The Product Manager Interview Guide

A product manager interview can sometimes be very unorganized. There isn’t one standard structure/format which companies follow to evaluate the incoming PM candidate. It can vary from 1-2 rounds to 6-8 rounds depending on the company you’re interviewing for. So, it always gets a bit tricky for anyone to prepare in a streamlined manner to crack a PM interview especially if you’re an Aspiring PM without any product experience.

A typical PM interview setup 

There are a lot of interview questionnaires out there listing all kinds of questions you can expect in a PM interview, but I couldn’t find a suitable one that focuses on Aspiring PM’s and summarises the process taking you step by step into various rounds that can be expected along with the most frequently asked questions. So, here goes my version of the “PM Interview Guide” which can be used as a handbook for all beginner level PM Interviews.

First, let’s look at a typical PM interview process for beginners

1. Phone Round: This round is typically done by the HR/Hiring Manager to gauge your interest in the role/company and your competence at a high level. Questions here would be more focused on your work-ex and interests. The first 5 minutes of the call build the Yes/No impression.

2. Case Study Round: Not a mandatory round but has become common nowadays because of the increase in the number of applications. Assignments usually comprise problems faced by the company or an abstract problem statement. Your structured approach, awareness about product lifecycle/tools, and competence is gauged here.

3. F2F Product/Design/Analytics Round: 2-3 rounds depending on the company you’re interviewing for. Typically the interviewers will be a mix of Product and Dev folks including one Senior PM/Director and the 1st round will usually be focused on the case study you’ve submitted.

4. HR Round: This round is primarily to gauge your fit in the company and will mostly comprise of behavioral questions. Remember, if you’re in this round that means the decision has already been made unless you screw this round really bad.

Now that we looked at the process, let’s delve deeper into the most frequently asked questions in a PM interview and what these questions try to gauge. The below hotlist of questions [I call it the SUPER 30] has been carefully classified & compiled through extensive research of PM interviews across Microsoft, Samsung, Google, Facebook, etc. and practical experience of facing some of these questions during my career/asked by me while taking PM interviews.

A. Product/Design/Technical Questions

1. What’s your favorite Product/App? What do you like/dislike? If you are the PM, what will you change? What metrics will you use to measure success?

2. Design an elevator for Kids

3. Write a function that returns the number of digits in a number

4. Google Maps is launching a new version for Schools. What features should it have?

5. Design a remote control with only one button

6. Design a method to find if a number is prime or not

7. How will you improve the Airport’s luggage pick-up process?

8. Design a cab booking app for blind

9. Explain what happens when someone clicks on a Google Search link

10. Give an example of a badly designed product. Why do you think it’s bad?

B. Behavioural/Leadership Questions

1. Tell me about yourself

2. Talk about a time when you used data to make a decision

3. Tell me about one of the most challenging issues you’ve worked on? Why do you think it was challenging? How did you overcome the challenge?

4. Tell me about a mistake you made and how you handled it

5. Where do you see yourself in 5 years?

6. Why do you think you’re a right fit for this role?

7. What will you do in the first 90 days if we hire you?

8. Tell me about a time when you had a conflict. How did you resolve the conflict?

9. How would you convince a CEO that a feature is needed for the product even if he/she disagreed? 

10. Tell me about your most significant accomplishment. Why was it significant?

C. Guesstimate/Analytics/Strategy Questions

1. Estimate how many smartphones are bought in a year in India

2. If you’re the PM of Amazon Prime, how would you price it differently? What metrics will you look at to measure its success?

3. Myntra has seen a drop in the free trial conversion rate of its fashion clothing category. What will you do to fix it?

4. You’ve to implement 2 new features in Gmail but have the bandwidth to do only one. Both are equally important as per the CEO. How will you prioritize among these 2 competing features and which one will you choose?

5. What are the things that Netflix should measure and analyze on a daily basis to grow its business in India?

6. How many Elevators do you need for a 100-story building?

7. How will you monetize WhatsApp?

8. How will you solve the problem of fake orders with cash on delivery option on Flipkart?

9. What is the market size for driverless cars in 2025?

10. Facebook is expanding into travel to compete with Airbnb. Should it build a standalone app or integrate travel features in the core Facebook experience?

This hotlist is extremely relevant to Aspiring PM’s including both freshers and folks currently in non-PM roles (expect few additional questions on work-ex ). The best way to prepare for your next PM interview is doing a mock with your buddy/mentor using the SUPER 30 questions listed above.

So, what are you waiting for?? Go ahead and schedule that mock right now!