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For PM interviews, what are helpful resources you'd recommend and types of questions to prepare for from both hiring managers and cross-functional partners?

2 Answers
Lizzy Masotta
Lizzy Masotta
Shopify Senior Product LeadJuly 26

There’s a ton of literature published on PM interviewing - frameworks, types of questions, types of interviews, etc. Your time is best spent introspecting, not obsessing over all the interviewing content. Memorizing frameworks won’t help you ace an interview.

The more you know yourself, your strengths, and the takeaways from your prior experiences, the better you will do.

Make sure you have answers to the following questions:

  • Why do you want to leave your current role / company? Why do you want to join this role / company?
  • Explain what you do now in a way that any stranger on the street could understand.
  • What were your biggest learnings from your current role?
  • How have your past experiences set you up for success at this new role / company?

You should have a base understanding of the case interview framework and what they look for - but my advice is to not overdo it.

For individual contributor PMs - If you were to read one book, I’d recommend “Inspired” by Marty Cagan.

For people leader PMs - I’d recommend “Empowered” by Marty Cagan.

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Brandon Green
Brandon Green
Buffer Staff Product ManagerNovember 8

I've found that the ability to speak clearly to your past experiences and how you've either (a) uniquely added value or (b) learned and grew from a given experience largely is the most important thing when talking to both hiring managers and cross-functional partners. This may manifest in many different questions or types of questions -- but ultimately, as a PM interviewing for a PM role, it's critical that you speak to how you've done one or both of those things, using real, specific experiences, is the most effective way to convey your value and POV to an interview.

I've always liked behavioral interview questions to probe for these things as an interviewer - this seems to be a good primer on behavioral interviews and the types of questions you may be asked, in this case at Google: https://igotanoffer.com/blogs/tech/google-behavioral-interview

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