July 8, 2025 • 30 mins
Navigating job interviews as a project manager can feel like walking through a minefield of unpredictable questions. In this episode of The Retro, Kelsey sits down with Kayla Quijas—a senior PM and certified career coach—to unpack how to tackle curveball questions with poise and purpose. From candy bar hypotheticals to high-stakes stakeholder slip-ups, Kayla shares actionable frameworks that help PMs answer tough questions with clarity, honesty, and a whole lot of confidence.
They dive deep into how interviews aren’t just about your resume—they’re about how you think, lead, and adapt under pressure. Whether you’re pivoting into PM from another field, trying to land your first role, or just looking to sharpen your interview game, this conversation offers the tools to prep smarter, answer authentically, and leave a lasting impression.
Resources from this episode:
- Join DPM Membership
- Subscribe to the newsletter to get our latest articles and podcasts
- Connect with Kayla on LinkedIn
- Check out Kayla’s website
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Kelsey Alpaio (00:05):
Hey! I'm Kelsey.
And welcome back to The Retroon The Digital Project Manager
podcast—where we dig into pastlessons, future trends, and
what they mean for your career.
I wanna start us offtoday with a question.
If you had to describeyourself as a candy bar,
which one would you be?
I got asked this questiononce in a job interview and
(00:26):
it totally threw me off.
I immediately forgot the nameof every candy in existence.
But in the realm of toughinterview questions, that's
honestly pretty mild.
But what about when you gethit with a real curve ball?
Something you didn'tprepare for that digs into
your experience or skills?
How do you keep your cool andanswer in a way that actually
(00:47):
helps you land the role?
For project managers especially,interviews can feel like a
pop quiz on every projectyou've ever worked on.
It's like a minefield of "tellme about a time..." questions
that can make you secondguess if you've ever actually
managed a project in your life.
So that's what we're gettinginto today—how to prep for
your next PM interview.
(01:08):
How to tackle the questionsyou can predict, how to respond
to the ones you don't seecoming, and what to do when
things don't go perfectly.
Joining me today is KaylaQuijas, a senior project
manager and career coachwho helps professionals land
project management roles.
Kayla, welcome to the show!
Kayla Quijas (01:26):
Hi, Kelsey! Thank you so much for having me.
Kelsey Alpaio (01:29):
Kayla, tell us a little bit more about yourself
and the work that you do.
Kayla Quijas (01:32):
My professional career started a little
bit un traditionally.
I actually started as aprofessional cake decorator.
I did that for about fiveyears and then realized that
I was stuck at a dead end.
I had one day in particularwhere I worked a 12 hour
shift and then was asked tocome back, and that day just
(01:55):
something snapped insideof me that made me realize.
Complete dead end.
This is going nowhere.
And I quit on the spot thatday with no backup plan.
I ended up being determined tomove into the corporate world.
So my first move was to becomea receptionist at a law firm,
and from there, I rapidlyclimbed the corporate ladder.
(02:18):
So now I'm a senior projectmanager at a global law firm,
and I oversee some of thefirm's largest client accounts,
and I absolutely love it.
When I started to look backover my career trajectory, I
realized that coaches playeda huge part in my career
success, and that led me tofind my real passion, which
(02:43):
is inspiring others to escapetheir dead end jobs and pursue
fulfilling careers of their own.
Now I am also a certifiedsenior career coach, and
I empower others to makeintentional career transitions.
Kelsey Alpaio (02:57):
That's such an interesting backstory,
and we're really excitedto have you on for this
episode, which is all aboutcurveball interview questions.
So these are questions thatby definition, you don't
see coming, but I do wannachallenge that a little bit.
So what are some of thosenot so common challenging
questions we can expectto get asked in a project
(03:19):
management job interview?
Kayla Quijas (03:21):
That's a great question.
And before I dive intospecifics, I really think
it's very important tozoom out for a little bit
and talk about why thesekinds of questions come up.
Because curveballquestions, they're not
about content, they're aboutcharacter hiring managers.
Use them to see how youthink, how you lead.
(03:44):
How you handle pressurewhen things fall apart,
which is exactly whatproject management demands.
So when someone throws youa question that catches
you off guard, what they'rereally doing is watching for
something deeper than whatis shown on your resume.
They're looking for who youare under pressure because
(04:05):
that's what they're hiring for.
So are you someone who can staycalm when things go sideways?
Can you think clearly whenyou don't have all the data?
Can you admit what you don'tknow without getting defensive?
And can you adapt on the fly?
Making smart calls when theplan has to change because
in real world projectmanagement, that is the job.
(04:29):
So you asked about specificcurve ball questions.
I really see these fallinginto two categories.
One category is where you'venever faced the situation
before, and another one iswhere you have faced the
situation, but the storydoesn't make you look great.
So I have a couple frameworksfor these and I'm sure
(04:52):
we're gonna dive into thosea little bit as we flow
through the conversation.
Kelsey Alpaio (04:56):
Absolutely.
I love that framing of thisand the way to think about it
of if you're in the projectmanagement career, you probably
have a lot of the skills youalready need to answer questions
that might catch you off guard.
So yeah, let's get into it.
Tell me a little bit more aboutthe framework for answering
these types of questionsand preparing ourselves
for them ahead of time.
Kayla Quijas (05:14):
Yeah, so I think preparing is really key.
The best preparation isn't abouttrying to guess every single
curve ball question that'sgoing to come your way because
you're going to try yourselfnuts if you try to do that.
Who would ever think ifyou were a candy bar, what
kind would you be like?
You're never, yeah, you'renever gonna come up with that.
(05:37):
So in this world, you are justgonna drive yourself insane.
So what I encourage myclients to do is come
up with a story bank.
At least six, possibly more.
That's the bare minimum.
So when I work with my clients,I give them what I call
project management flashcards.
(05:58):
And these flashcards have themcome up with stories around
certain themes, successesfor sure, but also failures.
Times you've had to deal withconflict times you manage risks.
