Preparing for an interview at Reply requires a balanced focus on your delivery track record and your consulting capabilities. Because you will be joining a fast-paced environment where client satisfaction is paramount, your preparation should emphasize practical problem-solving over theoretical frameworks.

Consulting & Client Management – At Reply, you are not just managing internal tasks; you are representing the company to external clients. Interviewers will closely evaluate your executive presence, communication style, and ability to navigate difficult client conversations. Be prepared to discuss how you manage client expectations, negotiate scope changes, and handle delivery challenges transparently.

Methodological Rigor – You need to demonstrate a deep, practical understanding of project management frameworks like Scrum, Kanban, and Waterfall. Rather than just reciting theory, show how you adapt these frameworks to fit the unique constraints of each client engagement. Focus your stories on how your methodological choices directly improved delivery speed, quality, or team collaboration.

Technical Literacy – While you do not need to write code, you must be comfortable speaking the language of developers, architects, and product owners. You should be ready to talk about the tech stacks, cloud environments, and systems integration patterns you have managed in past roles, demonstrating that you can ask the right technical questions to unblock your team.

Adaptability & Drive – Reply values proactive, entrepreneurial individuals who thrive in dynamic environments. You should be prepared to showcase your passion for technology, your ability to manage ambiguity, and your resilience when projects encounter unexpected hurdles.

The interview process for a Project Manager at Reply is designed to evaluate both your practical management skills and your fit within the company's consulting ecosystem. While the process is structured, it can vary slightly in speed and composition depending on the specific subsidiary (e.g., Open Reply, Portal Reply) and the location you are applying to.

The journey typically begins with an initial screening call with a recruiter, which focuses on your background, career motivations, and basic alignment with the role. Following this, you will transition into a series of technical and managerial interviews. These rounds are conducted by Partners, Directors, or Hiring Managers from the specific subsidiary. They will dive deep into your project management methodologies, technical familiarity, and consulting capabilities. In some locations or specialized business units, you may also be asked to complete a technical task, case study, or presentation to demonstrate your structured thinking.

The timeline above outlines the standard progression a candidate experiences during the selection process. Use this timeline to pace your preparation, ensuring you focus on your high-level story and background in the early stages, before shifting to deep delivery methodologies and case preparation for the managerial rounds. Note that because Reply operates as a network of autonomous companies, the speed of this process can range from a highly accelerated one-week turnaround to a more deliberate, multi-week evaluation.

To succeed in the Reply interview process, you must understand the core competencies that hiring managers prioritize. Your performance will be evaluated across several key dimensions that reflect the realities of leading consulting engagements.

Methodological Execution & Project Control

This area focuses on your ability to structure, track, and deliver complex IT initiatives from initiation to closure. Interviewers want to see that you possess a robust toolkit of project management practices and can apply them flexibly.

Be ready to go over:

• Agile and Hybrid Frameworks – How you run sprints, manage backlogs, and adapt Scrum or Kanban to fit client-specific constraints.
• Risk and Issue Management – Your systematic approach to identifying bottlenecks, tracking dependencies, and proactively mitigating risks before they impact timelines.
• Scope and Budget Tracking – How you manage resource allocation, track project burn rates, and handle scope changes through formal and informal processes.

Example questions or scenarios:

• "How would you handle a project that is falling behind schedule due to unexpected technical complexity?"
• "Describe your process for prioritizing a bloated product backlog with competing stakeholder interests."

Client & Stakeholder Dynamics

As a consultant, your relationship with the client is just as important as your delivery metrics. This evaluation area assesses your emotional intelligence, negotiation skills, and ability to build long-term trust.

Be ready to go over:

• Stakeholder Management – How you communicate with different levels of a client organization, from engineering teams to C-level executives.
• Expectation Alignment – Your strategies for ensuring the client and the delivery team have a shared understanding of project goals and success criteria.
• Conflict Resolution – How you navigate disagreements, push back on unrealistic demands, and maintain a collaborative working relationship.

Example questions or scenarios:

• "How do you deliver bad news to a client when a critical milestone is going to be missed?"
• "Describe a time you had to manage a client who constantly changed their requirements mid-sprint."

Technical & Solution Alignment

While you do not need to be a hands-on engineer, you must demonstrate the technical literacy required to lead modern software and cloud delivery projects effectively.

Be ready to go over:

• Technical Communication – How you facilitate technical discussions and help translate business requirements into technical tasks.
• Architecture Awareness – Your familiarity with modern software concepts, such as microservices, cloud platforms, APIs, and CI/CD pipelines.
• Problem Resolution – How you work alongside technical leads to unblock architectural or developmental dependencies.

Example questions or scenarios:

• "Can you explain a complex technical challenge on a past project and how you helped the team resolve it?"
• "How do you ensure non-technical stakeholders understand the necessity of addressing technical debt?"