Project Management Interview Questions and Answers
During
the project management interview, you will be asked interview questions that
focus on your training and experience with the successful delivery of different
projects. You can also expect behavioral or competency-based questions that
explore essential project manager skills such as team building and team
management, planning and organizing, negotiation, problem-solving, leadership
and adaptability. Let's start with the likely project management interview questions
that explore your experience on project delivery.
1-Tell us about your experience in managing
different projects and how this can contribute to our position.
It
is important to structure your interview answer because this is a multi-layered
and complex question. Start by explaining how you will answer the question.
This keeps your answer on track and to the point. "I will begin by giving
you a short description of my last three projects. I will then detail the
skills and abilities I developed as a result of each project and then
demonstrate the value of these skills to this position." You can then go
on to provide a brief but concise summary of each project. "I was the
project manager for the XYZ project and this involved ..." Then describe
the skills you acquired during the project. "I encountered a number of
difficulties on this project that required an innovative approach. I used group
problem solving sessions as one of these approaches. This worked well because
it helped each team member to clarify their particular project role and
responsibility and we were able to develop plans and realistic schedules that
the whole project team contributed to ..." Demonstrate how these skills
will benefit the position and company. "Projects now are faced with tighter
budgets and fewer resources. This approach maximizes the available resources
and keeps everyone focused and motivated for the duration of the project.
2- Describe how you recently managed a diverse
project team towards a common goal.
Focus
on your ability to delegate in a fair and practical way, how you clearly
defined project roles and responsibilities, kept personality clashes and
conflict to a minimum and monitored and fed back to the project team. Outline
your management style and why it worked.
3- Describe the most complex project you have
managed from start to finish.
Provide
a comprehensive answer remembering to explain the project as you would to a
client and not to somebody who has been involved in the project. The more
complex a project, the more formal processes and techniques are needed to
effectively manage the work. Explain the purpose, value and implementation of
the most critical aspects of the project including managing the project work
plan, the project schedule, the project risks, the project issues and closing
the project. Be enthusiastic about your accomplishments and specify how your
experience will benefit the company. Point out where you made a difference on
the project in terms of expenditure, quality, efficiency, customer satisfaction
and business and organizational success.
4-What
do you believe more in, a Leader or a Manager and why ?
This question is also more from agile mind-set
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 the
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
project efficiently and has to take some tough decisions during the course of the project.
Management .
5- How do you
deal with underperforming project team members ?
If you are an experienced professional, you might have worked with a
demotivated or underperforming colleague. The critical point for the project
manager is, he or she has to motivate all project resources to produce the most
out of their capacity. Project manager must motivate underperforming resources
in a project.
This project manager interview question assesses your people management
skills. This question will show how you motivate your underperforming resources.
6- What is Work Breakdown Structure (WBD) and how
does it affect the work estimates of tasks/activities .
WBD is the process of decomposition of a project into
deliverable-oriented components. This helps the project manager to oversee the
project more effectively.
7- What are
the techniques for doing “activity time” estimates ?
The techniques are parametric estimates, three-point estimates and
analogous estimates.
These are some of the popular questions that are asked in project
management interviews. Always be prepared to answer all types of questions —
technical skills, interpersonal, leadership or methodology. If you are someone
who has recently started your career in project management, you can always get
certified to understand the industry-related terminology, skills and
methodologies.
8- Can you
describe some of the projects that you handled in your previous job?
They don’t want the entire list. Pick some examples based on the
following criteria:
How recently have you worked on it? (Do not talk about a project that
happened years ago)
Has it been successful? (Don’t talk about the one in which failed.
9-Describe all
the steps involved from the time of project initiation to project completion?
The best answer for this question would be scenario-based. Sometimes,
the interviewers themselves give a hypothetical project and ask you how you
would handle it.
For each stage phase the project follows, briefly mention the following:
The main objective of that phase
The key people involved
Your role in each of those phases
10- Did your colleagues or
your manager ever challenge your decisions ?
