Top 5 Product Manager Interview Questions and What They Mean
If you are currently in the process of applying for Product Manager positions, you might be wondering what questions you will be asked in your potential interviews. At this point, this would probably be the 60th article you have come across that relates to this matter.
In this article, we will be going over the top 5 most common product manager interview questions I have come across after interviewing for ten interviews in the past six months, all of which have reached the final round. Additionally, we will go over variants of the questions as well as what interviewers are really looking for as they dig through your answers.
- Tell me about yourself.
Variants: Why Product? / How did you get to where you are in your career?
You should be able to provide an elevator pitch of who you are, what you currently do and how you got to where you are. You may choose to go chronologically job by job, or if you’ve had a lot of experience already, only go through the relevant bits of your career. - Can you tell me of a time where you’ve had to make decisions against competing priorities/deadlines? What did you do? Why? What was the outcome?
Variants: How do you prioritize your work/features? How well do you work under pressure? Can you manage multiple stakeholders?
In other words, do you know how to prioritize features and say no? Do you have the ability to switch from ground-level to the 30,000 ft view. You need to have demonstrated ability of saying no to stakeholders, managing up, and negotiating trade-offs. - Have you ever had to influence someone without authority?
Variants: How do you work with other people? How do you manage expectations?
This question really isn’t about convincing or manipulating people to do what you want them to, it is however, more about whether or not you have the ability to partner up with others and build rapport to achieve a common goal. You will want to explain instances where you were able to collaborate well with people who don’t report to you directly. - Can you describe your experience working in a cross-functional environment?
Variants: How well do you work with other disciplines? Do you know how to communicate and work with a variety of personalities?
If you have experience working with a variety of different people, bring it up when this question is asked. What they want to know is whether or not you are comfortable context-switching between different departments. Another tip is to provide specific instances of how exactly you’ve worked with these groups, whether it’s through standing weekly meetings, scrum ceremonies, user interviews, etc. - Can you tell me about a time where you’ve had conflicting opinions on how to approach a decision? How did you handle it? What was the outcome?
Variants: How do you communicate? What is your empathy level? How do you work in a fast-paced and changing environment?
They want to know how well you handle interpersonal conflicts or disagreements. As a Product Manager, you will be working with a lot of people and interfacing with multiple departments (see #4). A big part of a Product Manager’s job is to be able to absorb information and opinions from differing sources and come up with an informed decision of how to approach a problem.
Thank you so much for reading! From your experience, what have been some of the most common interview questions you’ve been asked in your interview journey so far? Feel free to comment below and share your experience!
