10 Program Manager Interview Questions to Help You Prepare

A program manager is responsible for overseeing multiple projects aligned with a larger business goal—often called a program. As a program manager, you’ll plan, direct, document, and monitor the quality of the program you lead, providing guidance and delegating to project managers on your team. 

The role shares much in common with project management, and in fact, many project managers advance to become program managers. If you're preparing to interview for a program manager role, use this guide to help you get a sense of the kinds of questions you may get and how to think through your responses.

Afterward, build in-demand and high-paying AI skills in project management with the Vanderbilt ChatGPT for Project Management - Leveraging AI for Success Specialization.

10 program manager interview questions

As with any interview, you'll likely get a range of common interview questions, such as about your strengths and weaknesses, and behavioral interview questions. These more general questions seek to better understand your experience, skill set, and personality so the interviewer can determine how well you'd fit the team and company.

Because of the unique technical knowledge a program manager has to have, you can also expect specific questions about the work you've done in this space, what you've learned from it, and how you seek to improve. Use the questions below to get an understanding of what you might expect to be asked during your program manager interview and practice your responses.

1. Tell me about yourself.

An interview is an opportunity to share your professional story, so spend time crafting a brief response to this question that explains what you've done so far in your career, what you've achieved, and what you're hoping to do next. It's also helpful if you can align your larger career goals to your interest in the company, such as, "And that's why I was particularly excited about this opportunity at [Company X], because I'm really impressed with your focus on [X]."

Keep your answer to around 1-2 minutes. The point here is not to repeat points on your resume since they already have that information, but to craft a strong story about why you're a great fit for this role.

2. Why do you think you're a good fit for this role?

For this question, you'll want to review the job posting and take note of how you fit each of the tasks. As much as possible, try to include measurable results in your answers. It's not just about showing the interviewer that you can do the job—but demonstrating the impact you could potentially have based on past successes.

Program manager interview tip: Use the STAR method

For any behavioral or situational questions, use the STAR method: situation, task, action, and result. Applying this method helps to explain an example or story in a compelling, logical manner.

3. Tell me about a successful program you have led.

An ideal program manager has led successful programs in the past and can explain why they were successful using quantitative metrics to demonstrate impact. You'll want to describe how you increased program performance using metrics like customer satisfaction, engagement, cost variance, and more. To set yourself up for success, you may include examples of when you’ve solved a problem, like a scope creep or a non-compliant team member.

If your experience lies more in project management and you're interviewing to be a program manager for the first time, share some of the exciting projects you've led, and talk about ways you've stretched in your career to gain knowledge and experience that would be a good fit for this next step.

4. Give an example of prioritizing tasks when working on multiple projects.

Managing multiple projects simultaneously is essential to a program manager’s success. The interviewer likely wants to hear about the software programs, tools, or applications you use to organize different tasks and the processes you have in place to ensure success.

Examples of project management tools include Basecamp, Jira, Trello, Asana, and Google Suite. If you have any other tips or methods you have learned in your experience, such as balancing an organization's budget or impact, then describe that situation in detail.

5. How do you adapt if a company changes its goals halfway through a project?

Show your resilience, professionalism, and problem-solving skills by detailing how you pivoted when a company changed its goals during a project. Talk about your experience with scope creep and how you tackled that. You can also talk about communicating and guiding team members and stakeholders about any changes to a project or program’s goals. 

6. Tell me about a time when you fell behind on a project. What did you do to get back on track?

This question touches on important program management skills, including risk management, preventing scope creep, and problem-solving skills. Provide examples of steps you’ve taken to set a delayed project back on the right course to meet milestones and deadlines for deliverables. Communication would also be key in this situation. Mention your assertiveness experiences and the steps you’ve taken to control projects, prioritize tasks, and communicate with others on your team.

7. What's your management style like?

Talk about the leadership traits that make you a successful program manager. An ideal program manager can show empathy, solve problems, offer support, give constructive feedback, communicate effectively, and offer strategies and guidance to their team. Highlight your ability to communicate with various stakeholders. You can also discuss your ability to build teams, improve collaboration, and inspire positive change. 

From project to program manager

The career path to becoming a program manager typically starts with project manager. If you're advancing from project to program manager, you'll want to make sure you have a firm foundation of experience and all the key project management skills. Be sure to check out Coursera's resource guide to becoming a project manager, where you'll find articles for every step of your journey.

8. Give me an example of a time when you identified and mitigated project risks.

Risk management is a critical part of being a program manager. Talk about how you identify and evaluate potential risks. You can discuss ways to foresee potential risks and their impacts with a cause-and-effect diagram. You can also talk about creating a risk management plan and how you communicate and document them. You can also discuss times when you had to escalate a problem to key stakeholders to make speedy decisions, reduce frustration, and offer checks and balances. Whichever example you choose, make sure to use the STAR method to explain it thoroughly.

9. What is your approach to change management?

Companies use change management to make large-scale changes in a department or throughout the company. According to American Society Quality, being a successful program manager means preparing and supporting employees, establishing necessary steps for change, and monitoring pre- and post-change activities for implementation. 

10. How do you measure success in your projects?

Answer this question both quantitatively and qualitatively. While talking about metrics, you can also demonstrate how you stayed in scope, met deliverable dates, and kept your team motivated. You might choose two examples of different ways you measured success to demonstrate your depth and breadth of impact measurement to the hiring manager.

4 ways to prepare for a program manager interview

Interview preparation can help you feel more comfortable and confident for your program manager interview. Below are some steps you may want to take in advance—or learn more about how to prepare for an interview.  

1. Research the company.

Learn about the company so you can share why you're interested in working there. Review the company website and research any latest news or press releases, or turn to job review sites, like Glassdoor, to gain insight into the company’s work culture.

2. Review the job description.

Spend time going over the job description to understand the tasks and goals you'd be responsible for, then reflect on your career and pick out talking points that align with these items.

3. Practice the interview.

Practice answering interview questions, like the ones we listed above. Use stories and examples that illustrate your expertise and highlight your transferable skills. Record yourself and listen back to your answers to identify ways you can be more concise or highlight more concrete examples, or ask a friend to conduct a mock interview with you so you get comfortable delivering your answers.

4. Prepare questions to ask your interviewer.

At the end of every interview, you'll likely be asked if you have any questions. Always come ready with questions for the interviewer about the role, the workload, advancement, team culture, or the company. This is your opportunity to gain clarity about what you'll be doing and how so you can make sure this position would be a good career move for you.

Read more: Questions to Ask at the End of an Interview

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