Interview Questions to Ask Project / Programme Managers

The interview and selection process allows you as an employer decide if the candidate is right for you and allows the candidate to decide if the role and organisation is right for them . As with most things first impressions count so: Be prepared for the interview o Ensure you have a good understanding of the candidates CV dont make the mistake of asking a candidate if they have certain experience only for them to reply yes as stated under job X in the CV. o Prepare a list of questions based upon the CV, along with other standard questions that you would ask all candidates; some are outlined further in the article. Although tempting to retain a cold dont give anything away front it can prohibbit buil ding a good rapport with the candidate

The last thing you want is to find a star candidate through a process that may have involved a lot of time / effort and cost only to have them reject a job offer. The Interview Format You should commence the interview by explaining the general interview process . We suggest the following 4 steps: 1. Provide an explanation of the company / organisation and the role itself. This give the candidate time to settle in and feel at ease and gives you the opportunity to prov ide a clearer idea of where the role sits and fits in. 2. Discuss the candidates CV, perhaps get them to talk through their roles outlining their specific responsibilities, accountabilities and achievements. 3. Ask other standard questions not covered the CV discussion, some are outlined further in the article. 4. Closing the interview. You should allow candidates the opportunity to ask questions and at this point you should outline the next steps following the first interview , mention timescales for decisions and how they will be communicated . If there are further interview stages then explain these too. Discussing the candidates CV You need to establish from the candidates prior work experience how closely they align with your expectations and how much benefit they can bring your company and projects. Utilise open ended questions to allow the candidate an opportunity to openly talk remember you want them to talk so that you can see how well they communicate , your role should be to listen and ask the questions . Most relevant will be the experience the candidate has gained from prevous projects, remember you want to guage what the candidate was responsible / accountable for so watch out for answers that begin with we you want to know what the candidate as an I did and achieved. Questions could include : 1. What was your role within the project team? 2. What responsibilities did you have specifically for time, cost & quality of the project(s) / work packages? 3. What tools or techniques did you use to plan the project / work packages? Who was involved in formulating the plan? How did you monitor progress?

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4. Did you have any cost responsibility? If so how did you update actuals & forecasts ? Did you have a cost contingency? If so how was it authorised / distributed? 5. How did you perform risk management? How were risks and issues managed through the project lifecycle. 6. If you encountered any project changes or variations? How did you control them and the effect of the changes assessed? 7. Did you undetrake any monthy report ing? How frequently did you present updates to stakeholders, i.e. Senior Managers or a Steering Committee ? 8. What would you say worked well on this project? 9. What would you say didnt work as well? In retrospect what would you have changed or what would you change on the next project? Generic Project Management Questions for Candidates You should also have a prepared list of standard / generic project management questions to ask all candidates. This allows you to make a clear evaluation against your selection criteria. Ensure that the questions are relevant and support the role description and requirements as outlined to the candidate during the initial stages. There are a number of questions you could ask and the list is almost endless, here are a few exa mples to get you started: 1. Which formal project management methodologies are you familiar with? (Focus on the metholdogy that you is relevant to your organisation or project i.e. PRINCE2 / PMI ) 2. What top 3 common reasons would you say account for project f ailure? 3. In your view what do you think is the primary role of a Project Manager / Programme Manager / PMO Manager? 4. What tools and techniques would you use to make certain that the project team knows the goals for the next milestone or certain timeframe ? 5. How would you ensure your team(s) are or remain motivated and dedicated to the project? 6. If problems or concerns arose, when would you bring them to the attention of the senior stakeholders? Competency Based / Behavioural Questions Competency based questions are utilised to examine the candidates past or stated behaviours with specific competencies which are required for the role. Examples questions could be: A software developer has guaranteed that development time for a modeule of code is 3 weeks. You get an update 3 weeks later to find that the developers need another 4 weeks that would affect project tolerances. How would you handle the situation ? Tell me about a time when you had to deal with a frustrated client. What was the situation? And how d id you deal with it?

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The client has insisted on a last minute change to a relocation project which would set you back 1 month and result in the project exceeding the approved end date. How would you handle the situation?

This document is part of the Wellingtone Advantage Tools, Templates and Guidelines available exclusively to clients and candidates of Wellingtone Project Management. It may be used for the benefit of improved project and programme management by candidates and clients of Wellingtone Lt d but it may not be sold, copied, distributed, used as part of training or training material or used for financial gain without the expressed written permission of Wellingtone Ltd. Wellingtone Ltd retains full and exclusive copyright. About Wellingtone Project Management Established over 10 years and preferred supplier to many organisations Wellingtone is a specialist Project Management Recruitment, Training and Consulting company based in Windsor, Berkshire with a presence in Dublin, Ireland and Dubai, United Arab Emirates. A recognised industry leader we sponsor research at the Centre for Project Management at Leeds Metropolitan University, regularly contribute editorial to Project Manager Today magazine and present at all the leading industry tradesho ws, PMI and APM Chapter events . Our industry best practice approach and quality of service has led to our award of Member of the REC (Recruitment and Employment Confederation) and we are also recognised as a Corporate Member of the APM (Association for Pr oject Management). About Wellingtone Advantage Our candidates and clients enjoy the unique benefit of Wellingtone Advantage. This online resource provides hundreds of pages of project management guidance, tools and templates developed by our business con sulting team over the last ten years and provided to our candidates and clients for free. Representing over one man year of work this wealth of information is of significant added value to all project management professionals. Wellingtone Advantage also brings a comprehensive range of exclusive discounts on products and services from other leading project management organisations, including discounts on PRINCE2, APM & PMI training, software, books, and project management events. These discounts have been negotiated by Wellingtone to provide exlusive additional benefits for our candidates and clients.

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