Some big news last week: Facebook (FB) announced that they're now accepting applications for their 2018 RPM program. There's a reason why aspiring PMs are buzzing about this: FB is one of the most coveted employers today. Here's more context from my latest book, Secrets of the Product Manager Interview:
Being a Facebook employee is like graduating from Harvard. That is, joining Facebook will offer a network of movers and shakers that you’ll find valuable throughout your career, trailing Google’s by just a tad.
How to Prepare for Facebook PM Interviews
Whether you're interviewing for Facebook, as part of the RPM program or as an industry hire, we've created a beautiful cheat sheet that covers all three areas of the FB PM interview:
- Product Sense
- Execution
- Leadership
How FB evaluates PM candidates is different from Google or Amazon. I suggest that candidates get familiar with these three areas, anticipate the appropriate case questions, and create a Facebook-specific preparation plan.
Execution Questions are the Most Mysterious...and Hard to Prepare For
Execution questions are the most mysterious question type. It's not a surprise that failing the execution interview is the reason why many do not get the job offer.
One may think "execution" refers to one's ability to get things done, like a project manager would. However, that's not FB's intent.
When assessing a candidate's "execution" skills, what FB really means is testing one's "executive decision making." And FB evaluates a candidate's executive decision making skills through six categories of rare and peculiar questions that revolve around metrics, ROI estimation, and root cause analysis.
Lewis' Exclusive Teaching Note on FB Execution Questions
A few months ago, I penned a teaching note that:
- Details the six different "execution question" categories
- Shares my secrets on how to approach each one
- Recommends relevant practice problems
A small group of former clients and students have seen this teaching note.
But I'm prepared to share it again.
If you're interested in receiving my teaching note on FB execution and metric questions, sign up here before September 1st, and I'll send it to you shortly after.
UPDATE: You can sign-up for the Facebook execution notes here.
How to Download the Facebook PM Interview Cheat Sheet
If I had a Facebook PM interview, and I could only bring one cheat sheet...this would be it.
Print out the high-resolution version of this cheat sheet, available in both JPG and PDF.
Cheers,
Lewis C. Lin