08/04/2023 0

The completed slides within this presentation are a list of questions & answers that I pre-prepared for an interview I had at Credit Suisse as a PMO Manager. However these questions can be used for many types of roles.

I often prepare for any interviews using this technique so I have an edge in the market against other candidates. I want to be different and think outside the box and leave a good first impression. Remember you only get one chance to make a first impression.

Within these slides I have answered some specific questions that are relevant to my personal work experience only. But these would be very useful to anybody wishing to understand HOW to answer these sort of questions in a competency based interview. I would advise anyone wishing to have an edge during an interview in todays competitive employment market to try this technique and revise each question with your own answers ahead of your interview, maybe you would like to download these slides and use this as a starting template.

Benefits

These Q&A’s will help any candidate build his/her confidence before and during an interview. They will also help you build a framework for answering and referring to your work related competencies more descriptively.

Handing your interviewer a Q&A PPT at the end of your meeting shows your initiative, willingness and commitment to landing the job. It also communicates to your interviewee and the company after the interview has finished by form of written responses. This gives them a tangible referral document to use when discussing whether to hire you or not.

I also like to give my interviewees a CV in pictorial ppt format so I can show my presentation skills, alongside my standard CV. The pictorial CV is not part of this document, but a demo version will be available on my slide share presentations.

Good Luck and remember if you want something in life, you have to fight for it, no one says success can be achieved with your hands in your pockets, be smarter and be ahead of the game.

Aim Of This Presentation

08/04/2023 V1.0

Preparation for “Possible” [Company Name]

Competency Based Interview Questions, Using The STAR*

Interview Technique By [Name of Candidate]

* = Situation, Task, Action, Result

08/04/2023 0

Possible Questions & My Answers

Question Answers using the STAR Technique1. Give me an example of how you used your leadership skills to help your pmo team meet a difficult challenge?

S – Implement a way of improving project financial forecasting on top of the existing Excel system using additional MI tools at no additional cost.

T – I have a thorough understanding of EVM and given my knowledge on this subject, I recommended that we use this proven mathematical method to improving our projects forecasting.

A – EVM was already available to each project because its already pre-built tool in MSP. To implement it, I initiated & agreed upon some guide lines & processes that each team/PM was required to complete so they new how to activate and use EVM for each planning phase of the project.

R – We were able to retrieve additional MI forecasting statistics which improved the mathematical predictability of a projects financial status & its forecast. I was able to report to senior management with more accuracy to how likely a project was going to achieve its financial expectations using SPI & CPI and TCPI EVM techniques.

08/04/2023 0

Possible Questions & My Answers

Question Answers using the STAR Technique2. Describe a challenge you have faced in work and how you overcome it?

S - During my time at KBL my main responsibility was to implement a PMO. This required the integration of new processes, standards and governance using the best of breed project management practices. The challenge was obtaining multiple business & IT buy-in using the PMO’s central source of project management expertise to provide project support and PMO services.

T – Initially I was met with resistance from some of the IT teams because they believed that there current processes for managing internal projects was efficient to meet the needs of the business. The realization was that every time they initiated a project their was no consistency to the project initiation and no repeatable processes that allowed for project continuity within a defined methodology. Every time they started a new project their was continuing variation of standards and processes that each business was adopting, these variations could impact time & cost.

A – I obtained managements approval to use 2 project methodologies that we defined for different sized projects. I lead a project workshop and presented the 2 methods to show how we could tailor their needs of their existing projects using these methodologies & also make use of standardized templates to enhance the speed of project initiation. The PMO started offering services to small projects from the business before we diversified to large projects. Once the benefits realisation was seen this benefited them from a time perspective to work on more pressing BAU.

R – The departments agreed to using the project methodologies & they also invested in individual resource project training to advance their project management skills. Projects were categorised accordingly to size, time, scope, and cost and this allowed for more effective resource management and the use of a centralized PMIS. The PMO implemented a practice that enabled the department to utilize its services which reduced cost.

08/04/2023 0

Question Answers using the STAR Technique3. Describe some of the important functions of a PMO and how you used one of them in your role to improve the PMO services you offered to the business.

1) Reporting project status to upper management *2) Developing and implementing standard methodologies 3) Monitoring and controlling project performance4) Developing project management competencies, including training5) Implementing and operating a project management information system (PMIS)6) Advising upper management7) Coordinating among project and project managers8) Developing and maintaining a project scoreboard9) Promoting project management within the organisation10) Monitoring and controlling performance of the PMO

*S - In KBL Bank historical steering packs (SP) where often a huddle of information that was rushed together at the last minute from multiple work streams that had changing requirements every fortnight.

