Cracking the PM

Interview
How to Land a Product Manager Job

Gayle L. McDowell | Founder / CEO,

CareerCup
May 4, 2016 | Product School

gayle gayle in/gaylemcd

 Hi! Im Gayle Laakmann McDowell

(CS) (M BA)

< dev < /dev

> >

Author Interview Coach Interview Consulting

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 Yes! Slides are online!

Gayle.com
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a i l : om
Em yle . c p
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 The Perfect PM

Technic
al

Leadershi
Busines p&
s Product
Execution

Industr
y

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------ the ------
Perfect PM
------ is a ------

MYTH
 The Real Question(s)

What do you What do you

have? need?

What do I assume?

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 Ge
ts
Customer Action

Th
art

Focus Oriented

in
Sm

gs
Product Prioritizatio
Technic

Do
Design n
al Skills

ne
Communicatio
Analysis & n Project
Synthesis Management

Strategy & Leadershi

Vision p
 Engineer

Ge
ts
Customer Action

Th
art

Focus Oriented

in
Sm

gs
Product Prioritizatio
Technic

Do
Design n
al Skills

ne
Communicatio
Analysis & n Project
Synthesis Management

Strategy & Leadershi

Vision p
 Marketing

Ge
ts
Customer Action

Th
art

Focus Oriented

in
Sm

gs
Product Prioritizatio
Technic

Do
Design n
al Skills

ne
Communicatio
Analysis & n Project
Synthesis Management

Strategy & Leadershi

Vision p
 Design

Ge
ts
Customer Action

Th
art

Focus Oriented

in
Sm

gs
Product Prioritizatio
Technic

Do
Design n
al Skills

ne
Communicatio
Analysis & n Project
Synthesis Management

Strategy & Leadershi

Vision p
 Project Manager

Ge
ts
Customer Action

Th
art

Focus Oriented

in
Sm

gs
Product Prioritizatio
Technic

Do
Design n
al Skills

ne
Communicatio
Analysis & n Project
Synthesis Management

Strategy & Leadershi

Vision p
 Customer Service

Ge
ts
Customer Action

Th
art

Focus Oriented

in
Sm

gs
Product Prioritizatio
Technic

Do
Design n
al Skills

ne
Communicatio
Analysis & n Project
Synthesis Management

Strategy & Leadershi

Vision p
 Business Analyst

Ge
ts
Customer Action

Th
art

Focus Oriented

in
Sm

gs
Product Prioritizatio
Technic

Do
Design n
al Skills

ne
Communicatio
Analysis & n Project
Synthesis Management

Strategy & Leadershi

Vision p
Behavioral
Tell me about yourself
 The Good Enough Pitch

Shows of
success

Prompt
the
interviewe
r

Hobbies
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 The Great Pitch

Tells an [engaging] story

Sends a message. Who are you,
really?
Addresses your stereotype

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 Developing Your Stories: Strategy
1

Job 1 Job 2
Leadership

Successes

Challenges

Mistakes

Conflicts

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 Developing Your Stories: Strategy
2

Strengths Weaknesses
Data? Detail-
Risk-taking? oriented?
Thoroughness? Bluntness?
Empathy? Too optimistic?
Resilience? Sensitivity?
Impatient?

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 Goals of Answering Behavioral Qs

Good Good
Content + Communication

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 Structure 1: Nugget First

Lead with your thesis / nugget

Grabs the listeners attention
Gives them context for where youre
going.
Q: What accomplishment
are you most proud of?

Im most proud of
program I set up to

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 Structure 2: S.A.R.

S What was the issue?

A What did you do about it?

R What was the impact?

Whats the
message?
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 Story Diagram

Story 1 Story 2
NUGGET
SITUATION
ACTION
What & Why &
How
RESULT
THE MESSAGE
DO DIFFERENTLY

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 Too much we, too
little I
Especially leaders &
Most women
Commo Too little action
n No message
Issues

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----- dont -----
sugarcoat
------ the ------
bad stuf
 What Im looking for

If youll admit to bad stuf

If youve really failed
How you respond to bad things

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 Weaknesses, Failures & Mistakes

Be REAL
Be COMPELLING
Be CHANGED

The best candidates

connect
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 Product Design

02
How would you design a
How would you design an
alarm clock for the blind?

Whats your favorite app? Why?

Pick a Google product.

How would you improve it?
 Communication
User empathy
What Creativity
Im Judgment
Looking
z

For

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 How to Tackle

1. Define the user

Ask questions
Are there multiple users?
2. Discuss use cases, problems &
goals
3. Design
4. Wrap-up
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 And dont forget

the the
USER WHITEBOARD

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 Make sure you know

Favorite WEBSITE
Favorite MOBILE APP
Favorite PHYSICAL PRODUCT
Favorite COMPANY PRODUCT

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 Your Favorites

Why do you love it?

Who are the users?
What do they use it for?
How do they competitors compare?
What problems are there?
How would you improve it?

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not all favorites
are created equal
 Estimation

03
How many and who cares?
How much money does Gmail
make in a year?

How many airplanes land

in a day?

How many golf balls can fit

in a bus?
 Smarts
Ballparking Matters
Comfort with
Why
numbers
Wez
Ask

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 How to Tackle

1. Ask questions to resolve ambiguity

Dont make assumptions (yet)
2. Outline / Structure Your Approach
3. Break down the components
Assume numbers when necessary
State assumptions explicitly
Round numbers to make your math
easier
4. Sanity Check
Do your numbers make sense?
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How much money
does
Gmail make in a year?
 Step 1: Ambiguous Information

Just in the US? Or Worldwide?

Profit or revenue?
Past year? Or average over history?
Gmail only? Or include Google
Apps?

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 Step 2: Outline Your Approach

1. Estimate # of Gmail users

2. Estimate annual clicks
a. Top clicks
b. Side clicks
3. Estimate $ per click
a. Top clicks
b. Side clicks

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 Step 3: Break down components

Estimate # of Gmail users in the US

1. Assume 300 million people in the US.
Exclude 0 - 12 years old and 65 - 75 years old
~ 200 million
2. Assume 80% of people use email
But 50% only use their work email acct
3. Assume 80% use a major email
provider
Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail, AOL, etc.
and so on

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 Step 4: Sanity Check

Suppose you get US rev. = $5

billion.
No, because
Googles annual revenue is ~$30 billion
$16 / US citizen (not just gmail users)

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 Case & Misc.
Questions

04
The other questions
How would you launch Amazon
in Turkey?

How would you price

a new e-book reader?

User signs up drop after launching

new profiles. What would you do?
 Many other question types!

Problem solving
Acquisition rates dropped. Why?
Strategy
Should we do X or Y?
Marketing
How would you market X to Y?
Pricing
How would you price X?
Launching
How would you launch X in country Y?
Brainstorming
Name as many things you could do with X

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 Generic Structure

1. Understand/define problem
2. Structure
3. Solve
Use instincts
Make reasonable assumptions

DRIVE the
DISCUSSION
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 Useful Frameworks

Customer Purchase Decision

Making Process
Marketing Mix (4 Ps)
SWOT Analysis
Five Cs
Porters 5 Forces
But its not a test of
frameworks
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 Useful Metrics & Knowledge

User Acquisition
#, growth, active users, etc
Activity
What are people doing?
Money
Customer acquisition costs
Revenue
$ growth

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 Takeaways

05
If you forget everything else
 If you forget everything

Know who you are

(and who we think you are)
Focus on the user
Structure your responses

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I could write
a whole book
on this!
 Other Resources

Gayle.com

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