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Program Manager Interviews

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Program Manager Interview Questions

Program managers are responsible for overseeing several company projects that are connected by a common goal. Employers are looking for candidates who excel at people management and conflict resolution. Interviewers will want to know about your leadership and multitasking skills, so come ready to discuss a time you were able to successfully motivate a group to meet an imminent deadline or any experience diffusing issues between coworkers.

Top Program Manager Interview Questions & How to Answer

Question 1

Question #1: What are the warning signs a program might be at risk?

How to answer
How to answer: Interviewers want to know you can identify and solve problems. When answering this question, explain potential risks to a program, as well as how to eliminate these risks with problem-solving skills.
Question 2

Question #2: What is the difference between a program manager and a project manager?

How to answer
How to answer: You want employers to know you have a strong understanding of the job description. If asked this question, explain the key differences between program managers and project managers, including the fact that program managers take a more strategic approach to their position. Go on to explain the strategies you would use if you were hired for the position.
Question 3

Question #3: How do you keep a program on track?

How to answer
How to answer: The duties of a program manager include pacing the team, keeping up with deadlines, and solving problems. An interviewer may be interested in how you resolve conflict in the workplace to keep things on track. They may also want to know your planning process, how you stay organized, and how you communicate with team members.

20,601 program manager interview questions shared by candidates

Brain Teaser #1 - You are on a game show. Pretend I am the game show host. Now, pretend that I am showing you 3 curtains and I am also telling you that behind 2 curtains are goats and behind the remaining curtain is a car. He then draws 3 boxes on the board and labels then 1, 2, and 3. Now he tells me to pick a curtain. I pick curtain number 3. Now he says, "Okay. I'm going to tell you now that curtain #1 contains a goat (and he tells me this as he crosses off curatin #1). I'll give me a chance to change your answer to curtain #2 or stick with curtain #3. What do you do and why?
avatar

Program Manager

Interviewed at Microsoft

4★
Mar 25, 2011

Brain Teaser #1 - You are on a game show. Pretend I am the game show host. Now, pretend that I am showing you 3 curtains and I am also telling you that behind 2 curtains are goats and behind the remaining curtain is a car. He then draws 3 boxes on the board and labels then 1, 2, and 3. Now he tells me to pick a curtain. I pick curtain number 3. Now he says, "Okay. I'm going to tell you now that curtain #1 contains a goat (and he tells me this as he crosses off curatin #1). I'll give me a chance to change your answer to curtain #2 or stick with curtain #3. What do you do and why?

Come up with an architecture for a fail safe system that protects your office against all sorts of malware, virus, earthquakes etc. sort of attacks and failures - Data redundancy, backups, operational guidelines, firewalls, RAID etc. all passe. What can you do? How will you model this?
avatar

Senior Program Manager

Interviewed at Microsoft

4★
Oct 26, 2017

Come up with an architecture for a fail safe system that protects your office against all sorts of malware, virus, earthquakes etc. sort of attacks and failures - Data redundancy, backups, operational guidelines, firewalls, RAID etc. all passe. What can you do? How will you model this?

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