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The PM Interview Loop

The PM Interview Loop

A collection of advice I've received and given regarding the Product Management interview process. Despite the variety in PM roles across companies, there are definitely common themes.

Disclaimer: The views expressed here are my own. They do not necessarily reflect the views of my employer.

Process

Every company has a different interview process, but these are the three most common variants I've encountered.

Process

Qualities

  1. Product intuition
  2. Is smart
  3. History of successful execution
  4. Cultural fit
  5. Technical skills
  6. Business intuition

Types of Questions

Behavioral.

  • Why do you want to be a PM?
  • Tell me about a time when...
  • Tell me about your background...

Process.

  • How do you prioritize features?
  • How do you build your product roadmap?
  • What do you do if you are overcommited on a project?

Technical.

  • What happens when you type google.com into a web browser?
  • Explain how nslookup works.
  • Tell me about your last product's tech stack...

Design.

  • Wireframe a video player.
  • Design an espresso machine.

Design++ / Product Creation.

  • Design an autonomous drone.
  • What features will make the MVP?
  • How will you monetize the product?
  • How will you measure the success of the product?

Product Review.

  • What do you like and dislike about Product X?
  • How would you improve it?
  • How would you grow it?

Business.

  • How is Company X positioned against Company Y?
  • Why does Company X's business model work?
  • Why is Company X pursuing Y?

Brain Teasers / Analytical.

  • What's the market size for Product X?
  • How much revenue does Product X earn?

Tips

  • Research the company, product, competitors, landscape, interviewers before the interview.
  • Crunchbase is your best friend for researching startups.
  • Read past Glassdoor interview experiences at the company to familiarize yourself with their process.
  • Have prepared questions to ask. Explore how product management works at the company, what the future direction of the product/company is, potential future opportunities, etc.
  • Tell a compelling story for why you want to be a PM or work at the company.
  • For process questions, tie your experiences into your answers. Don't be afraid to talk about trade-offs you made and be critical / learn from your mistakes.
  • For technical questions, it's OK to say "I don't know". Talk about what you do know and reason through a possible answer.
  • Design questions are purposefully ambiguous. Ask questions to understand the purpose of the product and its users.
  • Don't forget you can always test designs with your users.
  • When talking about KPIs or metrics, make sure you can also talk about how to take action on them.
  • Product assignments consume a lot of time. Research and design are among the hardest parts.
  • Do a product review for something you use everyday. Identify what's good, what's bad, use cases, improvements, market, competition, user base, revenue, ways to boost user base, ways to boost revenue.
  • Start forming opinions on why certain products/companies succeed and others don't. Justify them with data and historical evidence.
  • Be careful when suggesting ideas to a company when you lack context.
  • Have an idea of what a PM does, but don't expect the role to conform to the cookie-cutter definition.
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