Types of risks

1. Project risk
2. Strategic risk
3. Operational risk
4. Safety risk
5. Security risk

reason for job change

a better opportunity, more challenges, and career growth

 “I achieved everything professionally that was available at my last employer

and feel that in order to keep improving myself both personally and professionally,
that it was time to move onto a new company with better opportunity with more
challenges for career growth.”
 “I’m interested in a job where I can be given more responsibility and will
challenge me.”

What are the three key challenges for our industry today and how can these be
tackled effectively?

1. Security -- there is little or no doubt that there is a dedicated hard-core of both individual
and state-sponsored hackers attempting to penetrate both public and private systems for
political advantage, commercial espionage, and outright asset theft. Unfortunately, those
that provide security also have governments as their key customers and many individual
products are sourced from abroad without testing. (E.g. counterfeit computers, routers, and
other infrastructure key points). There are also concerns about data being stored outside of
the United States in venues that have little or no legal protections for U.S. citizens, making
data accessible to terrorists and others with the "keys to the kingdom," and the possibility of
a first-strike that severely cripples data access to U.S. and other customers. The United
States government has attempted to subvert encryption technologies and Apple's refusal to
help crack the iPhone with a master tool has proven to be the correct choice as we see
Russian hackers offering NSA (National Security Agency) tools for sale on line.
2. Privacy and Accountability -- unilateral contracts, terms of use, licensing, and privacy
statements provide both equipment vendors and software suppliers with unmonitored access
to your electronic devices. Sometimes to provide error reporting, sometimes to monitor
performance to improve the user experience, and sometimes to mine data (aggregated,
homogenized, anonymized or not) to sell to third-parties. These agreements absolve the
vendors of all responsibility and limit liabilities -- even to the extent of preventing class
action lawsuits with arbitration clauses.
The collapse of local devices in favor of "cloud" access. It appears that there is a malignant
trend to force users into the cloud. One, to control and monetize the gateway to content.
Two, to eliminate more complex individual systems in favor of lightweight browsers. And
three, to provide more efficient governmental access to private data flows.
3. Governmental control over the internet. While the interwebs, as we know them, were
initially funded and operated by the United States government; the various governing bodies
have done a remarkable job keeping the internet out of politics. They have managed the
domain naming process, setting specifications, and in general moving things along without
major problems. Unfortunately, we are now seeing a trend where governments may be able
to take control over their root domains and thoroughly penetrate their users data streams.
As for tackling these issues effectively and efficiently, we need to stop corruption in
government, keep the internet free and open, switch to ipsecv6 for enhanced security, and to
build in contractual responsibility into unilateral contracts. The idea that Google is assisting
in writing net neutrality legislation that has built-in benefits to Google is a clear and present
danger of technology companies partnering with a corrupt political party or government.
Moreover, companies attempting to control content through their own stores is producing
closed platforms that do not serve the consumer well. Microsoft's Edge is far worse than
Internet Explorer in its ability to use third-party extensions to facilitate your workflow. The
greatest loss in my case was the Adobe toolbar that allowed you to capture a webpage as a
PDF with all links intact. Gone. And, Microsoft appears to have done this knowingly and
apparently with malice a forethought.

Question:  What were the communication challenges on your last project?

To help you maximize your efficiency and effectiveness on your project teams,
I’ve outlined three common communication challenges and some solutions to
avoid or fix the issues.

Diagnosing a Communication Challenge

Sometimes something seems “off” in your collaboration, but you have trouble
pinpointing exactly what’s bothering you. Before you determine a fix, you have
to self-diagnose your situation. Below are three of the most common
communication challenges. Also, it’s important to note that you may have
different challenges with different people and/or as a project progresses, the
communication challenges you face with someone may change.

Radio Silence: Too little communication that

causes anxiety
Your communication challenge may fall into this bucket if you feel like your
initial discussions were rushed. You don’t receive status updates frequently
enough. You find yourself worrying or wondering about the project often.
Potential problems don’t come out until it’s too late to easily solve them.

Constant Pings: Too much communication that

leads to annoyance
On the opposite end of the spectrum, over-communication can also lead to
stress. This occurs when you have endless meetings to discuss the project
but little to no movement on actual execution. It can also happen when you
find yourself fielding a continuous stream of questions, sorting through
irrelevant information, and hearing about even the most minor of issues—that
you aren’t even responsible for solving.

Disconnect: Miscommunication that creates

frustration
Sometimes you have the right frequency and quantity of communication but
there’s a lack of mutual understanding. Maybe you think that you know what
other people want but when you show them what you’ve been working on,
they’re disappointed. Other times you thought you had answered someone’s
question but they’re still confused. Or worse yet, you both end up doing the
same work or parts of the project get dropped because you thought they
thought one thing and they thought you thought something else.

