A fast search on LinkedIn will let you know that there are greater than two million folks with the title “product supervisor”. Glassdoor has put the product supervisor job of their high 10 of the perfect jobs listing within the U.S. and the U.Okay. for 2022. On the identical time, 43% of firms are planning on hiring extra product managers.
As a result of recognition and the complexity of the function, hiring product managers might be very difficult. Most hiring processes contain interviewing a various group of candidates with totally different experiences and backgrounds.
Asking the correct questions in the course of the interview helps you perceive how they suppose and the way they may react in particular day-to-day conditions.
Key takeaways
- Background/expertise questions present the candidate with the chance to speak about their background, {qualifications}, and why they’re within the function.
- Technical know-how questions consider the candidate’s understanding of the know-how and their capability to speak complicated concepts.
- Strategic pondering questions take care of the why, how, and what of a product.
- Analytical competency questions are designed to assist the interviewer see how the candidate approaches day-to-day issues.
- Execution questions assist the interviewer perceive how the candidate identifies and prioritizes alternatives for the product(s).
- Management and workforce administration questions are requested to see how the candidate demonstrates management abilities and potential.
Why are product supervisor interview questions so necessary?
Going into the interview unprepared is dangerous each for the interviewer and the candidate. Whereas some interviewers can get sense of the particular person they’re interviewing, it’s virtually not possible to foretell how they may function day-to-day from only a dialog.
That’s why each interview should cowl all the details within the type of questions. Listed here are all the details grouped into classes:
- Background/expertise
- Technical know-how
- Strategic pondering
- Analytical competency
- Execution
- Management and workforce administration
Methods & examples for background questions
The aim of background questions is to make the candidate really feel snug whereas additionally offering them with the possibility to introduce themselves and speak about their background, {qualifications}, and why they’re within the specific function.
These questions ought to be simple to reply, because the interviewer is asking the candidate issues that they already know.
Instance query: Why would you like this job?
Within the guide “Cracking the PM Interview,” the authors recommend that the candidates reply the query by highlighting their expertise, mentioning at the least one particular accomplishment, and what attracted them to this job.
For instance: “I’ve been working as a product supervisor for the previous 4 years. Throughout that point, I efficiently drove two new product launches. I’m trying to broaden my ability set and tackle new challenges. I like how your organization focuses on merchandise which might be serving to construct a extra sustainable future.”
Listed here are another background/expertise questions and prompts you need to use:
- Stroll us by means of your resume.
- Inform us about your self.
- Why excites you about product administration?
- The place do you see your self in 5 years?
- Why would you like this job?
Methods & examples for technical questions
Technical know-how questions ask the candidate to elucidate sure technical ideas in a easy, comprehensible language. The purpose of those questions is to guage the candidate’s understanding of the basics of know-how and their capability to speak complicated concepts to the workforce.
Instance query: How would you clarify how APIs work to your grandparents?
A good way to reply a query like that is with an analogy: “If I needed to clarify how APIs work to my grandparents, I’d use a marriage analogy. For instance, the couple requests a sure sort of meals that falls inside a funds. It will likely be the job of the marriage planner to search for and talk with numerous caterers and rent the one that’s keen to cater the meals on the proper value. On this situation, the occasion organizer acts as an API and performs a number of duties like speaking with a number of entities, acquiring the wanted information, and getting the job carried out.”
Listed here are another technical know-how questions you’ll be able to ask:
- How would you clarify Google Cloud to your uncle?
- What applied sciences would you employ to construct a dwell stream video service?
- How would you retailer massive photographs in a database?
- How would you write a program to randomly shuffle an array of numbers?
- How would you absorb an unsorted array with duplicates and return it with no duplicates?
Methods & examples for strategic pondering questions
Strategic pondering questions take care of the why, how, and what of a product. They’re open-ended and don’t have any proper or flawed reply.
Questions resembling, “What ought to firm X do subsequent?”; “Why ought to firm X purchase firm Y”; and “Ought to firm X enter a brand new market?” all qualify as strategic questions.
Instance query: Fb purchased Instagram for a couple of billion {dollars} even when it wasn’t making any cash. What do you suppose was the explanation?
Product supervisor interview questions like this are designed to drive the candidate to have a look at the general image, do some deep pondering, and give you a logical reply. A great way for the candidate to reply is by tying the product to the strategic imaginative and prescient.
For instance, a robust reply may be: “Fb was already the world’s high social platform, however Instagram had captured a unique area of interest in social media primarily based on photographs. It was beginning to acquire influencers at a speedy fee. Fb noticed the shopping for of Instagram as a solution to shield its flank and improve its portfolio. Ultimately, it turned out to be a terrific resolution. At this time, Instagram is the third hottest social media platform. Fb additionally utilized the identical logic after they tried to buy Musical.ly, which finally developed into TikTok.”
A number of the different strategic pondering questions you’ll be able to ask embody:
- How would you promote vegetation at Amazon?
