Preparing for Product Management

4 min read

We are back with our second action-oriented blog, this time for product management preparation. 

Note: 

• This blog is our understanding, experience and taking a lot of APM role interview rounds into account. 

• It is written keeping entry-level role requirements in mind. 

• We assume you are applying for product roles at campus placements(December), but you can adjust the timeline per your deadlines for each round. 

Associate Product Manager is an exciting role in starting your career that makes them worth the hype around them. The USP is the kind of ownership and exposure it provides across engineering, design, marketing, and beyond to launch impactful projects. 

Let’s move forward with what kind of interview rounds there are in the recruitment process for a Product role. 

• Deck Submission Round

  A handful of companies would ask you to make a slide deck(product pitch deck) as part of the recruitment process. Some companies would give a dedicated problem statement of their own, for which you have to design and pitch your product(within those boundaries) through the deck you submit.

  
  Average length of the deck: 7-8 slides
  Resources: Preparing for product interviews by Advait Sridhar

  Things to keep in mind:

  • Analyze the problem well. Make the objective concise, to the point and obvious.

  • Make the content visually appealing: Use flowcharts and graphs and visualize your solutions with the help of pictures.

  • Define User Journeys and User Pain points clearly: A product manager needs to place himself in the shoes of his users. This makes the end product more user-centric.

  • Provide logical and data-backed solutions: Metrics and data are everything in Product Management. Solutions supported by key metrics will make you stand out. 

• Problem Solving Case Round

  • Root cause analysis(RCA) cases

  RCA cases test your problem-solving skills. You are given a problem statement, and you have to figure out the root cause of the problem in the interview.

  Some helpful videos: RCA Cases

  This part of product preparation is similar to consulting case preparation because both require you to structure, segment and solve the given problem.

  Find a partner for case prep; objectives of your mock case prep are 

  • Ask the right set of clarifying questions

  • Structure your way to the solution, 

  • Lay out the user journey laying out the user journey 

  Tip: Always follow a MECE approach. After each case, devote some time to analyze and retrospect your approach and what could be done better.

  Resources: Preparing for product interviews by Advait Sridhar, Cracking the PM Interview(Gayle Dockmann Doyle)

  • Guesstimates:

    • Guesstimates assess the candidate on the approach you are following while solving the question. 

    • Better structuring and understanding of solving guesstimates come with practice.

    • Make a habit of solving one guesstimate daily, sometimes with a case partner and sometimes on your own.

    Resources: Case Interview Cracked(By Sankalp Kelshikar, Saransh Garg), Guesstimates in Indian Context.pdf

• Product Design Round

  • These cases are challenging to start with. It might take some time for people to get accustomed to how to think through these cases.

  • After an initial grasp on how to approach, start practising in case groups

  • Analyze and look back at your solution after each case and also explore other potential solutions

  Recommended Reads: Decode and Conquer(by Lewis C. Lin), Preparing for product interviews by Advait Sridhar

  Resources: Youtube links to Useful Case Videos

• Tech Round/Tech Understanding

  • This round has nothing to do with your ability to code; it checks your grasp of the tech used behind everyday products. 

  • Tech cases dive into how products are made; for example, how does Zomato calculate estimated time? 

  • It is a good practice to read about tech implementation in famous products.

  Resources: Swipe to Unlock(by Aditya Agashe, Neel Mehta, and Parth Detroja), Tech Understanding Cases, Gayle Dockmann Doyle(Cracking the PM Interview)

• Others

  There are some specific types of questions asked, which we felt the need to cover separately. 

  • Product Improvement
    In these cases, you are asked how you would add some features to an existing product to improve its performance and user penetration.

  • Favourite Product

    Interviewer asks the question - What is your favourite product and why? To check your holistic understanding and passion for a product. 

    Resources: Youtube links to Useful Case Videos

• Behavioural questions/Fit interview questions:  

  We will release a dedicated write-up on this later

  • Begin preparing for ~20 days before your final interviews

  • Spend limited time on finding resources online with common HR interview questions

  • Reach out to seniors for company-specific questions (if any)

  • Make sure that the standard questions are well prepared (timed and structured)

All the best for your preparation! Do share your thoughts in the comments and suggest any topic you want us to write about.