How to Nail the PM Interview

April 17, 2020

Interviewing for Product Manager role that too for a PM role in one of the tech giants like Microsoft, Google, Facebook, etc. is not a piece of cake. The PM to Dev ratio in the tech companies is 1:8 or 1:10 and therefore cracking a PM interview is not only challenging but nerve-wracking as well. I can speak for myself- I have an undergrad in Chemical Engineering and dual master’s in Business Administration and Information Systems but when I interviewed for the Microsoft PM position it was one of the most challenging interviews of my life (A pic from the day of my interview at Microsoft below).

I have been asked this question- how to nail the PM interview multiple times on various social media platforms. And therefore in this Blog- I will be briefly covering what a Program Manager or Product Manager does, what are the skills required to succeed in a PM interview, and some books that have helped me as a Program Manager and are absolute must-reads.

The life of a PM ( A mystery? )

A product manager is someone who will create a product from ideation to launch. She will create the product roadmap and product strategy, do competitive research, prioritize features, work with engineers, designers, marketing teams, and partners to ship a quality product to customers . In short, a PM is a mini- CEO of her product.

In short, a PM sits at the intersection of tech, business, and user experience (a classic Venn diagram below).

Skills required to succeed in a PM interview

When I interviewed for the program manager internship at Microsoft in 2017 I had 7 rounds of interviews-2 phone screening, and 5 rounds at the Microsoft campus before I was offered a PM internship at Microsoft. Here’s my perspective on the skills required to succeed in a PM interview and what interviewers look for in a PM candidate.

1. Problem-solving

The interviewers are interested in knowing how will you solve problems in which you have no expertise by asking critical thinking questions. They also want to know how will you improve a product if given a chance. There is no right or wrong in these types of answers. The interviewers look at the approach, creativity, scalability, feasibility of the answers.

2 most common types of critical thinking questions asked by interviewers are:

a. Pick a product that you like the most at Microsoft (or any company) and how will you improve it. To answer this question, you should know the various products of the company you are interviewing for as well as some competitive analysis will be handy. And when answering this question think about the bigger solutions- like how will your idea/answer change the user engagement of the product or if you have used the product what is one thing which you feel is a customer pain-point and want to improve. This will show you think about customers and customer engagement metrics when designing solutions to improve a product.

b. Design a “——-“- here the interviewers generally ask you questions out of your comfort zone like design an alarm clock for the blind or design an elevator(I was asked the latter). The idea here is to see how you react to new situations or new problems. Let’s say you are given design an alarm clock for the blind. There are a couple of things you should keep in mind before you answer-First, pause and ask for clarification like who is the product user? Is it the blind person or someone who is living with the blind person and is not blind. Clarify and make some assumptions, agree on the goals and set boundaries. You can find a lot of sample questions on these types of questions on Glassdoor as well as the books I have recommended in this blog.

2. Analytical

As a PM you will be dealing with numbers- metrics, survey, cost estimation, etc. The interviewers want to see whether you are data-oriented or not. They give you an estimation question- typically something like- “Estimate the amount of money spent on gas every year in the US” or “How many flights leave the Seattle International airport per day”. The most important thing to remember is no one cares about the number, it’s the approach that interviewers are looking for. To tackle a problem like this- ask clarification questions and make assumptions, map out the calculations, round the numbers and calculate, and keep talking about your thought process as you approach the answer.

3. Tell me about a time (Situational questions- Leadership, Communication, & Teamwork)

These questions are not only to know about your experiences but also to cover the soft skills- leadership, communication, and teamwork. Examples can be- tell me about a time there was a conflict with your manager and how did you resolve it, tell me about a time you led a team, tell me about a time you delivered something with the most difficult team. Through these questions, the interviewer wants to know have you faced leadership and managerial challenges and if yes, how you reacted to those.

One of the most difficult jobs of a PM is to lead a team that is not directly reporting to her(the devs, designers, etc.) and thus soft skills play a vital role in being a good PM.

As well as these types of questions also help the interviewer to evaluate whether you are a cultural fit for the company/team or not. For these types of questions go prepared (be honest) as well as study about the company culture you are interviewing for so that you have an idea of the cultural expectations.

4. Prioritization

A PM should have a vision and build roadmaps for the features or products they are working on. These types of questions are asked to test the industry or domain knowledge as well as can you prioritize the goals and vision. For example, if you are interviewing for Microsoft you could be asked- you are the product head for HoloLens 2 team how will you improve this product- could you lay out the 6 months roadmap for this product. Over here you need to pick up the key challenges or problems that will solve customer pain-points and give them an immersive mixed reality experience. Pick up the problems you think are important and justify.

Trying HoloLens at the Company store- what a cool technology!

5. Be Yourself

Having a unique perspective and being your authentic self helps you think about problems differently. It helps you design products that can empower people. Every interviewer wants to see what you bring to the table, what value will you add to the company and the team. I know its easier said than done – often when we are interviewing we doubt ourselves, we try to blend in. But expressing your ideas and passion takes you a long way as you stand out.

Be bold, be confident, and never shy from sharing your true-self.

Books that have helped me (absolute must-reads as a PM)

When I don’t know a lot about something, I tend to read a book or watch some videos to learn about that. When I did my first consulting project with Microsoft in 2017 (My school-Eller has this awesome Consulting program where companies like Microsoft, Intel, etc. come to the school and work with a set of students for 6 months. The students solve some critical projects with them) I worked with PM’s from Microsoft and knew at once this is something I want to do for a living. I read some fabulous books that helped me prepare for the PM interviews that later came into my life.

1. Cracking the PM Interview– an absolute must-read, this book helped me so much when I was preparing for my Microsoft PM interviews.

2. The Product Book

3. The Lean Product Playbook

4. The Design of Everyday Things

5. The Lean Startup

6. Freakonomics

7. The Inmates are Running the Asylum

8. Innovator’s Dilemma

9. Measure What Matters

10. The Hard thing About Hard Things

Conclusion

Being a Product Manager is a challenging job, you need to lead as well as be the calm voice of reason. Interview prep for a PM role is not a cakewalk. It takes a lot of preparation, spectacular communication skills, and a passion for learning.

What was your experience when you interviewed for a PM role? What skills do you look for when you are interviewing someone for a PM position? Do you recommend some more books that I missed to mention? Or do you have any questions?

Leave me your opinions or questions in the comments!