- How would you monetize Fb Messenger in all markets?
- What product would you get rid of in the event you have been the CEO of Apple?
- In your opinion, why did Microsoft purchase LinkedIn?
Methods & examples for analytical competency questions
Analytical competency questions check the candidate’s analytical method. They’re designed to assist the interviewer see how the candidate thinks and the way they method day-to-day issues.
Instance Query: What’s your favourite web site and the way would you enhance it?
In product administration, generally it’s greatest to observe frameworks. The candidate can clarify why they suppose one thing wants enchancment and the way they might do it.
This query might be answered by following these 4 steps:
- Present a construction, resembling discussing a logical development from targets to options to implementation to analysis.
- Take into account the wants of customers and clients.
- Determine the weak factors.
- Point out your concepts for enchancment.
An amazing reply to this query is one thing resembling:
“Don’t snigger, however my favourite web site is [the name of your favorite PM-related website]. They’ve nice content material with suggestions and tips of the commerce from specialists. One factor that’s lacking although is a solution to join with different product managers. I’d recommend they discover a solution to facilitate feedback and construct a group to extend engagement and allow us to all study from one another. If that was successful, they may even provide a premier tier with direct entry to high product managers or month-to-month meet-ups to generate extra income.”
Different typical analytical competency questions are:
- How would you enhance Netflix?
- How would you enhance the adoption of high-speed web in rural areas?
- Let’s say you have been charged with growing a brand new product for Amazon. What metrics would you employ to measure success?
- How do you resolve what’s the proper value for a product?
Methods & examples for execution questions
The purpose of execution questions within the product supervisor interview is to divulge to the interviewer how the candidate identifies and prioritizes alternatives for the merchandise. These questions are requested to learn how the candidate makes use of their assets, develops roadmaps and KPIs, and the way they’ll use information to construct higher experiences.
Instance query: Ought to Fb require customers to add a profile picture at enroll and the way would you make that call?
Notice that this can be a query Fb has used for interviewing product managers:
When answering this and different related execution questions, the candidate can take into consideration using the GAME framework:
- G = Objectives
- A = Actions
- M = Metrics
- E = Evaluations
One of many methods to reply this query is by following the framework and highlighting the worth of A/B checks: “Requiring customers to add a profile pic may assist stop faux accounts, however it may additionally harm consumer acquisition. You’d must run some experiments to seek out out. I’d recommend an A/B check asking randomized consumer teams to add photographs at onboarding. You’ll be able to then examine activation charges from the management group to others as a complete. If activation doesn’t endure, you’d wish to transfer ahead. If it prevented new customers from becoming a member of, we’d want to return and refine the thought additional and check once more.”
Different sorts of execution questions the interview can embody are:
- How do you go about decreasing the quantity of pleasant fraud on our ecommerce website?
- The variety of deserted purchasing carts abruptly spiked. What do you do?
- You’ve been named the product supervisor for Fb’s newsfeed. How do you rank posts?
Methods & examples for management questions
The success of a product supervisor will almost certainly be pushed by their capability to steer a workforce and assist them do their greatest work. When making ready product supervisor interview questions, be sure you ask the candidate for some particular examples to see how they’ve demonstrated management.
Instance Query: Consider a time if you needed to work with individuals who didn’t report back to you they usually disagreed together with your path. How did you deal with the battle?
This query isn’t actually about what the candidate did, however how they acted in a particular unfavorable state of affairs. A good way to reply that is by describing the state of affairs and the way the candidate navigated by means of it. For instance:
“Once we went to the gross sales and advertising and marketing workforce with a product, they have been vehemently against the instructed promoting value. They believed it was priced too excessive for the market, particularly given our competitor’s choices. So, we pulled collectively the important thing stakeholders and requested them to assist the product workforce prioritize function units. We then took the listing to a spotlight group of our clients and in contrast the solutions. As soon as we had the data, we obtained again collectively to debate it. It turned out we may pare again on a number of options to fulfill the worth level and make our clients joyful.”
This reply each demonstrates the power to barter and resolve battle productively but in addition exhibits a willingness to pay attention and adapt for the better good.
Different sorts of management questions may embody:
- How do you handle workforce battle?
- How do you create an inclusive and equitable atmosphere?
- One in every of your workforce members received’t converse up in conferences, what do you do?
- How do you get your workforce shifting after they’re caught?
- How do you resolve to delegate?
Skilled suggestions and assets for acing the product administration interview
The higher you put together for the interviews, the higher your chances are high for acing the interview — irrespective of if you’re the interviewer or the candidate. You probably have the time, take into account holding mock interviews with colleagues or different product managers.
In case you’re on the lookout for extra suggestions and insights, try these previous interviewers from professional product managers:
And in the event you’re trying to construct nice merchandise and allow your workforce to create higher buyer experiences, remember to discover the free model of Amplitude in the present day.
