When hiring PMMs, what skills and behaviors most strongly correlate with later being able to show meaningful business impact?

Assess candidates' ability to position themselves effectively and their willingness to take risks by testing new materials before scaling them. Storytelling, writing, and positioning are core tenets of strong product marketers that differentiate our role. I test this in interviews by asking candidates to position themselves - telling me the 2-3 most important things about them that make them great candidates that I wouldn't glean from their resume. This simple exercise reveals so much: Can they ...Read More

Strong writing skills are the most fundamental indicator of a successful product marketer. At Verkada, writing ability is the first and most fundamental skill we look for. We test for writing in our interview process as a core assessment. While AI tools like ChatGPT are helpful, I worry about over-reliance on them because product marketers need to be able to write and use critical thinking skills independently. The job requires gathering insights from PMs and engineers, having conversations, and ...Read More

Clear thinking, research capabilities, and curiosity are key indicators of product marketers who will drive business impact. For me, writing is more of an output - clear thinking leads to clear writing. I need to know that candidates can think critically. With newer colleagues from younger generations, I often see they're very good at finding answers but don't always understand how they got there. The "how" is crucial for clear thinking. Research capabilities are also essential since so much of ...Read More

Look for risk-taking attitude and strong storytelling abilities that can resonate with different audiences. I start with attitude - I look for someone willing to take risks and try new things. Second, strong storytelling ability is crucial. As product marketers, we're selling to the sellers and marketing to the marketers, so we need to tell stories that resonate with different audiences. While product teams can describe features and capabilities, product marketers need to articulate how someone ...Read More