What Type of Project Would You Like to Manage Here?
"What type of project would you like to manage here?" is a question that catches many candidates unprepared. It is often asked in second or third-round interviews for project management, product, operations, or senior individual contributor roles — and it is designed to test whether you have done specific enough research on the company to answer with credibility.
A vague answer ("I am excited about any project that adds value") fails immediately. An overly ambitious answer that ignores the company's current strategic context is almost as bad. The candidates who answer well have done the work: they know what projects the company is currently running or planning, they understand where the business is heading, and they can explain specifically which kind of project work aligns with their skills, track record, and professional aspirations.
This is fundamentally a question about how to answer project management interview questions — and it rewards structured thinking, genuine research, and the ability to connect your professional story to a company's real-world priorities.
Why Recruiters Ask This Question
This question serves several distinct purposes in the hiring process.
Assessing strategic awareness: For project management and leadership roles, understanding where an organisation is going matters as much as technical project management skills. Recruiters want to see whether you can contextualise your aspirations within the company's actual strategic direction.
Testing preparation and research depth: A candidate who can reference a specific initiative, roadmap item, or strategic priority from their research has demonstrated a level of engagement that generic candidates cannot match. According to a 2023 PMI (Project Management Institute) survey of UK and US hiring managers, "strategic alignment" was cited as the second most valued trait in project management candidates, after demonstrated delivery track record.
Evaluating ambition calibration: Are your project ambitions appropriately scaled to the role you are applying for? A junior PM who describes wanting to lead a company-wide digital transformation in their first year is either poorly calibrated or poorly prepared. A senior PM who describes only small, contained projects is underselling themselves.
Checking role-specific motivation: For project-heavy roles, the types of projects you find most engaging signal whether this particular role will sustain your engagement over time.
Pro tip
Before the interview, look at the company's LinkedIn posts, press releases, and job descriptions from the past six months. Companies often describe their strategic initiatives in job postings for roles adjacent to yours. Understanding two or three live or planned projects gives you the specific content you need to answer this question with genuine credibility.
The Research Framework: How to Find Out What Projects Exist
Answering this question well requires specific intelligence about the company. Here is how to gather it efficiently.
Company website and blog: Many companies publish case studies, product roadmaps, or strategic initiative announcements on their blog or news pages. These are the most direct source of insight into what projects are running or planned.
LinkedIn and company announcements: Follow the company page for recent posts. Job postings in adjacent areas often signal new initiatives — if a company is suddenly hiring five data engineers, they are likely building new data infrastructure.
Annual reports and investor presentations: For public companies, these explicitly describe strategic priorities. For private companies, press coverage of funding rounds often describes how the capital will be deployed.
Your interviewer's LinkedIn profile: Understanding what your interviewer has been working on — what projects they have led or contributed to — can help you understand which types of work are prioritised in their team.
Ask a preparatory question: If you have a pre-interview call with a recruiter, it is entirely appropriate to ask: "Are there any specific projects or priorities you would like candidates to come prepared to discuss?" This signals preparation and sometimes generates directly useful information.
How to Structure Your Answer
A strong answer to this question has four components.
Component 1 — Name a specific project type aligned to the role: Be direct. Describe the type of project in terms of scope, phase, methodology, or domain — whatever makes it specific and credible.
Component 2 — Connect it to the company's actual context: Reference something specific you learned in your research. "I noticed from your Q3 announcements that you are planning a CRM migration" is far stronger than "I'd be interested in systems integration projects."
Component 3 — Explain how your track record applies: What have you done before that makes you well-suited to this type of project? One concrete STAR story from your past is worth more than any number of adjectives.
Component 4 — Express flexibility: Show that while you have preferences, you are focused on adding value to the company's priorities rather than pursuing a personal agenda.
Example
"The type of project I am most excited to contribute to here is the digital transformation work I understand you are doing in your operations function — specifically, the migration of your legacy inventory system to a cloud-based platform. I noticed from your recent LinkedIn posts that this is a key initiative for the next 18 months. This type of large-scale systems migration is where I have my deepest experience — I led a similar project at a Birmingham-based logistics company, taking an SAP deployment from initial scoping to go-live in 11 months for a £2.3 million implementation. That combination of stakeholder management across operations, IT, and finance, and the ability to manage scope creep on a complex technical project, is exactly the profile I bring to this kind of work."
