General Questions Flashcards
Why do you want this job?
I want this job because:
- love PM role and the responsibility
- dynamic job with lots of communication and coordination
- fast-paced environment - like it
- always something new to learn
Accenture connected: I also want this job, because having researched, you’re:
- Leading in innovation and transformation, within the company and for your clients
- Always striving to move forward and develop
- support your employees in different ways, the one I particularly like is being in the middle of a knowledge hub and having access to the most up-to-date strategies, tools, techniques and
- diverse, talented and amazing co-workers from which I’ll be able to learn and grow.
Slogan: Let there be change.
I want to be a Project Manager because I want the responsibility that comes with this type of position. As a Project Manager, there is always something new to learn and I would relish the opportunity to work in a fast paced environment and under constant pressure to complete difficult projects and meet challenging targets. Another reason why I want to be a Project Manager is the fact that I like to be in control. If I am the person responsible for making things happen then I am happy in my work. I also want to be a Project Manager because I enjoy the sense of achievement that comes with the position and the variety that the role provides.
What can you tell us about Accenture / Company?
- Originally part of Arthur Anderson - big auditing company
- Founded in 1989
- went public IPO in 2001
- Incorporated in Ireland in 2009
- Fortune 500 Company - it’s in the 500 largest companies by Fortune magazine
- CEO: Julie Sweet
- it’s business is divided into 4 divisions:
- strategy & consulting - what they do
- interactive, -
- technology -
- operations -
Add banking and FS
What are your strengths?
My strengths:
- Learn quickly & very proactive about this - demonstration: adopting new tools Excel needed to
- Flexible - example
- Good at planning - example
4-step framework to put this strengths together:
A major strength that I have developed is…
I have used this strength in the past to (in my previous project to… in my previous job…)
Evidence of this strength can be fould… I’ve used this strength in this X project and because of this I got Y - state a benefit / outcome.
What kind of project have you worked on in previous roles?
Tell me about your work experience.
What’s your biggest weakness?
- weakness = learning and growing opportunity
- presentation skills - include more storytelling and improve engagement of participants
- impatient - expect results quickly and I can get frustrated if things are not done according to my expectations. I am making an effort to accept that there are different ways of achieving an outcome and to see it from the individual’s point of view. It is more productive if I react by providing support and constructive feedback to get the job done. that people will just jump on the assignment, so I try to be aware that people have different working styles and working paces and that not only one way of delivering work is the right way.
I see weaknesses as learning and growing opportunities, so not something bad per se.
In my previous job, I’ve done a lot of presentations for the team. I’ve noticed that people were not enough engaged (COVID tiredness, all zoom meetings). I think it is just an issue that everything is now online and not in-person, so for this reason I’ve decided to upskill my facilitation skills.
I am really a person who goes above and beyond for everyone to understand and adopt the topic I am presenting to be as clear and concise as much as possible and to be understandable to everyone. At the same time, I like people to be engaged and collaborate.
So, for this reason, I’ve bought a course on facilitation and I’ve already included some of the new techniques into my presentation. This is one example of one:
My PM role in Accenture will require me to do a lot of cross-team presentations and facilitation, for the planning, RAID, stakeholder engagement, all comms, so I think this is really going to help me to present the company for the clients in a best possible manner and contribute to the great company’s brand awareness.
Now having said that I do take constructive criticism well so if you see something about my work that you feel I need to change just say so and I will take the
necessary action.
I am here to work with you and as such, i will always be flexible and adaptable.
How would you deal with a conflict with a co-worker?
Here’s how I dealt with the recent conflict with a co-worker:
SITUATION:
ACTION:
- first and foremost I would try to solve the conflict myself by actively dealing with it, if I wasn’t able to resolve it or it got escalated to the point where I can’t do anything about it, I would only then inform my manager.
- I would also put the needs of the team and the company first.
- In the presented example I was able to resolve it myself
- questioned me if there is something I could have contributed to the conflict (self-awareness) - I reviewed my performance and actions
- then I approached the co-worker in a friendly, honest, and open way, in private, explained what I’ve been observing and how I feel about it. So I tried to be as much assertive as possible not to attack him and be aggressive.
- Then I listened to what he had to say
- Invited to search for a common solution, we worked on that, resolved the problem and that’s it.
Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
Think of this question: How will this role help me grow my career in the way I will be proud of?
- I definitely see myself working for your company either in the same role as an SME or having advanced to another level.
