Interview Questions to Hire Senior Project Manager

Senior Project Managers are personnel who manage large projects. Often with multi-million-dollar budgets for large corporate clients, they oversee the project process, timelines, and budgets and communicate with clients and stakeholders to manage expectations and ensure the success of the project they are managing. Senior project managers also often provide management and guidance to project managers and project coordinators in the department and have a large part in decision-making and critical thinking.

When interviewing Senior Project Managers, you should be looking for candidates who have worked in a similar industry to yours and who have either a PMP, Scrum master, or Six Sigma certification. They should be able to talk freely about their problem-solving abilities and show strength in areas such as analysis and timeline, and budget management.

Role Specific Questions

• What Project management software are you most comfortable using? What features do you like about it?
• If faced with a client who makes changes to a project midway through and expects the delivery timeline and budget to remain the same, how would you approach this client?
• How do you allocate project budgets?
• Tell me what you think are the three most important factors to complete a project successfully.
• Describe a time when you have mentored or coached a project manager or project coordinator to help them improve their PM skills.
• What is scrum methodology in project management? Do you apply this theory in your work?
• Why do you think managing client expectations are key when delivering a successful project? What method do you apply when doing this?

Behavioral Questions

• How do you keep up to date with evolving trends, new tech, and advancements in the project management industry?
• Describe a problem you faced and the steps you took to resolve it.
• What is your biggest project achievement so far? What did you enjoy about it?

Conclusion

Most Senior Project Managers will be able to provide comprehensive answers and demonstrate in-depth knowledge of these subject matter questions. Look for answers using the star method, and identify where persons are using specific examples from their previous roles/experience to demonstrate their working knowledge.

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