Test task for a project manager. Test task for the vacancy of content manager

Lately, we have been posting a lot of vacancies about searching for developers (just in case, you can check them out) and it may seem that we don’t need project managers at all.
This is wrong. Needed. And very.
And it is not at all necessary that we need a manager who has ten years of experience in managing projects with a distributed team of 100 developers, who knows all project management methodologies by heart and is able to communicate with customers with the power of thought.

We would be happy to hire an intern who wants to learn all this in the future.

So, let's start with the requirements:
- understanding the specifics of project management;
- be able to take responsibility and be responsible for the results;
- the ability to work in a team or at least find a common language with other people;
- ability to quickly respond to changes and find the right solutions;
- have your own point of view and be able to defend it;
- ability to work with large volumes of information;
- knowledge of English will be a good advantage.

And let's move on to the advantages and prospects:
- working in a company of result-oriented people;
- the opportunity to gain experience working on various projects: web, mobile, Smart-TV;
- the opportunity to gain experience working with customers from top companies in Udmurtia and Russia. The list of clients can be seen on our website, and these are only those that you can tell us about :);
- the opportunity for career growth and change of activity (try yourself as an analyst, account manager, or even a developer).

Working conditions:
- official employment, social package;
- cozy office in the city center;
- unique CVT atmosphere ^_^;
- a decent salary, which is discussed individually following the interview and depends on the candidate’s knowledge and experience.

A few words about the interview itself.
An interview is not as scary as many might think. All you need to do is be able to carry on a conversation with us: answer questions and, in turn, ask them to us.

It is a mistake to compare an interview with an exam at a university, when you don’t have to prepare and “talk for a good grade.” It will be great if you are prepared. In this case, we will have something to talk about. If you remain silent and we use pincers to extract answers to your questions from you, then most likely we will not be on our way.

Just reading about project management before an interview is not enough. You need to complete a test task. We will consider it a kind of “entrance ticket” that will show both your interest in the vacancy and give us a little idea about you.
We recommend that you take the test task seriously. How you do it will determine whether we should waste time on each other.

Test:
1) The company received a small but very interesting project from a customer with whom we have been working successfully for a long time. The project is very important to the customer and he is willing to pay good money for it. There are no free developers, everyone is busy with other projects, but I don’t want to lose a good client and an interesting project. What would you do in such a situation?

2) It is necessary to imagine such a situation.
You recently completed work on a very difficult project:
- another manager started the project before you;
- the terms of reference contained many ambiguous provisions;
- the project hardly fit into the budget;
- a difficult relationship developed with the customer at the project delivery stage.

But after 2 months the customer comes with a request to do another project together, and he expressed a desire to work with you as a project manager.
Outline your initial actions before and during the start of the project.

3) Let's imagine the situation:
You are a manager on a project where:
- the customer has delayed payment for the last three months;
- the most experienced and, accordingly, highly paid specialists are employed on the project;
- your manager plans to suspend the development of the project in the company if the debt is not eliminated within two weeks.
At the same time, you have developed a fairly trusting relationship with the customer, and new clients come to the company on the recommendation of this customer.

What should you do in this situation? And write the text of the letter to the customer as you see it.

You have a website promotion project in progress. Two weeks after the start of work, you showed the client new optimized texts for his website. But the client didn't like them. I didn't like the second edition either. He says it's not written well enough. After which the client said that he would write texts for his website himself. You agreed. After a week there are no texts. You confirm the writing deadline with the client. He promises within a week. But again I didn’t write. So you’ve been working on a project without texts for 1.5 months. You cannot delay deadlines and put off posting texts. Otherwise, you risk that you will not achieve the promised result within the approved time frame.

Describe in detail the solution to the problem.

Task No. 2

The client is late in paying a scheduled advance invoice for a promotion. According to the agreement, payment must be made every month before the 15th. You issued the invoice in advance, on the 7th.

During the first three telephone reminders, the client said that he had not received the invoice and asked for it to be sent again. The last time I simply promised to pay within a day or two. Today is the 29th. There is no payment.

What will you do?

Assignment with an asterisk

You are an account manager in a website promotion project. 5 months after the start of work, due to the update of search engine algorithms, the project did not reach the planned positions. The client asks to return his money for 5 months of work.

