Alternative Resources To This Book If Youre In A Hurry
If you dont have the time or money to invest in buying and reading a book, there are still plenty of free resources you can check out. Check out the Product Gym YouTube channel for our interview tips playlist, or peruse our blog for templates on how to answer all the most common product management interview questions as well as interview strategies.
Still sound like a lot of work and research? We are always here to help you land your dream Product Manager job in the shortest amount of time without quitting your full-time job. Schedule a call to get a free career coaching session with our in-house team. Wed love to answer any questions you may have about interview resources.
Crack The Product Manager Interview With Gayle Mcdowell
Preparing for your first interview in any industry can be intimidating. Its all about navigating the process, in-depth research and a lot of practice. This especially applies to the Product Manager interview.
Thats why we brought in Gayle McDowell, who wrote the book on the topic, to share her tips and insights with our community. She went through a handful of estimation, behavioral, case, product and technical questions, and the all-important pitch.
Heres the breakdown of what you should and should not do to crack the product manager interview.
Its A Comprehensive Guide That Helps Navigate The Pm Interview Process
One of the main reasons why people purchase the book is because of the questions and chapters that ready a candidate for a product manager interview. The majority of aspiring PMs and professionals who are switching to product management find the questions helpful and advantageous.
Overall, its a great book for those who want to gain a better understanding of product management to break into it. Seasoned PMs can also go through the material to refresh their knowledge of the basics. Those transitioning to the Product Manager role will also find this book useful as it has a dedicated section for transitioning.
The information presented, especially the chapters for the PM interview prep, behind-the-scenes of big companies, and industry expert advice, have proven to be valuable, based on a good amount of reader reviews.
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Cracking The Pm Interview Ebook Review By Pushkar Dongare
This book is the perfect resource for anyone interested in learning about the product management profession. It provides an overview of the role, what it entails, how to prepare for interviews, how to write resumes and cover letters, how to navigate through the hiring process, and much more. Whether you’re just starting out or you’ve already made it in the field, this book is a must read!
Also By Gayle And Jackie: Cracking The Pm Career
| With Cracking the PM Interview focused on product management interviews, Cracking the PM Career focuses on thriving in the PM role.”Our goal for Cracking the PM Career is to be the guide we never had. This book shares the skills, frameworks, and practices that my peers and I have painstakingly learned and honed over the years so that PMs can spend less time reinventing the wheel. It delves into the mystery and ambiguity surrounding career progression so that PMs can focus on the right areas and reach their potential. It connects the dots on how to develop each important PM skill so that mentors can point their mentees towards actionable feedback.” |
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Cracking The Pm Interview Pdf Review By Whatireallyread
In order to get hired at Facebook, Google, or Amazon, you’ll need to go through an interview process. Some companies may ask you questions about your background, others may ask you to write code, and yet others may ask you to solve problems. Regardless of how they choose to test you, the goal is the same: to see if you’re qualified to work at one of these big tech companies.
Build The Right Profile
Interviewers look for five key competencies in PM candidates:
Analysis and Insight: Companies seek data-driven PMs who can analyze metrics and draw insights from usage patterns. Find ways to build and demonstrate data analysis skills.
Customer Focus: Companies want candidates who can understand customer requirements and translate customer feedback into product specs.
Business Cases: Companies love candidates who have built business cases, sized markets and made business decisions.
A background in marketing can help PMs effectively communicate the value of a product and design products that will do well in the marketplace.
Industry Expertise: A deep working knowledge of a specific industry can be a good boost when you apply for PM roles in the same industry.
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Cracking The Pm Interview Pdf Review By Tatsiana Ostanina
Amazing workbook for those who want to become product managers, project managers, business analysts, product owners, or any type of manager. The greatest thing about this book is that it has NO redundant information. Only the most significant facts and examples are included. It includes much useful advice and details about FANG and other top tech companies . Good luck!
Cracking The Product Manager Interview: On Startups
There is also a startup section in Cracking PM Interview that talks about how product management is done in smaller companies. The startups that Lackman covers in her book are now big tech companies that either completed their IPO or are on the brink of one. Examples of such companies include Uber, Dropbox, and Airbnb.
In 2021, the companies mentioned in this section are no longer startups, so we found it to be a bit obsolete. The bottom line is that product management at every startup differs immensely. However, one common theme weve observed is that Product Managers tend to play a more active role in executive decisions in startups, and they interact more with the senior leadership.
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Master 5 Great Stories
You can easily ace behavioral questions with some preparation. Create a grid with common behavioral questions as columns. These can include leadership, teamwork, successes, challenges and failures. Add significant work experience and projects as rows. Finally, fill each cell with one or more stories.
