How to prepare for a Product Manager interview at big companies, by former GoogleX PM Chandan Lodha
Chandan Lodha was an intern at Microsoft, joined Google as Associate PM in a rotational programme, then moved to Google X working on Project Baloon, and finally left to run his own startup. In this video he talks about the traits that make a great Product Manager and provides plenty of tips about questions you might expect when interviewing for that role.
(4:40) Example of User-Focus on Soundcloud not giving the priority to a feature request from an users and then all the other users pointing at every other competitor having that feature — they should have probably listened.
(6:00) Example of Design Sense on Virgin redesigned boarding pass, easier to read and with a shape that fits a passport.
(7:00) Example on Entrepreneurial Spirit with AirBnB founders raising $50K with Cereals in the early days and the first version of Doordash that launched with just a landing page in a day for deliveries in Palo Alto.
(9:20) What not to do: # Don’t use Authority use Influence # Have a clear vision and don’t change it # Take accountability when things go wrong and praise the team when something goes well
(11:00) To prepare the interview research whoever you are going to talk to and get know them as much as you can.
(11:30) Update your resume keeping it to 1-page and highlight impact in a quantitative way.
(14:20) For each company you interview for make sure to research the following: # Full Product Suite # Competitors # Customers, their perceptions, and the market # High level revenue / scale # Mission / Goal # Metrics company cares about # Leadership
(16:45) You should definitely be reading about the industry. For Tech read Techmeme, Hacker News, Stratechery, Venture Beat, Tech Crunch, Engadget, Mashable, The Verge, Wired.
(18:00) Usual Interview Timeline is made of a Phone Interview of 30–45 min followed by onsite meeting. Some companies ask for a home exercise, for example at Google for junior PM there was a written comms exercise, at Stripe they have a data analysis exercise etc. Usually there is a final round with more senior people onsite.
(20:00) PM questions types can be tagged in 5 categories: # Product Design / Vision # Analytical # Behavior / Execution # Technical #Strategy
(20:30) Product Design/Vision questions examples: “How would you….” # …improve YouTube? # …reduce Dropbox storage size? # …make the restaurant discovery experience 10x better? # …build a messaging app for five year olds? # …build a bookcase for the elderly? # …design X for Y?
(20:50) Work backwards, don’t start from the solution first, have a conversation with the interviewer asking what metrics / goals to pick etc. Tips: # Users (Y) first! # Use a whiteboard to sketch out ideas # Be goals and metrics focused # Data driven decisioning, data wins arguments # Be creative and bold — think big
(25:00) Google PMs used to ask questions like “list all the things you would do with a traffic cone” and really bad answers were like “to mark where cars can go or not on the street” while the best candidates were the creative ones with plenty of ideas non-stop.
(26:00) Analytical questions examples: # How many Google searches are performed per second? # How many iPhones are sold in China each year? # What metrics are important for Hyperloop to track? # How many planes are flying in Brazilian airspace at 11am? # How many square feet of pizza are eaten in Italy in January? # Facebook photo uploads have decreased in the last 30 days, what do you do? # What’s more important, metric X or Y?
(27:00) A lot of them are in the form of estimation questions. The point is to come with a reasonable amount of assumptions, do some math and come with a reasonable estimate. Make yourself familiar with launch metrics, A/B testing and experiments.
(30:58) Behavior / Execution questions examples: # What are you most proud of? # Tell me about a time that you failed # Walk me through a product you worked from ideation to launch # Describe a time when you had to convince a designer / engineer to change their mind.
Tips: # Tell compelling, engaging stories # Be concise # Sell yourself, come prepared with a two minute story about how you get stuff done # Make sure your answers resonate with the company culture, values and mission
(35:30) Technical questions examples: # Explain the most common reasons why a server would fail # Write an algorithm that detect meeting conflicts # Describe how the internet works in detail # What type of data structure would you use to store all human genomes # Explain deep learning to a 5 year old.
Tips: # Brush up your data structure and algorithms # Write pseudocode to layout your plans first # If you have built an app / website / project have it handy # Ask recruiter how technical interviews will be
(39:45) Strategy questions example: # Should Apple acquire Netflix? # Should Google build a Snapchat competitor? # Should Amazon invest in an augmented reality headset?
Tips: # If you are not familiar with these types of questions checkout the book “Case in Point 10” by Marc P. Cosentino. # If you are looking for a framework to get started read about Porter’s Five Forces
(42:40) In general expect questions like: # Tell me about yourself # Why the XYZ company? # Why are you switching roles? # Why PM? # Tell me about your favorite product / app / service. Why do you love it? How would you improve it? How would you measure those improvements?.
Tips: # Be concise, speak slowly. # Be Friendly, smile, show excitement and focus on the positives. # Practice and then practice more.
(46:10) After the interview ask good questions. Ask about cultural values, find out if it is a good fit for you, manager is critical. Prepare thoughtful questions in advance. Thank interviewers with follow-up email and personalize with further insights on their questions. Ask best and worst thing of working there or ask questions about their next job (especially if it will be your manager).