The contract does not provide for a refund. On the contrary, it clearly states that funds already spent on work will not be returned. And the client agreed with these conditions.

But now he needs money and he insists on returning all payments. This is motivated by the fact that since the planned result was not achieved, then you should not have received payment for the work performed. Threatens to send a letter to all of the company's clients in which it portrays your company in a negative light. He says, “I’ll write that you cheated.”

Refunds are not possible. How do you explain to an angry customer that he shouldn't do this?

Registration of results

Complete your answers and a story about yourself in a new Google Docs document.

Title for the document: Beginning Manager First Name Last Name.

In the document, indicate your contact phone number and email. mail.

Complete all points of the task and send the finished file in .html format by email and indicate “KM test task” in the header of the letter.

1. Text correction

Correct incorrect phrases and mistakes made by the copywriter. Format text in .html - you can use any online HTML editor.

2. Enter keywords into the text

Keywords from the table must be in the text in exact (as in the table) or human occurrences (can be swapped).

3. Enter keywords in meta fields

Explanations:

• main query - query the number in the table opposite which is the largest;
• Title is not equal to H1.

Title

The most important request at the beginning + additional keys + dilutions for readability. Example: " Eye pressure drops: list and varieties»

Heading H1 (article title)

It should not start with the most important request. Exact entry of the main query + interesting/catchy addition to attract attention. Example: “Choosing drops for eye pressure. 6 effective remedies"

Description

It should start with not the main query, but contain it + the tails of the remaining keywords.

4. Add pictures to the article

Insert 3 pictures into the article. At the beginning, in the middle and a few paragraphs before the end. Pictures can be found on Google; they must be relevant to the article. The width of the images is 640px.

5. Add a video on the topic to the article

Take the video from YouTube and paste it at the end of the article. Video width 640.

Technical task(TOR) is a description of the requirements for the system and the system itself, a document in accordance with which the Customer evaluates the finished system. According to GOST 34.602-89, the technical specification is the main document defining the requirements and procedure for the creation (development or modernization) of an information system, in accordance with which its development and acceptance upon commissioning is carried out."

TK - a set of documents that the “Customer” submits to the “Contractor” to perform work on the creation of an Internet resource. The success of the implementation of a course or diploma project directly depends on how correctly, specifically and in detail the technical specifications are drawn up, and the extent to which students follow the technical specifications when working on a project. Actually, this is the technical specification itself, the calendar plan and cost estimate. We create technical specifications as close as possible to the real project; the calendar plan mobilizes students for implementation. As for the cost estimate, in our case it depends on the teacher. The terms of reference will actually determine the entire course of implementation of the diploma or course project. A more detailed project implementation plan will be determined by the project manager, in MS Pro-ject. Working with MS Project is described in more detail in "laboratory work 1".

1.Who prepares the technical specifications.

In a real project, the technical specifications are prepared by the “Customer” together with the “Executor”. In our cases, the role of the “Customer” is a teacher or a structural unit of the university - department, laboratory or faculty. It is advisable to have an outside “Customer” - an enterprise or firm - as part of a team to complete a diploma project.

2. Selecting a topic for a course or diploma project.

General principles for forming the project theme.

2.1 Goals, objectives.

When choosing a topic, you must be guided by the following principles:

A) Take project topics from the reality around you, then it will be much easier for you to develop technical specifications;

B) Carefully consider the main functions of the project;

C) Remember there are much more automation objects around than you imagine;

E) Balance the capabilities of your team with the volume and timing of the project;

E) The project should fall on a typical web architecture.

2.2 Selecting an object and idea.

For example:

Registration and accounting of software products supplied as part of the MSDN AA library.

MSDN Academic Alliance

The MSDN AA program is aimed at technical faculties and allows you to obtain legal versions of Microsoft software products for a nominal fee. (An annual subscription costs 14,000 rubles.) You receive almost the entire range of Microsoft software products for the department, with one exception, Microsoft Office is not included in the delivery. And you cannot use these products for commercial purposes.

The essence of the problem is that software products come on CD/DVD discs without any systematization, in a variety of languages. The employees of the department, except for the person authorized to conduct the MSDN AA program, have no idea what has arrived. The task is further complicated by the fact that many disks contain 3-4 software products. The employees of your department are dispersed in two or three buildings.