Select five great stories that best represent why you are an excellent PM candidate. Each story must have a substantial Situation, Action and Result. You must have at least one story for each behavioral question type. Practice these stories with friends to polish the narration.
When Should You Read Cracking The Pm Interview
You should read Cracking the PM Interview if you wonder what a Product Manager does and how this career path is represented in todays modern corporate structure .
Its a reliable resource that explains the birth of modern product management practice. As a reader, you can take a very close peek at how this profession is done or should be appropriately done in a properly functioning tech company.
You get to understand what a Product Manager at a Big Tech or FAANG company does on a daily basis. In the long run, its an excellent way for you to learn what is expected of you as a Product Manager at large tech companies.
You should refer to Cracking the PM Interview as a resource if you aim to join, , Apple, , or Microsoft. Lackman successfully covers and explains how product management works in each of these companies.
Another aspect of the book that we enjoyed was how she clearly explains some of the most commonly asked behavioral Product Manager interview questions. We all know that these questions can reveal so much information about ones career and potential, and its essential to answer them in the right way.
Not only does Lackman include sample answers to help you formulate your answers to these questions, but she also talks about the critical aspects you should be demonstrating about yourself. You should pay extra attention to this part to learn what interviewers expect you to talk about.
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Cracking The Pm Interview Pdf
Cracking the PM interview is a comprehensive guide to landing a product management role at a startup or larger tech company. Learn how to identify the right opportunity, how to prepare for an interview, and how to ace the interview itself. You’ll learn how to craft a killer resume and cover letter, and how to answer every question asked during the interview. Finally, you’ll discover how to master the art of the pitch, so you can convince your interviewer to hire you!
“Our goal for cracking the PM career is to be the guide that never was. This book shares the knowledge, frameworks, and practices we’ve painstakingly learned and honned over the years so that people can spend less time reinventin’ the wheel. It dives into the mystery and ambiguity around career progression so that people can focus on the right things and reach their potential. And it connects the dots on how people can develop each important PM skill, so that mentors can point people toward actionable feedback.”
How To Crack The Pm Interview By Gayle Mcdowell
Product Management Event Held at the Product Conference in San Francisco.Gayle McDowell taught how to prepare for Product Manager interviews, what top companies like Google, Amazon, and Microsoft really look for, and how to tackle the toughest problems. She also discussed how the ambiguously-named “PM” role varies across companies, what experience you need, how to make your existing experience translate, what a great PM resume and cover letter look like, and finally, how to master the PM interview questions .
Product Management Event Held at the Product Conference in San Francisco.Gayle McDowell taught how to prepare for Product Manager interviews, what top companies like Google, Amazon, and Microsoft really look for, and how to tackle the toughest problems. She also discussed how the ambiguously-named “PM” role varies across companies, what experience you need, how to make your existing experience translate, what a great PM resume and cover letter look like, and finally, how to master the PM interview questions .
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The 16 Best Product Management Books
Looking to land your first job in project management? Feedback on your product idea? Want your product to attract more customers? Or are you a founder looking to better cope with todays rapidly-changing technological landscape?
Reading the right books will give you an edge.
The best product management books are written by industry tech moguls and industry experts who walk their talk. They contain field-tested and actionable strategies their authors have gathered from decades of experience.
With that in mind, here are the 16 best product management books of 2022 :
Subtitle: The Primer on Technology and Business Strategy
: Aditya Agashe, Neel Mehta, and Parth Detroja
Time to read : 5 hours and 21 minutes
Audiobook available: No
Swipe to Unlock was written in 2017 by three product managers at Google, Facebook, and Microsoft. And it delivers.
In short, the book will give you an understanding of todays tech scene and get you to appreciate some of the strategic decisions tech giants have made in the last decade.
You will get acquainted with important tech concepts like algorithms, big data, and operating systems, but youll also find out how these technologies have impacted the consumer market as we know it today. For example: Why does Amazon offer free delivery even though it loses the company money? Or: Why does Asia rely so heavily on QR codes for payments?
Subtitle: How to Create Tech Products Customers Love
: Marty Cagan
Time to read: 6 hours 8 minutes
: Melissa Perri
Which Cracking The Pm Interview Sections Best Represent Todays Pm Hiring Landscape
We know that getting a Product Manager job is complicated: there are seemingly endless things to learn. In Cracking the PM Interview, Lackman does have many useful tips that prospective PMs could use. Its a great supplementary resource for your interview prep.
Her explanation of transitioning from engineering to product management is very informative. She shares a clear roadmap of how these two career paths are related and how one can leverage an engineering background to become a successful Product Manager.
However, there isnt enough clarity on how professionals coming from a non-technical or business background can make a transition to product management. There is definitely a strong population of non-technical professionals that would also like to transition to product management its not just software engineers.
