ensuring projects stay on track and on budget.

Example: “Managing project scope creep involves a proactive approach. I ensure that the project requirements are clearly defined and agreed upon by all stakeholders at the outset. This includes establishing a change control process, which outlines how changes to the initial plan will be handled.

In cases where changes are proposed, I assess their impact on resources, timelines, and deliverables before approval. Regular communication with stakeholders is also essential in managing expectations and ensuring everyone stays aligned with the project’s goals.

By maintaining transparency and rigorously adhering to the established processes, I effectively manage scope creep, keeping projects on track and within budget.”

11. Can you share an example of a complex project you led and the strategies you used to maintain organization and meet deadlines?

Project management is all about navigating complexity and staying organized, no matter what surprises may arise. Employers want to know that you can maintain a cool head under pressure, and that you’re capable of devising and implementing effective strategies to keep a project on track. This question gives you a chance to demonstrate your skills, resourcefulness, and adaptability in the face of challenges.

Example: “One complex project I led was the launch of a new software product. To maintain organization, I implemented a project management tool to track tasks and deadlines. Clear communication channels were established for all team members, ensuring everyone was aware of their responsibilities.

Meeting deadlines required strategic planning. We broke down the project into smaller parts, setting milestones with specific dates. Regular progress meetings helped us stay on track and address any issues promptly.

Risk management was also crucial. We identified potential pitfalls early on and developed contingency plans. This proactive approach ensured we met our deadline without compromising quality.”

12. What are the methods you use to assess a project’s success?

Project managers live and breathe by their project outcomes. So, a hiring manager wants to know that you have a clear, effective strategy for determining whether a project has met its goals. This is an opportunity to showcase your analytical skills, your understanding of key metrics, and your ability to translate data into meaningful recommendations for future projects.

Example: “To assess a project’s success, I focus on three key areas:

1. Completion within the set timeline and budget: This is a fundamental indicator of efficiency and planning.

2. Quality of deliverables: It’s crucial to ensure that the final output meets or exceeds the expected standards and client requirements.

3. Stakeholder satisfaction: Feedback from all stakeholders including team members, clients, and management provides valuable insights into the project’s impact and effectiveness.

By balancing these factors, we can gain a comprehensive view of a project’s success.”

13. How do you handle conflicts within your team during a project?

Conflict is an inevitable part of any team-based work, and managing it is a key responsibility of a project manager. Hiring managers want to ensure that you have the skills and techniques to handle disagreements effectively, preventing them from derailing the team’s progress. Your approach to conflict resolution speaks volumes about your leadership style and ability to maintain a cohesive, productive team.

Example: “When conflicts arise within a team, I believe in addressing the issue head-on. I initiate open and respectful communication among all parties involved to understand differing perspectives.

I encourage everyone to express their viewpoints, ensuring that each voice is heard. This often helps in identifying common ground or potential solutions.

If necessary, I don’t hesitate to involve higher management or HR for mediation. My ultimate goal is to resolve conflicts efficiently to maintain team harmony and productivity.”

14. Can you discuss your experience with budget management in previous projects?

Managing budgets is a critical skill for any project manager. The success of a project often hinges on its financial feasibility and how well resources are managed. Therefore, prospective employers wish to gauge your financial acumen, your ability to make strategic decisions, and your efficiency in utilizing resources. They want to ensure you can deliver projects within the allocated budget without compromising quality.

Example: “In one of my previous projects, I was responsible for a budget of $2 million. My task was to ensure that the project did not exceed this budget while still meeting all its objectives.

To manage the budget effectively, I created a detailed plan outlining where each dollar would go. This included costs for labor, materials, and other resources.

During the project, I regularly tracked our spending against this plan. Whenever we were at risk of going over budget, I identified areas where we could cut costs without compromising the quality of work.

Through careful planning and monitoring, I was able to complete the project within budget. It taught me the importance of proactive budget management in ensuring project success.”

15. How do you prioritize tasks when managing multiple projects simultaneously?

The essence of project management is juggling multiple tasks and ensuring everything is completed on time, within budget, and to the satisfaction of all stakeholders. With multiple projects on the go, prioritizing becomes even more critical. By asking this question, hiring managers are looking to understand your ability to manage workload, make decisions under pressure, and effectively lead a team through complex situations.