Things that show how youlead without authority and
how you deal with ambiguityand these stories, they are
(06:22):
flexible enough so that youcan use them in multiple ways.
So that's really whereyou wanna start, is having
a strong story bank.
And then when you havethat, mapping those
to a few key traits.
One story might demonstrateleadership and problem solving,
whereas another one might showemotional intelligence and
(06:44):
adaptability, and then youpractice thinking out loud.
That's the next key stepbecause curve balls aren't
just about content, they'reabout how you process.
Under pressure, and I guaranteeyou that's what that candy
bar question was all about.
They don't care what kindof candy bar you are.
They care about your thoughtprocess and how you think
(07:06):
through it, and what happenswhen you're presented with
a question that is justcompletely out of nowhere.
So practice explaining yourlogic step-by-step so that
you can stay grounded evenwhen your brain says uhoh.
So if you prepare like that,you're not just memorizing
answers, you're building.
A range.
So that's justgeneral preparation.
(07:29):
But I do have two veryspecific frameworks
that we can think about.
So one of 'em is for when youreally don't have a time, right?
This classic interviewtype question is, tell
me about a time when.
And that could be considereda curve ball if you're like,
oh my gosh, I don't have atime when, or, there's the
(07:50):
questions that are designedto make you look bad.
What is your greatest weakness?
Tell me about a time you failed.
Things like that.
So I have two frameworks.
The first one is designed todeal with these questions that
you don't have a story for.
It helps you gracefullynavigate that situation.
(08:12):
While still showing thetraits that a hiring manager
is looking for in a projectmanager, it's all about staying
calm, reframing the questionand thinking strategically.
And I've put it in a waythat project managers will
hopefully resonate with andnot roll their eyes at, I call
it the RAID framework, RAID.
(08:35):
So R. Recognize the intent.
What are they trying to get at?
So instead of panicking,taking a beat and figuring
out what's the intent here?
Are they trying to figureout, how do I lead?
Are they trying to figureout how do I manage
conflict resolution?
(08:56):
Or is it prioritization?
What's the underlyingobjective there?
So pausing and saying,that's a great question.
I'm thinking through what wouldbest highlight how I typically
handle X types of situations.
Fill in the blank there.
So that's the first step.
(09:17):
The A is to acknowledge the gap.
Own it.
Own the gap with maturity,not defensiveness.
If you don't have adirect story, just say so.
It's not a weakness.
It shows honestyand self-awareness.
Just say, I haven't facedthat exact situation, but I've
handled something similar thatused the same type of skills.
(09:41):
And then you do the I aspect,which is you identify the
transferable situation,pull a parallel story
from your experience bank.
You don't have tomatch it exactly.
It just needs to be relevant.
It shows that you're resourcefuland that you can be flexible
across different situations.
(10:02):
For example, in one projectI had a senior stakeholder
push back hard on a timeline.
And while it's not the exactsame scenario, it taught
me a lot about managingup and holding boundaries.
These are the thingsthat it taught me.
And then finally, and this islike that candy bar question
you were asking, describe yourthinking, walk them through
(10:25):
the mental process out loud.
So this is the D.
Describe the thinking.
Show how you'd approachit, break it down like
you would as a projectmanager in a work plan.
You don't know everything asa project manager, you're not
expected to, but you need toknow how to approach anything
that's thrown your way.
So you could just say,if that came up, here's
(10:45):
how I'd approach it.
So that's the rate frameworkthat I came up with.
Kelsey Alpaio (10:50):
I love that.
I think we can all relate tothat moment of panic when you
don't feel like you have a goodanswer during an interview.
Being able to slow downand say, okay, R-A-I-D-R.
Recognize the intent.
A, acknowledge the gap.
I identify thetransferrable story, and
D, describe the thinking.
I absolutely lovethat framework.
(11:11):
Tell us a little bit moreabout the framework for that
second scenario where you'reasked a question that's
designed to make you look bad.
Kayla Quijas (11:18):
For us, we think they're meant to
make us look bad, right?
That's what it seems like.
But in reality, they're reallytrying to test how you think
on your feet and how you handlesome of these situations.
So we don't know that they'recoming and they certainly
hit like a gut punch.
Sometimes there are questionsdesigned to see how do
(11:41):
you handle being humanin a high pressure, high
stake situation, which.
Let's be honest, an interview isfor some of us more than others,
depending on the situation.
What matters in these situationswhere they're testing you.
It's not whether or notyou've handled something
perfectly in the past.
(12:02):
It's what you learned fromit and how you take that into
your practice as a projectmanager moving forward.
How I have designed thisframework is it's a postmortem
framework, which again, withproject managers, we're very
familiar with postmortemsand lessons learned.
So POST, first you wannastart with painting a picture.
(12:26):
Give some context just enoughso that we know what happened.
O own the mistake.
Own up to it.
That shows maturity andemotional intelligence.
Nobody's perfect.
We all make mistakes, but if youtry to dodge and point fingers,
it just is a glaring red flag.
S show the impact that it had.
(12:48):
I did this thing as a result.
Here's what happened.
And then t turn the lessoninto positive leverage.
Show how you grew or thedifference that it makes
Now, it's not about defendingyourself, it's about.
Demonstrating growth, andI actually have a really
good example of this in myown experience as a project
(13:10):
manager if you want to hear it.
Kelsey Alpaio (13:11):
Yeah, no, I would love that.
Kayla Quijas (13:13):
So as a project manager, I actually behave much
more like a program manager.
I work with a lot of highpowered stakeholders with
very strong personalities.
I one time forwarded an emailfrom one of those stakeholders
to another one, just with aquick FYI, and that was it.
(13:36):
I was busy.
I didn't think about it.
I was just like, oh, thisstakeholder needs to know.
Boom.
Sent FYI.
That was it to myhorror stakeholder.
Number two, reached outto stakeholder number one
to put a stop on what shewas doing and copied me.
And basically said,Kayla told me this please
stop what you're doing.
(13:56):
And stakeholder number onewas furious to say the least.
