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 3 – How Do You Prioritize Multiple Projects with the Same Deadline?

Over the last few posts, we have shown some of the questions that employers may ask with regard to deadlines. An applicant that cannot handle stress is going to suffer in productivity when deadlines arise. These companies want to hire someone that they believe can handle the pressure of multiple projects.

One of the toughest things for an employee is managing multiple projects that have the same (or similar) deadlines. So employers may ask you how you prioritize, in order to gauge both your ability to handle pressure and your ability to organize under pressure.

How to Answer

The best thing you can do is simply show that you have put thought into this. Also, it is a good idea to discuss how you communicate the finishing of the project with clients/supervisors. Both of these will be appreciated by the employer.

Bad Answer

“I figure out which project is most important, and then I try to do that project first before finishing the next one.”

Okay, but how do you decide which project is more important? Prioritizing by money earned is not enough. Sometimes a smaller project can be more important than a larger project. This does not necessarily mean much.

Good Answer

“First I plan out the remaining tasks. In general, I will have already done this well in advance of the deadline. I look at these tasks and decide the easiest route to their completion. Sometimes it is easier to work on one project at a time, sometimes it is easier to switch back and forth depending on similarities in the type of tasks required. If one is due sooner in the day than the other, then that one will receive full priority. In addition, throughout the day I will inform all the necessary individuals of the current project status, so that they also do not find the upcoming deadlines too stressful.”

Multiple deadlines on the same day can be difficult, so your best bet is to show that you have a plan in mind. Though the answer above may not be how you prioritize under the pressure of actual assignments, it does do a good job showing that you come at these problems with a plan.

Take Away Interview Tips

• Show that you have a plan.
• Make sure the plan includes how you choose priority and how you communicate.