Example: “Prioritizing tasks in a multi-project environment requires a strategic approach. I rely on project management tools to visualize all ongoing projects and their respective deadlines.

I determine the urgency of each task based on its impact on the overall project, considering factors like dependencies with other tasks and potential bottlenecks.

Simultaneously, it’s crucial to assess the importance of each task. Tasks that are critical for achieving project goals get higher priority.

Communication plays a key role too. Regularly updating team members about shifting priorities ensures everyone is aligned and can adjust their work accordingly.”

16. What steps do you take to ensure quality control throughout a project’s lifecycle?

The essence of a project manager’s role is to ensure that projects are executed efficiently, on time, within budget, and to the required quality standards. A key part of achieving this is having a solid understanding of quality control procedures. Therefore, hiring managers want to verify that you have the knowledge and skills to ensure quality at every stage of a project, from initiation to closure.

Example: “To ensure quality control throughout a project’s lifecycle, I begin by defining clear and measurable objectives. These provide a benchmark for assessing the project’s success.

I then establish a robust communication plan to keep everyone informed about progress and changes. This helps in identifying potential issues early on.

Implementing regular check-ins or audits is also crucial. It allows real-time monitoring of the project against set standards and promptly addressing any deviations.

Moreover, using reliable project management tools can automate tracking and reporting processes, enhancing efficiency and accuracy.

Lastly, conducting a thorough post-project review is essential. It identifies areas of improvement for future projects, thus ensuring continuous quality enhancement.”

17. Can you describe a time when you had to make a critical decision under pressure during a project?

As a project manager, you will often need to make decisions under pressure that will significantly impact the direction and outcome of a project. Employers ask this question to gauge your decision-making skills, ability to handle stress, and how you approach problem-solving in high-stakes situations. They want to know if you can quickly analyze a situation, consider alternatives, and make sound decisions even when the clock is ticking.

Example: “During a software development project, we faced an unexpected technical glitch that threatened to delay our delivery timeline. The pressure was high as the client expected us on time.

After evaluating the situation, I decided to reassign some team members from another less urgent project to expedite the resolution process. This decision required careful consideration of resource allocation and potential impacts on other projects.

The result was successful; we managed to resolve the issue promptly without affecting the overall project schedule. It reinforced my belief in making swift yet informed decisions under pressure.”

18. How do you balance the need for innovation with the constraints of a project?

The essence of project management is striking a balance between creativity or innovation and the realities of finite resources. When hiring for a lead project manager role, companies are keen to understand how a candidate can drive a project forward with fresh ideas, while still staying within the project’s scope, timelines, and budget. This question is therefore designed to assess your capacity to manage this balance effectively.

Example: “Balancing innovation and project constraints requires strategic planning. I prioritize the project’s objectives and identify where innovation can add value within these boundaries.

Risk assessment is crucial. Innovative ideas often carry a level of uncertainty, so understanding potential risks helps in making informed decisions.

Communication with stakeholders also plays an essential role. By keeping them updated about innovative approaches, we ensure alignment and support for potential changes.

In essence, it’s about integrating innovation into the project plan without compromising on scope, time, or budget.”

19. How have you handled a project with shifting or ambiguous requirements?

The nature of project management often involves dealing with uncertainty and changes, whether that’s due to market dynamics, internal company changes, or evolving client needs. By asking this question, hiring managers are looking for your ability to adapt, problem-solve, and maintain effective communication with all parties involved. They want to see your strategic thinking skills and how you navigate complexity and ambiguity.

Example: “In a recent project, we faced shifting requirements due to changes in the client’s strategic direction. To manage this, I implemented agile methodologies that allowed for flexibility and adaptability.

I prioritized communication with all stakeholders, ensuring everyone was aware of changes as they occurred. This involved frequent meetings and status updates.

To handle ambiguity, I encouraged my team to ask questions and seek clarification. We also used prototyping as a tool to visualize potential solutions and gain feedback quickly.

Overall, it was about maintaining focus on our end goal while being flexible in how we achieved it.”

20. Can you discuss your experience with Agile, Scrum, or other project management methodologies?

The heart of project management lies in how effectively you can guide a project through to completion. This can be a complex process, requiring knowledge of various project management methodologies like Agile, Scrum, or others. By asking this question, the interviewer wants to gauge your familiarity with these methods and understand how you’ve utilized them in past projects. It also shows whether you’re capable of adapting to the organization’s preferred project management style.