We also love the fact that she addresses the MBA question. Many first-time Product Manager candidates believe that getting an MBA is the only way of transitioning to product management, but we believe otherwise. Based on the data weve collected while helping first-time Product Managers, its clear to us that you can succeed without an MBA. In this regard, It was very refreshing to hear a prominent voice confirm our perspective.
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The Hard Thing About Hard Things
Subtitle: Building a Business When There Are No Easy Answers
: Ben Horowitz
Time to read: 5 hours and 4 minutes
Audiobook available: Yes
Startup advice from one of Silicon Valleys most esteemed entrepreneurs and venture capitalists, Ben Horowitz.
Horowitz shines some light on the less glamorous aspects of starting and running a business like dealing with difficult employees, letting people go, knowing when to give up versus persevere, leading in times of uncertainty, poaching clients, and a lot more.
This book was written with founders in mind. If you are leading your own product company, it will help you navigate the difficult decisions you will sooner or later have to make.
Note Horowitz wrote the book in a rather casual tone and includes some vulgarity. It may not be to everyones taste.
Subtitle: How to Nail Product Positioning so Customers Get It, Buy It, Love It
: April Dunford
Time to read: 1 hour and 56 minutes
Audiobook available: Yes
Obviously Awesome is all about positioning. April Dunford offers a 10-step process to finding and communicating your products competitive advantage effectively with lots of examples.
This is the process Dunford used to launch 16 products in her 25 years as a marketing executive for startups.
Following Dunfords advice, youll be able to break through a crowded market and create a context for your product that makes it easy to understand and buy.
Subtitle: Marketing and Selling Disruptive Products to Mainstream
: Geoffrey A. Moore
Why Its Not For You
Plenty of more established PMs mentioned that this book is good as a refresher but its contents are geared towards beginner PMs or those who are not in the industry but want to start their PM career. The lessons were more foundational which seasoned PMs are already aware of.
Cracking the PM interview has its merits but it also has some parts that need improvement. For instance, the book was first published in 2013. While some of the core ideas remain relevant, there is information that is dated. A lot of the information may not apply to todays PM hiring landscape anymore.
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Cracking The Pm Interview Pdf Book Review By Andrew Balyk
This little book is a wealth of information for product managers. I recommend reading it, regardless of whether you are planning to have an interview or not. From this book you can “extract” a large number of new skills and techniques that will help you not only to improve your own work, but also to start enjoying it. Or remind yourself of long-forgotten things. The book nicely structures information and provides an excellent foundation for further learning.
Cracking The Pm Interview: Everything You Need To Know
Richard Chen
Product management has always been a popular topic. In fact, its so popular that numerous product people shared their experiences, expertise, and even their memories of product management in hundreds of blog posts and product management books. But out of all these resources, one that has always been under the spotlight was Gayle LackmansCracking the PM Interview.
How to crack pm interview is so popular that we always receive at least one question about it during our live events. So, to tackle the big quetsions, heres our very own take on Gayle Lackmans Cracking the PM Interview.
One big disclaimer before we begin our review: Please be aware that all of the views shared here are the Product Gym staffs personal opinions and dont necessarily reflect everyones views.
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Is A Cs Background Necessary
Companies use technical expertise as a proxy for specific skills. If you don’t have a CS background, find ways to develop and demonstrate three skills:
Ability to form a working relationship with engineers. PMs have to work closely with engineers, understand their mindset and appreciate the complexity of their work.
A good understanding of how long engineering work takes. PMs need to make informed tradeoffs between time spent and the value of the work to the customer.
Hands-on and self-sufficient. PMs must be able to make minor product changes and gather data independently.
How To Crack The Product Manager Interview
In this talk, Gayle McDowell taught how to prepare for Product Manager interviews,, and how to tackle the toughest problems.
Gayle discussed how the ambiguously-named PM role varies across companies, what experience you need and how to make your existing experience translate. She also gave insight on what a great Product Manager resume and cover letter look like, and finally, how to master the Product Manager interview questions.
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Cracking The Pm Interview Book Review Summary
Cracking the PM Interview is a good resource if youre preparing for a PM interview or if you want to break into product management. However, it does have areas that need improvement. While the interview question guides, as well as the industry advice, are valuable, the book has dated information that may not be relevant anymore.
Those who want to prep for their interviews properly should take advantage of other resources like blogs, podcasts, communities, and the like.
It may be advantageous to take a PM prep course after reading the book so you can get more tips. Joining a community is also ideal as it gives you the chance to network and interact with other PMs. Doing this also gives you opportunities to practice which is highly recommended in the book.
Because the PM hiring landscape changes constantly, use your resourcefulness to look for other helpful materials.
