Tips for configuration manager interviews.

Do you have any tips to help prepare for an upcoming configuration manager interview?

Are there common interview questions that come up again and again?

For interviews, know your stuff!

Understand the current CM guidance. Know that the stringent MIL-STD-973 has been cancelled and be prepared to explain what this means for modern CM. What have been the challenges and opportunities as a result of DoD’s cancellation of this long-term guidance. What is the best guidance in its place?

Know the 5 principles of CM and be prepared to explain them in your own words, and to give some real-world examples of Status Accounting, Configuration Control, CM Planning, etc. Be ready verbally walk-through an initial release and change (ECP/ECR) process. If there is a white board in the room, ask if you can show them; quickly draw the process flow, explaining as you go – take no more than a couple minutes doing this.

Know product master data. Even if the company you will interview for has no knowledge of this, be prepared to explain how strong control of product master data will gain numerous efficiencies.

Know your tools. You should have by now worked in at least one PDM tool and have a strong knowledge of ERP/MRP tools. If you have worked in an organization where these tools were integrated, even better.

Be professionally enthusiastic. Let them know you enjoy this work. Let them know you lead process improvements. Let them know through your CM discussions that you understand and are sensitive to needs of other functional areas as well. Explain how CM is a cross-functional discipline. If you have never worked in an assembly, test, QA, or procurement environment, you will not be able to fake this explanation.

Let them know what you know, and make it cohesive. Tell a good story. Let them know if there is something more you’d like to learn. Ask them about what they do. Don't ask about benifits. Ask about benifits only after you have an offer.

Tell them…show them that you are a quality CM professional, and a leader.

Understand what are different methodologies like waterfall, iterative etc. Map that into your past experience and be ready to explain them. Understand what is SDLC (Software Development Life Cycle).
Understand different version control tools in the market and be ready to discuss about them even at the knowledge level if not "hands on".
Explain what and how you have performed a great job, how you have improved the efficiency, repetabality and process.
Explain how you would approach automation and justify the benefits.