120: Product Manager Interview Tricks

Product manager interview tricks – what are they?

In this episode, I share my insights on product manager interview tricks.

Bottom line?

There aren’t really tricks.

But if you approach the interview with a product management mindset, and think about what the customer really needs when they say “I want faster horses,” you might gain that competitive edge.

A list of some characteristics of great product managers

The hiring manager needs to get confidence that you can do the things that product managers need to do, like:

• Overcome obstacles
• Find market problems
• Persuade HIPPOs that their idea, while good, should be deferred in favor of features that move the needle
• Help the team make forward progress
• Motivate people
• Remove objections
• Help sales and marketing succeed
• Help customers succeed
• Say “No” when you have to (most of the time)
• Make decisions quickly despite uncertainty
• Assess when it’s OK to make decisions quickly and when you need to take more care (one-way vs two-way) decisions.
• Prioritize, figuring out what’s important
• Context switch
• Playing at multiple levels at once
• Being detail-oriented but also 30k foot level in your outlook

The most important product manager interview tricks are how to expose your skills – such as the ones listed above – in your stories.

Interested in coaching?

To learn more about accelerating your product management career with product management coaching, I would love to offer you a free 45 minute consultation (Zoom), for free, with no obligation, to help you out with any challenges or questions you are facing in your product management career. And to discuss the potential of working with me longer term.

More links (mostly mine) related to getting that next (or first) product management job

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 13:52 — 15.5MB)

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