AMA: Mode Director of Product Marketing & Customer Marketing, Christine Sotelo-Dag on Product Marketing Interviews
April 19 @ 10:00AM PST
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Mode Director of Product Marketing & Customer Marketing, Christine Sotelo-Dag on Product Marketing Interviews
Top Questions
Christine Sotelo-Dag
ThoughtSpot Senior Director of Product Marketing • April 20
I think this is probably a question you can get a feel for by asking a few tangential questions: 1. Asking questions that help you identify the hiring manager's style of management - are they hands-on or do they prefer to be more hands-off 2. Asking questions to help identify the company......Read More
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Christine Sotelo-Dag
ThoughtSpot Senior Director of Product Marketing • April 20
A few flags that I look out for are outlined below that separates a good candidate from a great one. * Failure to be concise. As a product marketer, one of the key characteristics of our role is being able to tell a compelling story, that resonates with our audience. The best way to show......Read More
607 Views
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Christine Sotelo-Dag
ThoughtSpot Senior Director of Product Marketing • April 20
I always like to hear from product marketers what companies they believe do product marketing well, and why. Before I go into what makes a good answer, I'll point out that there is a difference between a good product and good product marketing. Many times I'd hear all about why a PRODUCT is gr......Read More
1180 Views
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Christine Sotelo-Dag
ThoughtSpot Senior Director of Product Marketing • April 20
Outside of researching common product marketing interview questions and generic interview prep like that, I think the best resources probably live on the hiring organization's website and resources. Learn as much as you can about the organization, how they position themselves, who their core audi......Read More
1505 Views
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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?
Christine Sotelo-Dag
ThoughtSpot Senior Director of Product Marketing • April 20
I think the best way to talk about messaging and positioning in your interview process is less focused on the output of that work, and more focused on the 'how' behind how you go about driving that work. * What framework do you use? * How do you identify your key value propositions and the p......Read More
999 Views
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Christine Sotelo-Dag
ThoughtSpot Senior Director of Product Marketing • April 20
In general, I think the most common mistakes fall under the category of not being properly prepared. However, here are a few examples that come to mind when I think about interviews that could have gone better. * Not familiar with our product/service * Talk about wanting to join the company ......Read More
722 Views
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How do make sure the resume appeals to the hiring manager for a product marketing role?
Should I just use one general resume or are there different versions of it?
Christine Sotelo-Dag
ThoughtSpot Senior Director of Product Marketing • April 20
I think there are general elements that should be included in any resume you create, such as success metrics to highlight how you drove impact and your ability to define and measure success. That said, I'd expect to see deliverables, projects and skillsets that map to a product marketing role. Ev......Read More
653 Views
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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?
Christine Sotelo-Dag
ThoughtSpot Senior Director of Product Marketing • April 20
Practice! Have a friend, partner or even just record yourself if you don't have anyone to practice with. Get used to answering clearly and concisely, even if it means speaking less. Clarity will always trump volume. There are a lot of resources out there that help individuals build confidence......Read More
684 Views
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What is the best way to prepare a mock Go-To-Market plan for a product in a very precise and concise way, when asked in an interview?
I usually come across an interview round wherein I am handed the task of preparing a mock GTM plan for a product. I find it pretty vague as expectations vary widely and I am usually confused about what all to include and how to represent. Is there any example?
Christine Sotelo-Dag
ThoughtSpot Senior Director of Product Marketing • April 20
If I were assigning this work, I'd expect to see the common elements of a GTM plan outlined (not necessarily the content, but the outline for sure). I'd look for elements such as * Who is the core audience * What is their current pain (before using your product) * How does your product solv......Read More
2534 Views
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What technical questions can we expect for product marketing interviews?
e.g. do we need to do a case study, draw insights from looking at data, etc.
Christine Sotelo-Dag
ThoughtSpot Senior Director of Product Marketing • April 20
In my experience, the technical questions I think you can expect will be around your methodology for ramping up on technical products, and your ability (and examples) where you marketed technical products or features in a way that elevates the story outside of functionality and into value. Be abl......Read More
734 Views
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Christine Sotelo-Dag
ThoughtSpot Senior Director of Product Marketing • April 20
Common assignments we've asked candidates include: * How would you announce a new feature? (How would you approach developing messaging for this launch? Suggest 3 tactics you would employ to announce this feature to customers. Who are the internal stakeholders you would work with, and......Read More
937 Views
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Christine Sotelo-Dag
ThoughtSpot Senior Director of Product Marketing • April 20
The best questions, in my opinion, are the ones that organically come up in the context of our conversation. The kinds of questions where the candidate wants to dig a little deeper into the problems the business is trying to solve for customers or the details around the expectations of the role, ......Read More
943 Views
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Christine Sotelo-Dag
ThoughtSpot Senior Director of Product Marketing • April 20
There are a few core characteristics that make product marketers stand out, especially those with less experience to pull from in interviews and resumes. Characteristics such as time management, prioritization, strong execution skills, cross-functional collaboration and a basic understanding of t......Read More
1261 Views
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