Caught her completely off guard.
And she lost a greatdeal of trust in me.
Trust that I had workedvery hard to gain, and she
made that abundantly clearto me in a lot of ways.
(14:17):
So I gave it a little bit oftime to cool off and then I
set up a video call with her.
I worked remotely, but in asituation like that, it's very
important to have as much humancontact as you possibly can.
And I came right out and Isaid, I owned up to the mistake.
I said, I'm sorry.
There was no malice intended,and I will do everything I
(14:38):
can to earn your trust back.
I opted for honesty andvulnerability in that situation.
And she met me with honestyand vulnerability of her own,
telling me that, she was frank.
She said, I hope you cangain my trust back and that
it's gonna take time andit's gonna take effort.
Kayla, on your part.
We set clear guidelines aroundhow she expected me to keep her
(15:02):
in the loop going forward, and Iwas very careful to be sure that
I followed those guidelines.
And eventually I did earn hertrust back this experience,
while tough taught me theimportance of understanding
stakeholder communicationexpectations early, and that
I act in accordance with that.
So if you can see likestepping back, that
(15:22):
is a time I messed up.
I messed up badly.
But I really did learn a veryvaluable experience from it.
Kelsey Alpai (15:29):
Yeah, I love that.
And such a great example thatI think a lot of listeners
can probably relate to.
And I wonder if too, canyou talk a little bit about
some of the wrong ways toapproach a curve ball question?
What are some of the mistakes,the challenges we should avoid
in answering questions thatmight trip us up in the moment?
Kayla Quijas (15:49):
Absolutely, yes.
I love this because most peopledon't realize that the biggest
mistakes with curve balls don'tcome from the answer themselves,
but it's how you approach it.
Like we've been talking about.
So I think one of the biggestmistakes you can make is
panicking or freezing.
You hear the question andthey can see it on your face.
(16:11):
You blank or you rushinto a messy answer just
to fill the silence.
Because when you're the one onthe receiving end, the silence
feels like forever, right?
And I get it right.
It's uncomfortable, but thebest thing that you can do.
Is pause and take a breath andby yourself a little bit of
(16:31):
time, a calm five second pauseis better than a 62nd spiral.
And the funny thing aboutpausing in conversations is
it's actually perceived asmore charismatic because it
means that you're thinkingabout what they said.
(16:53):
You're being thoughtfulabout it, so it's much
better than panicking.
Another thing, don't fake it.
Don't make up a story orfeel pressured to cobble
something together.
If you don't have theexperience, own it.
Use the RAID framework.
(17:13):
Come up with something that'sparallel, and then just say,
if I were in this situation,here's what I would do.
How you handle it.
That's a strength,not a weakness.
Definitely don't ramble.
Being concise and not ramblingis definitely something that
you want to be aware of.
So that's why theseframeworks are really helpful.
(17:34):
And don't apologize.
Being in uncomfortablesituations, it's pretty
natural to fill thatspace with, I'm sorry.
Or oh gosh, I don'thave an answer.
Oh God, I'm so sorry.
It's a human reaction.
I'm sorry whenit's not warranted.
(17:54):
But if you mess up, say,I'm sorry, but I'm sorry
when it's not warranted.
Signals low confidenceand that maybe you're not
qualified for the position.
So those are a few things thatI would say to steer away from.
Kelsey Alpaio (18:06):
Yeah.
And I've definitely beenguilty of a few of those.
I always wanna fill the silence.
That's a big one for methat I've had to learn
throughout my career is justlet there be a few seconds.
You're the only one that'slike overthinking how long it's
been since someone has spoken.
Kayla Quijas (18:21):
Totally.
And the, I'm sorry.
One, I hear a lotfrom my clients.
Too.
Pausing.
Yes, totally.
That's a big one.
Not filling the silence.
And this, I'm sorry.
It's such a like Yeah.
People just likewanna, it's a reaction.
And just generally replacing,I'm sorry, with Thank you.
It's a game changer.
(18:42):
It really is.
Like I encourage everybodylistening to try that.
It's huge.
Kelsey Alpaio (18:46):
Yeah.
Absolutely.
Love that advice.
I heard you mention bothconfidence and charisma
when you were talking aboutmistakes and things to be
conscious of while you'reanswering questions like this.
So I know that theyplay a big role here.
And I've heard you talk aboutcharisma as well as something
that you're not necessarilyborn with, but a skill and
a muscle that you can build.
(19:07):
So can you talk a little bitmore about that, like what's the
best way to refine that skilland use it in this context?
Kayla Quijas (19:15):
Absolutely.
Confidence and charisma areabsolutely huge in interviews,
and that is, I think what isfundamentally misunderstood
is people think either you areborn with it or you are not.
And that is just.
It, and that is not true.
They are skills, they'remuscles that can be built just
(19:35):
like you go to the gym and youdon't know what you're doing.
But when you start somewhereand start taking that action,
you build the muscles over time.
And it's the same withconfidence and charisma.
I've worked with plenty of quietintroverted people who come
across as lacking confidence.
(19:58):
And we come out of it.
That's often somethingpeople say to me is, you
help me gain confidence,and it's just practice.
It's practice and givingyourself permission.
So that is the equation.
Confidence equals preparation,plus permission preparation,
knowing your stories,knowing your values,
(20:20):
having the frameworksthere that we discussed.
And then permission,which honestly is the
hardest of the two.
Giving yourself that emotionalpermission to take up the
space, to stop downplayingyour experience and to
own your wins and yourfailures without apology.
(20:41):
And then there'sthe charisma aspect.
I think of this asenergy plus intention.
Charisma is not loud.
And it's not charm.
There's two differentwords for that because
they're not the same thing.
It's the energy that youbring into a room and
(21:02):
your ability to connectwith people in interviews.
That means being presentand not overly rehearsed.
It means making eye contact.
It means mirroringbody language.
It means.
Speaking clearly and showingthat you're excited to be there.
Not desperate, but engaged.
