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Rodrigo Davies

AMA: Asana Director of Product Management, AI, Rodrigo Davies on Product Management Interviews

October 10, 2024 @ 10:00AM PT

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  1. What's the best way to position my b2b product management experience when applying for b2c product roles?

    Rodrigo Davies
    Rodrigo Davies

    Figma Product, AI • 1y

    The biggest overall deltas b2c companies might presume are likely speed of iteration, focus on UI/UX quality, and data-driven decision making. This obviously depends a lot on what your b2b experience is – plenty of b2b companies are very focused on all three – but I'd suggest highlighting your strengths in those areas.

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  2. Looking back on the best PM hires you've observed, what were useful signals during the interview process? Do the highest impact PM hires demonstrate deep domain expertise, strength in one or more skillsets, or something else?

    Rodrigo Davies
    Rodrigo Davies

    Figma Product, AI • 1y

    • Ability to get up to speed on unfamiliar, complex areas quickly

    • Highly reflective on past experiences and deep growth mindset

    • Infectious curiosity about customers

    • Succinct communicators, verbal and written

    These are some of the most difficult qualities to coach, and become more difficult to coach the more years of experience the person has, in my experience.

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  3. What are the most common mistakes you see candidates make during an interview for a product management position?

    Rodrigo Davies
    Rodrigo Davies

    Figma Product, AI • 1y

    • Only talking about things that went well, and either glossing over or not having concrete examples of things that didn't work out

    • Talking about their theoretical approach to situations, without giving deep examples of how they have/haven't applied their approach in practice

    • Not explaining how their product work connected to business and customer goals, focusing on "local" wins (e.g. making an individual feature successful)

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  4. Do you generally recommend that candidates go 'above and beyond' in preparing for interviews by? In which situations do you recommend this approach or not?

    Rodrigo Davies
    Rodrigo Davies

    Figma Product, AI • 1y

    Depends a lot on what you mean by going 'above and beyond'! I think if you're super excited about a company and spend extra time researching the company and its product, that could help you a lot in interviews. Most companies won't expect you to know the product very well (esp in b2b) and will gear interview questions to be more general, but if you can bring in your knowledge of the product and company, it'll likely be a differentiator.

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  5. How can I improve my interviewing skills for a product management role?

    Rodrigo Davies
    Rodrigo Davies

    Figma Product, AI • 1y

    1 Read the book "Cracking the PM interview" by Jackie Bavaro for a primer!

    2 Spend time thinking through, rehearsing, and practicing your scenarios for common questions

    3 Practice doing product and design thinking exercises with unfamiliar scenarios – get a friend or try pairing with ChatGPT/Claude. Ask the LLM to generate PM interview scenarios for you, and ask you follow up questions.

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