1. Explain why are flowcharts important?
The hiring manager is trying to learn how you will work with all team members. A suitable answer here is that flowcharts play an important role in explaining concepts and processes to both technical and nontechnical members.
2. Explain how do you handle changes to requirements?
Your logical-thinking skills are being put to the test with this question. As you answer, highlight how you thoughtfully respond to changing situations.
One potential response is something along the lines of, "First, I prioritize the changes to requirements, scope of changes and the impact analysis to the project. Next, I perform an impact analysis to the project cost, timeline and resources. Finally, I evaluate whether the scope change is introducing new gaps to the technical or functional designs or development and testing."
3. Explain the diagrams most used by business analysts?
Again, the hiring manager wants reassurance you have the skills to get the job done and know case, activity and sequence diagrams.
4. Tell me how have you handled difficult stakeholders?
Answer this one head on. The hiring manager is trying to assess your soft skills, particularly your communication and collaboration abilities. Working with people from different areas of the company and perspectives is an area where nontechnical skills are key.
5. Tell me how do you motivate team members who are burned out, or bored?
A bored team member is simply not challenged enough. They are being satiated (doing a task for too long of a period of time). In this case, switch tasks for a short period of time or pair them up with another team member to shorten the boring task. See if it's possible to give them more challenging work if they complete the boring task first.
6. Explain about your typical project approach?
Here, the hiring manager wants to ensure you have an overall understanding of the business analysis planning process. Rather than listing numerous projects and processes, talk more about the general phases or types of deliverables you might create, while letting the hiring manager know you can customize your approaches to projects.
7. How easily do you delegate responsibility?
Being focused on project goals is absolutely essential for project managers. They should have a clear focus and clarity of thought. It is important to assess if the candidate has demonstrated the ability to align resources to achieve key objectives, to plan and identify ways to improve and achieve greater efficiency, and to monitor and fine tune execution with agility, hard work, perseverance, and good judgement. Key questions to ask in this area are:
8. Explain how you operate inter departmentally?
Two words that best describe me are "Chameleonliaison". I am able to change and adapt to my environment in seconds, since Ihave worked in various departments over the years. My understanding of each departments needs allows me to precisely convey information. The shorten communications via phone, email and in person minimizes frustrations and allows me more time flexibility to delegate or to take on more complex tasks.
9. How do you ensure that your project is always on track?
The Project Manager needs to identify and prevent issues from impacting the project adversely. Hence, it is important that the candidate demonstrates competence and the eagerness to take proactive actions, avoids procrastination, and does not shy away from making tough decisions. I usually ask candidates to share examples and real life scenarios from their projects and life where they took proactive actions. Here are a few such questions:
10. Tell me what are your career goals?
How do you see this job affecting your goals? My goal is to acquire an IT position that utilizes my talents more effectively while increasing my flexibility in scheduling tasks. IT positions are moving towards home office utilization to save company costs and travel time. This IT position will allow me to save on transportation time (to and from work, lunch and dress preparation) therefore I can work on new programs and creative ideas without the typical corporate distractions.
11. How do you control big changes to your project?
At any point in time there are multiple tasks and issues to tackle for a project manager. To be successful, the project manager has to choose his battles wisely. Also, resources available for the project are always limited, and need to be utilized in a wise manner. That is prioritization in action. Time is a valuable resource for the project because once lost it cannot be recovered easily. As a result, Time Management is one of the key skills for a project manager. The Project Manager is responsible for creating efficient ways to execute tasks.
12. Explain what do you know about SDD?
Your lingo acumen is being tested when you get one of these types of questions. Explain that the system design document (SDD) is a middle step separating business users and developers.
13. Explain how do you handle team members who come to youwith their personal problems?
Contrary to public opinion, a person that comes to you with a personal problem trusts you to help them. Trust allows you to get people to do things you want them to do. Share a simple and quick answer (similar situation that you may have personally experienced) then suggest doing a productive task at work that will distract them and provide personal achievement that they are not getting in their home life.
14. Can you explain what are some of the projects that you handled in the previous job?
If you have a lot of work experience, organize a portfolio and share it with the interviewer. Do not add information in your portfolio which is false or misleading since being dishonest will disqualify you for the position. Focus on those projects that are relevant to the company and the position for which you're applying.
15. How do you motivate different team members?
One of the key success factors for a project manager is effective delegation. How effectively does he get work done? Delegation must happen through empowerment without interference and/or losing control. I often ask the following questions to determine if the candidate is good at delegating.
16. Please tell us what are your greatest achievements in your professional life?
In addition to sharing your portfolio, describe in detail past projects you successfully managed and enjoyed. Explain how you managed team members, delegated responsibilities, and measured quality. However, be sure to provide concise answers and avoid being long-winded or boastful.