Kelsey Alpaio (21:24):
So what about for people who don't have a ton of
project management experience,how do you find that confidence
in yourself during interviews?
Kayla Quijas (21:34):
That is such a good question, and I think,
like I said, the confidencecomes from preparation
and permission, and a hugepart of this is permission.
It is not.
Downplaying your experience.
So just because I was a cakedecorator does not mean that I
was not managing requirementsand deadlines and quality.
(21:58):
That's all I was doing rightall the time and on very fast,
high volume, high pressureturnaround situations.
Now looking back, I can seethat because I didn't have a me.
Telling me that.
So I opted for a bridge job.
(22:20):
I went from cake decoratorto reception, and then worked
my way up a little bit.
And honestly, for me, thatmade the most sense because
going from cake decorator intocorporate into a management
position probably wouldn'thave made the most sense.
But it's owning yourexperience and recognizing
(22:40):
that you do have value.
You do have the experience,and if you need to talk
to other people who are alittle bit further along
in their journey, do it.
People wanna help you.
They really do Find those peoplewho are five years ahead of you.
LinkedIn is amazing for that.
(23:02):
Talk to them.
Hear their stories,connect with them.
They will help you.
Then as you find that connectionwith them and start to see
your own values, start to seewhat you are actually doing.
That is project management.
Pull out thosestories and prepare.
Kelsey Alpaio (23:21):
So if you feel like during a project
management interview thatyou've done a really bad job
at answering a question or two.
What's the move like?
Do you reach back outto the interviewer?
Do you do something in themoment, or does all of that
just draw more attention to it?
Kayla Quijas (23:37):
I love this question and I love that you
answered it for yourself.
Which is the latter part ofit just draws more attention.
Honestly, I wouldstrongly suggest that.
You do not send a follow up witha, oh, you asked this and I did.
I could haveanswered that better.
(23:58):
Here's my answer.
It comes across as second,guessing yourself not
owning your power andbeing a little desperate.
I. Unless it's absolutely likeyou're a hundred percent sure
that doing that move is goingto strengthen your candidacy,
which 9.9 times out of 10, Iwould say it's not going to.
(24:21):
Let it go.
And instead follow up witha strong thank you note.
And I hear people's eyesrolling right now in the future
before this has even gone out.
About the thank you notes, butthe amount of times that I have
heard people say, oh, I don'tget thank you notes anymore.
So when I do, itreally means something.
(24:43):
It blows my mind that peopledon't do it to begin with.
Yeah.
And then if it is strong andyou draw your, the attention
to your strengths and how youwould be a good fit for the
role, and then particularlyif you bring up something
from the interview that youthought resonated with you.
Then those are allfabulous things.
(25:05):
I have acted in the capacity aspart of an interviewing team,
and when I get strong thankyou notes, it's just like the
icing on the top, particularlyfor an interview that did go
well, but that thank you noteI cannot emphasize enough.
Please do it.
It's so important recently.
(25:26):
I interviewed somebody andin the end, this particular
candidate, when I said, doyou have any questions for me?
He asked a couple.
And then the last one was, may Iplease have your email address?
Ooh.
And I knew, I immediately knew.
I was like, oh, he's gonnasend me a thank you note.
And he did.
And the fact that he like tookownership over that situation
(25:48):
did not put himself at themercy of some recruiter.
Or some thirdparty email finder.
That was so impressive.
That was just like oneadditional, it showed
agency, it showed takingcontrol of the situation.
Like these little things,they seem so small, but
those, it's not how youanswer the questions.
(26:10):
Yes it is important,but it's these things.
These things, the way you handlesituations that is important.
Kelsey Alpaio (26:16):
Oh, I love that.
We're just aboutout of time here.
So Kayla, I have onelast question for you.
If you had to describeyourself as a candy bar,
which one would you be?
Kayla Quijas (26:28):
That is such a good question, and as I think
of myself as a project manager,I am very good at dealing with
all kinds of stakeholders andmolding myself into situations.
And modeling my behaviorbased on the situation.
(26:51):
So if it's a high pressuresituation, adjusting myself
to that situation versus whereif it's just like a day to day
just talking to people, movingmyself into that situation.
So I see myself as likein a candy bar realm,
like a crowd pleaser.
My perception of a crowdpleaser is a Kit Kat.
Ah, I feel like most peopleare like, yeah, I'm not
(27:14):
gonna turn away a Kit Kat.
I almost said a Reese'sPieces, but then some people
are allergic to peanut butter.
Yeah.
So I was like okay.
That's maybe not a crowdpleaser, but a Kit Kat.
I'm gonna go with that.
Kelsey Alpaio (27:25):
I love that.
Yeah.
See, the problem I have withthis question is I'm actually
allergic to chocolate, so Ihave to pick a non-chocolate
candy bar, which like.
I don't even knowif that exists.
So I'm like, I don'tknow, I'm a nerd.
Rope or something like, I dunno.
Kayla Quijas (27:40):
Though, it's how you talk through that question.
Yeah.
So if you see, like whenI answered it, I talked
through it and how I seemyself as a project manager
and it's interesting and youcould even say that so I am
allergic to chocolate and Iwould say that as a project
manager, I'm very observant.
(28:01):
So while I myselfcannot have chocolate.
As I observe my friends andmy family and the kinds of
chocolates that they like, Isee that the majority of them
like fill in the blank Uhhuh.
And for that reason, I thinkthat's the type of candy
bar that I would choose.
Oh, I love that.
(28:21):
It's just a suggestion,but right off the cuff
based on your situation.
Kelsey Alpaio (28:26):
I love that.
That's amazing.
Okay, real, real lastquestion to wrap us up here.
Could you leave us withone thing we can do today
to set ourselves up forsuccess in job interviews?
Kayla Quijas (28:38):
One thing, reach out to someone who
is where you want to be andestablish a relationship
with them, even if it's justa 15 minute coffee chat.
It is so valuable.
People wanna help.
Kelsey Alpaio (28:51):
I love that.
