Project Manager Interview Questions & Answers - Intermediate Level

10 people - 8 wks - 1 goal - Passing PMP by 1st Try

Feb 10, 2024

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💼 Project Manager Interview questions & answers - Intermediate level

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💼 Project Manager Interview questions & answers - Intermediate level

Interviews are "functional", which means, either 💼 Scenario-Based, or 🚧 Behavioral-Based

💼 Scenario-Based

How PMs respond to hypothetical project management scenarios. This will test your thinking process: problem-solving skills, leadership style, knowledge of project management methods and tools, etc...

🚧 Behavioral-Based

The purpose of these questions is to get an idea of how the project manager has acted in the past. How PM applied project management skills and knowledge to solve real-life problems.

As per my research here are some of the questions which are going to be asked in an Interview:

🌪️ Have you managed remote teams?

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

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

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

🌪️ How do you seek help outside of the project team?

Let’s get started

1. Tell me about yourself.

One of the most trivial question you will receive on the interview. This is your chance to briefly summarize who you are, what are your key achievements (e.g.: years of project management experience, what type of certification you have.

But this question is a little bit more than that, it will give the first impression and helps the candidate to settle in. Make sure you practice this. Within 1 or 2 minutes you have to summarize yourself. The interviewer would like to find out who you are.

How to answer?

Summarize your last or current position. Make sure you mention a few skills you earned in the past position and how they shaped your skills till date.

Personal note: be positive and humble

And do not do a “readout” of your CV.

2. Do you have experience managing remote teams?

Working from home is the new norm, managing remote teams is one of the most common traits of the “Fighter-Jet” Project Manager.

Project managers are leading teams, doing it remotely is more challenging, hence requires the right type of experience.

This question is related to the fact that virtual managers face more challenges compared with managers in the office environment. Question really asking about your experience.

How to answer?

Try to give an example of a scenario and explain how you managed the remote team. Make sure you talk about challenges and how you overcome those. You can focus on tools and talk about how they can make a difference day-to-day.

Bonus tip: please mention motivation and engagement in a virtual environment. Interviewers are eager to hear those examples.

3. How are you keeping your team motivated?

We all know what this means. Without a motivated team we cannot deliver projects on time. Impacts of an unmotivated team can be the following: delay of deliverables, lack of quality and teamwork.

In this question, you have to demonstrate real life examples of how you motivated your teams in the past.

How to answer?

It is all about your example from real life. You can build a “dramatic” scene, but the simplest solution will have the biggest impact. Be transparent. Keep it fact based.

4. Tell me about your leadership style?

There are many different leadership styles. Benefits are huge: motivated team, career progression and more.This question is really focusing on how you manage your project team. Are you a leader who “lead by example” and who takes care of the team. You have to provide feedback about your approach toward conflict resolution.

Now, conflict management is a “hot potato”, people would like to hear stories, how you managed and solved conflict.

How to answer?

Make sure you have an approach which is focused on the team. But, you are responsible for the Project therefore, in all cases you have to take the lead. You have to show confidence and use specific examples.

5. Tell us about a time something went wrong in a project you were managing.

How to answer: Since dealing with unforeseen challenges is a core part of project management, you’ll want to have a few examples to point to for your interview. You can also mention how you would implement change processes in your project.

6. What was your most successful project?

How to answer: This question is not here to “flex” your capabilities. It is a trap! Instead of you trying to answer how you made this success, instead focus on the team perspective. Not “I” delivered success, instead, “Team” delivered success, with examples.

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

How to answer: This is all about Risk management. How you identify, mitigate and avoid risks. Prepare a few examples, it is easier to provide answers.

8. How do you gain agreement with teams?

How to answer: Another trap! No “command & control”, focus on consensus and common ground. Reach team buy-in to make sure we can deliver.

