Cracking the Product Manager's Interview
6 actions that will massively increase the chances of getting the job offer
How frustrating is it to fail to get that job you were longing for?
It gets even more frustrating when you don’t know why. You believe you nailed the interview, and then the hiring manager starts ghosting you, or you receive a template mail saying that you’re terrific, but the company opted for another candidate.
Most companies don’t share the details behind their decisions. You try contacting them to learn why you failed, but only a few companies will give you that. That’s sad but true.
I believe I’ve taken a few hundred interviews so far. My conversion rate was horrible. I would get a job offer every twentieth interview. Nowadays, I’ve become luckier or better, but I generally get an offer every second or third interview.
Let me share with you my secrets as a product manager applicant and what I look for as a hiring manager.
#1 Become the customer
Great product managers know their customers’ pain very well. There’s no better way of learning from real experience.
In 2016, I was invited to an interview with an early-stage startup. I’ve never had this kind of experience. Previously I had worked for gigantic corporations and public sectors. I knew the founders would not see that nicely. So I had an idea. I had to learn about real customers’ pain.
The business was a little complex, but they tried to help car owners sell their cars in less than an hour. So I tried the service. I booked an appointment, got a confirmation in my spam box, drove to the inspection point, and after handing in my car’s key, it took an hour to hear back from them. The experience sucked.
During the interview, the CEO looked skeptical at me and said, “You’ve got no startup experience. Why should we even talk?” I said, “Because your product has many holes. Then, I laid down what I discovered.” After that, we could have a more exciting conversation, and I ultimately got the job offer.
You may say, what about a B2B company? You can contact them and behave as a potential customer. Try understanding what their user experience looks like, and identify holes.
When you become the customers, you learn the real pains.
Trust me, a fresh perspective will make it easier for you, and you will stand out because only a few candidates do that.
#2 Market Analysis
Market understanding is fundamental to thriving as a product manager. As obvious as this statement is, many people ignore that. I still see product managers descending to backlog managers. The job requires in-depth market understanding.
Before the interview, understand who are the direct and indirect competitors. To do that, you’ve got to understand the job the company solves. Then, you can evaluate the available options for that.
In the case I mentioned previously, the job was getting the car sold. As a car owner, I would advertise that on a web portal, go straight to a car dealer, or maybe post on social media. That’s how people got this job done in Brazil.
Also, try understanding the market size and the share the company you’re applying for has. This understanding will help you have more valuable conversations and show how serious about product management you are.