product manager interview
Here’s another recent example of a PM take-home assignment.
This assignment evaluates a PM’s UX skills. It’s very challenging; UX design is not trivial even for UX experts.
And while the assignment doesn’t say it explicitly, showing alternate designs, with a wireframing tool, is what the interviewer expects. And a lot of PM candidates don’t feel comfortable using wireframing tools.
PS I’ve got more tips about take home assignments in my book, Secrets of the Product Manager Interview.
Guy Barner shared a prioritization exercise that hiring managers and recruiters can use when evaluating PM candidates. I thought it was worth sharing, especially for others who might be interested.
I remember my first PM interview a long time ago.
It happened during my on-site Microsoft interview for a software engineering role; the recruiters decided that they would have me interview for PM because I had strong communication skills. I had no idea what PM was all about! But I figured I’d play along, do what I was asked, and take this PM interview. Besides, they gave me a nice compliment. I had to reciprocate!
I still remember that first PM interview question: “How would you design a TV remote?” It was tough to answer because I had never used a remote before in my life!
I’ve come a long way since then: I have lots of experience using TV remotes now.
PM interview prep has come a long way as well. Our collective knowledge on how to prepare for those interviews have improved dramatically. We’ve got frameworks likes CIRCLES, AARM and DIGS to get us through tough product design, analytics, and behavioral interview questions.
To provide some encouragement, I’ve included this note I received from one of my readers. She successfully received offers from Google, Facebook and more last fall. And the cool part: she’s a busy mom too.
Conquer those interviews,
Lewis C. Lin
There’s a new trend in product management interviews: the take home assignment.
Take home assignments can vary in their format. They can either be:
Written tests that revolve around hypothetical questions
Written tests that revolve around case questions
Written tests that revolve around behavioral questions
As you can note from the repetition, take home assignments are simply derivatives of PM question categories that you’re already familiar with:
Hypothetical questions
Case questions
Behavioral questions
Simply apply the same frameworks and tips on solving behavioral, case, and hypothetical questions from Decode and Conquer and complete the take home assignment.
PS I’ve got more tips about take home assignments in my book, Secrets of the Product Manager Interview.
One of the most common questions I get is, "Where I can find your interview preparation spreadsheets?"
So without further ado, here are links to both of my highly coveted spreadsheets:
Best of luck with your interviews,
Lewis C. Lin
In a situation where your intuition tells you there is a potential business opportunity, how do you go about finding the data necessary to substantiate it? Where do you even start?
Submit your answers in the comments and receive feedback.
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Uber PM Job Offer
This community and @lewislin is the best. just heard back from Uber, it's a yes! I had interviewed there twice before over the years, but it wasn't until I encountered Lewis, his materials, and this community that I was finally able to crack it.
Google APM Job Offer
Hey everyone! Just wanted to take a moment to thank you all for the practice sessions! I heard back from Google yesterday and got the APM position I wanted this group was extremely helpful to me! Thanks @lewislin for setting this up!