9. How do you prioritize tasks in a project?

How to answer: Tie your answer back to the interest of the project. Your answer might include some combination of deadlines, stakeholder needs, or determining tasks that make up a critical path. You can pull from some examples in the past, or work your way through some hypothetical situations. Answer this question in a way that you can highlight the strong points of the project management methodology you are most familiar with. Again, focus on your strength.

10. Do you delegate?

How to answer: Micromanager ALERT! 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.

11. What’s your experience with budget management?

How to answer: Managing a budget includes cost estimation, deciding how to allocate funds, keeping a record of how money was spent, and planning for unexpected expenses. It’s great if you can point to some examples in the past. If you don’t have much experience, you can share what you know about budget planning.

12. What’s your communication style?

How to answer: This is another classic interview question that directly asks 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.

13. How would you deal with a difficult stakeholder?

How to answer: Communication and negotiation are likely to be an important part of your answer here. Knowing your team’s needs, capacity, and the project’s available resources might also influence your answer.

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

How to answer: This is all about your communication style. How to respond to different levels of the organization. Responding to executives, project sponsors and stakeholders requires a different approach than the one they’d use with teams and vendors.

15. What tools do you use to plan a project?

How to answer: In preparing for your interview, make a list of all the project management tools you’ve used before. These can include common project management tools like RACI charts, or collaboration software like Asana or Trello. Mention what you like about them, and how they might be improved.

List of questions:

Tell me about yourself.
Do you have experience managing remote teams?
How are you keeping your team motivated?
Tell me about your leadership style?
Tell us about a time something went wrong in a project you were managing.
What was your most successful project?
How do you know the project is off track?
How do you gain agreement with teams?
How do you prioritize tasks in a project?
Do you delegate?
What’s your experience with budget management?
What’s your communication style?
How would you deal with a difficult stakeholder?
How do you work with customers, sponsors and stakeholders?
What tools do you use to plan a project?

Bonus questions:

How do you handle conflicts in the team?

How to answer: Managing conflicts is a day-to-day activity of a Project manager. You have to intervene and make a decision based on the best interest of the project.

Conflicts are helping us to grow as an individual but in case a conflict is impacting your critical path you have to do something about it. Why? Because the critical path cannot change, otherwise the project will delay, which we would like to avoid at all costs.

Why do you want this job?

How to answer: You have to think this through and prepare an answer in advance.

The trick is you don't want to sound too pushy or desperate, instead being humble and friendly should be your attitude. The person who interviewed you wanted to make sure you are the right person for this role. Focus on what motivates you, how this role will add to your career path ambition. Talk about why you wanted to join this organization and how you can resonate with company culture.

How do you get a project back on track?

How to answer: This question is more focused on your abilities to cope with risks and proper planning. Your answer should focus on how you identified areas of risk and what you do about it. You have to answer this question with detailed examples. And don't forget to mention any problem solving skills or root cause analysis techniques. If you are not familiar with the term, please be prepared prior to the interview.

Have you been involved in process improvement?

How to answer: You have to showcase your problem solving skills as well as your strategic thinking. In case you have never been involved in process improvement, any example will be fine where you improve a process. Nothing complicated, small “things” can have a huge impact on the interview. Also, this question can demonstrate your listening skills and your understanding.

How do you stay organized?

How to answer: This question can cover multiple areas from deadline to delegation to managing people. The tool or tools do not matter, unless there is a specific reference on the interview for a tool. Also, to be specific, saying “I have excellent” organization skills will be no accepted , hence, you will look “incompetent”. Be thoughtful and use specific examples.

☝️ Person to follow

Markus Kopko

As a seasoned IT Program Management Expert with over 20 years of experience, I offer a wealth of knowledge in strategic program management, agile methodologies, and stakeholder communication. My LinkedIn feed is a resource hub for industry insights, case studies, and practical advice tailored to IT professionals. Following me means access to a curated blend of trends, expert analysis, and actionable tips, fostering growth and excellence in the IT project and program management field."

https://www.linkedin.com/in/markuskleinpmp/