Preparing for the Product Management Interview is a long process. It may take weeks to months if you want to target top-tier “FAANG” companies. Over the years, we have interviewed over 100+ companies for Product Management positions. Companies from startups to LinkedIn and Facebook, and it was a long and morally draining process. There are plenty of blogs, sites, and courses out there on how to prepare for the product management interview. Here are some of the things I wish I knew and things I have learned along the way about getting into Product Management.
Understand The Types of Product Managers
Product Management has become increasingly popular as a career path in recent years. When you browse job postings or ask HR what a “Product Manager” does, you’ll be met with very different descriptions.
The Majority of the prep material out there focuses on the “Generalist” Product Manager. Each company will define the position differently, but based on my interview experience here’s how you can bucket them. You can read a more detailed discussion about the types of PM’s here.
Generalist Product Manager
(Growth PM, Mobile PM) The “Generalist” is the common definition of a product manager. This role is more front-end and consumer-facing and interfaces with the customers to research the user needs. Next, you will work with UI /UX to build a product to satisfy those needs. Google, Facebook, and LinkedIn hires are looking for this type. “Generalists” have good product sense and are great at executing through ambiguity. Ultimately finding product-market fit, through A/B testing, and executing on that vision.
The idea is that if you have good PM sense, you work on any product. The product domain can be learned once you have that “product sense”. Most MBA direct hires fall into this category.
Platform Product Manager
The Platform Product Manager is also known as Technical Product Managers or Data PMs. These product managers focus on building technical platforms or products used by internal company teams, or external developers. They can be Data PMs, Internal tools PMs or Enterprise PMs. The stakeholders or “customers” for these product managers are usually internal teams or other technical teams. Think API’s services, and enterprise tools and processes, where there is usually more stress on knowing the domain and less stress on finding product-market fit. Preparing for Generalist Product Management roles would often cover both categories.
What is Product Management?
First, let’s dive into the key domains or Pillars of Product Management. To build a product, you first need to identify the customers. This falls into the domain of design research, UX /UI, and data analytics. Next, PMs research what they want and their pain point (product sense) then build the product itself (MVP, execution / technical, leadership). Finally, you need to develop a launch strategy (marketing), launch, and optimize the product (analytics). This is why preparing for the Product Management interview takes such a long time. You almost have to become a jack of all trades.
Product Design
Data Analytics
- Analytics Overview
- How you define metrics (Acquisition, Activation, Retention, Reach, Revenue)
- How you set up A/B tests
Technical
Execution
Strategy
Where do I start in preparing for the Product Management Interview?
To start, I read what’s considered the “bibles” of Product Management Interviews. I would read them in that order. Alternatively, you can just read Cracking the PM Interview, and try to do the bank of questions on your own from the plethora of online resources. For a more detailed review of these books check our post on product management interview books.
1: Cracking the PM Interview
The book “Cracking the PM Interview” will give you a good overview of the PM landscape, what each tech company is looking for, and half the book is dedicated to general interview and resume tips that apply to all job searchers. Aside from preparing for Product Management Interviews, this is an excellent book on the job searching process. There are chapters dedicated to updating your resume, behavioral interviews, as well as general job searching. I’ve recommended this to friends who were not looking for PM roles.
2: Decode and Conquer
Guide to the design interview with questions and guided answers.
3: The Product Management Interview
Pretty much a question and answer bank of interview questions and sample answers.
Where should I focus my efforts (PM Domains) during preparation?
Most of the PM interview guides and books will help you prepare for the interviews by focusing on answering the questions. Additionally, it’s helpful to learn a bit about the individual PM domains. This is often a challenge for those that are not already in Product Management.
It’s a to answer questions and pivots if you know the core concepts of the underlying specialty areas. We’ll look at the key domains and apply the Pareto principle here. Yes using a PM concept to study for PM interviews sounds about right. You’ll want to learn enough about each topic to know enough to answer the questions with confidence.
Creating a study plan to prepare for the Product Management Interview
Creating a study plan with these areas defined is a good way to prepare for the product management interview. I’d work to prioritize the area I most need improvement on. Prioritization is a key skill anyways, so might as well get as much practice as we can. From there, you can work backward to create a schedule. Browse through the types of questions asked to get a sense of where you may need more work. Keep in mind most phone screens and initial hiring manager conversations I’ve encountered revolve around the Product Sense or Design case study. Having good produce sense is the baseline competency for PM positions. If you’re short on time, I’d be sure to nail this one to buy time to study the other topics.
Tie it all together with PM mock interviews
Doing mock peer interviews is a must and the key to success for Product Management interviews. If grasping the concepts and response frameworks were not enough, there are the nerves that come with answering these questions on the spot. It’s an uncomfortable experience at first, but it becomes normalized with more practice. However, 100+ mock interviews later, your actual interviews will feel like another mock interview. Additionally, it helps to experience how others answer the questions. Remember, these are your peers who you would be “competing” with for these positions, why not train with them, and use them to make you better.
Practice Practice Practice
The more you practice, the more of a chance you will have seen an exact question. Join our Discord server to learn more and pair with other individuals studying for Product Management interviews. Also, check out our post on 99 PM Interview Questions.
Post a comment below to let me know if you have any questions or how your PM interview experience has been.
Good Luck!