Downloaded 226 times
![gayle in/gaylemcdgayleGayle Laakmann McDowell 18
The Great Pitch
Tells an [engaging] story
Sends a message.Who are you, really?
Addresses your “stereotype”](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/crackingthepminterview-november2016-161112154912/75/Cracking-the-PM-Interview-18-2048.jpg)
Uploaded byGayle McDowell
Cracking the PM Interview
This document summarizes Gayle McDowell's presentation on cracking the product manager interview. She discusses developing stories to answer behavioral questions, how to tackle product design questions by focusing on the user, how to approach estimation questions by making reasonable assumptions, and common frameworks that can be useful for solving case study questions. The key takeaway is to know yourself, focus on the user, and structure your responses.
More Related Content
Similar to Cracking the PM Interview
![[Webcast] How to Get Your Email Marketing Off the Ground](https://cdn.slidesharecdn.com/ss_thumbnails/getyouremailmarketingoffthegroundmarch2013-130320165830-phpapp02-thumbnail.jpg?width=640&height=640&fit=bounds)
Cracking the PM Interview
- 1. GayleL. McDowell |Founder/ CEO, CareerCup gayle in/gaylemcdgayle Cracking the PM Interview Howto Landa Product ManagerJob Nov12, 2016 |ChicagoBooth
- 2. gayle in/gaylemcdgayleGayle LaakmannMcDowell 2 Hi! I’m Gayle LaakmannMcDowell Author Interview Coach Interview Consulting <dev> </dev> (CS) (MBA)
- 3. Gayle Laakmann McDowell3gayle in/gaylemcdgayle Yes! Slidesare online! Gayle.com Click “Events”
- 4. gayle in/gaylemcdgayleGayle LaakmannMcDowell 4 The Perfect PM Leadership & Execution Technical Product Industry Business
- 5. ------ the ------ PerfectPM ------ is a ------ MYTH
- 6. gayle in/gaylemcdgayleGayle LaakmannMcDowell 6 The Real Question(s) What do you have? What do you need? What do Iassume?
- 7.
- 8.
- 9.
- 10.
- 11.
- 12.
- 13.
- 14. What good isan MBA? • VERY mixed opinions • Be humble! • What else ya got? – Industry expertise? – Technical skills? – Business skills? – Product skills? McDowell |
- 15. Recruiting for MBAs •Most positions don’t need it – … and may not even value it • On campus recruiting for big companies • Networking for startups/smaller companies – Be aggressive! McDowell |
- 16. Behavioral Tell me aboutyourself…
- 17. gayle in/gaylemcdgayleGayle LaakmannMcDowell 17 The Good EnoughPitch • Showsof success • Prompt the interviewer • Hobbies
- 18. gayle in/gaylemcdgayleGayle LaakmannMcDowell 18 The Great Pitch Tells an [engaging] story Sends a message.Who are you, really? Addresses your “stereotype”
- 19. Gayle Laakmann McDowell19gayle in/gaylemcdgayle DevelopingYour Stories: Strategy 1 Job1 Job2 Leadership Successes Challenges Mistakes Conflicts
- 20. Gayle Laakmann McDowell20gayle in/gaylemcdgayle DevelopingYour Stories: Strategy 2 Strengths Data? Risk-taking? Thoroughness? Empathy? Resilience? Weaknesses Detail-oriented? Bluntness? Toooptimistic? Sensitivity? Impatient?
- 21. Gayle Laakmann McDowell21gayle in/gaylemcdgayle Goals of Answering BehavioralQs Good Content Good Communication +
- 22. gayle in/gaylemcdgayleGayle LaakmannMcDowell 22 Structure 1: Nugget First Lead with your “thesis”/ nugget Grabs thelistener’sattention Givesthemcontextforwhereyou’regoing. I’m most proud of program I set up to … Q: What accomplishment are you most proud of?
- 23. gayle in/gaylemcdgayleGayle LaakmannMcDowell 23 Structure 2: S.A.R. S A R What was the issue? What did you do about it? What was the impact? What’s themessage?
- 24. Gayle Laakmann McDowell24gayle in/gaylemcdgayle Story Diagram Story1 Story2 NUGGET SITUATION ACTION What&Why&How RESULT THEMESSAGE DO DIFFERENTLY
- 25. gayle in/gaylemcdgayle 25GayleLaakmann McDowell Most Common Issues Too much “we”, too little“I” Especiallyleaders&women Too littleaction No message
- 26. ----- don’t ----- sugarcoat ------the ------ bad stuff
- 27. Gayle Laakmann McDowell27gayle in/gaylemcdgayle What I’m looking for If you’ll admitto bad stuff If you’ve really failed How you respond to bad things
- 28. Gayle Laakmann McDowell28gayle in/gaylemcdgayle Weaknesses, Failures& Mistakes Be REAL Be COMPELLING Be CHANGED The best candidates connect
- 29. Product Design How wouldyou design a… 02
- 30. How would youdesign an alarm clock for the blind? What’s your favorite app? Why? Pick a Google product. How would you improve it?
