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Director of Product Management at Salesforce
My favorite interview question was asked by a hiring manager ~8 years ago when I
interviewed for an Associate PM position at MuleSoft.
I was asked the following: "Imagine humans decided to take the moon and put it
through a giant chopper/grinder. The mass that comes out of the chopper is being
dumped on the surface of the earth. The question was - do you need an oxygen
mask to climb on the top of this mass"
This is a quantitative question that is typically asked in the PM interviews,
but more fun to think about :) The right answer is to show your logical thinking
e.g. your approach, unkno...more
Head Of Product Management, Confluence Experience at Atlassian
"Assume I don't know anything. Teach me something in the next two minutes about a topic you are passionate about - can be anything". This questions helps me understand how a person thinks on their feet, does storytelling, and uncover more about their passions as a human, that may have some interesting overlap with product work.
I have learned how to swing a gold club, calm down crying toddlers, and pick soil for any plant from asking this question.
Related Ask Me Anything Sessions
Director of Product Management at Salesforce
There are different paths that each product manager takes, but the common ones
I've seen are:
1. Joining a tech company as an Associate PM or an intern straight from college.
For college grads, I suggest starting by connecting with other product managers
(e.g. via LinkedIn) to better understand what we do. There are great books
available on this topic as well -- "Cracking PM Interview" is among my
favorites. I also created a series of videos explaining tech jobs and what do I
do in more detail - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCsAz_arwNkiPobhi09VrMFg
2. Transition from other roles e.g. ...more
Director of Product Management at Asana
The question I love asking every candidate is "tell me the story of the most
impactful thing you’ve ever worked on." I like this question for several
reasons:
* It works for every level of experience. For experienced PMs, I’m expecting to
hear about a very important product they worked on. For someone with little
to no experience, they can tell me a story about something they worked on
that was incredibly hard, impactful and meaningful to them without it needing
to be related to product work.
* It allows me to get a sense of their storytelling ability. Are they able to
str...more
Head Of Product Management, Confluence Experience at Atlassian
First thing I'd recommend is asking your team if there is a formal description
of levels and skills associated with each level. More and more companies,
whether large orgs or startups, actually have written descriptions of product
manager levels and what those entail; the earlier you get to learn about them,
the better. If there is no formal description available, I would recommend to:
1) Interview your manager of what the next level may look like, and draft a
document outlining that
2) Review this document with 1-2 people in the product org who are on that level
and see what they would a...more
Head of Product for Mid-Market Businesses at Gusto
This is a framework shared by one of my former executive colleagues. I've found
it to be incredibly helpful when thinking through your career, taking on a new
project, or considering your next move.
Biggest suggestion is to get it on paper. Thinking about your career can be a
lot like building product.
1. Write lists of what you do and don't know. What you're confident about, what
you're not sure about. After completing your do know/don’t know list,
consider actions you can take to move your “don’t know” into the “do know”
column.
2. Think through each of these topics an...more
Product Lead, Flow Area at Asana
For me the biggest differentiator is having a growth mindset. This doesn't just mean they want to make an impact and improve as a PM. For me it comes down to three things:
- They have a sense of what they know and don't know, and are always eager to learn more. They question their own assumptions.
- They're humble and curious in trying to figure out what they don't know and leverage the expertise of others.
- They frequently seek feedback from others and try to challenge themselves, not just to achieve more but to be a better colleague and partner to others.
Product Lead, Align Area at Asana
Customer feedback is critical to how we build, and we incorporate it at every
step of the product development process. We get customer feedback from a variety
of places.
When building new products we proactively reach out to customers to learn about
their needs and make sure we’re creating the right solutions for them. We have a
User Research team that regularly speaks to customers via a variety of methods -
everything from interviews and surveys to card sorting and field studies. Along
our product development process, we have specific touchpoints where we make sure
to utilize user resea...more
Director of Product Management at Asana
We often say that growth at Asana is more like a climbing wall than a ladder—you
can choose different paths, get stronger with each foothold, and truly enjoy
your journey along the way. That is doubly true for product roles. You get
exposure to so many parts of the business that you may realize you want to go
explore next.
It is also great training for anyone who aspires to be an entrepreneur or CEO of
a large company. Andew Anagnost, CEO of Autodesk, advises all aspiring
executives at his company to become a product manager at some point in their
career. That's because it's the only rol...more