Many people think that it’s better to say ‘no’ to this question and move
on to the next. But, disagreements in projects are quite common. So, it is
extremely unlikely nobody disagreed with your decisions (Especially, if you are
a senior project manager). So, it’s better to say yes and go on to describe how
you handled the situation. Show that you are a person who can take feedback
constructively and can take everybody along with you in a collaborative manner.
11-What is a decision support
system (DSS) ?
A DSS is used vastly in enterprise applications, mainly MIS & ERP
based systems. It provides automation and stability in the decision-making
process of the organization. There are two types of DSS, structured and
unstructured. DSS connects many flow charts in the organizational process. It
can be formulated and built statistically or stochastically.
12.How do you
keep your team members motivated ?
One of the important roles of a leader is to keep the morale of the team
members high. Show the interviewer that you are team player and work
collaboratively. Tell the interviewer that you would like your team members to
look up to you for advice. Also, they should feel free to share their ideas and
suggestions with you. Instead of imposing decisions, you allow the team members
to contribute and make it a collective effort.
13. Do
you think integrity is an essential quality of a project manager ?
Of course, you have to say ‘yes’. Go on to describe why it is so. Any
company wants an employee who shares the values and principles of the company.
If you are in a responsible position such as a project manager, you are
expected to show the way for others to follow. Earning the respect of your team
members and the trust of your bosses can only happen when you are ethically upright.
14-What is a
Fish bone diagram and when to use it ?
Fishbone Diagram or Ishikawa Diagram is a visualization tool to
understand potential causes of a problem to identify its root causes. It is
used usually in brainstorming sessions so that the team’s conversation is
focused on the actual problem and not stray away towards only the symptoms.
15-Can you
tell me an example of how you communicated a failure to your team, manager and
customer?
This project manager interview question 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 teleconference meeting or phone call.
Project Manager Interview
Following can be a good sample answer for this project manager interview
question.
We were working on an online learning portal project of an oil company.
Deadline of the project was Feb 15, 2016. Although we completed our development
tasks and internal tasks on time, customer could not complete their acceptance
test on time.
Executive management of the customer was pushing to deliver the project
on time. However, since customer could not complete their acceptance tests, it
was risky.
First, I called my manager. I wish we could have spoken face-to-face but
she was in 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 did all they have to do. I added in the meeting that, we, as project team,
met our deadlines and objectives. However, 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 were
working hard to complete the project on time, but the project was postponed
because of a customer-sourced delay.
Finally, I organized a meeting with executive management of the
customer. During the meeting, I told to the project sponsor and executive
managers of the customer that, customer acceptance tests are not complete yet.
In addition, if we launch the project, we might face critical problems on live
environment, and this can cause dissatisfaction and lose of reputation. At the
end of the meeting, executive managers were agreed to wait till customer
acceptance tests completion.
This answer shows that the project manager approaches to the failure
communication in a systematic way. First, he reports to his manager. If his
manager would not accept the situation or propose 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.
16. What is a project goal? What is its significance ?
Answer:
Every project when it needs to be accomplished is generally divided into
small phases or modules. Now each of these modules can be considered as a goal.
Accomplishing a goal means a specific module which can be related to the
development of a project has been completed. Thus, several goals need to be
accomplished to meet the outcome of a project.
17-All leaders must deal with conflict situations. Describe a
recent disagreement you personally had to handle ?
Answer:
Leadership interview questions that explore how you handle conflict are
looking at your ability to understand and respect different views. Demonstrate
your ability to settle disputes by focusing on solving the problem taking into
consideration the personalities involved. Show how you evaluate the viability
of the different dispute resolution mechanisms available and can provide
support and expertise to other people. Demonstrate how you can negotiate a
compromise.
18-What do you mean by Work Breakdown structure ?
Answer:
It is nothing but an approach in which a project is breakdown into the
smaller modules. The primary aim is to pay equal attention to every aspect of a
project. The team efforts can simply be enhanced with this and error-free
outcomes can always be assured. It also makes sure of timely deliverables.
19- Is it necessary for tasks to be completed in a logical sequence?
Answer:
This eliminates any form of confusion and at the same time, it makes
sure of error elimination. It is not always necessary to accomplish them in a
logical sequence. The tasks which are daunting can be first accomplished so
that their impact on other tasks becomes clear. However, completing them in a
sequence always make sure of favorable results.
