| James Innes
Can you tell me about a major project you have successfully completed?
Alternative and related questions:
Can you tell me about a major project that you have recently managed?
The meaning behind the question:
The interviewer isn’t really interested in the project itself; they’re interested in how you successfully completed the project. They’re looking for evidence of your ability to successfully complete a project and they’re trying to ascertain how your key skills contribute to this ability.
Your answer:
The emphasis in this question is on a project that you have successfully completed. It’s a perfect opportunity to blow your own trumpet.
Make the very most of this question to highlight your skills and abilities which led to the successful completion of the project – being careful to pick those which are most of relevance to the job for which you are now applying. Make your contribution to the project clear. What role did you have to play in its success?
Unless the interviewer specifically asks you for a project for which you had sole responsibility, it is reasonable to assume that they are happy with you talking about a project you worked on as part of a team – which is the case for the majority of projects.
It is also best to talk about a project you completed recently. If you go too far back, the interviewer might wonder why you can’t cite a more recent example.
Example:
I was recently involved in organising our participation at a trade fair. It was a very major project. We’d never done a trade fair before but we felt it could be a useful method of drumming up new business. It took a considerable amount of planning and organisation on my part; I had to assess everything that would need to be arranged in advance, from hiring the lighting set-up to liaising with our designers on the production of appropriate corporate literature for us to hand out. I had to make sure I didn’t miss the smallest of details – for example I had to check the plans of our stand to ensure our extension cables were long enough to reach all our equipment. On the day itself, we were on site very early to make sure everything was in place, tested and fully functioning prior to the arrival of the visitors – just in case there were any last minute hitches, which, thankfully, there weren’t. The event was very successful and our stand attracted a lot of attention. It was a very busy day. We were able to pitch our services to hundreds of people and pass on their contact details for our sales team to follow up on. Following the success of this event, we’re now looking at future events we can attend.
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