2.3 Statement of the problem.

Create a database of MSDN AA software products.

1.Name, code and basis for execution

"System for registration and accounting of software products supplied as part of the MSDN AA library" (System)

Code: 134/U

Basis for development: Order for the Department of Educational Management "Topics of course projects in programming, 3rd year students, specialty "Information Systems in Economics"

2. Purpose of execution

1. Formation and maintenance of an up-to-date database of the MSDN AA library to support the educational process and conduct research and development work;
2. Development of technology for filling the database online (manually) and in batches using a barcode scanner;
3. Development of a web interface for accessing user database;
4. Development of a database search system using no more than three sections - for example, searching for DBMS, OS and software development tools for 2008;
5. Development of the database structure and approval of the database structure is documented in a separate protocol by all members of the development team;
6. Development of a web interface for entering software products into the database and removing them from the database;
7. Development of home page menu and website design.

3. Technical requirements

1. Develop a system “Registration and accounting of software products supplied as part of the MSDN AA library” in the VSTS-2008 environment, using all its components;
2. Development language C#, database management system MS SQL-2005;
3. Provide remote access to the database of teachers and staff of the department, use the Internet as a data transmission medium;
4. Provide protection against unauthorized access.

4. Functional requirements.

The system must provide the following functions for creating and maintaining a database:

1. Present the user with a library catalog by product class, preferably using the Microsoft structure; (Operating systems, DBMS, development tools, etc.)
2. Web interfaces for accessing the database should have pop-up product catalogs:
   1. The dates of entry into the catalog should be entered automatically;
   2. Filling out the database, applications for issuing a software disk must be identified with the user registration system;
3. Operating modes:
   1. View
   2. Search (by class, company, name, license, year of issue
   3. Adding new software. (by company, class, name, etc. - administrator only) A template for entry is displayed.
   4. Creating a new product class or software type (administrator only).
   5. Editing (administrator only)

I continue to publish my impressions of interviews in Moscow IT offices for the position of project manager. For those who haven’t read mine, I remind you that I was looking for a job as a project manager in IT. In this post, I plan to finish writing about my impressions, including writing about the companies whose visit caused me negative emotions.

Large food company. At first, she did not respond to my responses for a long time, which was explained by the beginning of the financial year; I wrote about such features in the job search in. After the budget was approved, Company K demonstrated unprecedented speed, not typical of such monsters. Looks like I'm not the only one. A friend of mine recently went for an interview with her, and he also received an answer within a couple of days. (To be fair, it should be said that there are also opposite examples.) In principle, the interview at company K did not remember me as anything remarkable; they spoke correctly about my experience, and talked about their projects. The only interesting point is that they asked me about my education and inquired in detail about my long-abandoned scientific activities. In addition, like everywhere else, there is also no cream for corporate coffee, but hr treated me from personal supplies :) The company’s office is newly renovated, all floors are made similar to each other and have not yet had time to acquire individual features, so it’s like getting lost in it nothing to do. There is one more setup. When you arrive for an interview, you are given a free guest parking pass, and during the conversation they say that the office has parking. However, office parking costs 6,000 rubles per month, which is quite decent. A good illustration of the joke “don’t confuse tourism with immigration.” One of the interesting advantages is that the company has its own small fitness center on the premises of the office, which is free for employees.

Company S.