20-What was the biggest or most challenging project you managed?
Answer:
You must be prepared for this
project manager interview question. Because, your answer to this question will
show your limits about your experience. Note that, this question might come
with additional questions asking about how many people there were in the team,
who you were reporting to, and how many projects in total you were managing at
the same time.
Before sitting in your project
manager interview session, go through your experience. Choose the most
challenging project that you were involved.
The most challenging project I was involved was Golden Gate Bridge Construction
Program. I was managing the project of construction of the towers that will
carry the bridge. There were three architects, six civil engineers and 47
construction workers in my team. In total, I managed 56 project team members
during this project. The most challenging part of the project was meeting the
deadlines. Because, several other projects were dependent on my project. Any
delay in my project was causing delays on the rest of the project. For
instance, a one-day delay in my project was causing 200 hundred construction
workers to wait for our work to be completed. And the cost of one-day delay was
around $80,000. This was causing a big pressure in executive management of the
company and therefore it was a big challenge for me as well.
First highlighted part in this
answer shows the size of the project team that this project manager managed.
Second highlighted part stresses the challenge of the project financially.
Provide numbers, budgets and statistics if you have any. These will make your
answers stronger.
21. What values do you think a project manager should have ?
Answer:
Everybody has their own idea of values. However,, it should focus on the job profile and associated with project
management.
22-What
was the biggest challenge that you faced while working on a project ?
Answer:
‘I didn’t have the right
team’. ‘I don’t deal well with changes. ‘My boss wasn’t very supportive’. These
would be bad answers to give your future employer. As a project manager, you
are expected to manage people and handle risks. So, don’t tell your interviewer
that you fall short in those two areas. Give an example of a situation in which
the challenge was due to the external factors. It can be about when the project
was abruptly shelved or when the funding for it has been stopped. Don’t forget
to mention how you handled the situation and what you learned from it.
Answer:
While you can answer this
question based on your understanding and past experiences, make sure that while
answering this question you do not demonstrate your inability to deal with some
of the most critical aspect of project management. Challenges can be
empowering, so try to structure your answer around this.
24-What would you say is the most important skill of a
Project Manager and why ?
Answer:
A Project Manager is
responsible for planning and executing projects. Whilst they may not be working
directly on the specific activities that create the end-result, they work
alongside the team to ensure that everything runs smoothly, on-time and the
pre-agreed deliverables are met. They are also the first point of contact for
any issues. This means that a Project Manager needs to master certain key
skills, such as communication, teamwork and organization.
When preparing for upcoming
project management interview questions, consider what you think is the most
important skill and how you have demonstrated it in your career. You could also
think about what the business you’re applying for is looking towards. Did they
give any clues in the job description perhaps? Circle back to the original job
ad if you have to.
25-How do you monitor and review the delegated responsibilities ?
Answer:
This is an extension of the
question on how you ensure that your team members meet deadlines. Talk about
clearly defining the responsibilities, arranging regular meetings, empowering
the team members to approach if there is any concern and constant updates on
the progress of the work.
26-What is your work style?
Answer:
It is another question to
check if you fit in with the company’s culture. It also indicates whether you
are self-aware to communicate your work style. Though it sounds vague, this
question provides an opportunity to show how you can be an asset to the
company. You could talk about your emphasis on speed and efficiency, how you
like to work collaboratively, your way of communication etc. Further, you can
mention about how you organize your day and how many hours you work.
27-How do you improve your knowledge regarding project management
?
Answer:
Companies want their employees
to be fully invested in the jobs that they are applying for. There are many
software tools coming up and many processes being invented regularly in the
project management landscape. Hence, project managers need to continually
upgrade their skills to be relevant. Basically, tell your interviewer about
what you are doing to grow in your field. It could be certification courses you
are taking or workshops/courses you are attending. Also, you can talk about
your interactions with project managers and people in the field to stay up to
date with the latest.
Answer:
All the activities related to
work in a project are measured by the efforts. It can also be defined as the
proper allocation of time for resources to accomplish any task assigned to
them. Communication, focus, motivation as well as self-discipline are the
important factors to pay attention to. At the same time, it is necessary to
record activities and pay attention to scheduling.
