What is your favorite product marketing interview question and the best answer you've heard?

I have started to ask "What is the biggest trade-off decision you had to make?"  Most people go straight to themselves and a trade-off that they've had to make about a job or career path, not a company decision. One interviewee floored me when he talked about hard decisions on needing to lay-off members of his team, but then described how he worked through his network to get every person on that team a job at another company. Not only did he show he could make tough calls, but he was trying to b ...Read More

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 example, they may highlight their strength in messaging and positioning, or their customer-centricity, or their ability to partner with teams across the company. It's also another opportunity to see how the ...Read More

My favorite question to ask is something along the lines of "Here's a big initiative we're planning to roll out, and whoever gets this job will own at least part of the planning and execution. How would you go about making the initiative successful?" A great answer always includes something like "Before I get into the tactical details, let me just first check that I understand why this initiative is so important. Please tell me where I'm mistaken, but I assume the objectives are..." And the best ...Read More

I'd have to go with this classic: "Describe your process for launching a new product." Why? A product launch is the quintessential act of product marketing. It places the product marketer as the orchestrator between product, sales, customer success, and core marketing. If you understand how to successfully launch a product, you understand how to be a successful product marketer.  The best answers to this question don't start with a laundry list of channels and assets--they start with the "why". ...Read More

I like to ask PMM candidates to deliver their company's pitch. I'm not grading their pitch but rather the empathy and insight they display for and about their customers' challenges, the way they deliver it, and the storytelling ability of the candidate. There's no one answer to this that's stood out but it's the delivery that makes the difference. People who can clearly explain what pain point their customer feels and succintly how their company solves it (and can throw in some proof) are always ...Read More

It's hard to pick a favorite because most of my interviews look different from candidate to candidate. Often, my questions are focused on deeply understanding their past experience and asking for relevant examples that demonstrate the skills and compentencies that will be unqiue to the role and business need. Or, we unpack a case study together. I also go beyond the resume when I'm interviewing. One question that I typically ask is where the candidates want to learn and grow. The best answers to ...Read More

My favorite question is very simple I ask them “Can you pitch me your product?” (if they come from any marketing role) It allows me to understand their storytelling skills. It helps me understand if they are truly comfortable with the idea of messaging and positioning (which I think is fundamental for any PMM to be successful. They have to understand it - even if they aren’t developing it). It helps me understand their oral communication skills. Sometimes, it also demonstrates a bit of flair and ...Read More

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 great, but not enough about how their marketing was great. I'd also say that although companies like Apple and Patagonia have renowned product marketing - it is sometimes more beneficial to focus on the examp ...Read More

When I'm interviewing product marketers I'm always looking for critical thinking skills, analytical interpretation, and the ability to translate technical products into outcomes and value statements. These kinds of skills are not typically discovered without some probing. I want to hear the stories, what worked and what didn't, and especially the journey of how you got there, not just the end result. A few example questions I use are: How would you explain the benefits of your current product to ...Read More

Here are some of my favorites: Open-ended / ice-breaker: "Can you tell me about yourself / your experience?" Motivation / Research: "Why are you interested in the company and this position?" If the answer is too generic / short, follow-up with "What do you know about the company?" Behavioral / Change management and initiative: "Can you tell me about a time when you realized that your company or team needed to change something in the way you did things? How did you come to that conclusion and how ...Read More

Let me give you the one interview question, out of every interview I've ever been to, that literally stumped me. "Give me a time that you were the most creative".    It stumped me at the time because I approach my role in PMM from a very systematic, repeatable, scalable, and data driven approach. There have been plenty of times where I've had to be creative, but at the time all I could think about were things like "ad messages" and "campaigns" and "graphic design" and I don't participate in much ...Read More

Here are a few of the questions that I like to ask:  - Tell me about a time that you influenced the product direction. - How do you define the role of product marketing? - What is the one thing that we can help you with, that you can take away from working here? I also agree with Carrie that case studies are the best. I like to ask about a specific project from the resume and then go into great deal about that particular experience. I look for self-awareness and ability for the individual to des ...Read More

I like using: "Product marketing covers a wide range of skills and tasks. Nobody on my team is an expert at everything. We're all growing some aspect of the job. Where do you really shine, and what areas would you like some professional development in?" It shows self-awareness, forces the candidate to mention what they believe is included in product marketing, and gives them a safe way to admit which skills are weaker. If they're honest about the weaknesses and position them as areas they'd like ...Read More

I have product marketing candidates give me the Who Cares and Why Is That Important pitch for their current product. Walk me through the positioning and messaging development, what resonates and why, stuff like that. Another key question I ask all candidates is what kind of non-profit or volunteer things they do outside of work. That gives me a gauge of how team/other they are oriented. Great PMMers have a strong element of empathy and their volunteer work lets me know how well developed that em ...Read More

My favorite question is actually a mini case study. I like to walk the candidate through a real problem I'm currently facing. Things like gaining sales mindshare, content strategy, an event sponsorship, social — whatever is actually on my plate. PMM is too broad and messy for canned questions to tell me much. A launch or messaging scenario only shows me one slice of the job. I want to see if a candidate can flex into the problem that's actually in front of me. I'm not judging them on the right a ...Read More

The question I ask every PMM candidate: "What is your major & minor in Product Marketing?" PMMs flex many muscles, but asking this question helps me learn 1) where you shine the most, and 2) your humility as a team member. The strongest answers I've heard have focused on skillset strengths with specific examples, and how they lean on xfn peers in their 'minors' that aren't quite as skilled at or find as fulfilling. Highly recommend asking this question for roles beyond PMM too - oftentimes t ...Read More

I often like to ask, “What accomplishment are you most proud of?” as well as, “In your last performance review, what were your opportunities to improve and how have you worked to address them?” I like the question “What accomplishment are you most proud of?” because it often helps me understand what really motivates a candidate and what type of worker they are. The best answer I’ve heard to that question was a candidate who talked about overcoming some very challenging obstacles for a new produc ...Read More

I am going to provide a highly opinionated answer. Please forgive the strong tone, but I hope it will be more helpful for you than a generic response:  For any question I ask, I want a short, succinct, and direct answer that tells me within the first 3-5 sentences what outcomes you achieved. If you can do that, you’ve already impressed me so just stop right there. Any additional info I need, I will follow up with more questions and then we can dig into the details. If I’m interviewing you, I wan ...Read More

Any interviews with me will involve a case - real world, but sanitized case questions like "you are the PMM for xyz product and your subscriber growth has slowed down [insert whatever metrics, scenarios] in the last 2 quarters. You need to get it back on track. What would you do to tackle this?" I look for ability to break down a problem, identify hypotheses, look for right data/ fact base to validate hypotheses and creative ideas to solve a problem. My best tip is to not jump into answering the ...Read More