- 31. gayle in/gaylemcdgayle 31 z GayleLaakmann McDowell What I’m Looking For Communication User empathy Creativity Judgment
- 32. Gayle Laakmann McDowell32gayle in/gaylemcdgayle How toTackle 1. Define theuser Askquestions Arethere multipleusers? 2. Discuss use cases, problems & goals 3. Design 4. Wrap-up
- 33. Gayle Laakmann McDowell33gayle in/gaylemcdgayle Anddon’t forget… the USER the WHITEBOARD
- 34. Gayle Laakmann McDowell34gayle in/gaylemcdgayle Make sure youknow Favorite WEBSITE Favorite MOBILE APP Favorite PHYSICAL PRODUCT Favorite COMPANY PRODUCT
- 35. Gayle Laakmann McDowell35gayle in/gaylemcdgayle Your Favorites Why do you love it? Whoare the users? What do they use it for? How do they competitors compare? Whatproblems are there? How would you improve it?
- 36. not all favorites arecreated equal
- 37. Estimation How many andwho cares? 03
- 38. How much moneydoes Gmail make in a year? How many airplanes land in a day? How many golf balls can fit in a bus?
- 39. gayle in/gaylemcdgayle 39 z GayleLaakmann McDowell Why We Ask Smarts Ballparking Matters Comfort withnumbers
- 40. gayle in/gaylemcdgayleGayle LaakmannMcDowell 40 How toTackle 1. Ask questions to resolve ambiguity Don’tmake assumptions(yet) 2. Outline/ StructureYour Approach 3. Break down the components Assumenumberswhennecessary State assumptionsexplicitly Roundnumberstomake yourmath easier 4. Sanity Check Doyournumbersmake sense?
- 41. How much moneydoes Gmail make in a year?
- 42. Gayle Laakmann McDowell42gayle in/gaylemcdgayle Step 1: Ambiguous Information Just in theUS? Or Worldwide? Profit or revenue? Pastyear? Or average over history? Gmail only? Or includeGoogle Apps?
- 43. Gayle Laakmann McDowell43gayle in/gaylemcdgayle Step 2: Outline YourApproach 1. Estimate # of Gmail users 2. Estimate annualclicks a. Top clicks b. Side clicks 3. Estimate $ per click a. Top clicks b. Side clicks
- 44. gayle in/gaylemcdgayleGayle LaakmannMcDowell 44 Step 3:Break downcomponents Estimate # of Gmail usersin theUS 1. Assume 300 million people in the US. Exclude0 -12 yearsold and65 - 75yearsold ~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 …
- 45. gayle in/gaylemcdgayleGayle LaakmannMcDowell 45 Step 4:Sanity Check Suppose you get US rev. = $5 billion. No, because… Google’sannualrevenueis~$30billion $16/ UScitizen(notjustgmailusers)
- 46. Case & Misc. Questions Theother questions 04
- 47. How would youlaunch Amazon in Turkey? How would you price a new e-book reader? User signs up drop after launching new profiles. What would you do?
- 48. gayle in/gaylemcdgayleGayle LaakmannMcDowell 48 Many other questiontypes! Problemsolving Acquisition rates dropped. Why? Strategy Should wedo X orY? Marketing How would youmarketX to Y? Pricing How would youprice X? Launching How would youlaunchX incountryY? Brainstorming Nameas manythings youcould do with X
- 49. gayle in/gaylemcdgayleGayle LaakmannMcDowell 49 Generic Structure 1. Understand/defineproblem 2. Structure 3. Solve Useinstincts Make reasonableassumptions DRIVEtheDISCUSSION
- 50. gayle in/gaylemcdgayleGayle LaakmannMcDowell 50 Useful Frameworks Customer PurchaseDecision MakingProcess Marketing Mix (4 Ps) SWOTAnalysis Five Cs Porter’s 5 Forces Butit’snotatestofframeworks
- 51. gayle in/gaylemcdgayleGayle LaakmannMcDowell 51 Useful Metrics& Knowledge User Acquisition #,growth,activeusers,etc Activity What arepeopledoing? Money Customeracquisitioncosts Revenue $growth
- 52.
- 53. Takeaways If you forgeteverything else… 05
- 54. gayle in/gaylemcdgayleGayle LaakmannMcDowell 54 If you forget everything… Know who you are (andwhowethinkyouare) Focus on theuser Structure your responses
- 55. I could writea whole book on this!
- 56. gayle in/gaylemcdgayleGayle LaakmannMcDowell 56 Other Resources Gayle.com CareerCup.com CrackingThe CodingInterview.com Or, follow me online • facebook.com/gayle • twitter.com/gayle • gayle.com • gayle@gayle.com • quora.com