Questions To Be Asked While Interviewing a Project Manager

Hiring a new member or a project manager in a team can be stressful-namely the part about getting it is right. You never really know that this person will deliver great performance or not? Get along with the team or not? Make the right decision on the project or not? There are a lot of unknown but you can shine a light on them with the right questions. Also, asking the right questions when interviewing a project manager is mandatory for selecting the right person. But not all the questions need to be asked of the PM. In fact, many of the questions need to be asked before you ever consider putting an ad on the paper or job board. If you are up to date and you certainly need to answer these questions long before you call an external recruiter.

The article is written to help the PM to get an in-depth in the question and try to enroll it in the career prospect to get a better job opportunity.

These are the questions that are needed to be asked to the project manager to be hired for the bigger organization.

Q) Why do one need a PM in the project management?

Every project organization needs a PM or some sort, but not all project managers need the same type of level of management oversight. One’s reason for liking a project manager will affect the expertise, the need, to bring to the work of project management.

Q) What will be their duties and responsibilities?

Is the PM responsible enough to manage the workload? Are they expected to hire their own people or work with others member of the organization, mainly the stakeholders?

Q) What don’t you want to work on?

There are always ifs and buts in jobs, we don’t like, but PM typically works on the projects that they are assigned, but looking for someone who will respond to business needs even if that isn’t their top career choice in management.

Q) If you had to rate project management as a career, from 1 to 10, how would you rate it?

This shows how they value their career whether they see themselves progressing in the PM role, based on their experience and expertise can be a good option to be thought of in guess.

Q) What do you spend the most time doing each day?

This gives you an indication of how they do their job. Someone who spends all day at the PC may suit your environment, or you might be looking for a project manager who gets out and visit clients most days of week or clients

Q) What skills will they really need?

The biggest question arises here in terms of hiring project managers is when they are asked to have skills that are inappropriate. If you PM are acting as a lead programmer then skills at a technical level are appropriate. Each project has a different issue dealing with the skill set of the different people in the managerial activities of the project management.

Q) What was the most difficult ethics decision you’ve had to make on the project?

It can demonstrate their awareness of PMI code of ethics and even if they aren’t aware of that, their general approach to work. You can also use it to open up an interesting discussion and allow you to judge how they fit into your business culture

Q) Do I need them all the time or part time? There are a number of alternatives to hiring a full-time project manager. One could let the sponsor manage the project with the assistance of a consultant. You could hire a full-time project manager. You could let the sponsor manage the project with the concept to reduce the responsibilities. So, that their full time involvement isn’t needed.

Q) How have you improved project management processes at your current firm?

Answer- Not everyone has the chance to work on business critical, exciting projects that make for a great CV, but everyone has the chance to offer some suggestions for improvements (even if they aren’t taken up). Look for someone who has ideas and who isn’t afraid to put them forward.