How Do You Align The Technical Team With The Product Vision And Overarching Goals Of The Company
Some recruiters might reserve this question for a technical product manager interview. However, most product manager interviewers tend to include this question in their interview process since it is more people management-related as opposed to technical.
With that in mind, the question invites candidates to touch on the strategies they use to unify the technical team with product strategy.
The nature of the question implies that fluid communication and frequent follow-ups will be crucial in this phase.
Candidates should refer to the importance of conducting as many meetings as necessary. In doing so, they must mention how important it is to sensitize the technical team and orient them on the product vision as well as the companys overarching goals.
The best candidates will also speak to the passive and active resistance that the technical team will display either before or during the development phase. You must mention how your meetings will help to reduce any type of resistance. Be sure to indicate that you will conduct ad-hoc meetings as needed in order to resolve specific concerns that one or more team members may have.
Here are some more technical product management-related questions that recruiters can ask:
3. Talk me through how you would write an algorithm to recommend friends to add.
4. Explain how you would write an algorithm to recommend contacts to add.
5. Describe how you would write an algorithm to recommend articles to a user.
Describe A Project You Completed In The Past And What You Might Do Differently Today
Interviewers may ask this question to gain a deeper understanding of your professional experience, including the projects you’ve completed and the products you’ve introduced to the market. You can use this answer to highlight a significant achievement and demonstrate how your skills have developed since then.
Example:”One of the first products I managed and launched early in my career was an innovative piece of technology that had impressive implications in the tech industry. The team worked beautifully together and the project was a success from start to finish. I am very proud of what the team accomplished, but if I were to manage the same product’s development today, I might spend more time in the research phase. Had the team understood the competitive market more thoroughly, we might have priced the product higher and generated significantly more revenue.”
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How To Answer The Salary Question
Always tailor your answer according to the person interviewing you as each has different motivations. Internal Recruiters are incentivized by how much money they save a company and thus want to hire you for the lowest amount of money possible.
On the other hand, External Recruiters earn a commission or a percentage of your first-year annual salary. Therefore, these people are extremely incentivized to get you more money.
a. In the First Round Interview
Avoid answering the salary question during the first round phone screen as much as possible. If you absolutely have to answer, give a range of what you are comfortable with, instead of tying yourself to a single number. Research Product Manager salaries in your target location and give a salary range within that ballpark.
b. In the Post-Final Round Interview
There are many critical factors to consider due to everyones unique situation. For example, it may be a position you are comfortable taking a pay cut for because you are simply such a big fan of what they are doing. You might also consider the benefits package and other perks they offer.
If you find yourself in a situation where you have to negotiate, research suggests that your counteroffer should be 10 to 20 percent higher than your initial offer. If youre in need of more negotiation tips, we encourage you to reach out to us for a second opinion and learn how to negotiate for a higher salary after receiving an offer.
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How Do You Communicate Your Product Strategy
This question explores which methods and tools the candidate utilizes to get the job done. It also checks to see whether theyre employing consensus-building tactics or merely broadcast their vision. Are they using data to back things up? Are they meeting one-on-one with key stakeholders or holding a large public forum? Are they using a roadmap to provide a planned timeline or just skipping to the endgame?
Interview Questions About Product Management
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B When Youve Stayed In Your Current Role Too Long
The above strategy is also very effective in a scenario where you have been at your current company for a very long time. Identify to the recruiter that you are actually very happy at your current company and did not have plans to leave before you saw the opportunity open up and decided to polish up your resume and give it a shot. Circle back to your research and the specific reasons you are excited about the company.
How Should You Deal With Uncooperative Stakeholders
As a product owner, it is your job to be as accommodating and flexible as possible with stakeholders. Sometimes they need more time or might not want you to change anything but if the stakeholder continues to refuse changes that would improve their end-user experience then there are other ways around this problem.