29-Did you face any problems with your co-workers in your previous
company ?
Answer:
You might or you might not
have faced issues with your former colleagues. But, if you mention that you
did, don’t be too negative. You can discuss the problem. However, put your
emphasis on what you did to resolve the problem. Give it a happy ending. You
can also talk about what has been the learning and how you would handle similar
kind of people in the future. It shows your leadership skills.
30-How good are your communication skills ?
Answer:
Project managers need to have good communication skills. So,
don’t be too honest and say that communication skills
are your weakest area. The answer has to either ‘good’ or ‘excellent’. But,
don’t sound overconfident while saying so. If they ask for examples, be ready
with two or three examples in different settings to justify your point.
31-What could be the key challenges that can declare their
presence while managing a project ?
Answer:
Project Management is a vast
duty and needs a lot of experience to closely monitor things and to pay
attention to the same. A single error in the development can lead to the
failure of an entire project. This can even impose a strict upper limit on all
its functionality. In addition to this, some projects require integration of
core languages which creates a lot of issues. Next big factor is the need of
advanced skills to manage their sub-modules. Also, project management includes
the use of right skills at the right time.
Answer:
It aims to impose a limit on
the wastage of time and efforts during a project development. It makes sure
that the development doesn’t face any issue due to any factor such as
unavailability of resources, server downtime and so on.
33-Do you have any questions ?
Answer:
Most of the applicants will
say ‘no’ to this answer. But, by asking questions you can stand out from the
crowd. It also shows your interest in the company. Your questions can indicate
that you want to know a little more about the job you applied for. Or, you can
ask them some questions about the organization itself.
A project management interview
need not be dreaded. The above sample project management interview questions
and answers should help you face the interviewer confidently. However, there
can’t be a single right answer for any of the questions. Use the answers as
guiding tools but make sure you take into consideration your own experiences,
background, strengths, and weaknesses while answering the PM interview
questions. Good luck with your job hunt .
33-What is CMMI ?
Answer:
CMMI stands for Capability
Maturity Model Integration. It is a process improvement approach that provides
organizations with the essential elements for effective process improvement.
34-What is Six Sigma and how is it important in project management
?
Answer:
Six Sigma is a measure of
quality that strives for near perfection. It is data-driven approach and
methodology for eliminating defects. In order to achieve Six Sigma, a process
must not produce more than 3.4 defects per million opportunities. If applied
effectively, six sigma can approach can help finish a project on time, be
reducing the risk of effects/failure.
35-Can you name the different modules of a project?
Answer:
The very first one is the
blueprint or deciding the design/features aspect of a project. Once finalized,
it goes to the development phase where a team of developers lead by a technical
lead pays special attention to its core development. Once deigns it is tested
to check if there is an issue with it or not. This assures its functionality.
Once tested, it might be used in beta version and finally the full version is
handed over to the concerned department.
36-How you will define project management?
Answer:
It is the discipline or the
conjunction of planning, initiating, controlling, as well as executing a teamwork
so that most desired outcomes can be achieved. As every project is different
from the previous on handled by any organization in most of the cases, there is
always a need to pay special attention to the concerned activities to make the
project unique and best in every aspect.
37-How do you deal with changes to your project ?
Answer:
Changes and modifications are
a part and parcel of most projects. An employer wants a project manager who is
flexible and adaptable to changes. The best answer can be about how you put in
place a change management process even before the changes occur. At the same
time, showcase that you are not a person shy to say ‘no’ when you feel that a
certain change is not suitable for the project
38-What is a project scope statement ?
Answer:
It defines the scope of a
project along with other useful information at the same time. It is basically
developed when a project is in its initial phase. One the primary aim is to
make the other modules simpler and clear. A strong scope statement can also
encourage the development and other teams engaged in a project to accomplish
their assigned tasks in the best possible manner.
39-What are the factors that you will pay attention to about the
resources while selecting your team ?