Example: “I have extensive experience with Agile and Scrum methodologies. In my work, I’ve found that Agile allows for flexibility and rapid adjustments to project scope based on stakeholder feedback or market changes. It promotes team collaboration and continuous improvement.

Scrum, a subset of Agile, has been particularly useful in managing complex projects. The use of sprints helps prioritize tasks, while daily stand-ups ensure transparency and quick resolution of issues.

I also value other methodologies like Waterfall for its clear structure and predictability, especially in less dynamic environments. However, I believe the best approach often involves blending different methodologies based on the project’s unique requirements.”

21. How do you typically handle changes in project direction or strategy?

Flexibility and adaptability are key traits for a project manager. In the dynamic world of project management, changes in project direction or strategy can often occur due to various reasons such as changes in client requirements, resource availability, or market dynamics. By asking this question, hiring managers want to understand how you adapt to such changes, manage your team through the transition, and still deliver results on time and within budget.

Example: “When faced with changes in project direction or strategy, my first step is to understand the reasons behind the change. This helps me communicate effectively to the team and stakeholders about why we are shifting gears.

Next, I assess the impact of this change on our timelines, resources, and deliverables. If necessary, I revise the project plan accordingly.

I believe in maintaining open communication lines during such transitions. Regular updates help keep everyone aligned and mitigate any potential resistance to change.

Lastly, it’s crucial to remain flexible and adaptable as a Project Manager. Change is often inevitable, and being able to navigate it smoothly can make all the difference.”

22. Can you provide an example of a project where you had to manage a difficult stakeholder?

Project Managers are expected to navigate complex interpersonal dynamics among various stakeholders. Since stakeholders can significantly influence the outcomes of a project, it’s important to manage their expectations, concerns, and potential resistance effectively. The interviewer wants to assess your skills in negotiating, problem-solving, and resilience when dealing with difficult stakeholders.

Example: “In a recent project, we had a stakeholder who was very critical and resistant to change. This posed a challenge as the project required significant process modifications.

I initiated one-on-one meetings with this individual to understand their concerns. I found they were worried about the impact on their team’s workload.

To address these fears, I involved them in the planning phase, ensuring their input was considered. We also developed a detailed transition plan which eased their concerns about sudden changes.

This approach resulted in the stakeholder becoming more receptive and cooperative, contributing positively to the project’s success. It reinforced that understanding and addressing stakeholders’ concerns is crucial for effective project management.”

23. How do you ensure your team meets project milestones?

This question is designed to gauge your ability to manage and lead a team effectively. As a Lead Project Manager, it’s vital that you have strategies in place to keep your team on track and ensure that project milestones are met. Interviewers want to see that you’re proactive, organized, and can motivate your team to accomplish their tasks efficiently and effectively.

Example: “To ensure my team meets project milestones, I prioritize clear communication. This includes setting expectations from the start and maintaining regular updates on progress and challenges.

I also believe in empowering team members with ownership of tasks. By assigning responsibility based on strengths and expertise, we can leverage individual skills for maximum efficiency.

Moreover, I use project management tools to track progress and adjust plans as needed. These tools provide visibility into each task’s status, helping us stay on top of deadlines.

Lastly, fostering a collaborative environment is crucial. Encouraging input and feedback promotes problem-solving and innovation, which often leads to meeting or even exceeding our milestones.”

24. How have you incorporated feedback into your project management process?

Feedback is a critical component of continuous improvement, particularly in the realm of project management. It’s not just about leading a team and driving a project to completion, it’s also about learning, growing, and enhancing your processes for future projects. By asking this question, hiring managers want to gauge your receptiveness to feedback, your ability to adapt and your commitment to continuous improvement within your role.

Example: “Incorporating feedback is vital for successful project management. I usually establish open communication channels to encourage team members, stakeholders and clients to share their insights regularly.

Upon receiving feedback, I analyze it in the context of our project goals. If it aligns with our objectives, I integrate it into our action plan promptly.

For significant changes, I use change management strategies to ensure smooth implementation without disrupting workflow. This approach ensures that valuable feedback directly contributes to improving project outcomes.”

