Project Manager Interview Guide (on)
Introduction
The purpose of this article is to help the project manager. Project management is a way of promotion, you need to use your past development experience, and salary is usually higher than programmers. Preparation for Applicable Project Manager includes: review some common concepts, terms, and ask some questions that you often ask in interviews. Learn to use one or more project management plan to prepare tools. Through the above preparation, this will apply to this position to increase confidence.
Think about what you want to say and prepare to answer a wide range of questions involved is an important aspect of successful application. Unlike applicable technical positions, the answers to project management issues are often subjective. The responsibility of the project manager to keep in mind the technical project is to organize project members to achieve a business goal by completing technical tasks. The technical task should be applicable or maintained, and must meet customer / users' requirements and expectations.
The goal of this article is not teaching how project management. There are many good books, magazines and seminars in this regard. Some of the reference bookings of this article or this article will be listed. This article will introduce how to answer methods and ideas for applications. You can organize the answers based on your own experience, observe other project managers, and apply the post to the answer. No matter what problem, no matter how you answer, remember to use a project manager most useful, most important characteristic ... common sense.
What is real project management
Any successful project is impossible to be a personal credit. A successful project is the result of many people in multiple departments. These people make up a project team with different levels, talents, work style and knowledge.
The project team needs to have a common goal, common prospects, and clearly know what they have to do. The team, no matter what report structure, must work and encourage business goals.
The project manager is the leadership of the project team. He / her duty is that the motivation team completes the task in a positive way. The position needs to have technical and interpersonal skills, and the contents of attention is needed (the order is as follows) as follows:
business
the company
project
team
personal
Technology and method changes
The skills of the project manager should include technical skills and management skills, solid technical foundations can guide the team in technology, management skills help communication and solve problems.
Management skills are not limited to technology, but also to solve problems, estimates the ability, and program the ability, interpersonal and communication skills.
You may have realized that you ignore or lack knowledge in some areas. Therefore, the readers of this article are:
Didn't have a project manager
Already a project manager, but people think that their skills have been outdated
What is the project manager?
Project manager role
Project management is an estimate, planning, restructuring, integration, assessment, and amendments, etc., including managers, users to participate and solve problems until the business purpose of the project.
What kind of person does management need?
Every manager is looking for people who have the ability to complete a business goal. The most difficult thing is to understand what they know and can be done. More difficult is, I don't know how many people needed.
Therefore, you must make recruiters think you are sincere and reliable. This is not limited to project scope, but also keep in touch with management and customers.
Management means that it can be visible regardless of an adaptive or unfavorable environment. You must show your management talent when the problem is not described in detail or without an optional solution. If you let the management to solve all the questions, if you have any use, the management is doing your work.
Personnel management skills
Understanding people's psychology and their way is one of the necessary qualities for the project manager. Everyone is different. By understanding your way of working with others, you can relieve the pressure and facilitate communication.
The slogan of IBM has been "respect for everyone." This specifically manifesse to understand people in your daily work. To do this, you have to know yourself and know how you motivate others or put pressure on others.
Reading Mys-Brigs (Myers-Briggs) Personality Type Analysis is a good start. Katherine Briggs and her daughter Isabel Briggs-Myers prepared questionnaire (MBTI Mers Brigs Personality Type Direction) is used to help people find their personal style and the impact on the team. The questionnaire was developed on the basis of "psychological type" of Carl Jung. Such books can be found in the bookstore for self-improvement and psychology. You should understand personal work style and keep in mind these practices. The items listed below should be a second instinct that is in people. It is also a common sense for each project manager who wants to succeed:
Respect for each employee (supplier)
Humble
Do decision-making
Don't criticize others in public
Understand your strength and the order of doing things
Sincerely listen to the comments and suggestions of team members
Clear understanding of the goals and delivery products
Promote cooperation and information sharing in the IT team
Understand everyone's doing style and their advantages and disadvantages
The form should be sincerely express from the way of team members.
Connect negative impact as a chance to grow
Provide guidance in a positive way
You can't manage what you can't control
As mentioned earlier, project management is to perform a series of repeatable tasks to complete a business goal. In order to complete the task, you must establish a control system. Therefore, the following aspects should be prepared:
Measurement Method: Measurement Method If there is no management or use, it will have a negative impact. The metric method can be used as a planned "input", which can be counted in the project progression, and provide a reference for the next item or project. Using a metric method to assess the performance of employees is inappropriate.
Project Plan: Key checkpoints that are being executed by developing project programs. These checkpoints are road signs to reach the business goals. Remember that the project plan is only useful for new development projects. They are equally important in support and maintenance. Many project managers have made the same mistake, they have prepared a very excellent plan, but never put it into practice. In fact, they rarely work according to the plan.
