Jenna Crane

AMA: Klaviyo Director of Product Marketing, Jenna Crane on Product Marketing Interviews

November 17 @ 10:00AM PST
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Klaviyo Director of Product Marketing, Jenna Crane on Product Marketing Interviews
Top Questions
Jenna Crane
Jenna Crane
Klaviyo Head of Product MarketingNovember 17
As you can probably tell, I am a big fan of focusing on process, not just outcomes. I like to ask people to walk me through a project they led, and I ask them plenty of questions — things like 'why did you decide to position it that way?' or 'what was the most difficult part of the process, and h......Read More
746 Views
2 requests
Jenna Crane
Jenna Crane
Klaviyo Head of Product MarketingNovember 17
Getting on my soapbox here for a second (though I suppose I've been on it this whole time) — make sure your resume is concise and clear. It should be 2 pages MAX, ideally 1 page. I don't care if you've been in the industry for 30 years, you should be able to distill down your experience into 1 or......Read More
1021 Views
1 request
Jenna Crane
Jenna Crane
Klaviyo Head of Product MarketingNovember 17
My favorite question is "What would be your positioning statement for yourself as a product marketer?"  I love that question because it shows me how comfortable they are with the basics of positioning, and it tells me a lot about the aspects of product marketing that they care most about. For ex......Read More
5831 Views
2 requests
Jenna Crane
Jenna Crane
Klaviyo Head of Product MarketingNovember 17
I'd recommend having on hand: * Your story. Be prepared to give a brief walkthrough of your background and experience. I always like to see when someone has a strong narrative about their career — why they made each move, the highlights of their experience and what they learned, and wh......Read More
7528 Views
3 requests
How do you showcase or describe to interviewers your work in messaging and positioning, without actually showing documented work?
Also, how to actually show its success, as this is something that may take awhile before seeing a growth trend and can you directly actually attribute a particular success metric on messaging?
Jenna Crane
Jenna Crane
Klaviyo Head of Product MarketingNovember 17
Make sure you talk about the process! That includes:  * What was the existing state when you started (i.e. messaging didn't exist, it did exist but it was falling flat / was outdated, etc.)?  * How did you go about developing the messaging (i.e. what inputs did you use)?  * How did you ......Read More
981 Views
2 requests
Jenna Crane
Jenna Crane
Klaviyo Head of Product MarketingNovember 17
Absolutely writing samples! I always ask for those. (As you can tell from my other answers, communication is something I care deeply about!)  Case studies, landing pages, pitch decks / other enablement assets, and messaging frameworks can also be great additions to a portfolio. Just make sure yo......Read More
1193 Views
2 requests
Jenna Crane
Jenna Crane
Klaviyo Head of Product MarketingNovember 17
1. They didn't prepare. It's really hard to justify moving a candidate forward if they don't know basic details about our company, their answers lack details and depth, and/or they don't have questions for the interviewer. 2. They are too long-winded or rambling, and/or their answers are mostly ......Read More
1434 Views
3 requests
Jenna Crane
Jenna Crane
Klaviyo Head of Product MarketingNovember 17
I think the best product marketing candidates — and product marketers — have one thing in common: empathy. Empathy helps you understand where others are coming from, and that is the foundation of great messaging & positioning as well as great collaboration.  If you can put yourselves in your cus......Read More
933 Views
1 request
How can I improve my interviewing skills for a product marketing role?
I had my first interview in a long time recently and fumbled my way through it. How can I get better for next time?
Jenna Crane
Jenna Crane
Klaviyo Head of Product MarketingNovember 17
Prep and practice!  Prep your answers beforehand, have them on hand for reference if you need them.  Practice by getting in more reps. Talking about yourself and your experience gets easier every time, and you get more insight into the types of questions that come up (so you can improve your pr......Read More
933 Views
1 request