One Really Great PM Interview Question?

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Posted by davidmmoss on October 22, 2012

I am part of a panel which will interview candidates for a senior-level staff position that will have some project management responsibilities. Since project management will be just one of several qualifications for the position, I will only have the opportunity to ask 1-2 questions. As such, I definitely want to make them count.

If anyone has one really great interview question that they’ve asked in the past with regard to project management (especially in higher education), please let me know.

Any responses are greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

Dave

______________________________

David M. Moss

Project Manager, Information Technology Services

The University of Texas at Austin

dmoss@utexas.edu

512-471-9066

********** Participation and subscription information for this EDUCAUSE Constituent Group discussion list can be found at http://www.educause.edu/groups/.

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David,

Since yours is a large institution, I imagine you have many projects similar to those at Arizona State. Most projects are likely to cross organizational lines. Organizations within the institution or vendor and institution. So I would want to ask a question that would surface experience in cross-functional teams and communication.

Something like:

“Can you describe a project where you led a team that had members from more than one organizational unit? What methods did you use so that all team members received accurate up-to-date information about the project status and deliverables?”

The answer will give you a perspective as to whether this individual worked in small, compact projects or in large efforts with differing communication styles.

Katie Ranes M.Ed PMP

Arizona State University

Director Information Technology Services/UTO

USB 2631/O: 480 965 2772/C: 480 458 7432

Posted by: kranes on October 22, 2012

David and Katie:

I agree with Katie’s question with the added assumption that the PM was working in a matrixed organization and did not have direct supervision of the project team. Thanks, Mary L

Posted by: mlpl@cmu.edu on October 22, 2012

Dave,

A lot of project communication is about communication. I would suggest a question about an example of communicating to the different stakeholders of a project to include those not directly involved with the implementation of the project.

Thanks,

Randall

Posted by: ralberts on October 22, 2012

I heard this question at a recent roundtable and thought it provided some insight to the individuals approach to project management.

In your experience is project management more art or science? Please provide some examples to support your assertion.

Thanks,

Dan

Posted by: danny.smith on October 22, 2012

David,

Another question that I would suggest is – What techniques or approaches they used in previous jobs to make sure that the objectives of the project will stick after the project is delivered?

Several times, the project are delivered and the objectives of the project fade away because of a lack of follow up, checkpoint, or continue communication. This is more evident in projects that require behavioral change or implementation of new business processes.

This question addresses both PM and Managerial skills.

Good Luck.

Adenor Aragão, PMP

Senior Project Manager

p: 1-630-353-7075 (x1977075)

e: aaragao@devry.edu

Posted by: adenor on October 22, 2012

Hi David -

I recently put together a few PM questions for a position we interviewed for. I think one of the questions that gave us a good perspective of what the candidate valued about PM and provided us with a quick self-assessment was along these lines:

Can you mention - in ranked order - top five characteristics that a successful project manager should have? And, in a scale of 1-10, can you assess/rate yourself in each of these characteristics?

You can later rectify this self-assessment (rewording the question) through the reference check process.

Another ones were behavioral questions. Behavioral questions will tell you more about the style of management of the candidate. One of them was related to dealing with change. But of course, you can do a behavioral question dealing with risk management, HR management, etc.

Can you share a situation when you had to manage a large/complex project with a tight deadline and all of a sudden additional scope critical to the project was requested by the project owner? How did you manage this situation?

Hope this helps.

Good luck,

Rita

___________________________

Rita Barrantes, MBA, PMP

Assoc to CIO and Mgr, IT Services

Office of the CIO

832-842-4702 | rbarrantes@uh.edu

Posted by: rbarrantes on October 22, 2012

Dave, I would chime in with Randall, it is all about managing communication with the various project stakeholders, but with a little different perspective. a question about an example of communicating to the different stakeholders of a project with conflicting objectives (often times the critical higher ups) and also how to include those not directly involved with the implementation of the project. Good Luck, Anna Randall Alberts wrote: > > > Dave, > > A lot of project communication is about communication. I > would suggest a question about an example of communicating to the > different stakeholders of a project to include those not directly > involved with the implementation of the project. > > > > Thanks, > > > > Randall > > > > *

Posted by: ansuyac on October 22, 2012

How about, “Of the nine PM knowledge areas discussed in the PMBOK, which is the most important? Why?”

(And maybe we should have a discussion on this list as to the correct answer J )

Alan

Alan Deschner

Senior Analyst, ICT Applications

Information and Communications Technology

University of Saskatchewan

Room 256, Research Annex

105 Maintenance Rd, Saskatoon SK, S7N 5C5

Phone: 306-966-4846

Posted by: alan.deschner on October 22, 2012

Lots of great suggestions and hopefully this will be helpful to others who are hiring.

Thanks to everyone who responded!

--Dave

Posted by: davidmmoss on October 23, 2012

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