Budget: Estimated and preparing a plan to make a budget. Many project managers must make and manage their own budget. If you can make the actual progress and plan, then your work will become relatively simple. Most project management tools have a fee (by hours, days, or annual) to a resource. The financial department of many companies believes that the resource costs include the general management cost of the enterprise. Other companies may calculate according to project names or users, management methods, employees and consultants. (For consultants, thinking about their overtime pay) equipment costs should also be considered separately. Remember to consider the software tools and hardware required to run the project application. (Such as the color printer of the sales department)
Employee Work Plan: People are valuable in any project. A person can promote the success of the project or the progress of the project, or may result in damage to the project. Employee work plan can play a constructive and practical role in the growth of employees. Most organizations have their own format. But no matter how the form, the following matters must include:
Dogu
Objectively evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of employees
Provide employees to participate in the development of its development direction and assessment
Project management reward / pressure
The role of the project manager is a double-edged sword. This position should bear a certain pressure and will receive the corresponding reward. Once you become a project manager, you must prepare these two aspects.
Successfully completed a system, everyone will reward. Can help employees develop their potential is the unique return of the project manager. In any task, people are the most important elements. By using your own management skills, a dynamic team is a proud team.
The person is also the largest pressure. People will be affected by those who are not controlled by you. The difficulties of team members are difficult, and the personal conflicts between each other require project managers to handle.
Anything about applications or team members is the first thing to find is the project manager. The upper leaders and users think that you are the only person in charge of the delay, the omission of the demand, the only person in charge of BUG and incorrect system.
Prepare for interview
Book, magazine, organization and seminar
There are many places where multi-effect management practices are listed in the reference catalog herein. To find management books, including technical management and business management. Reading management masters, such as Peter Drucker, c. A. Gallagher and A. Maslow written books and articles. They provide management knowledge that are used in any field. Masters of information management, for example, Tom Demarco, M. Page-Jones, Ed Yourdon, L. L. Constantine, and more provide a clearer, practical testing.
If you have to work with the user, you have to read a professional book in the relevant field. Understanding business is more important than understanding the technical environment. In fact, let users participate in the interview process more and more popular. It is a great magazine to be prepared to be prepared, you can buy a "Harvard Business Review". This is a good magazine, which is also suitable for IT management. Many IT magazines such as "CIO magazine" and articles on project management and personnel management in the books listed in the reference book. These magazines also include summary or detailed technical articles.
You can contact the US Management Association (AMA) and other business organizations to obtain management information. It is worth mentioning that the Software Engineering Institute (SEI) of the University of Kaniki University (SEI) is proposed in the 1990s, the latest standard version is SEI9000.
Many technical seminars, such as Digital Consulting and Technology Transfer Institute, have many different field project management and technical seminars. Another way is through your organization. They may provide courses such as authorization, negotiations, and listening skills, all of which help you prepare project management.
Software you should understand
Master a project management tool. For example, Microsoft's Project and Applied Business Technology Technology / Project Workbench. All of these tools have many effective project management methods and terminology.
In addition to the tools mentioned above, there is an increasingly popular tool to help projects in different technical environments in planning, cost estimation and management methods. This tool is LBMS / Process Engineer with a tool with a CASE interface.
If you have used this type of tool, listed these contents in your resume. Of course, not only to master tools, you must also have a solid foundation knowledge and project management methods.
A project manager must resume more. Communication with Email has replaced the phone and mailing memo. Many companies have their own systems, as well as many companies use Lotus Notes. No matter what product, you must have the following performance:
Can contact people in different geographic locations
Can effectively notify the team (including suppliers), progressive changes
Can solve small problems quickly
Remember the difference in people's working methods, people in the personality are more willing to communicate through email. This way they can have a time to think about the question rather than making an answer at the meeting.
As a project manager, you might be reported (Report) and introduction. Therefore, you need to master the word processing software and graphics software. These software can be bought in the market. List this type of software you will use on your resume.
Look for ideology
Any industry has a good project manager and a poor project manager. You can get revelation from both project managers (what should be done, what should be avoided). If possible, ask some excellent project managers how they do. If you are not very clear about your career development path, you can take an article that has just been read and asks these project managers to this article.
A sign of a successful project manager has a positive team with an atmosphere, the trust of the upper leaders and the respect of the user. The consistent action is another sign, which is the basis for measuring leadership. Excellent project managers should understand the strengths and shortcomings of each employee. They believe that failure is not a shortcoming, but a learning opportunity. Project managers must establish a professional standard. But according to a set of perfect examples, management is a failure project manager. This means that they are versatile, but they have embodied their ability to authorize and communicate. Make the employees who have thought to actively work negatively to ruin the project manager. Your ability in technology should be used for guidance and training employees. If you participate in programming or design, you are not developing your team, nor is it a project manager.
