The roles and responsibilities you will hold as a Product Manager are……….. wait, who are we kidding? There’s no way we can pin down the functions of PM in a company and the vague job descriptions we come across every day tell a similar story.
A Product Manager really is the jack of all trades in a company and is present at the juncture of all the product-related businesses evaluating ideas, building strategies, laying down roadmaps, leading teams, analyzing reports, keeping a finger on the pulse of customers, playing the market maven and so on. While the undefined scope of work of this position might intimidate some, its ubiquitous nature topped with lucrative pay makes it highly appealing among impact-driven individuals and attracts a sea of aspirants every year.
Given the tight race and multifaceted role of a Product Manager, it should not come as a surprise that you have to go through a rigorous interview process to bag this position in your dream company. Well, that’s where we come in. In this guide, we are going to break down typical Product Management Interviews and provide you with expert tips to face any curveball thrown at you confidently.
How To Crack Product Management Interviews?
Your Pre-Interview Kit
Before getting down to the nitty-gritty of the interview process, let's have a look at the must-haves of your pre-interview kit that will help you gain the whip hand.
- Practice, practice, practice: We can’t emphasize enough on how crucial it is to practice the interview. Participate in mock interviews and keep solving the trickiest Product Management Interview questions until you develop the knack for approaching every question the right way.
- Be thorough with the process: Knowing what each round is about and the intent of the recruiter behind conducting it will help you decide how to approach it in advance and avoid any surprises for you at the interview.
- Get your story sharp & straight: The recruiter already is familiar with your background after looking at your CV and doesn’t need you to explain any other day at your previous jobs. What they want is a succinct account of your past experiences, and your major decisions backed by the clear rationale to dig deep into your personality and thought process. Therefore, be prepared with a concise, well-worded brief of your past work strides, and make sure that it doesn’t contain any irrelevant details.
- Research about the company: Well, you can’t really miss out on this. Research well about the company, make a note of its when, who, how, and why; track its journey, its leaders, and all of its products/services. You can slide in this information in your answers which will show that you have done your homework and are serious about bagging the role.
- Pack a few smart questions: Recruiters always appreciate candidates being curious about the job role, company, and its products as it shows how interested or serious they are about wanting to work with them. Preparing 2-3 smart questions for your Product Management Interviews that bring out your critical thinking and intelligence will be a good way to earn extra points.
A Typical Format - Product Management Interviews
Product Management interviews are usually conducted in 2 phases. The first one is intended towards knowing you, your background, past experiences, role suitability, and eligibility, while the other focuses on your skills, expertise, technical knowledge, understanding, and vision.
PHASE 1
Round 1: Exploratory Discussion
Right after your CV is selected, the recruiter reaches out to you and asks for a suitable time to connect and conduct the very first round of the interview- The Exploratory Discussion. During this session, you will be asked about your previous work experiences, reasons to switch jobs, your short-term & long-term goals, strengths, weaknesses, and anything that the recruiter feels necessary to understand your background and assess your eligibility for the role.
How to approach:
Take this round as an opportunity to gain insight into the company and its work culture and check whether its visions and values align with yours. Convey your goals clearly to the interviewer and try to generate an understanding of the company’s expectations from you as well. Be concise and clear but do not shy away from asking for clarification pertaining to any point put across during the round.
Round 2: Phone Screening- Product Thinking Round
This round is going to be technical in nature. One of the company’s employees (mostly your potential peer) will be facilitating it and screening you on the basis of your past roles, projects undertaken, and more.
How to approach:
The interviewer will be diving deep into your previous roles and enquire about your contributions in detail. All you need to do here is be as exhaustive as you can. Do not miss out on details, especially the ones that highlight you as a leader or a good team leader. Cloaking failures isn’t a good move either as the interviewer might notice the gaps and follow up on the same which can make you look suspicious. Instead, mentioning the unfavorable results and providing inputs on how you think they could have been turned into successes will project you as a wise individual who learns from their mistakes.
