- Tell me what project management software do you prefer?
A project manager needs tools to plan, monitor and report on the project. There are many, from simple to more complex. This question reveals first how up-to-date the candidate is regarding software and project management tools. Additionally, it provides a picture of what tools and processes they use to manage a project.
- Explain me how tall are the pyramids in Egypt?
Talk about not being prepared. Who is going into a job interview with this information in their head? You don’t really want an accurate answer to this question, but you do want to see how the project manager deals critically and seriously with the question. Because, during the project they will be sidelined with unexpected challenges and questions.
- Tell us do you seek help outside of the project team?
This is a telling project manager interview question. Some project managers are going to think you want a person who is wholly independent and pulls from an inner-reservoir. Fair enough. But more resourceful is the project manager who knows when they’re over their head and asks for help from a mentor or a network of professionals.
- Tell us how would you tackle the first 90 days?
Most people would say they would study the company’s business. You must go beyond this answer to speak to specific job’s key challenges or goals. You also want to assure your potential employer that current production will continue without interruption. Of course, you want to express that you would work with the team, your boss and any key influencers to get up to speed as quickly as possible.
- Explain me how do you deal when you’re overwhelmed or underperforming?
It’s easy to forget that project managers are people, too. They are hired to perform and lead a project to success, but they can suffer the same setbacks as anyone on the team. The difference between a good and great project manager is the ability to monitor oneself and respond proactively to any drop offs in performance.
- Tell us how did your last project end?
This question is about discovering any lessons they learned from that project. Everything is a learning experience, and each project offers lessons from which a good project manager grows.
- Explain me how do you gain agreement with teams?
Where there are people, there are conflicts, and even the best projects have people problems. Good teams collaborate and trust one another. If there’s a problem between two or more team members, it must be resolved quickly. But this can also apply to stakeholders, vendors, etc. A project manager is a bit of a psychologist who must know how to resolve conflicts quickly.
- Tell me when do you know the project is off-track?
Every project hits a snag along the way, but not every project manager is aware of that delay until it’s more pronounced or even beyond repair. The ability to monitor and track the progress of a project and tell immediately when it’s not meeting the benchmarks you set in the planning phase is perhaps the most important duty of a project manager.
- Tell us what is your decision-making process?
Employers want to be able to trust how you’ll make decisions for them. While they may have internal processes to help with this, there will still be times when you’ll be on your own.
Begin with an outline of your process. You might start with a general statement, such as, “I gather all the available information to me, analyze the options, and prioritize outcomes based on the project and company goals and objectives.” Then, continue with a specific example of a business-critical, decision-making situation you navigated.
- Tell us if the project is not adhering to schedule, how do you get it back on track?
Knowing that a project is not keeping to its schedule is only as important as being able to get the project back on track. Once a project manager is aware of the discrepancy between the actual progress and the planned progress, what steps do they take to get the project back on time without jeopardizing the enterprise? Any project manager worth hiring will be able to answer this with practical specifics.
- Explain me how do you support an employee who is not meeting expectations?
While it’s important to have a good example on hand for all manager interview questions, it’s especially critical here to show your ability to take corrective measures on a personal level.
Interviewers ask this question to determine how you will work with a direct report to guide them back onto the path of success. They will look for methods, such as giving clear feedback to an employee and then jointly developing an action plan that supports meeting future performance goals.
- Explain me how do you handle conflict between team members?
There are always two sides to every story, which is why it’s so important to me to remain as neutral and open-minded as possible whenever I hear of conflict between teammates. I was in a situation a few years ago where two members of my team were clearly unhappy with each other. Rather than let it fester or ignoring it with the hope that they would be able to work it out themselves, I sat down with them individually and asked them to explain what was going on. We discussed reasonable and professional solutions that worked for both parties and the matter was resolved.
- Tell us what’s your ideal project?
The ideal project is the one that you’re hiring for of course! But seriously, try to get them to answer honestly. It will let you know what sort of projects they prefer to work on. In doing so you’ll get a better feel for what kind of work excites them and maybe even what they excel at. This can help you place the project manager with the right project, or help them adapt to the project you’re hiring them to manage.
- Tell us how would your past experience translate into success in this job?