T- Improve existing process and gather MI that enabled steering pack consistency.

A- I defined a reporting pack of standards, which lead to the creation of understanding reporting requirements. This contained only the necessary MI that was required to senior management. The steering pack was improved over its lifecycle to meet change in senior mgmt. The new (SP) method materialized to be an improvement over time.

R - This enabled fortnightly MI to be consistent, precise and more efficient to senior management & this also improved communication and awareness at a dashboard level. Whilst gathering the data this reduced the need for additional meetings to discuss the pack completion before representation to stakeholders.

Possible Questions & My Answers

08/04/2023 0

Question Answers using the STAR Technique4. Can you give me an example of change that required the PMO’s support and how you and your team managed it?

S – The PMO was supporting a large Temenos software development project which was initially budgeted for €17m however over its 3 year project lifecycle, many change requests were made which changed the scope, time, and cost of the initial project. The original plan & pre-scoped product version, was evolving faster in the real world & the business decided to review these component advancements, to assess whether they would benefit from having these integrated into the current product being built. This re-initiated planning sessions to determine the benefits, and to see whether it was cost effective and even possible. This invoked & required change management.

T – This needed a speedily execution & resolution due the change possibly having a large variance of impact on the current project. I organised all relevant SME’s and stakeholders into workshops, so an approach & define method could be brought to senior management for change management assessment.

A – Meetings held resulted in 3 optional solutions, which presented change in scope, time and cost to integrate the new product enhancements that were beyond the initial scope. This involved managing multiple business work streams into re-planning sessions which meant re-building lean WBS charts, resource profile planning, cost re-planning to meet the new scope refinement for each option. Specific SME’s were also involved in this process so they could contribute to the re-estimating. Furthermore regular risk assessments were made for each option so we could measure any potential impact, these were monitored periodically throughout the product lifecycle.

R – I presented 3 options to the programme director so he could review them with the steering committee. Each option was reviewed & the steering committee made a decision to choose an option which extended the scope, time and cost from €17m to €30m. The result meant that the additional scope went through the appropriate change management method process that the PMO had defined. It also meant that I played a valuable part to a large change that needed project management support and guidance based upon the standards and governance the PMO had invoked.

Possible Questions & My Answers

08/04/2023 0

Question Answers using the STAR Technique5. Give an example of a win-win situation you negotiated?

S – Often within projects resources are a constraint and on some occasions I have experienced situations whereby I have had to be a mediator between different work streams to negotiate resources time adequately between 2 or more projects. This can be difficult if each work stream says their need is greater than the other.

T – Negotiate time and manage the expectations to each of the teams project requirements, so that both streams are able to utilize the specific resources skillset within the timeframe required. Furthermore my aim was to achieve this with minimal impact to both projects and achieve a consensus between all parties involved.

A – I chaired a meeting between both parties to determine the requirements. Negotiate the time & effort required. On this occasion I had already pre-empted the risk that one project would need the resource on a full time basis, so I pre-emptively sourced another skilled & available resource from another project, just in case one party could not make the resource shareable between projects.

R – One of the PM’s used my additional resource recommendation. This turned out to be positive for both PM’s. This was aided by my initiative to source the resource internally with the right skillset from a project that they was able to be released from. This minimized the risk and also allowed for a swift resolution to a problem that could have impacted the schedule and cost for both projects.

Possible Questions & My Answers

08/04/2023 0

Question Answers using the STAR Technique6. Give an example of a win-win situation you negotiated?

S – Often within projects resources are a constraint and on some occasions I have experienced situations whereby I have had to be a mediator between different work streams to negotiate resources time adequately between 2 or more projects. This can be difficult if each work stream says their need is greater than the other.

T – Negotiate time and manage the expectations to each of the teams project requirements, so that both streams are able to utilize the specific resources skillset within the timeframe required. Furthermore my aim was to achieve this with minimal impact to both projects and achieve a consensus between all parties involved.

A – I chaired a meeting between both parties to determine the requirements. Negotiate the time & effort required. On this occasion I had already pre-empted the risk that one project would need the resource on a full time basis, so I pre-emptively sourced another skilled & available resource from another project, just in case one party could not make the resource shareable between projects.

