Project manager scenario based interview questions and answers

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.

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.

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

1. Please describe yourself, and your background briefly.
2. What was the biggest or most challenging project you managed?
3. Do you have budget management experience?
4. Have you ever failed in a project? Do you have any experience in handling failures?
5. How do you monitor projects to see if it is going on track?
6. Can you tell me an example of how you communicated a failure to your team, manager, and customer?
7. How do you motivate your project team?
8. Do you have outsourcing personnel or supplier management experience?
9. Do you have international project team management experience?
10. How do you deal with gold plating in your project?
11. 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?
12. How do you deal with underperforming project team members?
13. How do you resolve conflicts in your projects?
14. What are the three words that describe you best?
15. Why should we hire you?
16. Where do you see yourself in five years?
17. What is your current salary and compensation package?
18. 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.

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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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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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.

The 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, 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.

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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 3rd party company, this company will be the supplier of your project.

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.

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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 2nd 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.

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.

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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.

The following is a sample answer to this question.

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 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.

The following is a sample answer to this question.

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.

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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.

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

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.

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.

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 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.

Hint: Do not risk your next PM Job Interview!  Attend PM Mock Interview sessions, see how you perform, and improve your PM interview skills.

Conclusion

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.

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

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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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