Yes.
Very tangible.
We'll just take a few minutes.
Kayla, thanks so much forspending time with me today.
This has been so helpful.
Kayla Quijas (28:59):
Thank you, Kelsey.
It was really apleasure to be here.
Kelsey Alpaio (29:08):
That's it for today's Retro.
Be sure to follow the showso you never miss an episode.
And if you wanna keep theconversation going with a crew
of 1,000+ project managementpros who get it, come join
us at thedpm.com/membership.
Thanks for listening!
Hey! I'm Kelsey.
And welcome back to The Retroon The Digital Project Manager
podcast—where we dig into pastlessons, future trends, and
what they mean for your career.
I wanna start us offtoday with a question.
If you had to describeyourself as a candy bar,
which one would you be?
I got asked this questiononce in a job interview and
(00:26):
it totally threw me off.
I immediately forgot the nameof every candy in existence.
But in the realm of toughinterview questions, that's
honestly pretty mild.
But what about when you gethit with a real curve ball?
Something you didn'tprepare for that digs into
your experience or skills?
How do you keep your cool andanswer in a way that actually
(00:47):
helps you land the role?
For project managers especially,interviews can feel like a
pop quiz on every projectyou've ever worked on.
It's like a minefield of "tellme about a time..." questions
that can make you secondguess if you've ever actually
managed a project in your life.
So that's what we're gettinginto today—how to prep for
your next PM interview.
(01:08):
How to tackle the questionsyou can predict, how to respond
to the ones you don't seecoming, and what to do when
things don't go perfectly.
Joining me today is KaylaQuijas, a senior project
manager and career coachwho helps professionals land
project management roles.
Kayla, welcome to the show!
Kayla Quijas (01:26):
Hi, Kelsey! Thank you so much for having me.
Kelsey Alpaio (01:29):
Kayla, tell us a little bit more about yourself
and the work that you do.
Kayla Quijas (01:32):
My professional career started a little
bit un traditionally.
I actually started as aprofessional cake decorator.
I did that for about fiveyears and then realized that
I was stuck at a dead end.
I had one day in particularwhere I worked a 12 hour
shift and then was asked tocome back, and that day just
(01:55):
something snapped insideof me that made me realize.
Complete dead end.
This is going nowhere.
And I quit on the spot thatday with no backup plan.
I ended up being determined tomove into the corporate world.
So my first move was to becomea receptionist at a law firm,
and from there, I rapidlyclimbed the corporate ladder.
(02:18):
So now I'm a senior projectmanager at a global law firm,
and I oversee some of thefirm's largest client accounts,
and I absolutely love it.
When I started to look backover my career trajectory, I
realized that coaches playeda huge part in my career
success, and that led me tofind my real passion, which
(02:43):
is inspiring others to escapetheir dead end jobs and pursue
fulfilling careers of their own.
Now I am also a certifiedsenior career coach, and
I empower others to makeintentional career transitions.
Kelsey Alpaio (02:57):
That's such an interesting backstory,
and we're really excitedto have you on for this
episode, which is all aboutcurveball interview questions.
So these are questions thatby definition, you don't
see coming, but I do wannachallenge that a little bit.
So what are some of thosenot so common challenging
questions we can expectto get asked in a project
(03:19):
management job interview?
Kayla Quijas (03:21):
That's a great question.
And before I dive intospecifics, I really think
it's very important tozoom out for a little bit
and talk about why thesekinds of questions come up.
Because curveballquestions, they're not
about content, they're aboutcharacter hiring managers.
Use them to see how youthink, how you lead.
(03:44):
How you handle pressurewhen things fall apart,
which is exactly whatproject management demands.
So when someone throws youa question that catches
you off guard, what they'rereally doing is watching for
something deeper than whatis shown on your resume.
They're looking for who youare under pressure because
(04:05):
that's what they're hiring for.
So are you someone who can staycalm when things go sideways?
Can you think clearly whenyou don't have all the data?
Can you admit what you don'tknow without getting defensive?
And can you adapt on the fly?
Making smart calls when theplan has to change because
in real world projectmanagement, that is the job.
(04:29):
So you asked about specificcurve ball questions.
I really see these fallinginto two categories.
One category is where you'venever faced the situation
before, and another one iswhere you have faced the
situation, but the storydoesn't make you look great.
So I have a couple frameworksfor these and I'm sure
(04:52):
we're gonna dive into thosea little bit as we flow
through the conversation.
Kelsey Alpaio (04:56):
Absolutely.
I love that framing of thisand the way to think about it
of if you're in the projectmanagement career, you probably
have a lot of the skills youalready need to answer questions
that might catch you off guard.
So yeah, let's get into it.
Tell me a little bit more aboutthe framework for answering
these types of questionsand preparing ourselves
for them ahead of time.
Kayla Quijas (05:14):
Yeah, so I think preparing is really key.
The best preparation isn't abouttrying to guess every single
curve ball question that'sgoing to come your way because
you're going to try yourselfnuts if you try to do that.
Who would ever think ifyou were a candy bar, what
kind would you be like?
You're never, yeah, you'renever gonna come up with that.
(05:37):
So in this world, you are justgonna drive yourself insane.
So what I encourage myclients to do is come
up with a story bank.
At least six, possibly more.
That's the bare minimum.
So when I work with my clients,I give them what I call
project management flashcards.
(05:58):
And these flashcards have themcome up with stories around
certain themes, successesfor sure, but also failures.
Times you've had to deal withconflict times you manage risks.
Things that show how youlead without authority and
how you deal with ambiguityand these stories, they are
(06:22):
flexible enough so that youcan use them in multiple ways.
So that's really whereyou wanna start, is having
a strong story bank.
And then when you havethat, mapping those
to a few key traits.
One story might demonstrateleadership and problem solving,
whereas another one might showemotional intelligence and
(06:44):
adaptability, and then youpractice thinking out loud.
That's the next key stepbecause curve balls aren't
just about content, they'reabout how you process.
