Focus on your Listener

Whenever you tell a behavioral story in an interview, you should know what message you hope to get across. Unfortunetly, most of us forget this when we get nervous. We start talking and thinking outloud and don’t know what our point is until we get to the end. Even I do this when I am nervous or trying to answer a question I haven’t practices.

When you are praticing product management interviews, you need to also practice knowing what you want to get across before you speak. And what you want to get across needs to be somewhat specific.

I once coached a product leader whose goals wer to prove they could execut, add value and generally were a rock star. That is too (1) selfish (2) tone deaf and (3) generic.

You need to think about your listener, what do they need to hear? What are they looking for? You need to tailor your message to them. Do they need someone with a specific skill? Is this a follow up interview where you need to prove your tehcnial abilities? Or maybe your outcome focus?

You should study the companies you are interviewing with. Know what they are looking for. Listen to the recruiter. Ask what the hiring manager needs. Ask what the team is in need of.