Behavioral Interview Primer for Product Managers

In interviews, the best storyteller gets the job. Impress top companies, like Facebook, in your soft skills interview by preparing for the right questions.

It can be hard to know what to prepare for in the leadership section of your onsite and a lot of PMs just wing it.The truth is, in interviews — the best storyteller gets the job.

At Candor, we use a set of exercises and repeatable formulas to help you scale your interview skills and we pair you with a senior PM to practice those to perfection. Here we’ll cover some of the ground-level skills you need to work on before you speak with the top tech companies in the valley.

Behavioral interviews are about confidently and genuinely delivering engaging content.

The best candidates consistently do these 3 things well:

1. Stories
2. Structure
3. Sentiment

Are you a good storyteller?

The hiring manager cares about two things — can you do the job and are you a culture fit. You need to pick stories that reinforce your ability to come up with good ideas, rally people around them and execute under pressure. To help you do that, we recommend on building and practicing a few thematic stories ahead of time — these will be used to answer an array of questions in the interview.

Rules:

Every story needs to have a beginning, middle, end and a “ this is what I learned”

You should be able to tell your story in under 2 minutes

Simplify the content. The listener should not have to have contextual knowledge to understand what’s going on

Your story starter pack

“Tell me about yourself”

Formula:

I’m really driven by ( working on big problems/ solving hunger).Throughout my career,I’ve looked to join teams that are (tight knit). In my last job at (Facebook), I worked on (a hardware video product for markets with high data cost) and I really enjoyed the impact the team had towards (making the world feel more connected). In my next opportunity, I hope to work on a product that (x).

Avoid:

• Reciting your full resume
• Spending more than 1 minute. This is your elevator pitch

“Tell me about a product you worked on”

Build on the answer above to include an example where you were responsible for a product end to end.

“ Difficult colleague”

Formula:

(Person name/ function) and I had a disagreement over (brief explanation). It was difficult for me because (insert reason) but I realized that by (explain solution or compromise), we can reach a solution that made us both better contributors on the team. This taught me that (lesson learned) and in the future I will (change in action).

Avoid:

• Do not put blame on your colleague, it’s extremely bad taste

“Highest Achievement”

Formula:

The thing I am most proud of in my career is (a team-focused win) and I accomplished that by (rallying the team). I could not have done it without (thank others) and I’m very humbled to have had the opportunity to do it. This experience has inspired me to (RTW)

Avoid:

• Do not make this all about “ you”. The best candidates give an answer that focuses on improving team morale or taking a team through a difficult product cycle

“ Personal Challenge/ What is your weakness”

Formula:

I have always found it difficult to (not burn toast) because I (always walk away when the toaster is on). Early in my career, I realized that this will be an important skill to work on and I took action to (stay in the kitchen long enough). Today, I try to proactively recognize and course correct when I slip into this pattern by (being more sensitive to burn toast smell).

OR

One of the projects that threw me for a loop was (redoing the app UI). At first, I felt this would be easy to implement, however ( sh*t) happened that I didn’t expect. I adjusted by (rallying the team) and took proactive action like (example). In the end, we were (successful) — in heinsight, I could have handled this better by (action).

Avoid:

• Talk about behaviors, not character. A good example would be — “ I tend to follow up too much with team members when I’m stressed. While I have the best intentions, I realize it may come across as micro- managing and lack of trust. To remedy that, I set up recurring meetings where everyone gives an update on a regular cadence.”. A bad example would be “ I am disorganized”.

Ambiguity and Chaos/ Leadership

One of the most difficult situations my team has been in is (x), especially because (y). By analyzing ( data, other findings), I quickly made a plan to (bring order by doing x) and brought everyone on board to help. The team was able to accomplish (world domination) and although it was difficult, we were able to remain positive and stay on track by (playing an obscene amount of board games). This situation really tested by skills as leader, and I’m humbled by the team vesting so much trust in me finding a resolution.

Avoid:

• Boasting about your personal abilities and herculean efforts. This should be a team focused story where you led a team through adversity
• Getting too technical on the explanation

Structure

Now that you have some stories, it’s time to practice how you would answer questions you have not prepared for.

Generally, no matter how good you are at interviews, you will always get a question you didn’t see coming. Here are some tips:

Can I have a moment to gather my thoughts?

Ask for a bit of time to collect yourself. You can only do once or twice during the whole interview so use this tip sparingly. Use the time to jot down the first few things that come to mind.

Answer in a structured, systematic way and follow these guidelines:

• Start with a one sentence summary of what you’re about to say
• Speak to make a point. If you struggle with rambling — limit yourself to 4 sentences.
• Make sure your answer is narrow and contextual
• Be brief if you’re feeling unsure. End with “ I can elaborate but I think that captures the spirit of your question.

Sentiment

Product Managers are leaders in their organizations without having direct line authority over others. That means they earn their authority and lead by influence alone. Hiring managers at top companies are looking for PMs who can take on playing devil’s advocate and channel complex points of view, while maintaining respect from the team. It’s a people-focused role first.

Hiring managers look for someone who:

• Communicates clearly and convincingly
• Stands out for their character first and for their knowledge second
• Is honest, straightforward and uncomplicated
• Admits mistakes fast, learns and moves on
• Has influence and charisma

To achieve that, you should:

Answer all questions using examples, not opinions

Never speak badly of your colleagues, company or boss

Do not be boastful

Talk about what you were able to do with the team, not by yourself

Choose examples that illustrate cross -functional work

Practice makes perfect

In the end, acing the behavioral interview comes down to being confident and poised.You won’t be able to practice for every possible question but with a well crafted portfolio of stories, a plan for what to do when an unexpected question comes up and a strategy for how to come across — you’re almost there.

Next, we recommend this homework exercise to all of our clients. You will need a timer and a notepad +pen.

⏰Set a 30 minute timer and set your phone to record. Ready!~Set!~GO!

You should be able to answer all of these and have time to spare. Save your recording to review with your Candor Mentor for detailed feedback.

• Is consensus always a good thing?
• What’s the difference between management and leadership?
• What kinds of people do you like to work with?
• What types of people have you found it difficult to work with?
• Tell me about a time when a team didn’t gel. Why do you think that happened, and what have you learned?
• How do you get a team to commit to a schedule?
• What would somebody do to lose your confidence?
• Do you manage people from different functions differently? If so, how?
• What have you learned about saying no?
• How do you know when design is on the right track?
• Have you ever been in a situation where your team has let you down and you’ve had to take the blame?
• What have you learned about managing up?

GOOD LUCK!

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If you have questions or need help practicing — email us at hello@candor.co for interview guides and videos to FAANG companies.

Already have an offer? Book a FREE session with us to help negotiate your salary — Product Manager Salary Negotiation

For more information about Candor, find us at www.candor.co