Under pressure, and I guaranteeyou that's what that candy
bar question was all about.
They don't care what kindof candy bar you are.
They care about your thoughtprocess and how you think
(07:06):
through it, and what happenswhen you're presented with
a question that is justcompletely out of nowhere.
So practice explaining yourlogic step-by-step so that
you can stay grounded evenwhen your brain says uhoh.
So if you prepare like that,you're not just memorizing
answers, you're building.
A range.
So that's justgeneral preparation.
(07:29):
But I do have two veryspecific frameworks
that we can think about.
So one of 'em is for when youreally don't have a time, right?
This classic interviewtype question is, tell
me about a time when.
And that could be considereda curve ball if you're like,
oh my gosh, I don't have atime when, or, there's the
(07:50):
questions that are designedto make you look bad.
What is your greatest weakness?
Tell me about a time you failed.
Things like that.
So I have two frameworks.
The first one is designed todeal with these questions that
you don't have a story for.
It helps you gracefullynavigate that situation.
(08:12):
While still showing thetraits that a hiring manager
is looking for in a projectmanager, it's all about staying
calm, reframing the questionand thinking strategically.
And I've put it in a waythat project managers will
hopefully resonate with andnot roll their eyes at, I call
it the RAID framework, RAID.
(08:35):
So R. Recognize the intent.
What are they trying to get at?
So instead of panicking,taking a beat and figuring
out what's the intent here?
Are they trying to figureout, how do I lead?
Are they trying to figureout how do I manage
conflict resolution?
(08:56):
Or is it prioritization?
What's the underlyingobjective there?
So pausing and saying,that's a great question.
I'm thinking through what wouldbest highlight how I typically
handle X types of situations.
Fill in the blank there.
So that's the first step.
(09:17):
The A is to acknowledge the gap.
Own it.
Own the gap with maturity,not defensiveness.
If you don't have adirect story, just say so.
It's not a weakness.
It shows honestyand self-awareness.
Just say, I haven't facedthat exact situation, but I've
handled something similar thatused the same type of skills.
(09:41):
And then you do the I aspect,which is you identify the
transferable situation,pull a parallel story
from your experience bank.
You don't have tomatch it exactly.
It just needs to be relevant.
It shows that you're resourcefuland that you can be flexible
across different situations.
(10:02):
For example, in one projectI had a senior stakeholder
push back hard on a timeline.
And while it's not the exactsame scenario, it taught
me a lot about managingup and holding boundaries.
These are the thingsthat it taught me.
And then finally, and this islike that candy bar question
you were asking, describe yourthinking, walk them through
(10:25):
the mental process out loud.
So this is the D.
Describe the thinking.
Show how you'd approachit, break it down like
you would as a projectmanager in a work plan.
You don't know everything asa project manager, you're not
expected to, but you need toknow how to approach anything
that's thrown your way.
So you could just say,if that came up, here's
(10:45):
how I'd approach it.
So that's the rate frameworkthat I came up with.
Kelsey Alpaio (10:50):
I love that.
I think we can all relate tothat moment of panic when you
don't feel like you have a goodanswer during an interview.
Being able to slow downand say, okay, R-A-I-D-R.
Recognize the intent.
A, acknowledge the gap.
I identify thetransferrable story, and
D, describe the thinking.
I absolutely lovethat framework.
(11:11):
Tell us a little bit moreabout the framework for that
second scenario where you'reasked a question that's
designed to make you look bad.
Kayla Quijas (11:18):
For us, we think they're meant to
make us look bad, right?
That's what it seems like.
But in reality, they're reallytrying to test how you think
on your feet and how you handlesome of these situations.
So we don't know that they'recoming and they certainly
hit like a gut punch.
Sometimes there are questionsdesigned to see how do
(11:41):
you handle being humanin a high pressure, high
stake situation, which.
Let's be honest, an interview isfor some of us more than others,
depending on the situation.
What matters in these situationswhere they're testing you.
It's not whether or notyou've handled something
perfectly in the past.
(12:02):
It's what you learned fromit and how you take that into
your practice as a projectmanager moving forward.
How I have designed thisframework is it's a postmortem
framework, which again, withproject managers, we're very
familiar with postmortemsand lessons learned.
So POST, first you wannastart with painting a picture.
(12:26):
Give some context just enoughso that we know what happened.
O own the mistake.
Own up to it.
That shows maturity andemotional intelligence.
Nobody's perfect.
We all make mistakes, but if youtry to dodge and point fingers,
it just is a glaring red flag.
S show the impact that it had.
(12:48):
I did this thing as a result.
Here's what happened.
And then t turn the lessoninto positive leverage.
Show how you grew or thedifference that it makes
Now, it's not about defendingyourself, it's about.
Demonstrating growth, andI actually have a really
good example of this in myown experience as a project
(13:10):
manager if you want to hear it.
Kelsey Alpaio (13:11):
Yeah, no, I would love that.
Kayla Quijas (13:13):
So as a project manager, I actually behave much
more like a program manager.
I work with a lot of highpowered stakeholders with
very strong personalities.
I one time forwarded an emailfrom one of those stakeholders
to another one, just with aquick FYI, and that was it.
(13:36):
I was busy.
I didn't think about it.
I was just like, oh, thisstakeholder needs to know.
Boom.
Sent FYI.
That was it to myhorror stakeholder.
Number two, reached outto stakeholder number one
to put a stop on what shewas doing and copied me.
And basically said,Kayla told me this please
stop what you're doing.
(13:56):
And stakeholder number onewas furious to say the least.
Caught her completely off guard.
And she lost a greatdeal of trust in me.
Trust that I had workedvery hard to gain, and she
made that abundantly clearto me in a lot of ways.
(14:17):
So I gave it a little bit oftime to cool off and then I
set up a video call with her.
I worked remotely, but in asituation like that, it's very
important to have as much humancontact as you possibly can.
And I came right out and Isaid, I owned up to the mistake.
I said, I'm sorry.
There was no malice intended,and I will do everything I
(14:38):
can to earn your trust back.
