32 Product Management Interview Questions & How to Answer

Product managers use their time to condust user research and develop product strategy. Watch a sample answer to this PM interview question here. From what you answer, the interviewer will assess your understanding of competitive analysis, both internal and external. As the product manager leads the development team, his role is crucial. The interviewer wants to know how you will act as a product manager. For that reason, figuring out how you piece together a product roadmap will let them know how good your product management skills are. Recruiters understand just how instrumental product roadmaps are.

• Like product design interview questions, strategy questions are another critical component of the product manager interview.
• Sometimes, the key to acing a product manager job interview is thinking on your feet.
• This is a classic getting-to-know-you question that interviewers use to assess your self-awareness and what you will bring to the team.
• Gear your answer to the company’s values and strategic vision, explaining how your approach to product management makes the company’s vision more achievable.
• In line with the previous question, this one serves to provide the interviewer with clear insight on how you would impact the company in your role as a product manager.

By what you answer, the interviewer will try to judge your knowledge and information regarding product management. Many people fail to decide when it is the right time to move towards the product launch.

Describe a situation in which you disagreed with a developer on your team

Driven from our community, we encourage experts to submit questions and offer feedback. Technical interview questions to best prepare yourself for this category. Product metric interview questions to best prepare yourself for this category. For the complete answer and a repeatable answer framework that you can use to create structured answers to all behavioral questions, take a look at this guide. Exponent has helped tens of thousands of product managers, technical product managers, program managers, and more land their dream jobs in tech. Studying the product will help inform how you see the user experience.

Granted, companies across the globe all use their own unique approach to scout for talent and bring them on board as part of their team. If you are applying in a specialized area like AI or machine learning, you should be ready to explain the key concepts involved in this technology and your expertise in this area. Strategic thinking questions deal with the why, how, and what of a product.

Product Management Interview Questions & How to Answer

Break down recursion to someone who has no technical knowledge of it whatsoever. Describe how you would write an algorithm to recommend articles to a user.

• While this question may be more common in the tech industry, you may be asked a variation of it in product management interviews.
• Think of her as your fractional CPO and sounding board for areas of design, marketing, product, and engineering.
• While you would be in pretty good shape if you review these 50 product manager questions, there is no doubt that you will be asked several interview questions not found on this list.
• This question is essential, especially since reportedly, 56% of product managers are unhappy or feel average about their process for communicating product strategy.
• You should aim to demonstrate your understanding of how this tech company measures success.
• Know what your customers will do before they do it with predictive customer analytics.

We have now come to the final segment of our product manager interview questions. The responses you provide will depend on the kind of experience you have in leadership and managerial roles. We move on to the communication segment of our list of product manager interview questions. Product management is a great career with a tremendous upside. Product management skills are in demand with employers in various industries — from tech to traditional consumer products.

Product Management Certifications that are Worth Your Time

Here, the interviewer wants to know what you prioritize as a product manager and what you think matters to users. While your specific answer may vary from industry to industry, there are some key principles to keep in mind while answering this question.

Below is another example of an answer to this question, to give you an idea of another scenario that could be used as an example of a past failure. One of the tradeoffs to bear in mind when implementing this is that the keys could become too sensitive, so the user inadvertently presses the wrong keys. Whilst a subscription business will be focused on user retention, an e-commerce business might be looking for repeat purchases.

product manager interview questions (with sample answers)

You should try to get your hands on the company’s products prior to the interview. Ask for a free trial or beta access from your interviewer if its behind a paywall. Your head is probably buzzing with excitement and nervousness. Obviously, don’t explain what a smart phone is or why people use apps! But don’t be afraid to explain your product philosophy and how you can make a product team great.

• They are open to new ideas, and rely on data rather than hunches to help make the right decisions.
• With this question, interviewers want you to provide key insight into the things you value the most when creating product roadmaps.
• The interview process for this role is designed to better understand your working style overall.
• With that in mind, the question invites candidates to touch on the strategies they use to unify the technical team with product strategy.
• But slowing down and showing that you can listen to directions and process information effectively is equally valuable.
• Describe how you communicate the product roadmap to all of the relevant teams at your company.
• Or, you may decide to use a well-recognized product that you admire but haven’t personally worked on — perhaps Apple’s iPhone.

The course includes lessons on how to answer all question types, examples of high-quality answers, mock interview videos, and more than 300 practice questions. Each of these subtypes assess your creativity, customer empathy, and your ability to use a structured approach to design products in different ways. Prior to the interview, be sure to familiarize yourself with the company’s products to best answer this type of question. Many Big Tech companies are notorious for their grueling “estimation” product manager interview questions. Some recruiters might reserve this question for a technical product manager interview. However, most product manager interviewers tend to include this question in their interview process since it is more people management-related as opposed to technical. What’s more, you can cite some examples of products that you think excel in providing an excellent interface and achieving business goals for the company behind them.