Answer:
Everyone in the team should be
disciplined and co-ordinate with each other. Next factor is the right skills
required for the timely development of a project. The experience of the team
members plays a significant role in it. Selecting the team members that has specialization
in that particular field can always lead to most favorable results for sure.
Therefore, paying attention to it would be good.
40-Why do you want to work with this company ?
Answer:
You need to go prepared for
this interview question. If their working style suits yours, you can discuss
it. If the job you are applying for is the next logical step for your current
job, tell them that. Or, even something like you being attracted to their work
culture or vision, can be a good response. Better yet, you can say how the job
and the company align with your personal growth. This shows that you are
looking for a long-term collaboration with the company.
41-What defines the role of a good project manager ?
Answer:
The very first thing is
obviously the Leadership quality following by right attitude. A Project Manager
is responsible for handling all the activities and modules related to a
project. The manager should have advanced skills to help the team to avoid any
problem, conflicts, and other issues. In addition to this, a project manager
always motivates the team to get the best out of them.
42-Can you name a few modules of Planning in a Project Management
?
Answer:
The very first thing is to get
the formal approval to start the task. Next is to pay attention on the budget
development. After this the next module could be developing the schedule
followed by paying attention to the quality assurances. It is also necessary to
estimate the number of resources required and if there is a need to have some special
resources. Finally, emphasis is to be made on Risk Planning.
provide a lot of useful
information for the next project to b developed.
43-What are the objectives of monitoring and controlling ?
Answer:
1. Keeping
a close eye on all the activities related to a project
2. Keeping a close eye on the project variables
3. Risk Management and addressing the efforts that went wrong due to any
reason.
44-What
are “Severity Levels” in a project ?
Answer:
In any project, problems can
be of different levels and it is not always necessary that they can be
addressed with similar efforts. There is always a need to understand the right
strategies to eliminate them. For this purpose, they are assigned different
levels based on their complexity and the efforts required for solving them.
These levels are:
1. High
2. Medium
3. Low
4. Trivial
45-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 project
is very important for good project management. This question is to understand
if you believe in that.
In this answer, you need to express the people management skills you have
developed with few examples. You need to showcase your leadership, mentoring,
conflict management as well team grooming skills.
46-What do you understand by
the Pareto (also known as 80/20 rule) principle/analysis?
Answer: It is
a decision-making technique through which by doing 20% of the work you produce
80% of the desired result.
46-What
is RAID in project management and why is it necessary to create a RAID log ?
Answer:
RAID is an acronym for Risk,
Assumptions, Issues and Dependencies. A RAID log is important for a project manager to track
anything that would impact a project now or in the future.
47-Name the
ten key knowledge areas as mentioned in the PMBOK guide ?
Integration
Management, Scope Management, Time Management, Cost Management, Quality
Management, Human Resource Management, Communications Management, Risk
Management, Procurement Management, and Stakeholder Management.
48-Do you have
international project team management experience ?
If the company you applied for
is a multinational company, international project team management will be a
critical evaluation factor. You might not have this experience. In this case,
say no honestly.
This question might be
followed by additional questions asking about how the experience was and
whether you have any strange story about your international project team
management experience.
Following can be a good answer
for this project manager interview question.
I have managed a team of 15
project team members from five different nations. We were working in a natural
gas implementation project in Brazil. There were natural gas engineers,
environmental engineers, and civil engineers in the project team. 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 for me
to work with project resources coming 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
learnt that, their official weekends are on Friday and Saturday. Therefore,
Sunday is their first weekday. Therefore, they were performing better on
Mondays in our project since it is 2nd day of their workweek. It was a strange
experience for me to see people better motivated on Mondays.
Project manager candidate
answers the question with numbers through a real project he managed. Besides,
he gives a strange experience he faced with his international project team
management experience.
49. Describe one of the most challenging projects you have managed
and explain what you learnt from the experience?
Answer:
When it comes to challenging
project management interview questions, make sure you prepare for this
interview question. Don’t simply pick the first example that comes to mind.
Take some time to consider a few of the most challenging projects you’ve worked
on and which ones you learnt the most from. An interviewer is interested mostly
in seeing how you dealt with a situation and how you turned a negative into a
positive, and ensured the project ended as a success.