25. Can you describe how you have used data to drive decision-making in a project?

Data-driven decision making is at the heart of effective project management. This question aims to assess if you, as a potential lead project manager, understand how to analyze and interpret data to inform the strategic direction of a project. This includes setting realistic goals, allocating resources efficiently, identifying potential risks, and measuring project success. It’s key to show that you’re not only comfortable with numbers but also know how to translate data into actionable insights that drive project success.

Example: “In a recent project, we were facing low customer engagement. I led the team to analyze user behavior data from our platform and external market research. We discovered that users found our interface complex.

Based on this insight, we simplified the interface and introduced an interactive tutorial for new users. Post-implementation, we monitored key metrics like user session time and bounce rate. The changes resulted in a 30% increase in user engagement.

This experience underscored how data-driven decisions can directly impact project outcomes.”

26. How do you keep your project management skills current with the latest industry trends and technologies?

Staying on top of industry trends and technologies is a key part of being a successful project manager. With the rapid pace of technological advancement, hiring managers want to ensure you are proactively keeping your skills and knowledge up to date. This question gives you an opportunity to demonstrate your commitment to professional development and your ability to adapt to new tools and methodologies.

Example: “I keep my project management skills current by continuously learning and adapting. I regularly attend industry seminars and webinars, read relevant books and articles, and participate in online forums to stay updated on the latest trends and technologies.

Moreover, I am a member of professional organizations like PMI where I can network with other professionals and learn from their experiences.

I also invest time in getting certified in new methodologies or tools that are gaining popularity. This not only enhances my knowledge but also gives me an edge over others.

Finally, I believe in learning by doing. So, I try to implement what I learn in real-time projects, which helps me understand its practical implications better.”

27. Can you discuss a time when you had to manage a project with limited resources?

This question is posed to gain a better understanding of your problem-solving and resource management skills. As a project manager, you’re often faced with challenges and obstacles that require creative solutions. Limited resources can be one such obstacle. The aim is to see how you optimize the resources available and still deliver results, demonstrating your adaptability and innovative thinking.

Example: “During a project for a major client, we faced budget cuts that significantly reduced our resources. I had to think creatively and strategically to ensure the project’s success.

I started by re-evaluating our priorities and focusing on essential tasks. This helped us allocate our limited resources more effectively.

Next, I encouraged the team to brainstorm cost-effective solutions. We came up with innovative ideas like leveraging existing tools instead of purchasing new ones.

We also negotiated with vendors for better terms and looked for opportunities to collaborate with other departments to share costs.

Despite the challenges, the project was completed successfully within the revised budget. It taught me valuable lessons about resourcefulness and adaptability in project management.”

28. How do you approach problem-solving when unexpected issues arise during a project?

When you’re steering the ship, it’s not a matter of if unexpected issues will arise—it’s a matter of when. Your ability to handle these issues, keep the project on track, and ensure team morale doesn’t take a hit in the process is a critical skill for any project manager. This question gives hiring managers a glimpse into your problem-solving process, your creativity in finding solutions, and your resilience under pressure.

Example: “When unexpected issues arise, my first step is to fully understand the problem. I ask questions and gather information until I have a comprehensive picture of what’s happening.

Next, I prioritize solutions based on their potential impact and feasibility. This involves collaborating with relevant team members who can provide valuable input and expertise.

Once we’ve identified the best course of action, I ensure it’s implemented effectively. Clear communication is key here; everyone involved needs to know what’s changing and why.

Finally, after resolving the issue, I conduct a review to learn from the experience. This helps prevent similar problems in future projects.”

29. What strategies do you use to manage and mitigate project risks?

As a project manager, your job isn’t just to ensure that projects are completed on time and within budget, but also to anticipate and manage potential risks that could derail those projects. The ability to identify, analyze, and mitigate risks is a key skill for a project manager, and it’s something hiring managers are looking for when they ask this question. They want to know that you have a proactive approach to problem-solving and can handle unexpected challenges effectively.

Example: “To manage and mitigate project risks, I prioritize risk identification in the initial stages. This involves a thorough analysis of potential challenges that might occur during the project lifecycle.

I then use risk assessment tools to evaluate each risk based on its likelihood of occurrence and potential impact. This helps in prioritizing which risks require immediate attention.

Next, I develop contingency plans for high-priority risks. These are essentially ‘Plan Bs’ that can be activated if needed.

