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Conducting Great PM Interviews
Reverse Engineering Interviews to Reduce False Negatives
Gayle Laakmann McDowell
AOL Bootcamp Oct 2014
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Gayle Laakmann McDowell
<dev>
</dev>
Author Interview Coach Interview Consulting
(CS) (MBA)
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The Problem(s)
1. Great employees often aren’t great interviewees.
2. Interviewers often aren’t good.
Rejecting great people
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What I Coach
Download at: CrackingThePMInterview.com
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What I Coach
Download at: CrackingThePMInterview.com
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Typical PM Questions
• Behavioral/Experience• Technical Questions• Strategy• Product• Analytical• Knowledge
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How “They” Interview
• Startups– Lean towards “practical”
• Google, Microsoft, Amazon, etc.– Lean towards hypotheticals
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Skills vs. Attributes
What do you want?
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Skills vs. AttributesKnowledge & Experience
TechnicalMetrics
Design SpecsIndustry Expertise
…
Personal Attributes
IntelligenceDrive
InitiativePassion
…
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Skills vs. Attributes
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What You WantProduct Knows what to build
Execution Will get it done
Culture Fit Works well with others
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What You WantProduct • Vision
• Empathy• Analytical
Execution • Initiative• Opinionated
• Drive• Project
mgmt
Culture Fit • Enjoyable• Open to
feedback
• No jerks
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Product
• Design a ___________.• Favorite product & why?• What would you improve about our product?
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What to Look For
• Do they really get the user?– Surface level & deep
• Do the features/design make sense?• Can they defend decisions?• Will they change their mind with other info?• Execution:– Can they prioritize?– Can they execute?
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Issues: Design a ___
• Yay: Starts from scratch• Nay: Bias towards knowledge• Nay: Coaching matters• Nay: Your bias• Nay: Hypothetical
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Issues: Favorite Product
• Yay: Something they know• Nay: Bias towards preparation• Nay: Some products better than others
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Issues: Our Product
• Yay: It matters• Yay: Ensures alignment• Nay: Group think• Nay: Uneven playing field
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Recommendation
• Need to know space?– Our product
• Else?– Hypothetical
• Encourage questions
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Execution
• What have they done?• Why?• How?• What would they do differently?• What if…?
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Common Issues
• “Lack of personal accomplishments”– Didn’t do much?– Or doesn’t boast much?
• Can’t immediately think of example
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Recommendation
• Look for initiative & drive– More than just following orders
• Don’t be overly specific• Probe deeper
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Culture Fit
Personality +
Your Culture
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Common Issues
• Lack of clarity around culture• Not structuring culture interview
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What about skills?
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Good Skills?
• Technical knowledge?• Industry expertise?• Metrics?
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What about the skills?
Proxy Knowledgevs
Deep Knowledge
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Proxy Knowledge
• Can reasonably expect that someone would know it
• But is that true?
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Deep Knowledge
• Need someone who really knows this• But is that true?
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Technical Skills
• How much is enough?• Talk to and work with developers
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Common Issues
• Requiring more than you need• Can be really intimidating
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My Recommendation
Explain prior work Push deeper
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It’s About…
Job PerformanceNOT
Interview Performance
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Don’t get too caught up in the question.
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Approach interview process like an engineer
(it has bugs!)