These are just some project
management interview questions that you could be asked at your next job
interview. While this is not an exhaustive list of questions, it’s certainly a
good starting point for your interview preparation.
50-What is project delivery ?
Answer:
When the project is completed,
it is simply transferred to the organization for the clients it is built for.
The time of delivery of different projects is different and varies depending on
a lot of features.
51. Why did you choose PMP Certification ?
Answer:
It demonstrates your knowledge
and dedication to constantly and successfully be a project manager. It’s worth
probing the skills of applicants. Find out the last project they handled with
creative thinking.
52. What do you mean by project documentation ?
Answer:
It is a detailed report
prepared before the execution of anything else or in the initial stage of
development process.
53. What are some of the projects that you handled in the previous
job ?
Answer:
As an experienced
professional, you are bound to have a portfolio, and this is the right time to
share such a portfolio with the interviewer. Make sure that the portfolio you
share is authentic as your previous portfolio will decide whether the
interviewer will be interested in you or not.
54. What can be the objective of project according to you ?
Answer:
It’s nothing but to come with
an outcome which best meets the expectation of one and all and is unique in its
own ways. It must reflect the objectives of the client for which it is
developed for.
55. What factors project management objectives can affect and how
?
Answer:
The biggest impact can be on
the budget. It is quite true that the budget can be enhanced up to a great
extent of the objectives are not paid attention on properly. Optimizing and
allocating are the prime factors to consider at the same time as they can also
be impacted by the project management objectives. In addition to this, the
biggest factor that project management objectives can affect is decision
making.
What kinds of projects interest you the most? Why ?
Answer:
The one word that you need to
focus on for this pm interview question is ‘relevance’. Do your research about
the company and the role you are applying for. Your answer for this should be
about the kind of projects that the company can offer.
57. What is your current salary and compensation package ?
Answer:
Be honest when you are
responding to this question. Note that, human resources departments of
companies are very aware of industry salary benchmarks. Therefore, they will be
able to estimate your salary and compensation package.
If you say a salary that is
too much above the benchmark, you can even lose the job opportunity. Because,
there will be a limit of what the company can pay for this position.
Briefly, tell what you earn
and compensation package, when this question is asked in your project manager
interview.
58. What is your salary expectation ?
Answer:
This is one of the last
questions that you will be asked in your project manager interview session.
There is not a concrete answer for this question. However, the common practice
is, aim to increase your salary at least 20% in your next job.
Considering your current
salary and compensation package, you should tell your expectations. You should
not say a salary and compensation expectation that is too much above your
current package.
59. When did you run into a serious conflict and how you dealt it
?
Answer:
This gives an idea of how well
you do your job. Having a strong focus and finding a solution to each problem
means a great leader. Project manager does this all the time, so make good
relationship with people and don’t rule them before knowing anything about
them.
60. How do you resolve conflicts in your projects ?
Answer:
Conflicts are inevitable in a
project. A good project manager must be able to resolve conflicts without
hampering the motivation and relationship in the project team. By its nature,
conflicts seem to be resolved in favor of one side over another. However, with
good communication 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.
Following can be a good sample
answer for this question.
I experienced several
conflicts arising in my projects during my career. First thing to look when a
conflict arises is the source of conflict. Conflicts can be 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 the alternative solutions
to resolve the conflict. The best option to resolve a conflict is collaborating
where all parties are happy. 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 for resolving the conflict. I try to demonstrate the
pros and cons of each resolution alternative analytically because numbers,
figures, statistics and mathematical approach is the best way to convince
people for a solution. After showing the alternative solutions, I guide people
to rethink about the conflict. I expect them to reach a consensus. If this is
not possible again, I try to solve the conflict with democracy. For instance,
if the cause of the conflict is a 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.
Project manager candidate
approaches to solve the conflict in a win-win situation. Then, he approaches to
demonstrate different alternatives in a mathematical approach. This is great.
Because, if you can describe a solution mathematically with statistics,
numbers, figures etc. you will eliminate most of the arguments about the topic.
Then, he opens the conflict to voting. By this way, he ensures that the
majority will decide what will be the solution. He is not forcing or directing
on what needs to be done in the project.