An expanding startup, communication with which was extremely interesting for me. Firstly, the place where he sits. In the center of Moscow, on the territory of the former Red October chocolate factory, the Moscow government provides free coworking to aspiring startups. It looks like a huge gym with meeting rooms around the perimeter. The entire room is lined with tables with workers sitting at them. As befits people in the fashion profession (start-ups), almost everyone sits behind a poppy. Offhand, I would estimate the share of the apple company at 90% of the total number of staff in this establishment. It's funny that startups have limited funds, but show-offs in the form of Apple company products are more expensive. The second interesting point is the founders’ advanced use of cloud technologies. No Exchange or other monsters, only Google Calendar. The only place where I received an invitation to a meeting from the calendar. Third point. There are many people who want to work in the office. The published vacancy received more than 100 responses in a few days. To cut off some of the people, they immediately give out a test task. According to the assurances of the person who interviewed me, about half immediately refuse to do it with the wording “such a task is a paid consultation that you want to get for free” or simply “there is no time”, another quarter starts doing it and gives up, and only the remaining 25% send a completely completed test . From them they choose who to invite and who not to. Fourth point. At the interview stage, you have to dive deeply into the future work, since the test task and the first interview are followed by a second task, the result of which is called to the next round, where only a few people from the initial 100+ responses get through. As a result, by the time money is discussed, you already know whether the proposed job will be interesting to you or not. Fifth point. The organizers of such enterprises are interesting people, it’s just interesting to talk to them. For example, the basic principle of issuing options is the business criticality of a person, and not his position. A good programmer may receive an option, but a financial director may not, since it is easier to replace him. It seems obvious, but I hadn't thought about it before.

Company X

I don’t even know which letter would be more correct to call it. The office is part of a large holding company. The company writes under one name, sits in the office of another, calls itself a third name in conversation, and plans to rebrand into a fourth. In a word, “Russian search engine,” as they are also called. I got to the interview by accident, because when I was invited by phone, they forgot to mention the name of the position, and I came to the interview as Product Manager, instead of Project Manager. After answering the question “What do you want to do?” we could start saying goodbye. The impression left is twofold. On the one hand, there is a girl from the HR department who is well versed in the product and the subject of conversation, and on the other hand, the development manager who cannot clearly say in which direction and how they plan to develop. In short, they have been developing technology for a long time, and now they are thinking about how to take off with all this stuff. And in such a way as not to look like a Yandex clone.

Company Z.

A well-known developer of toys for tablets and smartphones. The office is remembered for the fact that it seems to work with all recruitment agencies in Moscow. I received calls from 6 different places about their vacancy asking the same questions while trying to hide the original employer. Apparently, they invite all candidates who meet the Project Manager request with English. In my opinion, this behavior is slightly strange, but who will understand the game makers. I wonder if recruitment agencies like this kind of partner behavior? In principle, I don’t get along well with the game development industry. In my entire life, I have twice been interviewed at similar companies that develop toys, and both times I was refused further communication at the first stage, after communicating with HR. That's what happened this time too. In fact, I was supposed to be interviewed by a HR person together with one of the founders, but the founder suddenly (!) turned out to be busy planning the next sprint and did not come. The girl from HR was a representative of the type of interviewer who expects an absolutely accurate answer to her question, known to her in advance. Any deviation from the ideal that seems to her is perceived as an incorrect option. After several formal questions, I was given a life case with a large number of parameters, which took place in this office some time ago. I did not guess the exact set of actions that were actually performed, which was what they informed me about, and quite impolitely. The funny thing is that as a result of their “right decision,” the released toy turned out to be far from being as successful as they wanted 🙂 Then we talked a little about the weather and said goodbye. The funny thing is that this meeting room did not have the usual chairs, there were only ottomans. Creative people, what can I say.

Company V.

Recruitment agency engaged in outstaffing. In reality, I was supposed to work in a bank, and I would be officially registered at Agency V with a further promise to be re-registered as a bank. In terms of design, the option is so-so. There are fewer social benefits, when you move to a new place, vacation days are lost, the bank itself doesn’t owe you anything, and if something happens, it’s easy to fire you. I had time and, despite the listed disadvantages, I came to chat. The agency feels like a streaming system, no individual approach. Interviews are taking place in a large room divided by low walls into small meeting rooms. The walls are not high, so you can clearly hear what is happening around. In addition, everyone is given a questionnaire to fill out, with a bunch of questions that are very relatively related to the work of a project manager. For example, “what category of license do you have?”, “how much driving experience do you have?”, “Are you ready to use your car for work?” and so on. All this looks like an office focused on employing students and not very qualified temporary workers, and not as a place for hiring IT specialists. Having talked without any particular mood with the personnel officer, after some time I received an answer that the bank had already compiled a pool of candidates for interviews and would choose from them, and that my candidacy did not have time to get into this pool. All things considered, this answer didn't upset me at all. This concludes the description of my impressions from the interviews. In the next post I will talk about the questions that I was asked during the interview.