17. Why are you interested in working for our organization?
I've been following your company for a long time and have been impressed with your commitment to only taking on development projects that are environmentally friendly. While I'm not exactly a tree hugger, I value our environment and believe we should do everything we can to protect it. I strive to employ environmentally sound techniques throughout every project I oversee. When I saw that you had a position open for a project manager I thought it might be a good opportunity for me to transition from my current position as project manager with XYZ company to your company.
18. What is your communication style with your team?
The first question helps you assess the candidate on how effectively he handles communication, including in challenging situations. The second question helps you understand how the candidate engages in a two-way exchange with others using available media and information, and assess whether he demonstrates good sense and judgement in timing the communication, and is able to use language effectively.
19. Explain have you ever had disappointments?
Regardless of where you work, you will experience disappointment during your career. You may have lost a job because of downsizing, had a colleague you were close to quit, been assigned a project you didn't enjoy, or been passed up on a promotion you were aspiring for. Provide a concise and honest answer. Potential project managers are frequently asked this question.
20. Explain how will you put together your project team?
When an interviewer asks this question, what they really want to know is if you're an effective leader. They are trying to find out if you have the skills and competencies required to put a team together, manage the team, and see a project through to completion. What type of team members will you recruit? Can you work with people that are different than yourself? Can you motivate and inspire everyone from support staff to senior managers? The answer you provide to this question should demonstrate that you understand it takes many people with different skills sets and abilities to complete a project. Show the interviewer you know that an effective project manager doesn't have to be good at everything; they just have to be able to put together and manage a team of professionals with diverse skill sets and competencies.
21. Tell me have you ever experienced project failure? What happened?
It's happened to the best of us: a project went too far out of scope, or became too expensive, or was behind on delivery, and it ultimately failed. The situation is always unsettling, but even more so when inquired about in an interview. The fortunate truth is that your interviewer is less interested in the actual failure than they are about learning how you deal with stressful situations. Set up the story with what happened. Be as brief as possible and try to pick a story from something that happened a long time ago. Then, detail what you did in the situation.
22. Can you give me a few examples of where you made a tough decision and it backfired?
The second question is a tough one to handle for candidates and it reveals their honesty and compels them to talk about an instance when they failed. It's also important to see how the candidate handles failure and learns from it.
I sincerely hope that the list of important competencies and related questions will help hiring managers hire the right candidates. I am quite confident that it will also help aspiring candidates prepare well for interviews for the role of Project Manager.
23. Please tell me have you ever had disappointments?
No job is without its disappointments. The disappointments can be anything, from an employee who left for personal reasons or the project that you did not bag because of the financials involved.
Make sure that you provide a quick and factual answer for this question.
24. Tell us where have you worked before?
Inexperienced individuals are rarely hired as project managers. Organizations typically hire individuals with 2-3 years of management experience. When asked about work experience, always be honest. If you don't have a lot of work experience focus on the skills you've developed that qualify you for the position.
25. Tell me what do you spend the most time doing each day?
On the projects I've worked on in the past, most of my time has been spent on the phone communicating with team leaders and suppliers. However, I know that many of the projects your company tackles require a more hands-on management approach. Based on what I know of the types of projects I'd be managing for your company, I see myself spending much more time in the field meeting with clients and making sure projects are being completed to client specifications.
26. Explain what are your greatest achievements in your professional life?
Apart from the portfolio, everyone has some project or aspect of their jobs that they hold close to their heart. This is the time to inform the interviewer about what your favorite project was and why. Of course, you have to make sure that you do not go on a ramble and genuinely discuss some of your favorite projects.
27. What are your weaknesses and what should you improve on?
You should never pretend you don't have any nor come up with a list like "I work too much." Come up with a real weakness, like prioritization, time management perhaps - something that is real but also wouldn't jeopardized your ability to do the job and focus on what you do about it. I'm working on improving my time management for example, I use an online calendar and schedule my tasks inside that calendar and plan my week each Monday estimating time needed for each task and project.
28. Tell me the most complex project you have managed from start to finish?
This question is designed to help the interviewer see what type of project management experience and expertise you have. As you're describing your project, the interviewer will be assessing how well they think you'll be able to manage projects for their organization. Make sure before the interview you have a good sense for the type of projects the position entails. This is a great opportunity for you to demonstrate how your project management experience will benefit the company.
When answering this question, explain the project you managed as if you were talking to a client, not someone involved in the project. Make sure you provide a comprehensive answer that employs a logical format the interviewer can understand.
For complex projects, project managers are usually required to use formal processes and techniques to ensure deadlines and specifications are met. Outline the project management processes and techniques you used, even if they're just industry standard. Explain the purpose, value and implementation of the most important aspects of the project including the work plan, risks, issues and project completion.
Throughout your explanation let your enthusiasm for the project show. Share with the interviewer your major accomplishments and how the experience you gained from the project will benefit the company. Identify areas where your skills and experience made a difference in terms of quality of work, efficiency, productivity, expenditure, customer satisfaction and organizational success.