The 4 Communication Solutions

Although the communication challenges vary, the fundamental steps to solve
them remain the same. To set yourself up for success on a new project or try
to salvage one that’s veering off course, try these strategies:

1. Act fast
If you feel uncomfortable about the communication, don’t wait, hope for the
best, or ignore it. Take action. Telling yourself, “I’ll deal with it later” only
increases the chances of flared tempers and misunderstood expectations.
Confront the issue. That could mean deciding not to proceed with a
partnership because severe communication differences will cause inefficiency
and stress. Or in the midst of a project it could mean setting up a conversation
to work through next steps.

2. Clarify deliverables
A sure way to set both sides up for confusion and disappointment is to not
know what you want, when you want it, and how you expect it to be delivered.
If you don’t know the definition of “done,” pow-wow to determine it. You should
get down to this level of granularity: “On August 10, we will have a landing
page launched for the public, which includes a video of the founders and a
newsletter sign up form.”

3. Set (or reset) expectations

Each individual has a natural communication style, but to work effectively
within a team, you need to determine how much communication needs to
happen to make everyone comfortable. This could mean requesting weekly
status meetings or progress reports at certain milestones. Or it could look like
setting up a series of “If, Then” communication triggers.

For example: “If you will be out of the office for a week, then give me a status
report a couple of days before you leave.” Or, “If you encounter an issue that
will lead to a delay, then notify me as soon as possible.” You can also ask for
people to not communicate with you about certain things. For example:
“Please, don’t CC me on every e-mail between you and the printer.” Or,
“Please don’t tell me about issues if they’re problems you can fix yourself.”

4. Try a different method

Some people communicate brilliantly over the phone but jumble everything up
by e-mail. Others do great with sketches but never understand your written
descriptions. When in doubt, try a different format: Write it out, talk through it,
draw sketches, give examples, or do whatever you can to make the concepts
in your head translate into something the other person can understand and
vice versa.
If you’ve tried all of the above strategies and neither side feels satisfied, it
could be time to part ways instead of continuing to feel frustrated with one
another. Communication forms the glue of professional partnerships, so
without it, they can’t stick.

Question:  What is your communication style with your team?

Question:  How do you communicate bad news?

Question:  How have you handled disgruntled employees?

Question:  What are some examples of times you’ve kept your promise even when
that might have been difficult?

Question:  How do you ensure you and your team deliver or exceed customer
expectations?

Question:  What are some best practices you’ve used to develop excellent customer
relationships?

Question:  How do you go about managing the performance of your team?

Question:  How do you motivate team members?

Question:  What are some of the tools and resources you’ve used to develop
your team?

Question:  What is your delegation style?

Question:  How easily do you delegate responsibility?

Question:  How do you monitor and review the delegated responsibilities?

Question:  What are your career and project goals for the next six months?

Question:  How do you set goals for your team? And how do you track these goals?

Question:  Describe two areas in your current project where there is a high level of
uncertainty. How do you tackle these uncertainties?
Question:  How do you control changes to your project?

Question:  How do you ensure that your project is always on track?

Question:  What tools do you use as a manager to plan your activities as well as
that of your team?

Question:  Give a few examples of proactive decision-making past projects and in

your life in general.

Question:  Can you give me a few examples of a time when you made a tough
decision and it backfired?

The real risk of failure

If an organization does not have the right people leading important projects,
the risk of projects failing is real.
According to the Standish Group, less than a third of all projects were
successfully completed on time and on budget. Breaking this down, we learn
that 28 percent of projects are successful, 23 percent are failures and 49
percent are only partially successful. In other studies, it was shown that 85
percent of the projects fall short of time and budget goals, with an average
overrun of 70 percent in time and 60 percent in budget. 

The value of project management training and certification

Project management is a problem-driven discipline. In order to be effective, a
project manager needs to possess a wide range of competencies, be able to
meet challenges and solve problems in many areas.
For example, a particular project might require skills that the individual
members of the team lack. Project management training can help a project
leader determine which competencies are needed, assess the available
workers and recommend training, outsourcing or hiring additional staff. The
right training and certification is an essential step for managing the unexpected
obstacles project managers can face on a daily basis.
Project management training teaches leaders how to mitigate risk, plan for the
unexpected and reduce ambiguity. Risk tolerance is desirable in an effective project
manager because projects rarely go exactly according to plan. Knowing which parts
of a project are most likely to cause problems and put the results in jeopardy is an
important skill for a  project manager to have. This is also applicable in dealing with
ambiguity. If options are not identified and clarified, the entire project can be delayed
by unexpected problems. Project managers provide direction at every stage and then
clearly communicate it, so each team member is aware of how to proceed. Proper
training can increase communication skills and awareness of risk