Project planning technology
The following is the terms and charts prepared by the project planning in the interview. Most project plan preparation tools use or all of the terms and features. You should review a useful one or more project management tools, which helps you further familiarize yourself with common technology and features.
Chart type:
Gantt Chart: Graphic, especially bar chart, describe the graph of project progress. Each strip symbol represents a different meaning. For example: bar symbols and / or colors of critical tasks may differ from non-critical tasks. Summary The symbol of the task (activity or phase) may be different in other tasks.
PERT Map: The current dependency of all tasks is used in a flowchart. Pert meaning is a planning evaluation and review technology. It is a network diagram.
Task list: List the project plan in text / vertical. Typically at least the following column should be included: task number, task name, start date, end date, duration, and work efficiency.
Work Decomposition Structure: Structure of Project Tasks and / or Activity.
Key path: It is a path throughout the project, indicating that the dependency between the tasks involved in the project is successfully completed. Adjusting the time schedule of the task on the critical path will affect the delivery time of the entire project. Key Path Method (CRM) Figure is a network diagram for the activities and events of the project's progress control and coordination projects.
Delivery results: prove that one or more task completed tangible things. For example: logical data model.
Dependencies: The connection between tasks affects the start time of one or more tasks. For example, you cannot start programming before you can't figure out the needs.
JAD / Simplified Method: Joint Application Design (Simplified Method is the term in the 1990s). A set of results-oriented, brain storm, have a common business destination information collection / sharing meeting. This method is that IBM is developed in 1970, consisting of fixed, structured processes, and under the leadership of an experienced implementer. The simplification method removes some structures, however, all parties must be required to participate in all meetings and a recorder with modeling technology. Participants include project team, management (and users) and administrative officials. For the success of the meeting, everyone must understand and agree with their tasks as soon as possible.
Delay: It is the delay time between the end time of the task and the start time of the task associated therewith. This allows the task end time and the start time overlap and elongation.
Methodology: A clear, organized, repeatable, structured method / technology to complete a universal purpose. These technologies or guidelines define steps, tasks, roles, purpose, and deliverables, which are required to achieve successful implementation of any system.
Measuring standards: a method of consistent and repeatable measuring the size and complexity of a project. Standards are prepared to use one of many methods in the entire project life. The popularity used today is:
a) Function (Allan Abrecht)
b) Important events (Tom Demarco)
c) Weighted average
d) code line
Milestone: The end of an important event in the project life. Usually a milestone is an activity on a key path. It doesn't have to be a tangible delivery product such as a logical data model, but it can be a user's affirmation of work.
Phase / Event / Summary Title: Summary level concept. Not all project management tools emphasize a specific phase and a summary level format, but many standard development methods use these terms to decompose.
RAD: Fast application development (if you do not use it correctly). Accelerate development work by using the application generator, modeling, and rapid prototype tool. The biggest improvement is to add a rapid prototype throughout the entire development life cycle. This understands how to provide excellent tools before encoding.
Resource Limit: A plan and schedule developed by a obtained resource based on the number of resources, the skill of each resource, and the plan and schedule developed by the resource working schedule.
Range Change: An increase in the function of the original design requirement without the evaluation of personnel, time or costs. Range changes may be a commercial user or a enthusiastic programmer. Both affect the delivery of the system and cannot be estimated, analyzed, or records.
The key points of the expression in the interview (even if the problem is not asked)
If you don't manage experience
For those who have never formally managed a project, it may be a non-official man. In those cases, when it emphasizes their technical background advantage, it needs to be clearly explained that they don't recognize those skills they have mastered. You can mention how you have to lead a large development team in the unauthorized situation. It is necessary to emphasize that there is no solid technology, your engineering tasks and estimates may be excessively simplified. When you are a leader of the project, you need to provide technical coherent to avoid team overload.
If your technical skill is in the future, it is outdated or different.
You don't need to understand how the technical environment is working, but you should understand the general concepts and features determine the ability and weaknesses of the environment. Many project management techniques are exceeding technology. Therefore, if your technical skill is lost, you can still emphasize that you can have an independent responsibility in technology. Referral to your application type and its business effect. How to refer to how the team is effectively completed. Stressed your management philosophy. Additionally, the same person with your status, how your users and ministries evaluate your management capabilities, remember to mention any knowledge you have mastered. You should throw your skills behind your skills when interview. Once you have this job, you will be able to ask the experts in the company. There are informal institutions of various experts in all organizations. You can inquire everywhere and find them out.
