We are preparing to begin the interview process for a PM. We would like to present a business case and ask candidates to drive out requirements, identify possible risks and define project approach. Does anyone have experience on how well this works when assessing skills? Examples of a good business case? Saving Changes...
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George JucanManaging Partner| Organizational Perfomance Enablers NetworkWoodbridge, Ontario, Canada
Hi Tanya,
This is a very good method to get more than “canned” responses and understand a bit better if the person is right for the job. Couple of recommendations to be as effective as possible:
- Pick up a real case from your recent activity and simplify / abstract it, so you can relate to it and provide additional details when asked (one that asks no questions you can directly eliminate).
- Be mindful of the duration of the interview, if the case is too complex it could take hours to debate it.
- Present it as a theoretical exercise, otherwise the candidates will be worried to bother you with things that you already thought of and will try to find “clever” solutions, ignoring the obvious which might be the correct approach (or at least the one they would take in real life)
- One advice I give to PM candidates that go for an interview is to “never respond top-of-the-head to a question that in real life you wouldn’t respond so” – you may have to go around this, especially if the case is too complex and people need to reflect about it
- Make sure that the interviewing panel has an open mind – it can be quite unsettling to see a candidate at the first glance find a solution to a problem you could not resolve in weeks, or find an obviously better solution than the one you found, and this could generate psychological resistance against the best qualified candidate.
Hope it helps,
Your approach sounds valid, George's points about complexity of the case are also right on. In my opinion, one of the most critical factors in finding a long term employee is not always about skills. Skills are important to assess - and your approach will provide insight into the candidates abilities. But.... If you are looking for long term, promotable, and future leaders, I would suggest that adaptability to fit into your corporate culture will prove to be a more important differentiator. The ability to recognize and use information about organizational climate, identification of key individuals and legitimate organizational goals will tell you whether this candidate versus another will be a good fit with your corporate culture.
I hope this helps you decide on your hiring approach.
Don Saving Changes...
Eric DroegeSr. Project managerYork, Pa, United States
Hello Tanya,
I think that using an existing business case while a good approach should be weighted low as a decision making factor. Deriving requirements is something that a potential candidate should have no problem doing even though they don't know the organization and it's culture that well. However, when you start getting into areas like risk it could be very difficult for a candidate to identify true risk properly. Of course you're going to get the standard risks like resource availability, but these types of answers are what you're trying to avoid. I find that most of the risks that are identified in the project have more to do with organizational specific resources: budget dollars, vacation schedules, workload etc... Identifying these would be difficult for someone who doesn't have the adequate time to get familiar with your culture. I would rely more heavily on their past project successes and do a detailed background check with past team members (not supervisors). By doing this you are getting a true look into their ability to lead a team which to me outweighs their ability to identify risks and/or requirements. I hope the interview process goes well and you find a great candidate to meet your needs.