I opted for honesty andvulnerability in that situation.
And she met me with honestyand vulnerability of her own,
telling me that, she was frank.
She said, I hope you cangain my trust back and that
it's gonna take time andit's gonna take effort.
Kayla, on your part.
We set clear guidelines aroundhow she expected me to keep her
(15:02):
in the loop going forward, and Iwas very careful to be sure that
I followed those guidelines.
And eventually I did earn hertrust back this experience,
while tough taught me theimportance of understanding
stakeholder communicationexpectations early, and that
I act in accordance with that.
So if you can see likestepping back, that
(15:22):
is a time I messed up.
I messed up badly.
But I really did learn a veryvaluable experience from it.
Kelsey Alpai (15:29):
Yeah, I love that.
And such a great example thatI think a lot of listeners
can probably relate to.
And I wonder if too, canyou talk a little bit about
some of the wrong ways toapproach a curve ball question?
What are some of the mistakes,the challenges we should avoid
in answering questions thatmight trip us up in the moment?
Kayla Quijas (15:49):
Absolutely, yes.
I love this because most peopledon't realize that the biggest
mistakes with curve balls don'tcome from the answer themselves,
but it's how you approach it.
Like we've been talking about.
So I think one of the biggestmistakes you can make is
panicking or freezing.
You hear the question andthey can see it on your face.
(16:11):
You blank or you rushinto a messy answer just
to fill the silence.
Because when you're the one onthe receiving end, the silence
feels like forever, right?
And I get it right.
It's uncomfortable, but thebest thing that you can do.
Is pause and take a breath andby yourself a little bit of
(16:31):
time, a calm five second pauseis better than a 62nd spiral.
And the funny thing aboutpausing in conversations is
it's actually perceived asmore charismatic because it
means that you're thinkingabout what they said.
(16:53):
You're being thoughtfulabout it, so it's much
better than panicking.
Another thing, don't fake it.
Don't make up a story orfeel pressured to cobble
something together.
If you don't have theexperience, own it.
Use the RAID framework.
(17:13):
Come up with something that'sparallel, and then just say,
if I were in this situation,here's what I would do.
How you handle it.
That's a strength,not a weakness.
Definitely don't ramble.
Being concise and not ramblingis definitely something that
you want to be aware of.
So that's why theseframeworks are really helpful.
(17:34):
And don't apologize.
Being in uncomfortablesituations, it's pretty
natural to fill thatspace with, I'm sorry.
Or oh gosh, I don'thave an answer.
Oh God, I'm so sorry.
It's a human reaction.
I'm sorry whenit's not warranted.
(17:54):
But if you mess up, say,I'm sorry, but I'm sorry
when it's not warranted.
Signals low confidenceand that maybe you're not
qualified for the position.
So those are a few things thatI would say to steer away from.
Kelsey Alpaio (18:06):
Yeah.
And I've definitely beenguilty of a few of those.
I always wanna fill the silence.
That's a big one for methat I've had to learn
throughout my career is justlet there be a few seconds.
You're the only one that'slike overthinking how long it's
been since someone has spoken.
Kayla Quijas (18:21):
Totally.
And the, I'm sorry.
One, I hear a lotfrom my clients.
Too.
Pausing.
Yes, totally.
That's a big one.
Not filling the silence.
And this, I'm sorry.
It's such a like Yeah.
People just likewanna, it's a reaction.
And just generally replacing,I'm sorry, with Thank you.
It's a game changer.
(18:42):
It really is.
Like I encourage everybodylistening to try that.
It's huge.
Kelsey Alpaio (18:46):
Yeah.
Absolutely.
Love that advice.
I heard you mention bothconfidence and charisma
when you were talking aboutmistakes and things to be
conscious of while you'reanswering questions like this.
So I know that theyplay a big role here.
And I've heard you talk aboutcharisma as well as something
that you're not necessarilyborn with, but a skill and
a muscle that you can build.
(19:07):
So can you talk a little bitmore about that, like what's the
best way to refine that skilland use it in this context?
Kayla Quijas (19:15):
Absolutely.
Confidence and charisma areabsolutely huge in interviews,
and that is, I think what isfundamentally misunderstood
is people think either you areborn with it or you are not.
And that is just.
It, and that is not true.
They are skills, they'remuscles that can be built just
(19:35):
like you go to the gym and youdon't know what you're doing.
But when you start somewhereand start taking that action,
you build the muscles over time.
And it's the same withconfidence and charisma.
I've worked with plenty of quietintroverted people who come
across as lacking confidence.
(19:58):
And we come out of it.
That's often somethingpeople say to me is, you
help me gain confidence,and it's just practice.
It's practice and givingyourself permission.
So that is the equation.
Confidence equals preparation,plus permission preparation,
knowing your stories,knowing your values,
(20:20):
having the frameworksthere that we discussed.
And then permission,which honestly is the
hardest of the two.
Giving yourself that emotionalpermission to take up the
space, to stop downplayingyour experience and to
own your wins and yourfailures without apology.
(20:41):
And then there'sthe charisma aspect.
I think of this asenergy plus intention.
Charisma is not loud.
And it's not charm.
There's two differentwords for that because
they're not the same thing.
It's the energy that youbring into a room and
(21:02):
your ability to connectwith people in interviews.
That means being presentand not overly rehearsed.
It means making eye contact.
It means mirroringbody language.
It means.
Speaking clearly and showingthat you're excited to be there.
Not desperate, but engaged.
Kelsey Alpaio (21:24):
So what about for people who don't have a ton of
project management experience,how do you find that confidence
in yourself during interviews?
Kayla Quijas (21:34):
That is such a good question, and I think,
like I said, the confidencecomes from preparation
and permission, and a hugepart of this is permission.
It is not.
Downplaying your experience.
So just because I was a cakedecorator does not mean that I
was not managing requirementsand deadlines and quality.
(21:58):
That's all I was doing rightall the time and on very fast,
high volume, high pressureturnaround situations.
