if you want to break into a career in project management then you need to be ready and prepared for interviews in this video I'll cover common project management questions that I've been asked during interviews and then how you can really structure your answers so that you can answer them the right way so make sure that you save this video for later so that you can come back to it when it's time to prepare for your next project management interview so I think at this point we can all acknowledge that this current job market is really not the best so if you're trying to land a job in project management the best thing that you can do is just to make sure that you have a properly structured resume and try to apply for as many jobs as you can so if you need tips on how to improve your resume check out my previous video I'll make sure to include a link to it here so once you finally receive a response from a job recruiter then you need to be prepared for the next step which is the interview process so the interview process is their opportunity to assess your skills your experience and how well you fit into the role that they're hiring for first let's talk about the key project management skills that you should emphasize during your interview now I won't go too deep into this topic just because in one of my previous videos I did talk about the skills that you need to add to your resume like communication uh leadership skills organization skills and so forth but these are the same skills that you also need to make sure that you mention during your interview this is your opportunity to show recruiters and hiring managers that you not only understand these skills but you also know how to apply them in real world scenarios okay so now let's talk about how to structure your answers during the interview one effective method to provide a more clear response is to use the star technique which is situation task action and result so I've personally facilitated interviews for project scheduler roles and consultant roles so I just cringe when candidates Ramble On and On when answering a question now don't get me wrong I understand that people are nervous and it plays a huge role in why these they answer this way but the best thing that you can do is just get straight to the point when you're answering questions I promise that if you're providing a long- winded answer it's not going to always make you seem more knowledgeable or more confident okay so now let's get into the most important part of this video which is the common project management interview questions and how to answer them I'm going to share five interview questions and how you can structure your responses question number one how do you prioritize tasks and manage your time to meet project deadlines now this is a very common interview question because time management skills and knowing how to prioritize tasks are critical skills to be a successful project manager as a project manager you're essentially responsible for overseeing complex projects which will require you to coordinate various tasks and ensure that everything is completed within the project timeline so this question essentially helped interviewers assess your organizational skills and your ability to manage competing priorities in your overall approach to time management so here's my advice for how you can structure your response to this question you could start by just acknowledging that you understand the importance of effectively prioritizing tasks and time management you can even mention that you recognize the impact that these skills have on the overall success of a project and then after doing that tell them how you prior prioritized tasks and then when you're doing this it would even help to mention the use of project management methodologies such as scrum um agile waterfall and then how you adapt your approach based on the Project's unique requirements because not all projects are the same you can also just discuss any tools or techniques that you use to prioritize tasks such as the Eisenhower Matrix critical path analysis or any project management software doing this will just show that you're familiar with industry standard tools and how to utilize technology for efficiency and then last but not least since this question mentions how you manage your time I recommend mention time blocking on your calendar as a way to dedicate your time to complete specific tasks this just demonstrates that you have a proactive approach to managing your time effectively so if I were answering this question I usually say something like when it comes to prioritizing tasks I like to start by identifying the project milestones and the critical path I use tools like Microsoft Project to create project schedules that show dependencies and allows for flexibility I prioritize tasks based on their impact on the project timeline and objectives now in past projects that I've managed I prefer to engage the project team and key stakeholders during the process just to ensure that everyone is in agreement on the priorities now for time management I like to time block my schedule so that I have dedicated Focus time to work on specific tasks which help me me to use my time more efficiently all right question number two what project management methodologies are you familiar with and how do they differ now this is considered a technical question which can be a little bit more of a challenge if you're not familiar with these methodologies but this is a common interview question because they want to see if you understand the different project management approaches and how to use them based on the project requirements so here's how you can respond to this question so first just start by acknowledging that you are familiar with these methodologies you can mention the ones that you do have experience with such as agile or waterfall scrum and then at a minimum briefly explain the key principles and characteristics of waterfall and agile methodologies you don't have to go into a lot of detail with this I've facilitated interviews and have asked this question and while the candidate was clearly knowledgeable of the methodologies they ended up having a very long- winded answer and kind of going going down a rabbit hole so for agile you can just mention that agile is known for its flexibility iterative cycles and continuous feedback and then for waterfall you can just emphasize that it's more linear the approach involves distinct phases typically there's limited room for changes once a phase is complete and then for this question you can emphasize that the choice of the methodology really depends on the type of project and so as a project manager you can explain that you don't follow a one siiz fit all approach but instead you choose the methodology that aligns best with the Project's requirements and then if you can provide an example from your past experiences or past projects where you successfully applied a particular methodology and then you can also discuss the Project's characteristics and why you chose that methodology and why it was most effective in that scenario all right question number three how do you handle unexpected challenges or changes to a Project's scope so this is a common interview question because projects rarely go as planned and unexpected challenges are very common so interviewers just want to gauge your ability to adapt to changes adjust plans and overcome unforeseen obstacles so this question assesses your problem solving skills so project managers need to think critically and find Solutions when you run into these unexpected challenges handling unexpected challenges is a key aspect of risk management so interviewers want to know how proactive you are in identifying potential risks and how well you mitigate or address them when they do come or arise this question also evaluates your communication skills project managers must be able to communicate changes effectively to the team stakeholders and