Two Worked Examples for Real Roles
Example 1: Programme Manager at a Financial Services Firm in London
Helena is interviewing for a Programme Manager role at a mid-size insurance company undergoing a technology modernisation programme. Her background is in Agile transformation.
She answers: "Based on my research — including your recent press release about the regulatory compliance programme and your CFO's comments in the Insurance Times about the legacy system modernisation — the project I am most interested in contributing to is the core policy administration system migration. This is exactly the kind of multi-year, multi-stakeholder programme that I find most professionally engaging. I led a comparable transformation at a Lloyd's of London syndicate — £4.5 million programme, 18-month timeline, four cross-functional workstreams — and the most interesting challenge was not the technical delivery but the change management: helping underwriting teams adopt new workflows without disrupting active policy books. That change management dimension is where I believe I can add the most distinctive value here. I am also open to whatever the most urgent programme needs are — I want to be useful where the business needs it most, not where I simply prefer to work."
Example 2: Product Manager at a Healthcare Tech Startup in Sydney
Kai is interviewing for a Product Manager role at a Sydney-based telehealth startup. He has a background in mobile app product management.
He answers: "The project I am most excited about is the patient-facing mobile app redesign I saw mentioned in your CTO's engineering blog post from last month. Specifically, the challenge of improving the booking-to-consultation flow for patients with limited digital literacy — which your blog post described as a key retention and satisfaction problem — is exactly the type of user-centred product challenge I find most engaging. I have spent two years at a consumer health app working specifically on accessibility and onboarding for older demographics. We improved CSAT from 3.2 to 4.1 over 12 months by running 60 usability tests with users over 65 and rebuilding the appointment scheduling flow from scratch. I would be really interested in applying that methodology to the problem you are describing. I am also genuinely flexible about scope — if there are other urgent product priorities, I want to understand the full roadmap before deciding where I can make the biggest contribution."
Different Types of Projects to Reference by Role
The specific project types you reference should align with your function and seniority level.
Project Management and PMO roles: Systems implementations, process transformation, regulatory compliance programmes, mergers and integrations, infrastructure migrations. Reference your preferred methodology — PRINCE2 (common in the UK public sector), Agile, Waterfall, or hybrid.
Product Management roles: New feature development, platform redesigns, market expansion launches, data-driven experience optimisation. Reference the product discovery and delivery frameworks you use (Shape Up, Dual Track Agile, OKRs).
Marketing and Growth roles: Campaign strategy, go-to-market launches, brand repositioning, performance marketing restructures. Reference the measurement frameworks you use.
Consulting and advisory roles: Operational improvement, strategic planning, organisational design, market entry. Reference the industries where you have the deepest sector knowledge.
Watch out
Three project types to avoid unless explicitly invited: projects that would require resources or authority above your level, projects that duplicate existing successful initiatives without knowing it, and projects that imply the current approach is fundamentally wrong. Even if you believe the latter, framing it as "I would love to work on improving X" rather than "your current approach to X needs fixing" is far more likely to land well.
Cultural Context Across English-Speaking Markets
UK: UK project management culture, particularly in financial services and the public sector, heavily uses PRINCE2 and MSP (Managing Successful Programmes) frameworks. Referencing these demonstrates cultural awareness. According to the APM (Association for Project Management) UK Salary Survey 2023, project managers with PRINCE2 certification command an average of 9% higher salaries than those without.
US: The US market is more Agile-oriented, particularly in technology and healthcare. The PMP (Project Management Professional) certification from PMI is widely valued and recognised. Referencing Agile, Scrum, SAFe, or OKRs in your answer demonstrates familiarity with the dominant US methodology culture.
Australia: Australian project management culture sits between the US and UK — PRINCE2 is known, but Agile frameworks dominate technology sectors and large organisations often use hybrid approaches. Referencing the AIPM (Australian Institute of Project Management) or RMIT's project management standards can add credibility for senior roles.
Canada: Canadian project management practice largely follows US norms, with PMP widely recognised. In government and public sector contexts, MSP and PRINCE2 are also present.
Pro tip
When describing your preferred project type, align your methodology language to the company's tech stack and culture. If the company's job description mentions Jira, Confluence, and Sprints, frame your answer in Agile terms. If it mentions project plans, governance boards, and risk registers, PRINCE2 language will resonate more.
Related Articles for Your Interview Preparation
- What are your short and long-term goals?
- What would you do if you lacked resources to complete a project?
- How do you handle pressure or tight deadlines?
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