You might start with naming the top few requirements for this job and then describing how you meet or exceed each one. Or you might begin with your background and summarize how it has prepared you for this job. Often, the context of the job is almost as important as the skills required, so don’t forget to speak to the specific challenges and objectives you see in the role.
- Tell us an example of where you have had to make a difficult decision?
As a manager, you will often find yourself having to make difficult or uncomfortable decisions, such as choosing between two products or deciding to fire an employee. This question will help an interviewer see whether you can be decisive when the time comes, however hard the decision is.
To answer this interview question, think of a time when you made a difficult decision and explain how you came to your conclusion. For example, did you weigh up all the consequences, or did you just go on your gut instinct? Did you also consider the needs of the business and its employees?
- Tell us how do you keep your team motivated?
This is one of the most common manager interview questions. As a leader, your team looks to you set the tone of morale and motivation. Interviewers seek the following in your answer:
☛ A description of your communication style
☛ Examples of specific things you do to empower your employees
☛ An explanation of how you take time to get to know your employees (so that you understand what motivates them on an individual level)
In your answer, give specific examples of ways that you provided positive reinforcement to your team, encouraged them to take the initiative, and understood each person’s strengths. Also, take care to explain how you’ve shown recognition to employees who meet or exceed expectations.
- Tell us what’s something you don’t want us to know?
Ouch. Yes, you need to go there and make the candidate uncomfortable. It’s not that you want to learn some secret or catch them in an unethical act. Less important than the content of their answer is the way they deal with the question. You’ll get a better picture of the person instead of the persona they’re presenting. It also shows their communication skills while under pressure. It might seem cruel, but it’ll help you get to the heart of the person that you’re going to trust with the management of your project.
- Please explain what’s your leadership style?
Talking about managing a project will inevitably lead to a discussion of leadership style. There are many ways to lead, and all have their pluses and minuses. Depending on the project, a project manager might have to pick and choose how they lead, ranging from a top-down approach to servant leadership. See how well-versed they are on leadership techniques.
- Tell me how do you manage team members that are not working to their full potential?
Sometimes, no matter how much due diligence you put into assembling a skilled and experienced team for the project, someone underperforms or creates conflicts. While the project is rolling, you don’t have time to stop and tweak your team. Rather, the project manager must deal with the problem and resolve it. This comes up with even the best team, so any capable project manager would know how to nip underperformance in the bud.
- Tell us what’s your preferred project management methodology?
There are almost as many ways to manage a project as there are projects. From traditional methods like waterfall to hybrid methodologies, you want a project manager who understands the many ways to work. And more importantly, can they use the methodology that best suits the work at hand?
- Explain me about a time you let an employee go?
Nobody likes firing people, but there are times and situations when it just has to happen. One summer I was working as a supervisor for a local pool. We had a lifeguard who was consistently late to the job. As his supervisor, it fell to me to talk to him about this situation. I pulled him aside on three occasions and spoke with him about why he was late and how that was a violation of the company policy and how the fourth time would be grounds for his dismissal. I made sure to keep the HR team involved with every step and properly document each meeting. Unfortunately, he was tardy a fourth time and I had to let him know that he was being terminated. It wasn’t an easy task, but it had to be done.
- Tell me do you consider yourself to be an organized person?
This is not asking if you are a neat and tidy person. Rather, interviewers include this question among their normal manager interview questions to see how you prioritize your time and which tools you use to help you along the way.
Walk through your typical manager’s work day with your interviewer, stepping through your smart daily routine while explaining how unforeseen circumstances are handled before things spin out of control. Emphasizing your ability to multitask and pivot between changing priorities is a nice touch, as well. Use examples that show off your flexibility. You can share your specific methods, for example, but also how you change your approach depending on the situation at hand.
- Explain me what are your goals for the next five to ten years?
An interviewer will want to find out more about your career goals, to determine if you’re motivated, dedicated and are likely to stay at the company for the long term. It can be a difficult interview question for managers to answer, but there are some key things to consider. You may not know exactly where you want to be in ten years’ time, so keep your answer truthful, but broad. To prevent raising any red flags, show that you’re enthusiastic about the specific role on offer and explain that you are looking for a long-term career.