Regular monitoring is also crucial. By keeping an eye on project progress and external factors, we can identify new risks early and adjust our strategies accordingly.

Finally, clear communication with my team about identified risks and our mitigation plans ensures everyone is prepared to respond effectively.”

30. Can you describe a project you are most proud of and why?

As a project manager, your ability to successfully manage and complete projects is paramount. By asking you to discuss a project you’re most proud of, hiring managers want to understand your strategy, decision-making process, and problem-solving skills. They’re also interested in the results and the impact your work had on the organization, which gives them insight into your potential performance in their company.

Example: “One project that stands out is the implementation of a new CRM system in my previous company. The challenge was to streamline operations and improve customer interactions, but we faced resistance due to change management issues.

My role involved liaising with stakeholders, understanding their concerns, and ensuring smooth transition. I also trained team members on using the new system effectively.

The successful launch led to improved efficiency and higher customer satisfaction rates. This project made me proud because it demonstrated my ability to lead teams through complex changes while maintaining focus on end goals.”

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  4. Tell me about yourself Project manager interview questions and answers

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COMMENTS

  1. 41 Project Manager Interview Questions (Plus Sample Answers)

    1. How do you define success for a project, and what metrics do you use to measure it? 2. What is your experience in managing and leading cross-functional teams? 3. Can you describe a time when you had to handle an unexpected challenge during a project, and how you dealt with it? 4.

  2. 12 Project Manager Interview Questions and How to Answer Them

    1. Tell me about yourself. A common question to open any type of interview, this statement is a chance for you to describe yourself and your story in your own words. How to answer: There are several ways you can approach this question. One effective way is to start with the present, then go into your past, and finish with your future.

  3. Best 25 Project Manager Interview Questions and Answers (2024)

    1. Tell me about yourself This is a typical question for an interview and is a great way to break the ice and conversate. But you can get important information about the candidate's past experiences, skills and education. You can also get a feel of how well this individual will adapt to the project manager role at your organization.

  4. Answer Project Manager Interview Questions Like a Pro

    In other words, briefly explain the Situation; clearly articulate what your Task was; lay out the Action (s) you took; and close with the Result (s) you got in terms of how that project turned out and what you learned from the experience. Pick a scenario that didn't end in total disaster, but otherwise be honest.

  5. 15 project management interview questions and answers

    Situation: Start with the situation you were in. For example, explain that your project team suddenly got smaller because two people were out sick for an extended period of time. Task: Explain how you wanted to resolve the situation. For example, your goal was to ensure that you could still deliver the project on time.

  6. 18 Project Manager Interview Questions & Answers [2024 Updated]

    Project Manager Interview Questions & Answer #1: Please describe yourself, and your background briefly. Actually, this is a typical project manager job interview question. ... This was a huge problem. We performed post deployment checks and everything was green. The next morning, I woke up to missed phone calls from my customer. He was very ...

  7. Top 15 Project Manager Interview Questions & Answers

    15 Most Common Project Manager Interview Questions and Answers. 1. Tell us a bit about yourself. A hiring manager would ask this question as an ice breaker to make you comfortable and to get a sense of who you are as a person, as well as your communication skills. They're interested in how you perceive yourself professionally, your career ...

  8. 15 Questions to Ask During a Project Manager Interview

    Example answer. "I prioritize effective communication with stakeholders by actively engaging with them. I want to understand their expectations, and provide regular project updates through tailored communication channels. I am also open to their feedback and address any concerns or issues promptly." 5.

  9. 12 Project Manager Interview Questions and How to Answer Them

    Having some metrics on hand to show the results of the project can be useful here. 3. Tell us about a time something went wrong in a project you were managing. This can sound like a trick question and it seems counterintuitive to highlight what didn't go well, but setbacks are normal in managing projects.

  10. How To Answer Project Management Interview Questions

    SHARE A good project manager has excellent communication, organization, and problem solving skills. Here's how to put all of that on display during an interview. As a project management job candidate, you already know what type of bad interview answers to avoid from a mile away. ("My biggest weakness is that I'm a perfectionist!")

