Alex Willen

The Product Management Interview Alex Willen

How do you structure a product requirements document? What are the right metrics to track when you launch a new product? How would you design a ridesharing service for elderly people without cell phones? These are the kind of questions you'll get when you interview for a role in product management, and this book is here to help you answer them.
Getting into product management is a tough nut to crack - it's the classic problem of not being able to find a PM job without experience, but not being able to get experience without finding a PM job. What you might not realize, though, is that you almost certainly have some product management skills already. If you're in sales, you know how to listen to customer needs and you understand how and why people buy products. If you're in customer support, you know how to deal with product issues that arise. If you're in marketing, you know how to highlight the best parts of a product and tell a story about how it will help customers. If you're in engineering, you have a deep understanding of how products work.
The goal of this book is to show you how to take that experience and parlay it into a job in product management. I'll help you take the work that you've done and turn it into well-crafted answers to common PM interview questions, so you come off as a thoughtful person with the skills to do the job.
In this book, I'll walk you through the full process of finding a PM job, from locating job openings, to evaluating companies, to applying and going through multiple stages of the interview process. We'll go over not only what you'll be asked, but also what it is companies are really looking for.
CONTENTSIntroductionPaths to Product ManagementGetting Hired Based on Previous ExperienceRotational ProgramsInternal TransfersHow You Are Being EvaluatedSoft SkillsExperience LevelDomain ExpertiseFinding the Right CompanyYour CompanyNetworkSearching For CompaniesCompany SizesPM Interview Questions - ExperiencePM Interview Questions - DesignPM Interview Questions - Problem SolvingPM Interview Questions - HomeworkQuestions From YouRecruiter Phone ScreenHiring Manager Phone ScreenOn Site InterviewConclusionGlossary