R – One of the PM’s used my additional resource recommendation. This turned out to be positive for both PM’s. This was aided by my initiative to source the resource internally with the right skillset from a project that they was able to be released from. This minimized the risk and also allowed for a swift resolution to a problem that could have impacted the schedule and cost for both projects.

Possible Questions & My Answers

08/04/2023 0

Question Answers using the STAR Technique7. Give an example of a difficult situation and how you overcome it?

S – 2 years into my role at KBL The bank had made an executive decision to see if certain business streams within the bank could downsize its teams. I was asked if I could reduce the headcount in my team from 4 to 3 resources and still provide the same level of service. This was due to the potential sale of the bank to the Qatari's and the need to show an increase in NPV across the business.

T – I reviewed each role and there corresponding responsibilities of every team member including myself and complete an impact assessment to measure the cost of impact to see if a staff reduction could be achieved.

A – Physically this was possible to remove a resource from the team however the responsibilities of the other team members was already at full capacity and the loss of any one team member would have had a social impact to the remaining 3 team members, because even thou it was possible through knowledge transference and team sharing, the impact of the knowledge loss, outweighed the physical resource loss. The team consisted of 2 perm and 2 contractors and myself, so my options were limited. So to manage this I created a small business case with options of scenarios of how we could retain all four team members and maintain the service of excellence. I managed to persuade the 2 contractors including myself to a rate reduction at the cost of making sure their contracts where renewed every 6 months rather than every 3 months.

R – The business agreed to this and contracts were amended. – Benefits where realized all parties accepted the outcome. The PMO team continued to maintain its level of service at a reduced cost, the business had a contribution from my team to NPV cost reduction.

Possible Questions & My Answers

08/04/2023 0

Question Answer8. What are the key competencies that make you good PMO Manager

I pride myself as a PMO manager who has both the technical and soft skills to communicate effectively. I believe one of the main characteristics of being a PMO manager is to first and foremost align the PMO to the organisations visions, alongside understanding & implementing PMO’s concepts, practices and standards.

Using today’s technologies I am always finding myself challenged to keeping up to date with the latest & greatest tools to help me maintain my responsibilities more efficiently, this can be hard sometimes because the PMO management role in itself is challenging, so acquiring additional learning time alongside my acquired social family time is a constant battle with myself.

Historically I like to think I have made some good and bad hiring decisions. I have re-enforced my learning experiences back into my role and I think of my knowledge of hiring effective team members is something of competency requirement.

I believe in team work and making sure responsibility is equally shared. Maintaining transformation of knowledge across the team is of importance. Organizations are continuingly trying to reduce costs and maintain or improve service levels, and in my experience within this field compiling audits on your own PMO and offering survey feed back to your clients is an important aspect of PMO growth, diversification and advancing in the best practice of project management.

In my experience being able to make decisions is a required competency and this can be easy and difficult, this is characteristic of mine where I have learned how to be assertive at times and be able to show empathy in times of difficulty. I also acknowledge that sometimes I may not have the authority or the knowledge to respond to situations that I am not been in before and it’s here I may use a different management technique of enquiry whereby I say “I’ll have to come back to you on that one” and make sure I follow up and respond.

Possible Questions & My Answers

08/04/2023 0

Question Answer9. Where - in your previous PMO - did you really feel the pain? What didn't work? What needed to be improved or scrapped?

S – Initially during PMO set up, the business did not want to invest in an expensive PPM tool, so visualization of dashboard MI reporting was a manual process of taking data from multiple sources and consolidating it into a central source, so a dashboard project portfolio view could be reflected using Excel.

T – To automate the process of collecting data into a single source to reflect MI automatically so more productive time could be used in other areas within the PMO and reporting needed to become more streamlined.

A – Built one central SharePoint custom list consolidating data requirements from each separate spreadsheet; project fields, data, resource owner..etc. Then macro’s were written into the source to interpret the consolidated data straight onto a custom built SharePoint dashboard. Once the data was into SharePoint, training was offered to show how to input and utilize SharePoint using the new method. The data was quality assured every week rather than a full manual input.

R – Project actual progress could be seen immediately by senior management on single dashboard rather than waiting for manual intervention. KPI’s could be mapped automatically to reflect real-time progress. Project transparency was available and security could be set within SharePoint to manage who could see what confidential data.

Notes: Although this system did work, advanced PPM tools like CA Clarity have far more capabilities for project and portfolio management but these offerings a came with substantial business cost to integrate.