possibly other clients so always remember transparency about challenges Fosters trust so you have to have the ability to handle unexpected challenges challenges and maintain your composure when Under Pressure so the best way to answer this type of question is to use the star method again so that means briefly describe a specific situation where unexpected challenges or changes to the project scope occurred and then clearly outline the task or the challenge that arose and the impact that it had on the project then describe the actions that you took to address this challenge now this is where you can mention any problem solving strategy that you use how you collaborated with the team and how you communicated with stakeholders and then discussed what the outcome was of your actions so if possible just quantify what the positive impact was on the project and then you can also mention what you learned from that experience and how you apply those lessons to Future projects a good example of a response to this question would just be in a past project you know we faced unexpected challenges when a key team member unexpectedly resigned which impacted the Project's timeline so when this happened I had to immediately schedule a team meeting to assess the situation we then just reassigned the test among the remaining team members so that we could make sure critical deadlines were still being met also I made sure to communicate the revised timeline with key stakeholders to maintain transparency and manage their expectations and so as a result we not only completed the project on time but we were able to also develop contingency plans for future Staffing challenges so this experience just further confirms that the importance of risk management and effective communication during project execution question number four describe a situation where you had to work collaboratively with a team to achieve a common goal so this is a common interview question for project managers because collaboration is a fundamental aspect of project management project managers need to work effectively with diverse teams to ensure the successful completion of projects so project project managers often play a leadership role in guiding a team towards a common goal so this question provides insight into your leadership style and how you handle conflicts and also your ability to motivate and Inspire team members best way to answer this question is again to use the star method to structure your answer so just briefly describe the context um or project where collaboration was required to achieve a common goal this is where you can clearly outline the specific goal or objective that the team was working towards now you can explain the actions that you took to Foster collaboration within the team and then discuss any communication strategies conflict resolution or decision- making processes that you also used and then share the outcome of the collaborative efforts highlight the achievements um or improvements or even the lessons learned and then if possible always quantify the impact on project success so you could answer say something like in a past project our goal was to implement a new software system within a tight deadline so we already recognize the need for strong collaboration so I decided to organize regular team meetings to discuss project Milestones assigned tasks based on team member strengths then encouraged open communication and then when any conflicts arose you know regarding the allocation of resources I facilitated a team discussion to reach a consensus so through collaborative problem solving we not only met the deadline but we were able to improve the team cohesion the successful implementation of the Software System resulted in a 20% increase in operational efficiency showcasing the positive outcomes of effective team collaboration all right and then last but not least question number five can you share a specific example of a project where you had to deal with challenging or difficult stakeholders how did you identify their concerns and what steps did you take to manage the Rel relationship and move the project forward now this is also a very common question because as a project manager you will deal with various stakeholders and they all have their own interest and concerns so this question essentially assesses your ability to manage relationships with difficult stakeholders and if you're in project management now you know that dealing with challenging stakeholders requires effective communication and problem solving so essentially this question evaluates how well you identify concerns how well you communicate with stakeholders and then how well you implement solutions to move the project forward so here's the best way to answer this question start by picking a specific relevant example from your past experience ideally it should be something that demonstrates your ability to handle challenging stakeholders in a past project so you can just start by providing context for the project you know what what was the project and what was involved who were the stakeholders involved and and what their roles were and then you can briefly explain the significance of the project and then the challenges that you faced and then clearly articulate the concerns or challenges presented by the difficult stakeholders show that you actively listen to their concerns and understood their perspectives and then you should also just discuss the communication strategies you use to address their concerns highlight instances where you were transparent about project goals progress and potential impacts and then describe the step that you took to resolve conflicts or disagreements with the difficult stakeholders this is a good opportunity to emphasize collaborative problem solving finding common ground and negotiating mutually beneficial Solutions and then you can end your response by just talking about what the outcome was of the situation and then if there were any positive changes in the stakeholder relationships you can also mention that and then the impact on the project and then always just make sure you mention any Lessons Learned From that experience so you could say in a past project I encountered a challenging stakeholder who had reservations about the Project's timeline and resource allocation so I proactively scheduled a oneon-one meeting to understand their concerns and then through active listening I discovered that their primary concern was the potential impact on their Department's daily operations so I address this by adjusting the Project's timeline to minimize disruptions so regular status of updates and involving them in key decisions really helped to rebuild that trust and as a result we not only successfully completed the project but I also gained a more supportive stakeholder so this experience really taught me the importance of clear communication and flexibility and stakeholder management so those are five very common project management interview questions and some questions that you may probably get asked during your interview so always remember to tailor your answers to the specific job requirements in do your research on the company and practice practice practice I have created a project management interview Q&A guide that covers all of the common project management questions and how to best answer them if you would like a copy of this Q&A guide I will include a link to it in the description down below and then remember confidence comes with preparation and you've got this all right guys thank you for watching this video and if you found any of this information helpful don't forget to give it a thumbs up And subscribe for more content and hit that notification Bell so that you don't miss any future videos and then if you have any questions or want to share your interview questions that you've received feel free to leave a comment down below all right guys thanks so much and that's all for this one I will see you in the next one