First of all, try getting in contact with them about why they are refusing changes and see if an agreement can be reached on smaller matters so that progress can continue. If this doesnt work out then ask for help from someone who has similar stakes like yourself at another company or department within your organization
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Can You Describe What It Means To Say All Work Is Done When All Stories Are Accepted How Does This Apply To Product Ownership
There is no blanket answer for this question and the meaning of all work done will differ from organization to organization. In some organizations, all work may be considered complete when there are no open tasks that need further attention in others, it might only refer to approved stories.
Product Ownership doesnt have an exact definition either but should always aim to deliver value as soon as possible by getting feedback on new features or products early and often until theyre ready for release.
Question : What Is Your Favorite Product And Why
With this question, interviewers are assessing your understanding of product design, your ability to deliver constructive criticism, and your knowledge of a specific product. They may ask about your favorite product in general or your favorite among their own line of products.
Below is an abbreviated sample answer using the BUS framework. For the full answer and an explanation of the framework to use in your own answers, take a look at our guide to the favorite product interview question.
Sample answer: What is your favorite product and why?
Business objective
“My favorite product right now is Instagram. I tend to use Instagram mostly as an end user, not an advertiser, so let me explain more about the product from that user perspective. Heres one of the problems it addresses:
User problems
It is tough to find one easy place to share casual photos, promote artwork, or build a small business where there are many users who are likely to find and share your content.
Solutions
Instagram solves this problem by giving users the option of exactly what accounts to follow, so theres a really high chance a users feed is full of content theyre going to enjoy as soon as the app launches on their phone. This is a better solution than some alternatives which require you to scroll through videos at random until the algorithm catches on to what you like .
For more help, heres a video example of an answer to the favorite product question, from an ex-Google PM.
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Questions To Ask About Company Culture
Company culture can be the make or break of your time as a Product Manager at the company, so its important to get a good feel of it. Is the office a more start-up culture kind of place, or the more traditional buttoned-up conservative environment?
Find out about this with questions such as:
- How would you describe the work environment at your company?
- Do people work collaboratively or independently?
- Whats the last team event that took place?
- Do you run any sort of team-bonding activities?
- Do you have any office traditions and what are your favorite?
- Do people typically hang out outside of work hours?
- Whats different about working here than anywhere else?
The Best Questions To Ask During A Product Manager Interview
Richard Chen
So, do you have any questions for us? Youre at the tail-end of the interview and are positive youve handled the grilling when your interviewer asks this question as if to conclude. It may seem like an innocuous question brought up by the by, but the way you handle this part of the interview may well determine whether you move forward in the interview process or even if you get the Product Manager job. Needless to say, having some questions to ask during the Product Manager interview can help you nail this part of the interview.
People often prepare to answer the questions they are asked, but its just as important to go in with some questions to ask employers during an interview of your own. What do you want to find out about the position, company, or team you will be working with? The right questions to ask interviewers will give you the answers you need while making you more memorable to the Hiring Manager.
What are some of the best questions to ask during product manager interviews? Weve put together this guide to help you cover all your bases right from the first interviewing round.
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Question : X Metric Changed Unexpectedlyhow Do You React
With this question, interviewers test your data analysis skills as well as your ability to communicate issues and act under pressure.
Below is an abbreviated sample answer to this question, using our signature method. For the complete answer and an explanation of the framework, take a look at our guide to product metric questions.
Sample answer: YouTube traffic went down 5% how would you report this issue to the executive team?
Define the metric change
Here are some questions that immediately come to mind to help clarify the question: How do you define traffic, what segments and device types is it affecting, and when did it start?
Explore possible root causes
Assume the interviewer tells you that the average time spent watching per session is down 5% month-over-month worldwide on mobile only.Now, brainstorm potential factors. Assume the interviewer has asked to focus on internal factors only.
Internal factors:
- Access to the product
- Product changes / quality
Assume the interviewer has confirmed that the reporting is working as expected, there is no seasonal drop, and there has been no major outage. Consider product changes: Did they release any significant feature changes?
The interviewer says that the user interface for the video player was recently changed on mobile, which involved making the Send video to device button two times larger, and reducing the Full screen button by half its original size.