Possible Questions & My Answers

08/04/2023 0

Question Answer10. How would you set up a centre of excellence for the first time? What would be your top 3 priorities?

At KBL the organisation had no centralized PMO, each functional business units managing its own projects in a decentralized project environment, they had their own standards, processes and procedure for project delivery and journey of change was required.

To achieve a level 3 PMO I took senior management of various different business levels through a journey of identifying project management change options, which the business would need to consider.Priority 1: I identified the “businesses vision and strategic objectives” into the PMO’s service offerings and showed them what if scenario’s and cost benefits for project standardization & centralization. This required support and authority from the board members downstream.Priority 2: I determined and agreed with senior management where the PMO would sit in the organisation chart so I could align its multiple lines of communication. The PMO communication channels eventually became wider because it would interact upwards to CEO and management, horizontally with the department heads, inwardly with project participants within the organisation & outward to other centres of excellence and other external bodies. (LEVEL 3)Priority 3: To go through the change I had to identify “how” and “what” the business did to manage its projects. Once these were identified I presented some options for strategically implementing a PMO. Options Considered: Transitional journey of progressive change in phases, introducing a Level 1 PMO (independent project offices = reactive/admin, project support, project issue escalation/etc to a Level 2 PMO (Level 1 + authority to implement & improve the organisations project capacity & capability;) Level 3 PMO (Level 1&2 contributions “mature” = Does not act as a stand alone unit – & has the authority to lead & is the centre of excellence, is more pro-active & directly contributes to discussions on strategy & creates competitive advantages)

Possible Questions & My Answers

08/04/2023 0

Question Answers11. How would your team/manager describe you?

12. Why do you want this position?

Assertive and enjoys a challenge, Commitment to achieving ones goals, professionalism and attitude to my role & responsibilities, my ability to communicate, manage people and act diversely to demanding situations with a fair but firm empathic approach.

I have worked at Credit Suisse for 2.5 years previously and I really enjoyed working within the organisation and its culture and ethics of work, this is an organisation that promotes from within so in my experience longevity in contracts is possible if the individual shows potential. This particular role I am applying for would be challenging, but at the same time I have the work experience and expertise within this field to fulfil this role. Within the role I will be able to hit the ground running from my initial day and start proactively achieving.I have knowledge of some of the banks methods and the PPM tool they use for portfolio management and some of its project practices so this will benefit the organisation and my own ability to get up to speed.I communicate exceptional we’ll and I have worked in many large investment banks that require individuals to be very flexible within the role, due to the nature of this role I am confident it will require someone with good organisation & time and relationship management skills these are just some of the characteristics I pride my capabilities in.I have managed large budgets up to €30m on singular projects and I have successfully contributed to those projects within the portfolio. II am confident in the field of project management, and my primary skill is managing, implementing and enhancing PMO’s. My last PMO management role was managing a team of 3 within a portfolio of €100m. Some of my strengths are creating MI reporting packs within tight time constraints. Managing PMO teams. I have also worked in large project orientated teams and managed virtual PMO’s in different geographical time zones. I pride myself on identifying and managing risks to projects and where possible proactively aiding in swift resolutions to issues that arise to project related matters. I have an eye for attentive detail and I often am effective at finding financial inconsistencies. I also enjoy training individuals and enhancing my competencies both from a technical and business PM perspective.

Possible Questions & My Answers

08/04/2023 0

My Personal Questions To The Interviewee Based Upon The Role

Answered AnsweredDuring The At The Interview End

• What is the current size of the PMO team and how are the roles defined within it?

• What’s the size of the largest project the PMO manages and the size of the portfolio?

• What intervals do you currently hold steering committees?

• Do contractors have the opportunity to utilize Credit Suisse’s training & educational facilities?

• What regular deliverables are required by the current PMO manager and are you given enough time deliver them?

• Does the PMO environment still utilize SharePoint alongside Clarity as its main PPM tool?

• How many projects within the portfolio does the PMO currently manage?

• Would there be any travel involved?

• Does the person interviewing you report directly to the programme director? In your experience what is it like working for him and what management style does he have. I.e. Is he/she pragmatic.

• Is this a new role or would I be replacing an existing permanent/contractual employee?

• If I was offered the role would I need or be provided with a laptop/VPN/Blackberry?

• What’s the turn around time for on-boarding the chosen candidate once the decision has been made?

□ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □