Common Interview Questions For Planning Engineer

2/15/2017 Common Interview questions for Planning Engineer: | Project Controls - planning, scheduling, cost management and forensic
ic analysis (Planning Planet)
Common Interview questions for Planning Engineer:

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Wed, 2006-10-25 02:30
Haresh Jayanth Hi guys,
Offline Given below are list of interview questions faced by Planning Engineer , other than their
Joined: 24 Aug 2006 personal and Experience. if anyone like to add more u are welcome pls .............
Posts: 218
Groups: Building Common Interview questions for Planning Engineer:
Information Modelling,
GPC Qatar
1. What is total float?

2. What are the difference between free float and total float?
3. What is a constraint?
4. What are the difference between MS Project and Primavera?
5. How to load cost & resource in a program?
6. What is WBS?
7. What is a milestone? What are the types of milestone?
8. What are the difference between flag and milestone activity?
9. What is a critical activity?
10. What is resource allocation and leveling?
11. What is a Baseline Program?
12. What are BSWS, BSWP, and ACWP?
13. What are SV and CV?
14. What is a Budget and how do you compare budget against Actual cost?
15. What is an S Curve?
16. What is the difference between P3.1, P3E, and P5 etc.
17. What is an open end activity?
18. How often you update your program?
Haresh
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Sat, 2013-01-26 08:48 #1
Akeem Ajibade Thank you planners, I have gained immensely from this post and the responses. It really
outline what is expected of a planner from both theoretical and hands on pespectives in a
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job interview.
Joined: 8 Dec 2012
Posts: 4
Groups: Civil
Engineering, GPC
http://www.planningplanet.com/forums/project-services-career-issues/414717/common-interview-questions-planning-engineer 1/24
2/15/2017 Common Interview questions for Planning Engineer: | Project Controls - planning, scheduling, cost management and forensic analysis (Planning Planet)
Engineering, GPC
Qatar, Petro-Chem /
Oil & Gas,
TURNAROUND &
SHUTDOWN (T/A &
S/D) Akeem
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Sat, 2012-06-09 19:30 #2
Tanveer Ahmad Dear Mr. Devaux

Niazi
In an interview the interviewer asked me about the critical path, I explained a little about it
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but started about DRAG I thought I had quite good information of it (and in fact I do have)
Joined: 15 Dec 2005 but when he asked me to give him a demo, I got nervous and couldnt make a proper
Posts: 151 diagram. The same happened with his question about Progress Override and Retained Logic
Groups: GPC Qatar
that know well but couldnt make demo. The result was a disqualification Ha ha ha. All want
to share that is to have more and more practice to demonstrate all we know. And the best
way to do this is to grab a friend and practice it on him and dont let him/her until you finish,
thats what I do.
Cheers, Tanveer
Wed, 2012-04-11 14:59 #3
nouman zam Yeah nobody knows about these question how can everyone should know only related
people knows these question my brother:) These are soo important question if you just
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search on internet these question you will know how much you get in few mins. For me
Joined: 11 Apr 2012 these are top job interview questions
Posts: 3
Groups: None
Mon, 2012-03-12 05:47 #4
Carumbaiah Retianed logic and Progress override are used to calculate progress when there is Out of
Kolli...
sequence progress. The options are available in Primavera. MSP uses progress override by
Offline default.
Joined: 13 Jan 2011 http://www.warnercon.com/articles/Article%209%20-%20Handling%20Out-of-

Posts: 14 Sequence%20Progress.pdf
Groups: Civil
Engineering, Petro- The above link has a small write up on the topic.
Chem / Oil & Gas
Sat, 2012-02-25 00:36 #5
hua 052011 If you want to get more materials that related to this topic, you can visit:
Offline http://www.humanresources.hrvinet.com/free-sample-person-specifications/
Joined: 5 Jan 2012

Posts: 7
Groups: None
Best regards.
Fri, 2012-02-24 17:38 #6
Brandon Atkins I had a phone interview where many of these questions were asked of me at a rapid pace.
While I didn't have trouble answering, after 20-30 minutes of this I stopped the interviewer
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and explained that the book knowledge of CPM scheduling and training on the appropriate
Joined: 30 Nov 2011 software can be learned by anyone, the toughest part of planning is generating buy-in
Posts: 8
amongst the stakeholders that the schedule you create is actually a valid model of the work
Groups: None
and giving insight to make good project management decisions. This stopped the technical
questions and I was offered the job 2 days later after just this phone interview.
Mon, 2012-01-09 17:15 #7
Vijay Anbumani Hi Karim,
Offline Nobody knows about those question.
Joined: 23 Dec 2011 regards,

Posts: 18
Groups: Civil J. Vijay
Engineering
Fri, 2012-01-06 02:16 #8
hua 052011 Hi
Offline
Joined: 5 Jan 2012

Joined: 5 Jan 2012 I read some opinions in this topic. I do not agree above ideal. We can find out some articles
Posts: 7
at about.com by using Google search.
Groups: None
Fri, 2012-01-06 02:15 #9
hua 052011 Hi
Offline
Joined: 5 Jan 2012 You can find this info by using search box in the top of website with some keywords related
Posts: 7 before posting questions.
Groups: None
Mon, 2011-04-04 04:35 #10
Syed Mustafa Dear all ,

Nadeem
Iam Nadeem I hve total 3 yrs experience as a Civil Engineer i hve decided to
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concentrate my future in planning , can anyone suggest me as hw 2 proceed to become a
Joined: 3 Apr 2011 successful Planning Engineer. Pl if anyone of u folks have openings in your organisation or
Posts: 3 in uae or saudi ,kindly revert back ur early reply is highly appreciated.
Groups: None
Regards,
Nadeem.
nadeemsd_54@yahoo.co.in
Sat, 2006-11-25 09:57 #11
Stephen "Hello Stephen,

Devaux I side with your posts, ideas and all that you stand for
What takes you too long to join the forum.
Offline
Please keep it up. Also the links are great stuff."
Joined: 23 Mar 2005
Posts: 603 Charlie, thank you so much for your kind words! Actually, I first started posting to the forum
Groups: Content
Moderators about 3 years ago -- but then had some family and health issues that made me disappear for
a while. Now Im back (and healthy, thank you!).
But let me add that, if I have contributed something to the forum, Planning Planet has also
contributed a great deal to me! This is IMO the most sophisticated project management forum
on the Internet, in terms of the knowledge and experience of the posters!
BTW, the editor of Projects@Work has informed me that my articles there have been getting a
huge number of hits. I attribute that in no small part to readers from PP. And my offer stands
-- Id be delighted to discuss any of the issues raised by those articles either here or on the
Projects@Work site.
BTW, the upcoming article (due on-line Nov 30th) has a working title of "The Whips and
Scorns of Time" (the editor sometimes changes titles) and will explore activity DRAG, a
subject that I think should be of interest to PP readers interested in Delay Analysis. The
following article will explore measuring the cost of constraint delays, such as bottlenecked
resources.
(For those who dont want to have to search back, you can find the series of articles at:
http://www.projectsatwork.com/departments/methods-means/
Wed, 2006-11-22 08:04 #12
Charleston- Hello Stephen,

Joseph...
I side with your posts, ideas and all that you stand for
Offline
Joined: 10 Jul 2005 What takes you too long to join the forum.
Posts: 1347
Posts: 1347
Groups: None
Please keep it up. Also the links are great stuff.
Regards,
Charlie
Wed, 2006-11-22 07:35 #13
Stephen There may be different levels of interview -- I can see asking some relatively simple technical
Devaux questions simply to weed through a pool of 20 or more applicants and get the number of
candidates down to 3 or 4. Then a hiring manager should want to question the finalists closely
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about specific subject matters, suitability to a culture, etc.
Joined: 23 Mar 2005
Posts: 603 Id want experience in specific applications and subject matter (nuclear outages vs. stadium
Groups: Content
Moderators construction, for example) to be a final determinant. But I wouldnt want to have as a finalist
any candidate that couldnt interpret/optimize a schedule or, in some applications, compute a
cost ETC from a budget and a CPI.
That "theoretical" knowledge (as distinct from application subject matter knowledge) is really
the simple stuff, just an intimacy with the available techniques and tools. I strongly believe
that the theoretical stuff is not nearly enough for a senior planning position -- but NOT having
that knowledge would, for me, disqualify a candidate, if I were looking for someone with
experience. Its pretty simple, but if a planner doesnt know how to attack the work of
optimizing a slipping schedule, he or she can cost you millions! And in many, many
applications (though by no means all!), ignoramus planners are the standard!
Wed, 2006-11-22 03:14 #14
Nigel Winkley Being planning for 30 odd years. Been asked a huge range of questions - from the technical as
listed below to those typical human resource questions right up to "Do I like fish?", "Am I a
Offline committed Christian?" and "Do I always wear black socks?"
Joined: 11 May 2006

Posts: 182 Go figure...
Groups: The
GrapeVine
Wed, 2006-11-22 02:17 #15
Karim Mounir Hello Clive & Umerfarook,
Offline The vacation offered during that interview was a normal position (Senior Planner) in an
Joined: 5 Apr 2006 international construction company.

Posts: 314
Groups: None Regards.
Wed, 2006-11-22 02:01 #16
Umerfarook Clive
Deshmukh
I have also faced same kind of questions during my Interview around 3 years back and to be
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frank I was not prepared for such questions in an interview.
Joined: 11 Nov 2006
Posts: 31 But fortunately I am slected and I have accepted offer to work with that organization.
Groups: Petro-Chem
/ Oil & Gas
But in a way ur correct that to be a good planner u should have good analysing skill rather
than only software skill. Becoz even if u know in depth about software usage u will not perfom
to the merit if u dont have planning logic. Planning to me is thinking before doing. And if u
think in right direction than the doing or implementing it becomes easy.
I dnt know whether u agree with me or not but thats my Logic.
Anyway Lara managed to score double hundred against pakistan. WHAT A PLAYER HE IS
!!!!!!!!!!
Regards
Umerfarook Deshmukh
Wed, 2006-11-22 01:39 #17
Clive Randall I find that staggering

Were you being employed as the planning manager of a major corporation???
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Joined: 15 Aug 2005

Posts: 744
Groups: None
Wed, 2006-11-22 01:06 #18
Karim Mounir Hi Clive,
Offline During an interview, ive been asked these questions:
Joined: 5 Apr 2006

Posts: 314 - What is the difference between Retained Logic & Override Logic?
Groups: None
- What is the difference between Continuous & Interruptible scheduling?
- What is the no. of activities that u monitor & how do u make the update?
- How do u measure & compare the progress?
- Earned Value Terms (very detailed).
Regards.
Wed, 2006-11-22 00:29 #19
Clive Randall Are you saying you have really been asked some of these highly technical questions?
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Joined: 15 Aug 2005

Posts: 744
Groups: None
Tue, 2006-11-21 23:53 #20
Karim Mounir Hi Clive,
Offline I really wished that some interviewers that held some interviews with me were having the
Joined: 5 Apr 2006 same logic as u described.

Posts: 314
Groups: None Moreover the point of this post is to give an overall view for some of the questions that have
been already asked during an interview.
Regards.
Tue, 2006-11-21 19:54 #21
Clive Randall Sorry

But is this an interview or an exam
Offline Are you employing a graduate or an old hand.
Joined: 15 Aug 2005 The questions appear in a number of cases to be more about knowing the software than
Posts: 744
Posts: 744 planning.
Groups: None
Where are the basics ie how long does it take to do x or y
I have held many many interviews and have never asked the majority of these questions. I like
to see a candidate as somebody who has a basic grounding in thinking logically, an ability to
communicate and good common sense.
I will always ask why do you want to be a planner, why do you want to work in this industry. If
the person cannot amswer straight away with passion I will not ask him what is the difference
between microsoft project and Primavera.
Just a thought.
Mon, 2006-11-20 23:35 #22
Karim Mounir Hi,
Offline What is wrong with the keyboard Stephen "CAPS LOCK" ???
Joined: 5 Apr 2006

Posts: 314 #19:
Groups: None checkout this site:
http://www.pmicos.org/topics/aug2003.asp
#20:
abstracted from a previous post in P3 e/c forum:
" I have looked everywhere (including in the Help file and the manual) for the P3 equivalent of
the Continuous / Interruptible Activity setting when computing the CPM. To my knowledge, P3e
seems to always use the "Continuous" setting whenever computing the CPM and you have a
pair of unbalanced Start-To-Start and Finish-To-Finish relationships between two activities.
P3 would give you the option of stretching the duration of the successor to meet both
constraints. This is called, "Interruptible." Does anyone out there know any more about this?
Without equal settings, the same schedule may show different dates on different software
platforms".
#22:
a. You can use S-curves to compare actual vs. planned units (eg. to compare resources
assignment).
b. You can use Earned Value terms.
c. You can use Variance in days (with respect to the float
) between start/finish dates of the activities.
Regards.
Wed, 2006-11-22 17:31 #23
Tahir Naseem Dear All

PMP,... It is really a very good interview tips at the senior/lead planner level. It is true as some of our
friend explain that it is bit hard for a fresh graduate or even a planner with 4-5 year of
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experience, except a very genius.
Joined: 26 Oct 2006 Here the some answer that Mr Stephen did not reply in detail or may be I could not got the
Posts: 81 point.
Groups: GPC Qatar,
Petro-Chem / Oil & 4. What are the difference between MS Project and Primavera?
Gas I will reply that the cost & resource management is much better in P3 rather then MS project
where as MS project can produced more makeup(good fonts/color/tabbing and etc) reports
then P3 for presentation.

Mile stone & flags both are events rather then activities. Some client likes to use flags rather
than mile stone due the following differences.
1- With the use of flags the logic of main event can be easily tracked as these can not be
created without predecessor as stand alone allocating the constraint. Where as mile stone
can.
2- Flags can not update manually as P3 automatically update the status where as milestone
can be update manually.
3- Flags can not be constraint only driven by predecessor where as milestone can.

The open end activity is the activity that does not have any successor. Normally open end
activity is not accepted willingly in schedule because the total float will be calculate from the
end of the project and these entire activities late dates gather at the end of the project and
can not be prepare a logical late start plan.
19. What is the difference between Retained Logic & Override Logic?
I will really appreciate please some one answer these for the sake of others knowledge
20. What is the difference between Continuous & Interruptible scheduling?

Same as above
22. How do u measure & compare the progress?

I measured the Progress in term of EV (Earned values) such as EMH (Earned man-hours)
which is equivalent to the progress achieved by the define progress steps for each activity
multiply with SMH (Standard man-hours)
EMH can be calculated as
EMH= SMH * %age of activity as describe above.
Comparison can be done in various different ways, tabular and graphically after getting the
planned values from the base line program.
24. When updating a plan, what key people and/or systems would you expect to need
information from? What, if any, analysis of the updated programme would you perform? Who
would you distribute your work to?
Normally all good companies have the monitoring system including the progress break down
steps agreed between all stack holders of the project to update the plan. But if you dont have
any kind of these program then I will always contact with the concern activity / package
supervisor and collect the information on a well define format.
In short the minimum people require for the updating of progress.

1- Job supervisor
2- Quality control ( for the acceptance of job until this you are unable to finish 100% a single)
After performing any kind of analysis the distribution should be as follow minimum
Project Manager
Construction Managers (Concern discipline for action and other for information)
Job supervisor
Department heads in co-operate office
QA/QC and safety for info.
These will be my answer addition to Mr. stephen, it is not guarantee that interviewer will
agree with your opinion and approach towards planning.
Tue, 2006-11-21 09:17 #24
Stephen Karim wrote:

Devaux
"What is wrong with the keyboard Stephen "CAPS LOCK" ???"
Offline
Joined: 23 Mar 2005 Sorry, Karim and others. I thought that by using all caps Id make the answers distinct from
Posts: 603 the questions. It was only after Karims comment that I actually tried reading it, and
Groups: Content
Moderators discovered how hard it was! And by then, Lara was in full flow in the Test match against
Pakistan -- I couldnt very well interrupt that sublime innings in order to re-key the post, could
I?
And by stumps, it was too late to edit the original post. So here is my re-typed post.
Moderators, if you want to edit out the former post, please feel free. . .
Umerfarook Deshmukh wrote:
"I would appreciate if someone post the replies for the questions which I have consolidated.I
have included all questions which were posted by you."
Actually, Umerfarook, you left out my question about activity DRAG, which in the Total Project
Control methodology is defined as the amount of time a critical path activity is adding to the
project duration, or, alternatively, the amount by which the end of the project would be pulled
in by reducing an activitys duration to zero. It is a metric which is more important than total
float because, whereas float is always OFF the critical path, DRAG is always on it. And DRAG
has the corollary of DRAG Cost which is the amount by which the "project profit" is reduced
due to the extra time the activity adds to the project duration. For further info on DRAG, check
out:
http://www.chiefprojectofficer.com/article/135
and
http://www.projectsatwork.com/departments/methods-means/
or
http://www.amazon.com/Total-Project-Control-Integrated-Operations/dp/047...
Now, as to the other questions that I can answer:

The amount of time that an activity can slip without delaying the end of the project. Usually
computed as TF = LF EF.
2. What are the difference between free float and total float?
FF is a special type of TF. Whereas TF is the amount of time that an activity can slip without
delaying the end of the project, FF is the amount of time that an activity can slip without
delaying the early dates of a successor.
3. What is a constraint?
A limitation that reduces the efficiency with which a project can be accomplished. Scheduling
constraints come in three main falvours: NET, NLT and ON, standing for No Earlier Than, No
Later Than, and (surprisingly!) On. These are input to a schedule, are usually calendar-based,
and override the predecessor/successor logic, thus often causing positive or negative float on
the longest path. Negative float needs to be resolved, and often is by compromising on other
parts of the plan.
Resource availability is another type of constraint that can delay a projects schedule and
efficiency.
In general, constraints should not be input to the schedule until after the schedule ahs been
optimized through critical path analysis, as it is important to be able to gauge the impact of a
constraint from the Newtonian constraints of the work.
4. What are the difference between MS Project and Primavera?
The same as between a Vespa and a Hummer. (Sometimes a Vespa can be more useful!)
5. How to load cost & resource in a program? Through the WBS, in a process called activity-
based resource assignments, or ABRA. Assigned resources should be overhead-burdened to
get an accurate picture of costs.
It is important to note that cost can be assigned, tracked and managed at a higher level than
schedule or resources a euro is a euro is a euro, but both resources and schedule dates are
specific, and need to be managed with greater specificity.
6. What is WBS?
Work breakdown structure, a hierarchical format for identifying, displaying, reporting, and
changing project work. Since the WBS is the skeleton of work on which the resource, cost,
schedule information is draped, it is the principle tool for implementing
scope/cost/schedule integration.

A milestone is an event. Activity-driven milestones are usually entered into PM software as
activities with durations of zero. Since milestones have no duration, once they are reached
they are immediately in the past. It is therefore good practice to name activities using the past
participle of the verb (i.e., Test component = activity; Component tested = milestone.

No idea -- Ive never heard the term flag activity.

Although the term may be mis-used (i.e., with other meanings), a critical activity is one that is
on the longest path.

Resource allocation is assigning resources to activities (ABRA). Leveling is changing activity
schedules to get rid of utilization spikes and use resources more efficiently. There are two
different flavours of leveling: time-constrained and resource-constrained.
Time- constrained leveling attempts to remove the resource utilization spikes/bottlenecks

without delaying activities beyond an input date (often the CPM completion date, which means
that no activity is delayed beyond its float).
Resource-constrained leveling delays activities, if necessary, beyond their float(s) in order to
reduce utilization levels, period by period, to availability levels.
The Total Project Control (TPC) methodology incorporates a resource-leveling metric called
the CLUB, or Cost of leveling with Unresolved Bottlenecks. This is the amount by which project
expected value is reduced PLUS the cost by which the projects Marching Army costs
(Overhead and LOEs) increase due to the delay caused by resource constraints. The CLUBs
can be used to justify the additional resources that would make the bottlenecks go away.

I dont know that precise term. The baseline plan is the commitments in terms of product,
cost, and schedule, both at project completion and at key interim points. On a fixed price,
fixed deadline, contract, the delta between the baseline plan and the working plan is
management reserve and profit.
Changes to the baseline plan (re-baselining) is usually only permitted if both customer and
contractor agree, and usually occur in the event of a mutually-agreed scope increase.
Earned value tracking and analysis is usually performed based on the baseline plan.
12. What are BSWS, BSWP, and ACWP? First, its BCWS and BCWP.
These three acronyms are earned value terms that stand for Budgeted Cost for Work
Scheduled (planned value, or PV in the PMBOK Guides in my opinion ill-advised neologisms),
Budgeted Cost for Work Performed (earned value, or EV), and Actual Cost for Work
Performed (actual cost, or AC).
Despite the terminology, it is crucial to understand that earned value has NOTHING to do with
value its about COST, as the letter C in the three original acronyms shows.
BCWS is what was budgeted for each work package as scheduled.

BCWP is the sum of the budgets of all completed activities/milestones.
ACWP is the sum of what it actually cost to complete each of the work packages/milestones.

SV is schedule variance, computed as BCWP BCWS, or the budgets for all
activities/milestones accomplished as of a given date minus the budgets for what was
scheduled to have been accomplished by that date. It should be noted that SV (and its
corollary SPI, or BCWP divided by BCWS) can be a very distorting metric, primarily because
the BCWS weights are usually loaded onto the early dates, where non-critical activities have
float. This means that starting or completing a big-budget activity that has a large amount of
float will weigh much more heavily on the SV (and SPI) than a small-budget activity that is on
the critical path, despite that fact that the latter is much more important to meeting schedule.
CV is cost variance, computed as BCWP ACWP, or the budgets for all activities/milestones
accomplished as of a given date minus what was actually spent to accomplish them. CV also
has a corollary index, CPI, or BCWP divided by ACWP. This shows how much of the budgeted
work you have been accomplishing for every dollar actually spent, and is an excellent metric
for forecasting future cost profiles on a given project.
Budget is the monetary amount assigned for resources to accomplish the work packages.
Actual cost is the monetary amount in resource usage that it actually took.

An S-curve is the cumulative cost function plotted on a histogram, which can vaguely resemble
the letter S. BCWS, BCWP, and ACWP are frequently plotted and compared on a histogram as
separate and shadowing S-curves.

They are different versions of Primavera, but youll need to get a a description of the detailed
differences from someone else.

Im not sure exactly how you are using the term. Ive heard it used for both activities with
uncertain expected scope and no specific budget. Ive also heard it used in scheduling, for an
activity that has no FS or FF successors (i.e., successors of its finish).

Do you mean your baseline? It varies from project to project, depending on
reporting/progressing periods. However, the working schedule should be updated on a
continuous basis, as each activity is started or finished.
I dont know. Anyone? Anyone? Buehler?

Ditto.
21. What is the no. of activities that u monitor & how do u make the update?
I sure hope its all, or at least all that have a variance!
(#22 - #24 I will leave to someone else.)
23. Briefly outline the process you follow to build & agree a baseline construction plan.
information from? What, if any, analysis of the updated programme would you perform? Who
25. Briefly outline the benefits to a project of a well designed and maintained plan.
A well-maintained plan provides a GPS system that (1) guides the project team; (2) identifies
variances as soon as they occur; (3) provides the project with an efficient way to re-calculate
the best route to recovery whenever a variance occurs.
26. Give an example of a mistake you have made when planning. What were the
consequences? What did you learn from the episode?
I will only reply that the greatest mistake in planning is not to plan, or not to plan in sufficient
detail.
Fri, 2006-11-17 00:54 #25
Umerfarook Good to see all these questions and I would appreciate if someone post the replies for the
Deshmukh questions which I have consolidated.I have included all questions which were posted by you.
Offline
Joined: 11 Nov 2006 2. What are the difference between free float and total float?
Posts: 31 3. What is a constraint?
Groups: Petro-Chem
/ Oil & Gas 4. What are the difference between MS Project and Primavera?
5. How to load cost & resource in a program?
6. What is WBS?
12. What are BSWS, BSWP, and ACWP?

information from? What, if any, anylsis of the updated programme would you perform? Who
Looking forward for you all experts replies.
Regards
Umerfarook Deshmukh
Thu, 2006-11-09 17:45 #26
Stephen Hi, Tom.