Discuss and conclude
Can You Name Some Characteristics Of A Product Backlog Item
A product backlog item is a set of requirements that represent the items or features needed to be built. It includes business and functional needs, but it also considers constraints like timeframes, feasibility issues, risks involved in implementation, and how well the feature aligns with other project goals.
Each product backlog should have a concise description of what it contains so stakeholders can get an idea of everything they need for their own tasks as well as know which people are working on different parts of this requirement.
Theyre usually listed in order from most important to least important however, theres no right way to prioritize them as long as all details are accounted for. Items may also contain sub-items that give more detail on why these things matter while putting more emphasis on the user experience.
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Tell Me About A Situation Where You Identified A Need To Make A Significant Change To Your Existing Product Strategy Or Roadmap What Was The Scenario And How Did You Convince And Align Executives And Other Stakeholders
For a Senior Product Manager candidate, I’m looking for several things with this question. First, I want to hear how the candidate tells this story – do they clearly articulate the situational context: how they identified the potential need to change direction, prepared their case, communicated, and got buy-in.
Second, I’m looking for the type of example they select – is it a significant strategic decision, or just a relatively minor feature decision .
Finally, I’m looking for details on how they plan and communicate with stakeholders and customers – for example, do they prepare documents and presentations, or rely heavily on meetings, what techniques do they like to use to get alignment. In a great interview, this question can turn into a significant discussion, framing up a whole set of deeper follow-on questions.
Who Are Our Competitors What Is Better Or Lacking In Our Product In Comparison
Interviewers ask about their competitors and flaws in their own products to evaluate your understanding of the company.
To answer this question, research well before appearing for the interview and identify market competition.
Evaluate the differences between the organization and competitors and assess who is doing what better.
Use their products first hand to get an insight into their strengths and weaknesses from a users perspective.
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Product Sense & Design Interview Questions
There are three types of product sense questions: Product design questions, Product improvement questions and Favorite product questions.
Each of these subtypes assess your creativity, customer empathy, and your ability to use a structured approach to design products in different ways. Prior to the interview, be sure to familiarize yourself with the companys products to best answer this type of question.
Example questions: Product sense and design
Product design
Consult our guides to answering product design, product improvement, and favorite product interview questions to best prepare yourself for this category.
What Is One Of Your Super Powers As A Product Manager
Pansy said that she likes to end off the product manager interview with the super power question.
“I want to know what makes you unique and what I should continue to cultivate when they join. It also gives me insight into whether or not they are the right candidate for the role. Product management is different at every company and understanding their super power is a great way to help differentiate candidates when all the core skills are met.”
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How Would You Describe A Good User Story
A good user story has three main parts: a title, an actor, and the goal. The story should be written in such a way that its easy to determine what is needed from whoever will take on the task of building out this particular feature.
For example, if youre brainstorming about how we can make our checkout process faster or more streamlined, then your stories would have titles like Make Checkout Process Faster, or Remove Unnecessary Fields. The actor might be a customer and the goal can be to Save Time or Streamline Checkout Process.
Faqs About The Pm Interview Process
Below are some of the most frequently asked questions about how to prepare for the PM interview.
How do I prepare for a product manager interview?
- Step 1: Research the company you’re applying to and learn the product manager interview loop for that company.
- Step 2: Choose one type of interview questions for that role .
- Step 3: Review the most common interview questions. Create stories from your resume to prepare for your interview. Practice using the STAR method to answer each question.
- Step 4: Compare your answers to the most popular answers to interview questions from people who landed the job.
- Step 5: Move between interview question categories and repeat.
What makes a good PM interview?
Ultimately, your product manager interview will come down to three things.
Is Product Manager a Technical Role?
Depending on the company, your product management role may be technical. Companies like Google encourage a strong technical and coding background to succeed in their product management positions. However, many companies don’t require a technical background to lead technical teams.
Is Product Management a Stressful Job?
Study up on example PM interview questions
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