- Tell me an example of how you’ve had to provide negative feedback. What was your approach?
While this question involves a direct report, there are many other situations where you’ll need to have your criticism taken seriously. You’ll ace your response if you can produce a positive example of how you followed the best practices when delivering constructive feedback. Interviewers look for three primary things in your answer:
☛ Whether you keep your feedback specific or general
☛ If you deliver your feedback promptly or wait for a performance review
☛ Whether or not you encourage the employee to work alongside you to create an action plan that will rectify the shortcomings.
- Can you tell me an example of a tough decision you had to make?
When making professional decisions, I like to keep in mind the good of the company before I consider personal feelings. A few years ago, I was in a situation where I was responsible for hiring a new team member for a large project we were working on. I had managed to narrow the selection down to two candidates; a new hire who was perfect for the job and another, established employee who was not quite the right fit for the position but whom I considered a personal friend. While I would have loved to hire my friend, it wouldn’t have been the right choice for the company, so I hired the new employee. When my friend asked me why I had made that decision, I explained it to him. We discussed other opportunities that he would be a better fit for. At the time it wasn’t an easy decision, but it was the right one and one I would make again.
- Tell us do you delegate?
They better! The last thing you want is a project manager who carries everything on their shoulders. That’s nuts. But 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. This is a great way to weed out the micromanagers.
- Tell us what was a challenging project, and how did you manage it?
This takes the conversation from the theoretical to the practical. You can see how the person responded to real-life problems, which helps you determine how they would manage projects at your organization. This question also provides a sense of the person, such as how they lead teams and deal with conflicts. By asking about a challenging project, you can see how they act when pushed to their limits and beyond.
- Explain me about a time you led by example?
To me, you can’t be a good leader if you’re not willing to also do the work. While I set tasks for my team, I always make sure they’re not tasks I myself wouldn’t be willing to do. I was supervising a shop that was responsible for cleaning and testing float monitors used in storage tanks when we got a call from a business that had several of our products in a sewage tank. The sensors weren’t reading properly, and he was concerned. We did some research and realized the sensors were due to be replaced. It was a miserable task, but someone had to do it. On top of that, we were short staffed in the shop which meant that the team doing the task would be down one man and it would take two days instead of one. Rather than make the employees suffer any longer than they had to, I cleared my schedule, threw on a hazmat suit, and joined them in the tank. We were able to get the whole task done in one day and the client was satisfied. After the work was done the two employees each approached me individually and expressed how grateful they were to have me in there helping them out and that it made them really respect me as a leader and teammate.
- Explain me your biggest accomplishment and failure (if you had one) in your most recent role?
This question allows an interviewer to find out more about what you did well at your previous job and how you deal with difficult situations.
When discussing your biggest accomplishment, try to relate your example back to the role you’re currently interviewing for. To do this, you could take a look at the job description and see if there are any skills that you can mention when explaining your example.
No one likes to discuss their failures, but it’s a popular question that interviewers like to use, to see how you react. Be honest, but at the same time, you may want to pick a relatively small failure, as you still want to be employable. Don’t blame others for what went wrong and ensure you explain how you solved the problem and what you learnt from the situation.
- Explain me how do you deal with pressure or stressful situations?
Not only will you need to make difficult decisions, but as a manager, you will also have a lot of pressure on you to perform, as well as stressful situations to deal with. An interviewer will ask this question to understand how you cope with stressful situations and pressure.
In your answer, demonstrate how you can deal with pressure and stress in a positive way. Talk through some of the steps you take to help manage stress, such as deep breathing, getting organised with a to-do list or clearing your head with a quick walk. It’s also important to explain any techniques you use to ensure stressful situations occur less frequently in the future. Don’t forget to share an example too of when you have dealt with a stressful situation effectively in your most recent job.
- Tell us how do you define success?
I find a lot of value in setting goals, outlining the steps required to achieve those goals, and then completing those steps. This not only allows me to break down the big picture into easily actionable parts, but also gives me a good overall idea of what needs to be accomplished. Each box I check off on my list of tasks is a small success on the way to the larger finished project. I was tasked with leading a team of seven employees last year. We had been assigned the massive task of reorganizing a technical manual library that hadn’t been updated in years. It was an overwhelming task overall, but by breaking it down aisle by aisle, and even shelf by shelf, we were able to take what felt like a monster project and turn it into easy to accomplish tasks. I also included rewards and incentives for completing sections to keep us going. Not only were we able to finish by the deadline, but by adding the fun and challenge elements to the project, we remained motivated and weren’t burned out at the end, in itself a major success.
