Planning Engineer Interview Guide - 90 Questions and Model Answers (2024)

Updated: 20-Feb-2022

As a result of the planning engineer interview tricky questions and model answer survey we have made in our Planning Engineer website, and after our team review and development, we created a decent document that contains the final results of these efforts. We succeeded to gather so far 90 good questions and their model answers that might face a Planning Engineer during an interview.

Preparing for a primavera Interview is not difficult if you know what you are doing, Just read and search about the company history and current ongoing projects and check Sample Interview Questions and Answers for your job position. for a primavera interview check out these Primavera Interview questions and Answers for your reference.

The Questions Included on the Planning Interview Guire Are:

1. What is a constraint in primavera?
2. what is the clause to be refereed in FIDIC when there is entitled to an extension of time?
3. What is the reasonable range of float you assume while checking the look ahead work activities?
4. What is the Critical Path? How do you identify it and if any activity has negative slack, how can you adjust the duration?
5. What is the difference between Planning & Scheduling Engineer?
6. What is the difference between Retained Logic & Override Logic?
7. What is the difference between a recovery schedule and a revised schedule?
8. You are working on a project and somewhere in the middle of the project. The progress variance was -5% and still, you are achieving the contractual completion date. How is it possible?
9. How can you define the Critical Path in primavera?
10. As a planning Engineer, “Walk me through a project”
11. How can you differentiate total float and free float?
12. What is Resource leveling and What is Resource Allocation?
13. If we increase 2 days to the duration of any activity on the critical path that will increase the duration of the project by 2 days?
14. Explain what a good schedule means?
15. How will you make a manpower loading for your schedule?
16. What are the involvements of Project Planner and vital Role in Project Management?
17. Does float belong to the Owner or the Contractor?
18. What are the methods of calculating EV (earned value)?
19. What is the difference between a recovery plan and a revised plan?
20. If the Project Total Float shows negative, does it always follow that the Performance % Complete is less than Schedule % Complete?
21. How to calculate budget man-hours?
22. What do you mean by SDK, & what is its usage in Primavera?
23. How do you start planning without any information on hand?
24. What is redundant logic?
25. Quality and Grade are the same things?
26. Define the main responsibilities of the planning engineer in each phase of the project’s lifecycle. Please state clearly which information/data you would need from the Project Manager/Project management team to fulfill your task as a planner.
27. What are the monitoring skills?
28. Could you chase Project Managers for information and not just be a keyboard Junkie?
29. What is the best software for planning?
30. What would you submit if your consultant/client asks you to submit a matrix report?
31. Mention 4 reasons cause -ve float in primavera:
32. What is the difference between Float and Slack?
33. What is the difference between negative lag & lead?
34. How do you explain project delay if the earned value is more than the planned value?
35. How are early and late dates determined?
36. What are three methods of measuring project progress?
37. What is the best way to be a professional planning engineer?
38. What are SV and CV?
39. What’s the way to resolve the delay in project time?
40. If the Budgeted cost of works is more than the actual cost of works, how do you consider the performance of the Project? Optimum, Bad, or Good?
41. What is Project Management?
42. What does it mean if “SPI” is greater, lesser, or equal to one?
43. Could we have more than one critical path?
44. The scope is known partially, then how to plan for the future?
45. What is the concurrent delay?
46. What is a Baseline?
47. What is the Difference between Bar charts & Network diagrams?
48. What are Thresholds in Project Management?
49. What is the difference between crashing and fast-tracking?
50. What is the normal productivity of welder for Carbon steel material per day?
51. What is the difference between free float and total float?
52. For an activity, if the free float is negative whereas the total float is positive. Is this possible to happen and what’s the impact?
53. Define critical path:
54. Do primavera loads cash in and cash out in the same schedule?
55. How to reduce critical path?
56. What is the normal total float allowed for a new project?
57. What are the duties of a planner?
58. What is Baseline Program?
59. What is SF dependency? Any example. Have you ever used this?
60. Are all activities with negative total float drive the project completion date?
61. What is meant by a recovery schedule?
62. What do you mean by “EPC”, “TIA” & “EOT”?
63. How do you get information to populate and update your schedule?
64. What is the standard deviation of the activity?
65. Suppose you have a conflict with the project consultant/ owner representative about a schedule update you have submitted recently. You believe that you have the right to reflect some time delays in the schedule in favor of your company, but the owner wouldn’t accept that. The conflict escalated and the consultant hold the monthly payment till you agree on the update according to his perspective. He’s also implicitly threatening to kick you out of the project unless you are “cooperative”. What’s should you do?
66. What does it mean If my free float is positive?
67. What to look for when a contractor sends their tender program to be awarded?
68. What is an S–Curve?
69. How De-watering works could affect your schedule?
70. Every project plan has two types of dates, the early start early finishes and the late start late finish. Late start always starts after an early start but finishes with the early finish, Why?
71. What is the major difference between Cost variance and Schedule variance?
72. Why negative lag/lead is not recommended in a good schedule?
73. What does variance in the S curve indicate on both axis?
74. What is an open-end activity?
75. If you are loading the cost in Primavera, Which cost will you select either at the price in BOQ or your Budget amount, or Both?
76. What does trend analysis mean?
77. A project shows actual performance is matching the planned performance. The Project is in delay also. What could be the reason?
78. What is the difference between flag and milestone activity in primavera?
79. How do you estimate activities durations?
80. What does it mean if “CPI” is greater, lesser, or equal to one?
81. What is needed for a successful project plan?
82. We hire the team in execution, then who planned for the project?
83. How often do you update your Project Baseline?
84. What are BCWS, BCWP, and ACWP?
85. What is a constraint?
86. What is activity & What is WBS?
87. What is a milestone? What are the types of milestones?
88. What are the steps to review EOT Claim?
89. What are the differences between critical and longest paths?
90. What is the use of Activity Codes?

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