I am looking for some good questions to ask a potential employer in an attempt to get some insight into how project management fits into the organization, etc. Saving Changes...
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1. At what stage does a PM become involved in a project? At conception? During proposal development? The early you can be involved, the more successful you'll be.
2. How many other PMs are there? If you're the first, you'll likely have a harder time because you'll have to help the company understand what your role & value is.
3. Will the company support PM certification efforts (if you want that); ongoing education; PM user groups; etc...
4. Who do PMs report to? This will give you insight into their status in the organization.
5. Do you manage budgets, or is that outside of the PM's control? This will give you an idea of how responsibly they view PM's.
Those are a few off of the top of my head. Saving Changes...
What is the career path in your organization for Project Managers?
At what level of the organization do PM's reside?
Is the PM involved in the strategic planning process of the organization?
What about process maturity? How would the company rate itself?
If there are other project managers, ask to talk to them as part of your interview process. Find out what they see as the most important part of their job, how does the company value them as resources. What's their length of experience
Well, just from my own personal experience, I always try to find out what type of organization they are son I can determine whether or not I want to work in the environment that they are operating in. Also, it is something needed to know for the PMP exam.
So, I would ask whether they are a functional, projectized or a matrix type of organization?
Now, the issue you might run into is either the interviewer might not know or they might think they are one type when they are really another type.
If you can get a clear honest answer from them, then you should be alright.
Hi Daniel
Thanks for the questions. I recently attained an interview for PM with the CEO of a company. It was my second round and I was very surprised that he praised me a lot and then he asked to go back and think over few important questions to ask my reporting boss, who is the head of Engineering. According to him he is a very eccentric type of person and he is very demanding too and at the same time doesn't care about PMs responsibilities and has his own whims and fancies. The company retains him cause he is very experienced and very talented, and I need to manage him. I shall appreciate if you can help me with the right kind of questions to ask him, so that we can both be on the same page about my expectations, and how I would like to perform, not hurting his feelings :) Saving Changes...
Elizabeth HarrinDirector| RebelsGuideToPM.comLondon, England, United Kingdom
I just read this and I re-posted it on Linked In. LOVED THIS! Since Agile it seems there's a cognitive dissonance towards project managers. The world knows they're not the 1st and last word on everything but there's often a gulf between responsibility and accountability that make it difficult to be effective. These questions help find the PM discover the organization's valuation of a project manager
Saving Changes...
Peter CasePM I| Five Cubits, a Command Alkon CompanyLehi, Ut, United States
I just read this and I re-posted it on Linked In. LOVED THIS! Since Agile it seems there's a cognitive dissonance towards project managers. The world knows they're not the 1st and last word on everything but there's often a gulf between responsibility and accountability that make it difficult to be effective. These questions help find the PM discover the organization's valuation of a project manager Saving Changes...
