Cracking the PM

Interview
How to Land a Product Manager Job

Gayle L. McDowell | Founder / CEO,

CareerCup
May
4, 2016 | Product School

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Hi! Im Gayle Laakmann McDowell

(CS)

(M BA)

< dev
>

Author

Gayle Laakmann McDowell

< /dev
>

Interview Coach Interview Consulting

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Yes! Slides are online!

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Gayle Laakmann McDowell

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The Perfect PM
Technic
al

Leadershi
p&
Execution

Busines
s

Product

Industr
y

Gayle Laakmann McDowell

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------ the ------

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

MYTH

The Real Question(s)

What do you
have?

What do you
need?

What do I assume?

Gayle Laakmann McDowell

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Analysis &
Synthesis

Technic
al Skills
Communicatio
n

Strategy &
Vision

Sm
art

Prioritizatio
n
Project
Management

Leadershi
p

ne
Do
gs

Product
Design

Action
Oriented

in
Th
ts
Ge

Customer
Focus

Customer
Focus

Analysis &
Synthesis
Strategy &
Vision

Prioritizatio
n

Technic
al Skills
Communicatio
n

Project
Management

Leadershi
p

ne
Do
gs

Product
Design

Action
Oriented

in
Th
ts
Ge

Sm
art

Engineer

Customer
Focus

Analysis &
Synthesis
Strategy &
Vision

Prioritizatio
n

Technic
al Skills
Communicatio
n

Project
Management

Leadershi
p

ne
Do
gs

Product
Design

Action
Oriented

in
Th
ts
Ge

Sm
art

Marketing

Customer
Focus

Analysis &
Synthesis
Strategy &
Vision

Prioritizatio
n

Technic
al Skills
Communicatio
n

Project
Management

Leadershi
p

ne
Do
gs

Product
Design

Action
Oriented

in
Th
ts
Ge

Sm
art

Design

Customer
Focus

Analysis &
Synthesis
Strategy &
Vision

Prioritizatio
n

Technic
al Skills
Communicatio
n

Project
Management

Leadershi
p

ne
Do
gs

Product
Design

Action
Oriented

in
Th
ts
Ge

Sm
art

Project Manager

Customer
Focus

Analysis &
Synthesis
Strategy &
Vision

Prioritizatio
n

Technic
al Skills
Communicatio
n

Project
Management

Leadershi
p

ne
Do
gs

Product
Design

Action
Oriented

in
Th
ts
Ge

Sm
art

Customer Service

Customer
Focus

Analysis &
Synthesis
Strategy &
Vision

Prioritizatio
n

Technic
al Skills
Communicatio
n

Project
Management

Leadershi
p

ne
Do
gs

Product
Design

Action
Oriented

in
Th
ts
Ge

Sm
art

Business Analyst

Behavioral
Tell me about yourself

The Good Enough Pitch

Shows of
success
Prompt
the
interviewe
r
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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?
Risk-taking?
Thoroughness?
Empathy?
Resilience?

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Detailoriented?
Bluntness?
Too optimistic?
Sensitivity?
Impatient?

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Goals of Answering Behavioral Qs

Good
Content

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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.

What was the issue?

What did you do about it?

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
Most
Commo
n
Issues

Gayle Laakmann McDowell

Especially leaders &

women

Too little action

No message

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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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02

Product Design
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?

What
Im
Looking
z

Communication
User empathy
Creativity
Judgment

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
USER

Gayle Laakmann McDowell

the
WHITEBOARD

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Make sure you know

Favorite
Favorite
Favorite
Favorite

Gayle Laakmann McDowell

WEBSITE
MOBILE APP
PHYSICAL PRODUCT
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

03

Estimation
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?

Why
Wez
Ask

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Smarts
Ballparking Matters
Comfort with
numbers

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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.
b.

Top clicks
Side clicks

3. Estimate $ per click

a.
b.

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Top clicks
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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04

Case & Misc.

Questions
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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05

Takeaways
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
CareerCup.com
CrackingThe
CodingInterview.co
m
Or, follow me online

Email:
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Gayle Laakmann McDowell

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