Why you FAIL your Product Management interviews... and how to fix it!
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 1 มิ.ย. 2024
- TOP 5 MISTAKES PEOPLE DO IN A PRODUCT MANAGER INTERVIEW!
After 5 years of being a Product Manager at top tech companies, I have interviewed hundreds of aspiring Product Managers and I compiled the top 5 most critical mistakes in this video.
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@00:00 Intro
@00:51 Top 5 Mistake: Suggesting improvements that are too common
@02:00 Top 4 Mistake: Not taking time brainstorm or taking too much time
@03:20 Top 3 Mistake: Not asking clarifying questions and not identifying a goal
@05:08 Top 2 Mistake: Not talking about users when improving the product
@06:09 Top 1 Mistake
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💻 About me 💻
I'm a Senior Product Manager by day and content creator whenever I have a few minutes in the morning, day or night to spare! I have experience working in Product Management at Microsoft in AI & Machine Learning, as well as Cisco in Wireless Technologies. I'm originally from Mexico City and I moved to the U.S. in 2015 to study my MBA at Duke University. I discovered Product Management when I started Business School and since then, it has been my mission and my passion to help others break into this role!
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✅ Disclosure ✅
This video is not sponsored; all opinions shared are my own.
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Top 5 - Improving products
Don't be afraid to show your creative side during these interviews. Many candidates share improvements that end up being far too common or simple in the interview. For companies like Google, you want to make sure that you show your creative side and share some Moonshot ideas!
How can you come up with new ideas?:
1) Stay updated on tech trends to read about new innovations. Techcrunch is a good place to start. You can also check the list of products presented every year at the Consumer Electronic Show (CES), there's a lot of innovation happening.
2) Practice, practice, practice... the more you practice the easier it will be to brainstorm new solutions.
Top 4 - Brainstorming time!
Believe or not, it's very OK to take "breaks" during the interview to brainstorm and put your thoughts together. A LOT of candidates talk non-stop during the interview and this can end up being very, very confusing for you and for the interviewer.
Take a step back, take a few minutes to gather your thoughts (not 5 minutes.. I've seen this happen before, too!), take notes and THEN start solving the case. Don't be afraid to ask for time to brainstorm.
Top 3 - Remove ambiguity
Many... many... maaaaaaany aspiring PMs start solving the question they get asked immediately after the interviewer asks the question. Most of the time, the questions you'll get asked are left very open ended with the intention that you scope down the problem.
Make sure you clarify questions and set a goal for your question, otherwise you'll end up with a huge scope that is going to be hard to solve in 30 minutes (typical time for a PM interview). Even worse, you might be solving something different than what the interviewer is thinking about!
Top 2 - One of the worst mistakes IMO that you can do in a PM interview...
As soon as the interviewee ignores completely talking about users or segments when improving a Product, I know things won't likely go in the right direction. Remember that as a PM it's all about how you solve your customer's or user's pain points... not yours'. ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS talk about users (UNLESS the interviewer asks you to skip that part - may happen because of time constraints)
Top 1 - This is the backbone and central to the case. While everything else can go right, missing this can still make you fail the interview!
@06:09
#ProductManagement #Interview #ProductSense
#AmazonInterview #GoogleInterview #FacebookInterview #MicrosoftInterview #FAANGInterview #productmanager #career #MBA #jobsearch #technology #interviewtips
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Diego, this is a great valuable notes to really consider during an interview. Thank you for the value you add to us aspiring PM's
Thanks so much @Abel! :)
Hi Diego,
Appreciate for explaining such important points for a PM(as a bigger picture for interview). This content really adds a lot of value for a PM job. Many thanks for your valuable time & effort.
Thank you @Tamal! I’m really glad that you enjoy the content!
Hey Diego thanks for helping pm community. You are doing great job.
One question how to effectively answer product metric question?
Awesome!
Great video Diego!
Thank you, @Seyi! I’m glad you liked it :)
Hey Diego, great work, have you planned to make a community to interact and learn with amazing folks so that we can peer learn from one another, i am and Aspiring pm who is hoping to put a foot in the door of PM world, thanks with all the help you are doing for us.
Love this, excellent advice! I particularly enjoyed the pieces about ways to include examples of being data-driven in the resume.
Clarifying question - is it appropriate to ask clarifying questions when asked questions like "how would you improve ____ product?" For example, is it ok to ask questions about segments or users?
Also, love the advice about practicing responses! Something I used to do when practicing my sales demos was to practice in front of a mirror so I could see my own body language and facial expressions. I found it really helpful for being able to see how what I'm saying actually looks to the other person!
Absolutely Spencer! The only problem with asking a question as open ended as "What segments or users you should target" is that the interviewer can ask you back: "Well, whom do you think we should target". In fact, I recommend thinking about users/segments AFTER you clarify questions.
My recommendation is to always lead with a hypothesis whenever you want to ask an open ended question. For example, let's say we were improving or designing a new type of Oven. Instead of asking a question like: "Where are these ovens going to be located (schools, restaurants, hotels, etc.)" I recommend asking instead something like this: "Ok, so based on the other questions we just talked about, and given our goal is X, I believe that the best location for this new type of oven is ___ (choose one that makes sense to you, maybe it's homes)___, would that be ok for you? Or do you prefer that we explore other options?"
Leading with a hypothesis gives you the freedom, in most cases, to take control of the case question and make it easier for you. Very few interviewers might say: No, let's explore this other use case instead. The majority will let you continue with the case if your reasoning for choosing that direction makes sense.
Let me know if this helps or if you have any other questions!
@@PMDiegoGranados This totally helps thank you so much!