- Tell us how do you delegate tasks to your team?
I prefer to delegate tasks based on the aptitude of each team member for the task at hand. Prior to delegation, I like to sit down with my team and discuss the project. We break it down and determine exactly what needs to get done and who is the best person for each task. I review each assignment personally and make sure that the individual it’s assigned to has the level of knowledge and skills to complete the task in the time required. A few years ago I was brought in to replace a project manager in a store that was, for lack of a better word, failing. The sales team was unmotivated, the customer complaints were a mile long, and the entire store was dirty and disorganized. We closed shop for 24-hours so I could sit down with the entire team and discuss what was going on. Within an hour of talking to the employees, I discovered that the previous manager had spent their time pitting team members against each other, scheduled work hours and tasks based on who they personally liked, not what the employees had actually been hired to do, and had made working there miserable for most of the employees. We completely restructured the entire team based on what each person’s strengths and skills were. We also spent the rest of the day cleaning and reorganizing the store. The next day we opened with everyone in their new roles and with new tasks assigned. Within a week we were doing better numbers than had been done the month prior, and within six months the store had become one of the top performing stores in the area. It made me feel so good knowing that I had helped turn the store around and all it had taken was actually listening to what the employees had to say and delegating them tasks and responsibilities based on their skills and strengths.
- General City Manager Job Interview Questions:
☛ Imagine you’re assigned an important task but your team members keep interrupting you with questions. How do you complete the task, and how do you respond to your team?
☛ Tell me about a time you had to deal with a team member who constantly opposed your ideas. How did you handle it?
☛ Describe a time when your team managed to achieve ambitious goals you set. How did you support and motivate them?
☛ Describe a project you successfully managed end-to-end. What challenges did you face and what did you do to overcome them?
☛ What’s your approach to delegating work to employees? How do you ensure that tasks are completed?
☛ Describe a time you mentored someone. How did they grow? What were they doing initially, and what are they doing now?
☛ How would you tell a colleague that he/she was underperforming?
☛ Talk about the time you led an important meeting. How did you prepare for it?
- Basic City Manager Job Interview Questions:
☛ Could you tell us about yourself?
☛ Could you give us a quick overview of your professional experience?
☛ Could you describe a particularly difficult personnel or discipline situation that you had to address as a supervisor?
☛ Have you led a diverse team? What were the circumstances and results?
☛ What is your budgeting experience?
☛ What is your experience in engaging the community in a difficult or controversial issue? How did you go about it? What were the outcomes?
☛ How would a subordinate or peer describe your leadership or management style?
☛ Could you tell us about a situation in which you engaged members of another department in solving a difficult problem?
☛ Could you give us a specific example of a failure and how you dealt with it? What were the lessons that you learned?
☛ Can you give us a specific example of how you have tried to improve your communication and interaction with a difficult supervisor or peer?
- Tell me how do you manage stress among your team members?
While I find I do some of my best work under pressure, I know not everybody works that way which is why I like to keep a close eye on how everyone on my team is doing. If I start to notice stress or negativity within the team, I try to tackle it quickly and proactively. I’ll talk with the individuals and assess the situation and see exactly how I can help alleviate it. A few years ago, I was on a group project where we were tasked with finishing a large design for a client. Each of the team members were assigned a separate part of the project with the idea that we would come together at the end and present the final product. While the majority of the team worked well together, there was one individual who was consistently missing deadlines and slowing things down. This created friction and stress among the members of the group. Rather than let the issue fester and potentially jeopardize the project overall, I took the employee aside and we discussed what was going on. He confided that he was having some personal issues that were cutting into his work time. We went over some options and came up with a solution where he was able to switch his hours around and adjust his schedule to accommodate this issue. As a result, he was able to catch up with the group, we finished on time, and the client was ecstatic with the final results.
- Tell us how do you work with customers, sponsors and stakeholders?
