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I've interviewed thousands of product manager candidates.
Here are my top 5 interview questions and why I ask them:
Here are my top 5 interview questions and why I ask them:
1/ How much do you think I weigh?
I like to dig in and understand the candidate's observation skills. If they overshoot, they might be too ambitious, undershoot, not ambitious enough.
I like to dig in and understand the candidate's observation skills. If they overshoot, they might be too ambitious, undershoot, not ambitious enough.
2/ If you could be a cheetah, lion, or tiger, which would you pick?
A good PM knows how to value strength, speed, and smarts. Which animal they pick here is crucial to understanding their prioritization.
A good PM knows how to value strength, speed, and smarts. Which animal they pick here is crucial to understanding their prioritization.
3/ You can build a product that very slightly improves the lives of 1m people or is life-changing for 1 person, which do you choose?
This is a good question to suss out whether you are interviewing a 1x PM or a 10x PM.
This is a good question to suss out whether you are interviewing a 1x PM or a 10x PM.
4/ You're starting a T-Shirt sizing business, how do you T-Shirt size requirements for it?
This question usually confuses the candidate, and unless they've spent 5+ years at Mckinsey, BCG, or Accenture, they'll crack under pressure.
This question usually confuses the candidate, and unless they've spent 5+ years at Mckinsey, BCG, or Accenture, they'll crack under pressure.
5/ Tell me 3 different ways of throwing the engineering team under the bus without them knowing about it.
Being able to do this is such an important PM skill. If they can't do this, I question their ability to work x-functionally.
Being able to do this is such an important PM skill. If they can't do this, I question their ability to work x-functionally.
If you want more content on what it's like to work in product, give me a follow. I share insights like this monthly
Don't let this flop, I need at least 1 viral shitpost a week to hit my Q2 OKRs
Since people seem to like these questions, here some bonus ones from friends in product:
@CharleyMa: “Memos, press releases, or PowerPoint? Which is your favorite and why is it PowerPoint?
@CharleyMa: “Memos, press releases, or PowerPoint? Which is your favorite and why is it PowerPoint?
@mengxilu: “Nixon, Steve Jobs, or Satoshi? Who would have made a better PM in your opinion?
@arfrank: How do you ensure you receive a promotion before your projects shit hits the fan? How does this reflect on your ability to manage a timeline?
Another from @CharleyMa: Slack / email / text / call and @channel are you comfortable doing all of these simultaneously?
And one more from @arfrank: Which google product would you rebuild from scratch and why would it then be shut down?
