Project Manager Mock Interview
Master 50 Project Manager interview questions covering scope, stakeholders, risk, and delivery.
Question 25 of 50
Tell me about your typical relationship with project sponsors.
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Community Answers
Karrie Day is a certified career coach and strategist with a passion for helping her clients define and reach their professional goals. She offers career advancement services such as brand development, resume writing and critiques, job search strategies,
It's imperative that project sponsors be kept in the loop throughout the entirety of the project since they provide resources that the project needs to be completed. In addition, project sponsors can provide valuable feedback to project managers as the project progresses. Your interviewer is interested to know how often you typically contact sponsors and in what manner. They want to ensure your approach is in alignment with the responsibilities of the open project manager position.
Karrie Day is a certified career coach and strategist with a passion for helping her clients define and reach their professional goals. She offers career advancement services such as brand development, resume writing and critiques, job search strategies,
"Throughout my career, I've encountered many different kinds of sponsors. Sometimes they want to be very involved in the project and other times they don't. When I'm introduced to the sponsor(s) at the beginning of the project I try to determine their preferences and then communicate accordingly during the project.
If a problem arises that my team and I are unable to resolve on our own, I would definitely reach out to the sponsor to get their thoughts. In many cases, the feedback that the project sponsor provides is extremely helpful. For many of the sponsors I've worked with during larger projects, I scheduled weekly meetings or calls with them where I gave updates and discussed outstanding issues."
Jessica is an experienced HR Business Partner with over 6 Years of experience in recruiting and interviewing for various industries including Oil & Gas, Aviation, Start-Up, Healthcare, and more.
"I like to have a reoccurring cadence for our conversations established at the beginning of the relationship. That cadence may be weekly, biweekly or monthly depending on the project sponsors and the project. For emergency items, I like to get in contact with them right away to quickly resolve any issues."
Karrie Day is a certified career coach and strategist with a passion for helping her clients define and reach their professional goals. She offers career advancement services such as brand development, resume writing and critiques, job search strategies,
Let your interviewer know that you understand the need to define a customized communication plan with your sponsor at the outset of a project. Also, convince them that you are prepared to tackle specific scenarios such as timeline issues, scope changes, technical constraints, or emergencies.
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Anonymous Answer
I have been fortunate to have some great leaders in the position of Project Sponsor in my projects. I feel it is important to have a bi-directional exchange with my sponsors so that if issues arrive that require their assistance or input, they are well informed and can provide pertinent advice or direction.
Amanda's Feedback
It sounds like you prefer a collaborative relationship that supports dialogue and information exchange. This is a good opportunity to showcase your communication and relationship-building skills by telling the interviewer how you build strong relationships and how that has benefited your projects. Do you agree on expectations of their involvement at the beginning, meet regularly to provide updates, or ask the sponsor for feedback to ensure the project remains aligned in scope and deliverables? If you've had a really positive experience with a specific sponsor, consider talking about how that strong relationship translated into a positive outcome for the project.
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