Even project managers have to answer to someone. Responding to executives and stakeholders requires a different approach than the one they would use with teams and vendors. Part of their duties includes managing stakeholders who hold a position of authority over the project manager. That takes a subtle touch.
- Explain me have you worked in this industry before?
Does the candidate have experience in your industry? If they don’t, it’s not a game-closer. Much of project management is the same from industry to industry. Perhaps they have strong skills that relate to your industry, even if they don’t have direct experience. However, if they do have experience in your field, that’s a plus, so ask how those relevant projects panned out. Note how confidently they answer. You want an authentic person who is comfortable in the position.
- Explain me how do you see a manager’s role on a team?
You could start your answer by giving a brief definition of what ‘management’ means to you. But overall, this is an opportunity to demonstrate knowledge of professional boundaries. While managers are still members of a team you’ll need to show employers, by using relevant examples from previous experience, how you maintain a professional distance while still remaining on good terms with those who you manage.
Managers who work too independently risk isolating themselves from their team, but those who are too friendly may undermine their own authority. Demonstrate how you strike the balance between these two approaches.
- Tell us are you a risk taker?
The best way to answer such an open-ended manager interview question is to do your research on the company. Get a good idea of the company’s culture and goals. If this is a company that moves quickly and praises risks taken by management, then play up your ability to take calculated, informed risks.
If this company prides itself on its steadiness, then it’s a good idea to focus on your preference to make only fully-informed decisions. Don’t lie. Accept that you’re a multifaceted worker, but some facets fare better in certain environments.
- Tell us how would you handle a project that was running over budget?
Let’s face it – budgets are stressful. This question is asked for two reasons: to learn how you handle stress and to understand your budgeting skills. Your interviewer will want to see how you prioritize tasks and which soft skills you use to reign in the cost overrun and make the rest of the project run efficiently.
Provide an example from your own experience in your answer. Don’t give an example where your project went over budget and you were not able to resolve it. Instead, go with an example that shows you can foresee issues and re-align your project to stay on track with the budget. If you don’t have an example that works, describe honestly how you would deal with a budget issue.
- Explain me what is your biggest management weakness?
There are times when I have to remember that although I’m the supervisor and ultimately responsible for the success or failure of a project, that I also have to step back and trust my employees to do the jobs I’ve hired them for. In past situations when problems would arise I would often find myself jumping in and fixing the problem myself, bypassing the person who was assigned the task. While my jumping in did solve the immediate problem, it would often lead team member to feel as though I didn’t trust them or lacked confidence in their ability. It was a hard lesson to learn and one I still struggle with, but now, when I am faced with an issue, I step back, take a deep breath and really assess what’s going on and how I can fix it without stepping on toes or undermining my fellow teammates.
- Can you give me proof of your technical competence?
Remember the three possible competency scenarios: exceeds, meets or needs development. Even if you find yourself in the last category, you need to demonstrate that you are purposefully and rapidly developing in that area and trying to compensate with an area of strength. You are better off acknowledging where you are rather than trying to fake it.
- Tell us how do you prioritize tasks on a project?
Prioritization is important. There’s going to be more work in a day than can be accomplished, so any good project manager is going to have to determine what is crucial and what could be left undone if necessary. It will prove interesting and informative to see how the candidate makes these decisions.
- Tell us do you have budget management experience?
It helps to drill down into specific experience. Naturally, if the candidate has specific skills they’ll be briefly sketched in the resume, but here’s your opportunity to get a deeper sense of where they stand in terms of budget management. Project managers are known as planners. They schedule and lead teams to success. But there’s often money involved, so they better know how to handle a budget.
- Tell us what’s your background, personally and professionally?
It’s important to get a snapshot of the applicant to bring their resume into sharper focus. Knowing a bit about their life story can inform how they might respond to issues at work, and whether they will fit into the corporate culture. The same goes for their professional history. Staying at a single job for a long time can be either bad or good, but you won’t know until you put their choice into context.
- Tell us how do you motivate a team?
One approach won’t fit all when trying to motivate different team members, so when asking this question recruiters are looking for an understanding of how different personalities and working styles make up a team.
Give specific examples of how you get to know a team and how you assess each person’s strengths. Explain how you use positive reinforcement and recognition to motivate employees and encourage them to achieve company goals.
- Tell us how do you delegate work to your team?
While there are many interview questions for managers, this question in particular is important to prepare for. An interviewer will want to hear that you can comfortably delegate tasks to your team, both fairly and effectively. Consider past projects you have worked on and clearly explain your process for delegating work. Make sure you discuss how you picked the right people for the task and briefed them in.
- Explain me how would your coworkers describe you? How would your direct reports describe your management style?
These are a couple of tricky manager interview questions, but they do come up often in these types of interviews. They’re designed to see how well you relate to your peers, as well as those who work for you.
Your answer is a great opportunity to speak about your strengths. Ideally, talk about the characteristics that make you an excellent manager. The trick is to accomplish this without sounding unbelievably perfect or arrogant. If you can, use positive yet sincere quotes that you’ve been given firsthand (such as in a performance evaluation or a LinkedIn endorsement), or compliments that have been relayed to you by others. If you don’t have direct quotes to share, it’s okay to speak anecdotally if you can back up your examples with an example or two.
- Explain me your process for delegating tasks to your team?
This is one of the more popular manager interview questions because, as a manager, delegation is a regular part of the job. Managers who delegate well are more productive, and so are their teams.
Clarify that you delegate according to individual team members’ strengths. If you’ve used industry-standard task management software, mention this skill. Explain how you manage the distribution of tasks so that the work is divided evenly among members for maximum efficiency. Then, provide a specific (and successful) example from your work experience, breaking it down according to the same steps you described as your process for delegating tasks.
- Tell us how do you motivate people?
Motivation isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution, so I like to really get to know my team on an individual level. I feel like this gives me a good feel for what works for each person. A few years ago, I was overseeing a sales team. While our numbers were good, they weren’t great, and a big part of that was a result of one of the members of the team dealing with a child going through cancer and chemo. Because of the gravity of the situation, I decided the team needed a good carrot-on-a-stick reward with a positive spin to it to get them excited about selling. I promised them, if they broke the previous year’s record, that I would shave my head and donate a portion of my salary to a local cancer charity that was working with the employee’s daughter. This didn’t just motivate the team, it completely re-energized them! Suddenly the entire group was working overtime and we expanded the challenge and turned it into a company-wide event. We not only broke the previous year’s record, but fifteen of the employees joined me in shaving their heads and we collected and donated over $5000 to the charity. We had so much fun that we turned it into an annual event that they are still participating in to this day.
- Please explain what is your management style?
Intent: This is a classic question for management-level candidates. The interviewer’s intent here is threefold: to find out if your management style fits, to determine if you have management ability and to probe how much you understand your own work style.
Context: Avoid responding with cliches. Hopefully you can say more than that you have an open-door policy or you manage by walking around.
Response: In today’s environment, you need to speak to leading and developing your team, communication, how you organize and plan, how you execute and how you measure progress. It need not be a long answer, but responding with a well-thought-out approach to your management style will make a better impression than spouting generalities.
- Explain me what’s the biggest mistake you’ve made on a project?
Everyone makes mistakes; character is defined by how you deal with them. This question will allow you to first gauge the candidate’s honesty. If they say that they’ve never made a mistake, you can rest assured that they’re not being truthful and their resume can go into the circular file. However, when they tell you about the mistake they’ve made, note if they take responsibility for it (that will reveal their level of maturity) and, of course, how they resolved it.
- Tell us have you managed remote teams and outsourced resources?
Not all projects are executed under one roof. With more dynamic project management tools and a global workforce to choose from, many project managers might never meet the members of their team, at least in the real world. Then there are the necessary resources that will be outsourced, which involves a different management technique than when working with employees. Knowing how they would manage people and resources can be a crucial point in your decision to hire or not to hire.
- Tell us what’s your communication style?
This is another classic question that directly stems from asking about managing projects and leadership. A project manager is nothing if not an effective communicator. They need to be able to speak to team members, stakeholders, vendors, etc. Each group will need a slightly different approach. Stakeholders want the broad strokes, while teams will need more detail. If a project manager can’t clearly communicate, the project is doomed before it has begun.