The purpose of a job interview is to determine if a role is the right fit for a candidate. Of course, there is a general vetting process to determine if a candidate has the necessary skills, experience, and personality traits to thrive. But there are some specific questions you can expect to be asked if you apply for the role of a product manager.
Product managers set the strategy and roadmap for a product and they define feature requirements that meet customer demands. So, the required skills for product managers span from strategic to tactical. The best product managers also share certain personality traits. They are committed, curious, and passionate. Leadership skills are needed to inspire others around a shared vision.
Whatever questions you receive, take time to think through your answer and, if needed, ask for clarification. Many questions do not have a right or wrong answer. The interviewer will want to see that you are thinking through the question in a logical way. And if you do not have an answer, ask if you can come back to the question later in the interview or describe how you would go about finding out the answer.
How To Answer Product Strategy Interview Questions Using The Best Framework
3. How would you figure it out…?
Product managers need data and metrics to make good decisions and gain the support of stakeholders. This often requires doing some research to develop the right facts and figures to make their case. Asking a candidate how they would find a fact they don’t already know will indicate whether they can enter a query into Google and do the up-front thinking on the right questions to ask and explain how they got there.
product strategy interview questions
Product managers set the strategy and roadmap for a product and they define feature requirements that meet customer demands. So, the required skills for product managers span from strategic to tactical. The best product managers also share certain personality traits. They are committed, curious, and passionate. Leadership skills are needed to inspire others around a shared vision.
Whatever questions you receive, take time to think through your answer and, if needed, ask for clarification. Many questions do not have a right or wrong answer. The interviewer will want to see that you are thinking through the question in a logical way. And if you do not have an answer, ask if you can come back to the question later in the interview or describe how you would go about finding out the answer.
The purpose of a job interview is to determine if a role is the right fit for a candidate. Of course, there is a general vetting process to determine if a candidate has the necessary skills, experience, and personality traits to thrive. But there are some specific questions you can expect to be asked if you apply for the role of a product manager.
Why the Product Manager Interview Questions Matter
Many people approach an interview with a “let’s just see how it goes” attitude. They think they can get a sense of the person and their fit for the role regardless of which direction the conversation may go.
Entering an interview unprepared is just as bad for the interviewer as the interviewee. You may luck into a deep and diverse discussion that provides a great sense of the candidate, but you may also have many uncomfortable minutes of silence when you struggle to come up with the next question.
And there’s no assurance the dialogue will cover all the pertinent points unless the interviewer makes a concerted effort to get there. That’s why every interview should include the most relevant topics to ensure everything’s covered.
While the specifics of the role and the candidate’s background may dictate which of these to include and which to skip, here’s a set of basic categories of questions you’ll likely want to touch on:
Don’t worry that this will lead to a disjointed interview. Multitasking and context switching is essential to the job. If the interviewee can’t hop from one area to another easily in an interview, they’re likely to struggle with that on the job. Now, let’s review the eleven product manager interview questions to reveal whether a candidate is a good fit for your position.