61. What are the three words that describes you best?
Answer:
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 work
environment.
When answering this project
manager interview question, try to remember your positive attitudes and what
your colleagues say about your work behavior.
62. When I am working on a project or task, I always keep in mind
that “what is the expected result?” ?
Answer:
Sometimes, if you forget what
you are trying to achieve, you can deviate from your targets. Therefore,
keeping in mind the expected results help 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
analytically to a problem. For instance, I create dashboards for waiting
issues, waiting time, 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.
Project manager candidate
answers the three words that describe him best first. Then, he gives examples
and justifications for each word.
63. Which one skill does a project manager need to succeed ?
Answer:
This question forces the
candidates to decide one of the scores of skills needed of a project manager.
This explains the experience and focus towards a project manager. Your greatest
strength as a project manager should be your answer to this question.
Types of unit
conversion:
M.K.S unit (Meter-Kilogram/Second): Meters, Centimetres, millimetres.
These units are called as engineering units.
F.P.S unit (Foot-Pound/Second): Feet, inches & yards. These
units are called as Architectural units.
|
S.no |
Unit |
Denoted by symbol |
One dimension (Length) |
Two Dimension (Area) |
Three dimension (Volume) |
|
1 |
Meter |
M |
M |
M x M = M2 or SQM or Square meter |
M x M x M = M3 or CUM or Cubic meter |
|
2 |
Centimetre |
CM |
CM |
CM x CM = CM2 or SCM or Square centimetre |
CM x CM x CM = CM3 or CUCM or Cubic Centimetre |
|
3 |
Millimetre |
MM |
MM |
MM x MM = MM2 or SMM or Square Millimetre |
MM x MM x MM = MM3 or CUMM or Cubic millimetre |
|
4 |
Feet |
FT |
FT |
FT x FT =
FT2 or SFT or Square feet |
FT x FT x
FT
= FT3 or CFT or Cubic feet |
|
5 |
Inch |
INCH |
INCH |
INCH x
INCH = INCH2 or SINCH or Square Inch |
INCH x
INCH x INCH = INCH3 or CINCH or Cubic inch |
|
6 |
Yard |
YD |
YD |
YD x YD = YD2 or
SYD
or Square yard |
YD x YD x YD = YD3 or CYD or Cubic Yard |
Scales:
1 meter = 1000 mm 1 meter = 100 cm
1 cm = 10 mm
1 meter = 1.0936 yd 1 meter = 3.28 ft
1 meter = 39.37”
1 feet = 12”
1” = 2.54 cm 1” = 25.4 mm 1 yard = 36”
1 yard = 3 feet
1yd2 = 9 square feet 1 acre = 4840
yd2
1 hectare = 2.47 acre
|
|
Triangle |
|
Square |
||||
|
|
Rectangle |
|
Parallelogram |
||||
|
|
Trapezoid (US) |
|
Circle |
||||
|
|
Ellipse |
|
Sector |
||||
|
Note: h is at right angles to b: |
|
|
|||||
Example: What is the area of this rectangle?
The formula
is:
Area = w × h
w = width
h = height
We know w
= 5 and h = 3, so:
Area = 5 × 3 = 15
Example: What is the area of this circle?
Radius = r = 3
|
Area |
= Ï€ × r2 |
|
|
= Ï€ × 32 |
||
|
= Ï€ × (3 × 3) |
||
|
= 3.14159... × 9 |
||
|
= 28.27 (to 2 decimal
places) |
Example: What is the area of this triangle?
Height = h = 12
Base = b = 20
Area = ½ × b × h = ½ × 20 × 12 = 120
A harder
example:
Example: Sam cuts grass at $0.10 per square meter
How much does Sam earn cutting this area:
Let's break
the area into two parts:
Part A is a
square:
Area of A =
a2 = 20m × 20m = 400m2
Part B is a
triangle. Viewed sideways it has a base of 20m and a height of 14m.
Area of B =
½b × h = ½ × 20m × 14m = 140m2
So the total
area is:
Area = Area
of A + Area of B = 400m2 + 140m2 = 540m2
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