Devaux
Believe me, Im not suggesting doing a network diagram by hand! (Dont get me wrong, it can
Offline
be lots of fun -- but once you get past about 300 activities, it becomes too much of a good
Joined: 23 Mar 2005 thing! Doing a 24,000 task network for, say, a nuclear plant outage would daunt the most
Posts: 603 enthusiastic planner!)
Groups: Content
Moderators
Instead, Im talking about the schedule analysis and optimization. You wrote that Primavera
"will optimise a schedule, calculate a CP, and manage slippage at the push of a button."
Perhaps were using the term "optimise" differently. Given durations and logic, the software
will of course calculate the CP, early and late dates, total and free float. But that is not
optimising. And no software package can optimise -- its a human decision-making process.
In order to optimize, one has to make decisions based on the schedule data, and that means
"reading" the data in a convenient format -- the data thats in the NLD at that site. It can be
done in a Gantt chart (which, BTW, is actually a much older format than a network logic
diagram), but it still requires using the same data as in an NLD, and a Gantt tends, for my
taste, to be more "confused" when all the typical NLD is loaded. (MS Projects out-of-the-box
NLD is pretty awful, but theres a cheap add-on from CriticalTools.com thats much clearer.)
Under any circumstances, for optimizing any project, one has to know how much time each CP
task is adding to the project duration (i.e., its DRAG). Neither MSP nor Primavera nor any
other popular package I know of computes activity DRAG -- it has to be computed based on
the other scheduling data. And that means looking either at the NLD or a precedence Gantt
chart with all the typical NLD data loaded in.
To get back to the original point, maybe youre correct and the job applicant should be offered
the choice of seeing that 17 activity network in Gantt format. But the question would remain:
how much time is each activity adding to the project duration? If youve got a CP of 300+
activities, this is crucial info, and nobody is going to take each of the 300+ out in turn to see
how much the schedule comes in by -- youve got to "read" it. The NLD at that site is just 17
activities -- if someone cant get the answers (in one format or the other) in a few minutes, I
wouldnt want them doing my schedule.
For any reader wondering what Im talking about when I say "optimization," the upcoming
articles in the series Im currently writing for ProjectsatWork.com may help. The URL is:
http://www.projectsatwork.com/Departments/Methods-Means/
Thu, 2006-11-09 04:04 #27
Tom Howard Hi Stephen,
Offline the points you have mentioned are surely all easily done by any Gantt-chart based planning
Joined: 20 Jun 2003 software (even MS Project!). I dont see what is to be gained by using the older, more
Posts: 119 antiquated, labour intensive, network diagram system. As I said, I am not really familiar with
Groups: None network diagrams (although I do understand the basic principal). So, forgive me if Im missing
a vital point in all this then, but what is to be gained by calculating network diagrams by hand,
against using an advanced software package such as Primavera or PowerProject ? - both of
which will optimise a schedule, calculate a CP, and manage slippage at the push of a button.
The speed of the calculations alone make the use of the computer system more favourable,
even before the "human error" factor is considered.
However, these disadvantages relate only to the role and function of the internal planning
systems.
Externally, there seem to be few clients in the UK construction market who fully understand
the Gantt chart layout. A network diagram would well and truely scramble their heads...
Wed, 2006-11-08 13:14 #28
Stephen "I been a planner for 8 years or so now, and never come across a network diagram..."
Devaux
Really?! Tom, I certainly accept your word for this, but I am astonished. How would one go
Offline
about optimizing a schedule without a network diagram? How does one know which tasks are
Joined: 23 Mar 2005 adding how much time to your CP without that knowledge? And when slippage starts
Posts: 603 occurring, how do you know where to make changes to pull in your schedule?
Groups: Content
Groups: Content
Moderators
I consult frequently on large aerospace contracts, and I can certainly say that both
optimization of and working to a resource-leveled network schedule are vital techniques. I also
know that the optimization techniques are religiously used on nuclear power plant outage
scheduling.
Im curious as to other folks reactions. . .
Wed, 2006-11-08 08:14 #29
Shahzad I agree with you Tom as u said in your first paragraph. Be practical Planner rather than do
Munawar planning on theoretical basis although these theories are essential for basic knowledge but not
accounted for any ability on that basis..
Offline
Joined: 2 Jul 2003

Posts: 551
Groups: None
Wed, 2006-11-08 07:24 #30
Tom Howard Im pretty sure there are very, very few planners who could answer the network diagram
question in an interview situation (me included). However, in this day and age of computers,
Offline why would this question even be relevant ? I been a planner for 8 years or so now, and never
Joined: 20 Jun 2003 come across a network diagram...