How organizations can overcome project management

challenges
With the increased need for project managers, certified professionals are in
great demand. Project Management Professional (PMP)® certification is the
global gold standard of project management offered by the Project
Management Institute (PMI). Certified PMPs lead projects around the world
and, unlike other certifications that focus on a particular geography or domain,
the PMP is truly global. As previously mentioned, businesses are becoming
increasingly globalized, so having a certification that matches this trend and
enables one to work anywhere is a wise investment. 
Certified Project Managers add value to organizations. According to the
PMI Pulse of the Profession study , organizations with more than 35 percent of
PMP certified project managers achieved better project performance.  
There are a growing number of training opportunities available for employees
to acquire the appropriate project management skills. While no single training
delivery model works best for every learner, a learner-centric model must be
utilized. At Simplilearn, we have found that a “blended learning delivery
model”, 24/7 access to teaching assistance, project-based learning
opportunities and quizzes/assessments increase competency and proficiency.  
Designed by expert authors, our Project management courses  offer high-
quality training in both technical and business skills to ensure professional
success. Specifically, the Simplilearn PMP certification training course is
designed to ensure that you pass the PMP exam on the first try. Our hands-on
training approach, delivered to over 52,000 students, will help you to
understand the knowledge areas defined by the PMBOK® Guide—Fifth Edition.
We guarantee you’ll walk away with all the preparation and confidence you
need to conquer the exam, earn your PMP certification  and become a problem-
solving project manager.

Interview Questions About Why You Want to Change Jobs

Hiring managers are often curious about why you want to change jobs. They want to hear that
you're leaving for the right reasons - a better opportunity, more challenges, and career
growth. 

Your interviewer will want to be sure that you aren't leaving your job because of poor
performance, difficult working relationships, or because you hate your job or your boss.
When responding to questions about why you are switching jobs, it's important to provide
reassurance that you are moving on for career reasons, not just to get out of a bad work
situation.

Here are some approaches you can use to reassure the interviewer that you are leaving your
job for the right reasons.

How to Respond: Why Do You Want to Change Jobs?

Emphasize the positive reasons why you are targeting a job with their organization. Refer to
specific aspects of the work, company culture, and employer which correspond well with
your interests and skills. Placing the focus upon your potential employer subtly redirects the
conversation from your previous work experience to your strong potential as their next
employee. It is also a great way to show that you’ve done your homework in researching their
company before your interview.

Frame your move as a path to advancing your career without disparaging your current
job. One way to do this is to reference the aspects of the new job which appear to carry more
responsibility. Even if the new job doesn't have a higher status, you could mention that you
believe it would provide a springboard for future career advancement down the road (after
you have spent appropriate time in your initial new job with the employer and have mastered
it).

You might also comment that you feel that the job you’re applying for seems more aligned
with your long-term career goals (which you should be prepared to list).

Integrate positive references about your current job in your response, so that it is clear
you are not fleeing a bad situation. You are just seeking to improve upon an already good
situation.

Of course, you should avoid any negative references to management, to salary, or to the
number of hours worked.

Incorporate some positive reflections upon rewarding relationships with supervisors, co-

workers and clients, whenever feasible. You might describe opportunities they gave you for
career development, or discuss a particularly rewarding experience you had with a client.

Consider giving an external reason for leaving. You might refer to factors such as
relocating to a more urban area or looking for a job that is closer to home. But be sure that it
is clear that this is not the primary reason that you are applying for a job at the organization.
The primary emphasis should always be placed upon the fit of the job itself. Perhaps you can
explain that you are seeking to take your career in a different direction or use your skills in a
new way, and this position offers opportunities your old company was unable to provide.

If it is a well-known (public) fact that your current employer has a shrinking market
share or other financial problems, you might refer to this issue after making a strong case for
why the new job is suitable. Be sure to avoid sharing any proprietary information or painting
an overly negative picture of your current employer's situation, though.
A vague reference to your employer's difficulties will usually be sufficient.

More Interview Questions About Leaving Your Job

 Why are you leaving your job? - Best Answers

 Why did you quit your job? - Best Answers
 Why did you resign? - Best Answers
 What have you been doing since your last job? - Best Answers
 Why should I take a risk on you? - Best Answers
 Why were you fired? - Best Answers

Tips to Help You Ace Your Interview

Job interviews can be stressful, particularly if you are a recent graduate and haven’t had much
experience interviewing with potential employers. Reviewing commonly asked interview
questions and answers before your actual interview will help give you the confidence you
need to shine during your conversation.

The purpose of an in-person interview is twofold, however. Not only is it a chance for a
potential employer to get to know you and to evaluate your skills and experience, but it is
also your golden opportunity to interview them in order to assess whether you will be a good
fit for their organization.

Most interviews end with queries similar to “Do you have any questions for us?” or “Is there
anything else you would like to know about this position or our company?” It’s essential to
have a few questions prepared to ask your interviewer, since this demonstrates your
enthusiasm for their organization and the job they are offering. Here are some important
questions you should pose to your interviewer.