PHASE 2
Round 1: Problem-Solving Round
Things get real from here. During this round, you will be given a problem (could be industry-specific or from an entirely different context) and evaluated on your approach and thought process. Be thorough with the answers and provide the rationale for any stand you take while answering these questions.
How to approach:
The interviewer wants to understand your thought process, how you approach a problem and break it down, how well you understand it, what aspects you consider important while solving it, whether you have the foresight, and so on. To crack this round, you need to try finding an innovative answer that really provides a solution instead of wondering what the ideal answer would be. Explain all the crucial components of your answer in-depth and take sufficient time to reach a solution. The better you understand the problem, the better you’d be able to solve it.
Round 2: Product Thinking
Here’s where your attitude and understanding toward customer needs would be evaluated. The interviewer will give you a product-related problem statement and ask you to curate a strategy and roadmap for the same.
How to approach:
Try looking at the deeper problem here. There are chances that the problem statement could be twisted, in a way that the main question is not so apparent and you would need to reach the real problem hidden down there. Here’s a tip- the customer always comes first and the interviewer will be evaluating you on your empathy towards their concerns. Make sure your answer doesn’t shift the focal point away from the customer and provides a long-term solution.
Round 3: Business Understanding
As a PM, you are going to be a major contributor to business success and therefore your understanding of business strategies is vital. During this round, the interviewer will again dig into your past experiences and ask questions about the business functions, competitors, revenue models, industry trends, and so on.
How to approach:
Showcase your experience and knowledge of the industry in question. Come up with well-thought-of suggestions and explain their short-term & long-term impacts.
Round 4: Engineering Understanding
Product Managers work with various teams and it’s important that they have a basic understanding of every area to make the best decisions. This round is focused on judging your understanding of the design and engineering aspects of a product and also how well-versed you are with the SDLC & PDLC practices.
How to approach:
Try taking the help of your past experience to highlight your strengths in this area. Familiarity with basic SDLC & PDLC practices will help you navigate through this round.
Round 5: Team Fitment
You will be asked about your aspirations and expectations from your new team, the assistance you consider indispensable for delivering positive results, and what are the new things you will be bringing to the company. The interviewer might also ask you to spell out your strengths and shortcomings and how you plan on using or improving them.
How to approach:
The key to acing this round is to be your authentic self. Just be real!
Round 6: Culture Fitment
This round is all about understanding your personality, working style, and proficiency level in various management and people skills to assess your compatibility with the company’s culture. The recruiter might try to get insights into any problems you faced in your previous workplaces and what your expectations are. Be ready to answer some hypothetical questions too.
How to approach:
Being honest and straightforward is all we would suggest to you for this round. It’s also important for you to figure out whether the new opportunity will put you on the path of growth and betterment in your field and therefore, try to ask as many questions as you need to get a clear picture of the work environment, leadership, growth opportunity, etc.
What Not To Do
- Do not skip expounding on the challenges and conflicts you faced in your previous jobs. In fact, use them to highlight your problem-solving and firefighting abilities; it will strengthen your footing as a reliable leader.
- Refrain from concocting stories in response to behavioral/situational questions as seasoned interviewers can easily catch any irregularity in your narrative. Instead, try searching for a relevant instance outside of work or explain how you would have dealt with the situation in question.
- Not presenting scenarios of teamwork could be a red flag for the employer. As a Product Manager, you are expected to play the role of coordinator between various teams and sharing relative experiences will definitely earn you some brownie points.
- Throwing users’ interest in the backseat while answering questions is a big no-no as one of your most crucial roles as a Product Manager will be to prioritize customer needs and act as a bridge between them and the executives at your company.
- Showing no interest in learning and improvement is extremely offputting especially when the candidate is interviewing for a leadership role. Recruiters look for individuals who are coachable, eager to learn, and searching for betterment opportunities.
The Bottom Line
So, that was all for the Product Management interview process and we hope you were able to garner sufficient understanding of the entire process.
Product management sure is a rewarding field, be it in terms of pay, growth potential, recognition in society, or job satisfaction. But with millions of aspirants chasing the same dream, it gets extremely difficult to break into and you need expert guidance to acquire real-life skills that will help you begin your journey in the right direction.
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