Posts: 119
Groups: None Is it not the equivalent of interviewing a checkout assistant and asking them to add a trolley
full of shopping in their head ?
Thu, 2006-11-02 05:48 #31
Haresh Jayanth Good work guys.......keep it up
Offline
Joined: 24 Aug 2006

Posts: 218
Groups: Building
GPC Qatar
Wed, 2006-10-25 05:42 #32
Stephen Some of the questions from this thread will be very useful for some of my graduate students,
Devaux to show them what they might expect. Especially your list, Haresh. (BTW, in #12, I think you
have a couple of typos: BCWS and BCWP, to be precise.)
Offline
Joined: 23 Mar 2005 To stand out from other possible candidates, I think it helps to show that you not only know
Posts: 603 the basic concepts, but have done some thinking beyond them. One of my former students
Groups: Content
Moderators recently got a job at a major U.S. aerospace company. In his first interview, he was asked
about earned value. Not only did he explain the basics, including CPI and SPI, but went on to
explain why SPI is a flawed metric (often distorted by float) that leads to bad practice and
makes projects later. He immediately was scheduled for a second interview.
His second interviewer asked him about CPM. He briefly explained the basic metrics (like from
Hareshs post), then went on to explain DRAG, and why it is much more "critical" than float. He
got the job.
If I were conducting such an interview for a planner/scheduler, I would give each applicant a
network diagram such as that on my website at the bottom of this page:
http://www.totalprojectcontrol.com/TPC/tpc.html
I would give them five - ten minutes to tell me how much time each activity is adding to the
project duration. (Obviously, I would show them a diagram WITHOUT the answers!) If they
couldnt get activities D,A, and G correct, theyd be out. If they got N and B correct, Id be very
favorably impressed.
Wed, 2006-10-25 05:24 #33
Haresh Jayanth Very good Gary & Karim , if some more people add up to this questionnaire, we can
standardise the interview questions for Planning Engineers probably asked thought the
Offline world......
Joined: 24 Aug 2006

Posts: 218 Haresh
Groups: Building
GPC Qatar
Wed, 2006-10-25 04:58 #34
Gary I would suggest some more open-ended questions such as:

Whitehead
Offline
Joined: 1 Sep 2005 2. When updating a plan, what key people and/or systems would you expect to need
Posts: 69 information from? What, if any, anylsis of the updated programme would you perform? Who
Groups: None
Wed, 2006-10-25 02:43 #35
Karim Mounir hi there,
Offline Some other questions can be as follows:
Joined: 5 Apr 2006

Posts: 314 1. What is the difference between Retained Logic & Override Logic?
Groups: None 2. What is the difference between Continuous & Interruptible scheduling?
Just a few to the list.
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2/15/2017 Common Interview questions for Planning Engineer: | Project Controls - planning, scheduling, cost management and forensic

ic analysis (Planning Planet)

Common Interview questions for Planning Engineer:

Wed, 2006-10-25 02:30

Haresh Jayanth Hi guys,

1. What is total float?

Sat, 2013-01-26 08:48 #1

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Sat, 2012-06-09 19:30 #2

Tanveer Ahmad Dear Mr. Devaux

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Wed, 2012-04-11 14:59 #3

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Mon, 2012-03-12 05:47 #4

Joined: 13 Jan 2011 http://www.warnercon.com/articles/Article%209%20-%20Handling%20Out-of-

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Sat, 2012-02-25 00:36 #5

Joined: 5 Jan 2012

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Fri, 2012-02-24 17:38 #6

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Mon, 2012-01-09 17:15 #7

Vijay Anbumani Hi Karim,

Offline Nobody knows about those question.

Joined: 23 Dec 2011 regards,

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Fri, 2012-01-06 02:16 #8

Joined: 5 Jan 2012

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Fri, 2012-01-06 02:15 #9

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Mon, 2011-04-04 04:35 #10

Syed Mustafa Dear all ,

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Sat, 2006-11-25 09:57 #11

Stephen "Hello Stephen,

Wed, 2006-11-22 08:04 #12

Charleston- Hello Stephen,

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Wed, 2006-11-22 07:35 #13

Wed, 2006-11-22 03:14 #14

Joined: 11 May 2006

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Wed, 2006-11-22 02:17 #15

Karim Mounir Hello Clive & Umerfarook,

Joined: 5 Apr 2006 international construction company.

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Wed, 2006-11-22 02:01 #16

I dnt know whether u agree with me or not but thats my Logic.

Wed, 2006-11-22 01:39 #17

Clive Randall I find that staggering

Joined: 15 Aug 2005

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Wed, 2006-11-22 01:06 #18

Karim Mounir Hi Clive,

Offline During an interview, ive been asked these questions:

Joined: 5 Apr 2006

- How do u measure & compare the progress?

- Earned Value Terms (very detailed).

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Wed, 2006-11-22 00:29 #19

Joined: 15 Aug 2005

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