Now looking back, I can seethat because I didn't have a me.
Telling me that.
So I opted for a bridge job.
(22:20):
I went from cake decoratorto reception, and then worked
my way up a little bit.
And honestly, for me, thatmade the most sense because
going from cake decorator intocorporate into a management
position probably wouldn'thave made the most sense.
But it's owning yourexperience and recognizing
(22:40):
that you do have value.
You do have the experience,and if you need to talk
to other people who are alittle bit further along
in their journey, do it.
People wanna help you.
They really do Find those peoplewho are five years ahead of you.
LinkedIn is amazing for that.
(23:02):
Talk to them.
Hear their stories,connect with them.
They will help you.
Then as you find that connectionwith them and start to see
your own values, start to seewhat you are actually doing.
That is project management.
Pull out thosestories and prepare.
Kelsey Alpaio (23:21):
So if you feel like during a project
management interview thatyou've done a really bad job
at answering a question or two.
What's the move like?
Do you reach back outto the interviewer?
Do you do something in themoment, or does all of that
just draw more attention to it?
Kayla Quijas (23:37):
I love this question and I love that you
answered it for yourself.
Which is the latter part ofit just draws more attention.
Honestly, I wouldstrongly suggest that.
You do not send a follow up witha, oh, you asked this and I did.
I could haveanswered that better.
(23:58):
Here's my answer.
It comes across as second,guessing yourself not
owning your power andbeing a little desperate.
I. Unless it's absolutely likeyou're a hundred percent sure
that doing that move is goingto strengthen your candidacy,
which 9.9 times out of 10, Iwould say it's not going to.
(24:21):
Let it go.
And instead follow up witha strong thank you note.
And I hear people's eyesrolling right now in the future
before this has even gone out.
About the thank you notes, butthe amount of times that I have
heard people say, oh, I don'tget thank you notes anymore.
So when I do, itreally means something.
(24:43):
It blows my mind that peopledon't do it to begin with.
Yeah.
And then if it is strong andyou draw your, the attention
to your strengths and how youwould be a good fit for the
role, and then particularlyif you bring up something
from the interview that youthought resonated with you.
Then those are allfabulous things.
(25:05):
I have acted in the capacity aspart of an interviewing team,
and when I get strong thankyou notes, it's just like the
icing on the top, particularlyfor an interview that did go
well, but that thank you noteI cannot emphasize enough.
Please do it.
It's so important recently.
(25:26):
I interviewed somebody andin the end, this particular
candidate, when I said, doyou have any questions for me?
He asked a couple.
And then the last one was, may Iplease have your email address?
Ooh.
And I knew, I immediately knew.
I was like, oh, he's gonnasend me a thank you note.
And he did.
And the fact that he like tookownership over that situation
(25:48):
did not put himself at themercy of some recruiter.
Or some thirdparty email finder.
That was so impressive.
That was just like oneadditional, it showed
agency, it showed takingcontrol of the situation.
Like these little things,they seem so small, but
those, it's not how youanswer the questions.
(26:10):
Yes it is important,but it's these things.
These things, the way you handlesituations that is important.
Kelsey Alpaio (26:16):
Oh, I love that.
We're just aboutout of time here.
So Kayla, I have onelast question for you.
If you had to describeyourself as a candy bar,
which one would you be?
Kayla Quijas (26:28):
That is such a good question, and as I think
of myself as a project manager,I am very good at dealing with
all kinds of stakeholders andmolding myself into situations.
And modeling my behaviorbased on the situation.
(26:51):
So if it's a high pressuresituation, adjusting myself
to that situation versus whereif it's just like a day to day
just talking to people, movingmyself into that situation.
So I see myself as likein a candy bar realm,
like a crowd pleaser.
My perception of a crowdpleaser is a Kit Kat.
Ah, I feel like most peopleare like, yeah, I'm not
(27:14):
gonna turn away a Kit Kat.
I almost said a Reese'sPieces, but then some people
are allergic to peanut butter.
Yeah.
So I was like okay.
That's maybe not a crowdpleaser, but a Kit Kat.
I'm gonna go with that.
Kelsey Alpaio (27:25):
I love that.
Yeah.
See, the problem I have withthis question is I'm actually
allergic to chocolate, so Ihave to pick a non-chocolate
candy bar, which like.
I don't even knowif that exists.
So I'm like, I don'tknow, I'm a nerd.
Rope or something like, I dunno.
Kayla Quijas (27:40):
Though, it's how you talk through that question.
Yeah.
So if you see, like whenI answered it, I talked
through it and how I seemyself as a project manager
and it's interesting and youcould even say that so I am
allergic to chocolate and Iwould say that as a project
manager, I'm very observant.
(28:01):
So while I myselfcannot have chocolate.
As I observe my friends andmy family and the kinds of
chocolates that they like, Isee that the majority of them
like fill in the blank Uhhuh.
And for that reason, I thinkthat's the type of candy
bar that I would choose.
Oh, I love that.
(28:21):
It's just a suggestion,but right off the cuff
based on your situation.
Kelsey Alpaio (28:26):
I love that.
That's amazing.
Okay, real, real lastquestion to wrap us up here.
Could you leave us withone thing we can do today
to set ourselves up forsuccess in job interviews?
Kayla Quijas (28:38):
One thing, reach out to someone who
is where you want to be andestablish a relationship
with them, even if it's justa 15 minute coffee chat.
It is so valuable.
People wanna help.
Kelsey Alpaio (28:51):
I love that.
Yes.
Very tangible.
We'll just take a few minutes.
Kayla, thanks so much forspending time with me today.
This has been so helpful.
Kayla Quijas (28:59):
Thank you, Kelsey.
It was really apleasure to be here.
Kelsey Alpaio (29:08):
That's it for today's Retro.
Be sure to follow the showso you never miss an episode.
And if you wanna keep theconversation going with a crew
of 1,000+ project managementpros who get it, come join
us at thedpm.com/membership.
Thanks for listening!
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