  11. 10 Proven Problem-solving Interview Questions [+Answers]

    1. Describe a time when you had to solve a problem without managerial input. How did you handle it, and what was the result? This question assesses candidates' ability to take initiative and solve problems independently. Look for their problem-solving approach, the actions they took, and the outcome of their efforts. Sample answer:

  12. 69 project manager interview questions

    Here are 25 general project manager interview questions with which you can start the interview. These will enable you to evaluate whether your applicants have the right foundational knowledge and project management abilities to match your requirements. What is your definition of a perfect project?

  13. 2024 Project Manager Interview Questions & Answers

    Behavioral Questions. Behavioral questions are a staple in Project Manager interviews, as they provide insight into your past behavior in professional settings. These questions often start with "Tell me about a time when..." and prompt you to share experiences that highlight your problem-solving abilities, leadership, and adaptability.

  14. 8 Common Problem-Solving Interview Questions and Answers

    1. When you are faced with a problem, what do you do? Tip: Employers typically ask this question to understand what your problem-solving process looks like. They are looking for you to describe a logical problem-solving process that includes gathering information, analyzing the information and making decisions based on what you've found.

  15. 8 Project Manager Interview Questions [Updated 2023]

    What to look for in an answer: Flexibility. Problem solving skills. Personal management style. Example: "In this situation, I would work with the team to identify the most mission critical tasks to keep the project moving forward and help the team to re-evaluate the most urgent priorities in the moment.". Q:

  16. Top 70+ Project Manager Interview Questions and Answers

    Most Popular Project Management Interview Questions 1. Tell us about your most successful project. 2. How do you define an ideal project? 3. Define processes and process groups in a project management framework. 4. When would you escalate an issue? 5. What's the difference between project monitoring and controlling? 6.

  17. Top 50+ Project Manager Interview Questions 2024

    Project Manager Interview Questions. Here is a list of commonly asked project manager interview questions. You can use this list to prepare and gather your thoughts regarding your past work experience. ... This role involves problem-solving, risk management, and adapting to changes as they arise. Stakeholder Communication and Management ...

  18. Top 20 Problem Solving Interview Questions (Example Answers Included)

    The word "process.". In the end, problem-solving is an activity. It's your ability to take appropriate steps to find answers, determine how to proceed, or otherwise overcome the challenge. Being great at it usually means having a range of helpful problem-solving skills and traits. Research, diligence, patience, attention-to-detail ...

  19. 30 Program Project Manager Interview Questions and Answers

    Careers 30 Program Project Manager Interview Questions and Answers Common Program Project Manager interview questions, how to answer them, and example answers from a certified career coach. InterviewPrep Career Coach Published Sep 10, 2023

  20. Top 20 Project Management Interview Questions and Answers

    In this answer, you need to express the people management skills you have developed with few examples. You may explain team development procedure to demonstrate your knowledge. You need to showcase your leadership, mentoring, conflict management as well as team grooming skills. 5.

  21. 10 Killer Project Management Interview Questions + Free Interview Template

    1. What don't you want to work on? Reason to ask: There are always bits of jobs we don't like, but project managers typically work on the projects that they are assigned. It's fine to have preferences, but the company is looking for someone who can respond to business needs even if that isn't their top choice of project to work on.

  22. 30 Lead Project Manager Interview Questions and Answers

    1) Clear Communication: Ensuring all team members understand their roles, responsibilities and the overall project goals is crucial. 2) Planning & Organization: A well-structured plan that outlines tasks, deadlines, and resources can effectively guide a project to completion.

  23. 6 Sample Project Manager Interview Questions and Answers

    Question #1: Tell Us About the Most Successful Project You've Managed. These types of project manager interview questions are behavioural-based and require you to recall and explain specific experiences in the workplace.

  24. Project manager scenario-based interview questions and answers

    What are project manager scenario-based interview questions and answers? Project manager scenario-based interview questions and answers are what hiring managers commonly ask candidates seeking the role. They may ask how you'd manage particular situations. Typically, these questions are more in-depth, and the interviewer may ask them later in the interview.

  25. How To Earn A Project Management Degree

    Project managers oversee projects throughout their life cycle. These professionals must possess strong problem-solving, communication and multitasking skills. Project managers work in business ...

  26. Preksha K

    citizendatascientist on February 14, 2024: "I (@saurabhmoody) & Preksha (@bossymiss) have conducted over 4 Free MENTORSHIP Session on "How to..."