- In these 5 years I will for sure develop significantly and be seen as a trusted, reliable and productive employee of the company.
- I also want to further develop my PM skills and practice and this is definitely the role that will help me to do just that with all the interesting clients that you have on board, I expect to be working on a variety of different projects, which will bring different challenges that will contribute to my growth and professional development and at the same time help grow company’s business and reputation.
What do you do outside the work? What are your hobbies or interests?
I am very active outside my work.
Engaged in different physical activities (HIIT, yoga, hiking) / actively spend time with my family (weekdays - weekends - board games, hiking, brunch, talking) / develop new skills (reading, courses) /
- I am doing short 30 minutes HIIT training 3 times a week.
- Then I also do kundalini yoga practice. Recently I completed a 40-day challenge of consecutive daily practice, doing same kriyas/postures while weekly increasing time. This keeps me motivated, boosts my concentration and focus levels whilst i am at work.
- I am also a family person, so during weekdays and on weekends I always make sure we spend some quality time together - going for long walks or sightseeing local attractions or just going for coffee / brunch to relax and chat.
- I like to read self-development and professional books and I always have a good book on the go.
- I also like to attend different online classes for self- or professional development. The most recent course I took was to develop my writing skills. It was a 30-day challenge of posting 1 atomic essay (writing 250 words long) per day.
I believe this will help me not only personally but also professionally, to make my project writing (whether be emails, reports, etc) more clear and to the point.
What experience do you have relevant to this role?
Tell me about your work experience.
What do you think you will be doing in this job?
I will be responsible for successful program delivery. I will be responsible for programme:
- Planning - including resourcing and forecasting
- Coordination of execution / delivery
- Managing/handling cross-programme project expectations, dependencies, risks, assumptions and issues and escalate them to the business lead
- Tracking program progress - scope, schedule and cost and escalate to BL in case of issues
- Tracking overall program benefits to ensure we successfully deliver the program business case
Do you have any questions for us?
- If I was successful in the interview and got the job, what would you recommend me that I do between now and start to prepare for the role?
- What would you say will be priorities for the role over the first 100 days?
- How would you describe a typical 5-year career path for a high-performing employee at Accenture?
- Could you detail the training and CPD (continuing professional development) opportunities available at Accenture?
- Having studied your website I was curious about….
Why do you want to work for us?
- You are a market leader,
- you are innovative and you are
- creative,
- constantly striving and moving forward
- I want to work for your company because you are socially responsible,
- you have a strong set of workplace values that align with my own ambitions and aspirations, and you have a * brilliant track record of achievement.
I’m the type of person who also wants to improve and develop i don’t just want to sit in a job and do the bare minimum. This said, Working for Accenture will mutually benefit the relationship by excelling and advancing year on year.
What is your strategy for working with an underperforming team member?
I would use the following strategy:
Step 1: Identify the issue that is affecting the team member. This would mean sitting down with them and getting to the root of the problem. Knowledge is power and if I understand what is causing them to underperform, I can resolve the situation quickly. Once I had gathered the information during step 1, I could then put in
Step 2: place a coaching or development plan to help them improve. If it is something in their home or personal life that is causing them problems, I can create a plan for them based on their needs. However, if it is solely a performance-related issue, I would put a plan in place to help coach and develop them whilst showing empathy if required.
Step 3: I would then support them for the required period of time to ensure they got back on track with their performance.
Whatever the issue the team member had that was making them underperform, I would get to the bottom of it quickly, support them, show empathy where appropriate, and put them on track to get back to peak performance as soon as possible.
As a Project Manager, is it better to be loved or feared?
have a fine balance of both
If you’re feared,
- people may not feel motivated to work for you,
- people will not collaborate effectively
- the atmosphere will be bad
and conversely, if you are loved,
- some people may take advantage of your and try to impose thier agendas into the project and you’ll have to defend it in terms of scope, timelines and budget.
An effective project manager, in my opinion, is someone who clearly
- defines the expectations and
- standards from the get-go, but who is also
- be approachable and
- use competent leadership and
- motivational skills to drive their team forward to complete the project for the client or the employer on time, within budget and to the required high standards.
What is the most important element required to make a project work?
Without a doubt the most important element required in project management is COMMUNICATION.
- it needs to be timely, clear, and concise - make sure you’re fully understood
- have a clear communication plan in place - with defined stakeholders, the information they need, how detailed it should be, when and how it should be sent
- clearly and often communicate what’s the goal and purpose of the project, what do they need to deliver, and to what extent / quality