29. Explain how do you handle non-productive team members?
The Best way to handle a non-productive team member is to envision how they canbe productive. Usually there is a reasonfor their non-productivity and often they will reveal it to you personally orsometimes you may have to probe for the reason simply by asking them a question"What do you like most or least about working here?" Once you have isolated the negative problemsuggest solutions that are the easiest to obtain in the shortest period oftime. Research suggests positivereinforcement is the best way to motivate a person. Share a story about "seeing the light at theend of the tunnel" that you experienced personally. This will help develop more rapport andenable trust from the "non-productive team member." Positive reinforcement includes primaryreinforcers such as smiles, touch (hand shakes), verbal thanks and exchangeablereinforcement such as talk about payday, bonuses or potential promotions forachieving or exceeding goals. Share thepositive vision.
While not the most common interview question, it does pop it's head up from time to time--so be prepared to answer it. Many interviewers like to ask this question because it forces the candidate to choose just one of the many skills required to be a good project manager. Technically, there is no single correct answer to this question, but you need to be cognizant of what your answer reveals to the interviewer about you, your experience and your ability.
Don't dance around the question, or be vague. Answer the question directly and provide just one answer, as requested. Your answer to this question should be what you feel is your greatest strength as a project manager (e.g. team-building skills, keeping projects on schedule, flexibility). Be prepared to explain why this skill is critical to effective project management and how it will benefit the company.
This is a straight forward, yet somewhat complex and multi-layered question. It's important you structure your answer to this question. In order to stay on point, and not go off on a tangent, start by explaining to the interviewer how you will answer the question.
"I'd like to start by providing you brief description of the last three projects I managed. I will then outline the skills and abilities I developed from each project and demonstrate how these skills will benefit your company, as well as the projects you have me manage."
32. Sample Interview Questions for Vendor Managed Inventory Coordinator:
☛ At which point do you find it necessary to bring others into your decision-making process? Why?
☛ Describe your approach to making decisions and solving problems. Why do you do it this way?
☛ When you recommend something to management, what approach do you usually use?
☛ How do you assemble relevant data to make your decisions? How do you know you have enough data?
☛ How much leeway do you give your employees to make decisions? How do you still maintain control?
33. Administration based Vendor Managed Inventory Coordinator Interview Questions:
☛ What areas are within your sphere of responsibility in your current position? How do, you make sure that you know what is happening (problems, changes, etc.)?
☛ How do make sure that your employees are accountable?
☛ What operating systems do you use to monitor and maintain control of your area of accountability?
☛ What do you typically do when you hear of a problem in your area? Explain?
☛ How useful have you found written procedures and guidelines in helping you manage your area?
☛ Do you feel that the chain of command is important? Why? When do you feel it might inhibit organizational effectiveness?
☛ Share an effective method you have used to enforce rules and regulations.
☛ When you have to write letters, how do you usually get started?
☛ How do you keep track of incoming and outgoing correspondence?
☛ What do you see as the difference in writing strategy for a report vs. memo vs. a letter?
☛ What responsibility do you have for budgeting? What budgeting method do you use?
☛ Tell me about a time when you had to prioritize limited resources? How? What worked and what did not?
34. Leadership Based Vendor Managed Inventory Coordinator Interview Questions:
☛ How do you get your employees (or others) to follow you?
☛ How do you use power or authority to get what you want done?
☛ How do you delegate responsibility for an assignment? Who do you choose? What and how do you delegate, and what do you monitor and follow up?
☛ How do you describe your management style?
☛ Please share with me an example of how you helped coach or mentor someone. What improvements did you see in the person's knowledge or skills?
☛ Provide an example of a time when you successfully organized a diverse group of people to accomplish a task.
☛ Provide an example of a time when you were able to demonstrate excellent listening skills. What was the situation and outcome?
☛ In your experience, what is the key to developing a good team? (Look for how they build mutual trust, respect, and cooperation.)
35. Evaluating Vendor Managed Inventory Coordinator Interview Questions:
☛ What do you do to ensure objectivity when you evaluate the work of others?
☛ What sort of performance standards have you held Employees to? Were they written?
☛ How often do you evaluate your employees?
☛ How do you get your employees involved in their own evaluation?
☛ How do you evaluate your department's overall performance?
☛ When you evaluate someone's performance verbally, what approach do you take?
☛ How do you plan for performance improvements?
☛ How do you measure performance in your area?
☛ What have you found to be the best way to monitor the performance of your work and/or the work of others? Share a time when you had to take corrective action.
☛ How do you go about developing the people you manage?
☛ How do you help your employees become committed to a job or to the organization?
☛ How do you deal with an "attitude" problem?
☛ How often do you think it is necessary to meet with your employees?
☛ How have you handled "complainers?"
☛ How do you deal with an employee who needs to be disciplined? Explain your strategy.
☛ What sort of employee training do you think is necessary to offer?
☛ How do you handle a, personnel situation, which might have a, potential legal impact?
☛ How do you develop trust and loyalty in your employee?
