Common Interview Question – How Do You Prioritize Multiple Projects?

“Well, the first thing I do is I throw a coin directly at my supervisor. Whichever side of the coin imprints itself as a bruise on their face, that is the project I work on. If the throw misses, I take a staple gun, walk up to the front desk, and staple the first associate I see on the back of the neck. Then I take a stopwatch and time their scream. If they scream for an odd number of seconds, I go with the first project. Even, second. If they throw in curse words, I immediately skip all projects and prance naked around the office until security tackles me, then I start the process over again from the comfort of my own home.”

Your ability to organize is constantly on trial at the workplace. People that put no thought into how they prioritize multiple projects tend to struggle when coming up on deadlines. So employers may ask you how you organize. There is no right answer, provided that whatever you say sounds like it would work.

Bad Answer

“I ask my supervisor what he/she thinks should take priority and I start working on that, unless told to stop.”

Good Answer

“Through a combination of deadline, difficulty, project length, team status and inherent importance. For example, a short deadline, difficult project where a team requires my work is going to get priority over an equally short deadline, easy project, because the team’s productivity is based on my own productivity. I also try to group similar items together and get started early on difficult, time consuming projects so that when I brush up against the deadline I am not scrambling and can give attention to other projects as needed.”

This is all the interviewer really wants to hear – that you understand how to give priority to certain projects and you put thought into how you give that priority. Supply this type of answer and you should have no problem impressing the interviewer.

Take Away Interview Tips

• Explain factors that go into giving priority.
• Explain how you incorporate those factors into your decision.

Deadline Interview Question Number 2 – How Do You Handle Deadlines for Multiple Assignments

We recently discussed the most common question about handling deadlines – namely, whether or not you can handle them at all. To answer that question, you need to focus on past experiences to “prove,” in a way, that you know what you are doing and can handle the pressure of upcoming deadlines.

Companies that have a number of deadlines may follow up on that question with two additional questions. First, how do handle deadlines to multiple assignments at once, and second, how do you prioritize these deadlines. In this post, we will discuss the former.

How to Answer “Multiple Assignments”

If the employer asks you how you handle the pressure of multiple assignments, the trick is somewhat simple. Focus on organization. Show that you handle multiple assignments by ensuring everything is in order and organized. Focusing on the pressure is the wrong way to answer this question.

Bad Answer

“Whether it is one assignment or multiple projects, I handle the pressure well. I focus on completion of the project and put my best effort into finishing it on time.”

This answer doesn’t inspire confidence. It is simply a throwaway answer.

Good Answer

“The key to handling the pressure of multiple assignments is to update and keep track of each project independently, as well as prioritize my time in advance so that I know what, when, and how each aspect of the project is occurring, and update myself on its progress. The more I know about each project the better, because it will allow me to adjust accordingly and ensure that I meet each deadline successfully.”

Focusing on the organization of these projects is much better, because it shows the interviewer that you have a plan. It is far more likely to convince an interviewer that you truly can handle pressure.

Take Away Interview Tips

• Focus on how you organize.
• Try to show interviewers you have a plan.