This week, I mocked with a Google-trained interviewer who was mocking me for a Meta-Style interview. They kept getting annoyed that I was (in their opinion) taking too long to gather my thoughts or that I was spending too much time narrowing down my user segments because they were assuming a Google style of grading. They wanted to ask me additional questions, and my pacing didn’t allow them to do that.

It was one of the best interview practice sessions I have had in a long time, even if some of the reasons the best parts happened were misguided.

In this article, I am going to tell you:

• What Happened

• Why Logic Was Wrong

• But, why it was still SOOO helpful

• Why you should do this when you mock

• How to do this when you mock

What Happened

About 15 minutes into my mock, my interviewer asked me to move more quickly. They kept reminding me they wanted to get to the solutions. Since I was teaching, and I knew the standard requirements for a Product Sense-Style answer (vs. Google’s Product Insights-style answer), I moved a little quicker but didn’t change my approach.

This led the interviewer to continue to be annoyed. I think they “nudged” me to move forward more quickly roughly 4 times during the interview. If I had been in a real interview, it would have thrown me off my game, but I knew I was also teaching and I had to cover a few things, I kept to my plan, not letting their prompts get to me.

It was actually fun and helpful because I needed to move a little faster to make it through. It was an aha moment for me. If I could get every interviewer to be this pushy and annoyed, I would finally get beyond my rambling problem. So it inspired this article and the advice you will find below for your next mock interview.

Why Logic Was Wrong

Google’s Product Insights (we call it Product Sense for short) prompts are typically only one of the prompts or at least one of at least two goals the interviewer has during any given interview session. For Google, there are typically three combinations of interviews you will see with Product Insights:

• Phone Screen: They are grading on 3+ signals

• Onsite: Product Insights + Product Strategy

• Onsite: Product Insights + Craft & Execution with XFN Relations*

*You can also see Product Insights with Googleyness & Leadership or Domain expertise, etc. For this article, the point is you never see just one set of rubrics being graded at Google. Meta is different.

In the debrief, I found my partner was annoyed because they wanted to ask me additional questions, but they weren’t going to have time the way I was proceeding.

I had to explain that for Meta-Style interviews, typically, you use the entire 30 to 35 minutes to address the Product Sense prompt. (Yes, it is a 45-minute interview, but the interviewers are commonly 5 minutes late, and they save 5 minutes for you to ask questions. So, in reality, you are lucky to get 35 minutes max to answer your prompt.) And, you typically need to get more specific with your user segments than you need at Google. And you need to show your work more often.

Still SOOO Helpful

If they were wrong, why was it so helpful? Because I was moving slower than I should have, and in a real interview, there was a greater than 50% chance the interviewer would have “nudged”, just for different reasons.

It was a nerve-wracking, annoying-as-hell experience. But it was exactly what I needed. It’s rare that I get a senior-level partner to poke me during an interview mock. And the timing was nearly spot on. It felt like a real interview.

Note: Not all interviewers will “nudge”. Many will let you just go and end when the clock runs out. The aggressive interview is a style choice that some adopt. Mostly, those that do it are trying to be helpful. They see potential and want to see if you are going to make it.

Why You Should Do This

When you are mocking, you should try doing this with your partner. Get a sense of how it feels to be pushed and poked. See how you will handle it. Be reminded that you need to move more quickly through your answer. It feels a bit like getting an electric shock every time you take too long to cross a progress line.

How to Do This

To be properly annoying/obnoxious, consider doing the following:

• Set a timer on your end

• Nudge if the “candidate” hasn’t moved on by the checkpoint time

• Use the following prompts/nudges:

  • Why don’t you share what you have? (if they are quiet for too long)

  • I want to make sure we have enough time for the solutions. Could you perhaps just move forward?

  • That is interesting, but I would love to hear your thoughts on _____ (name next topic: i.e. pain points, solutions, etc.)

• Break the interview into the following sections with marker points.

  The candidate should be at the following stages at the different points in time indicated below. Start your timer after the prompt is shared.

  • 5 min: Roughly 1/2 way through Strategic Setup/Why Now

  • 10 min: At least be talking about Narrowing/Segmentation

  • 15 min: Have prioritized 1 User Segment to focus on

  • 20 min: List/Prioritize Pain Points

  • 25 min: Introduce Solutions

  • 30 min: Fielding questions about the proposed user experience.

  • 35 min: Finish. Summarize.

• These are just rough approximations. If the person you are interviewing doesn’t look to be wrapping up the noted requirements by the time noted, try one of the “nudging” remarks. (Feel free to make up your own remark; just be vocal and remind the candidate they are falling behind.)

Note: If your partner just had a traumatic experience or finished a rough interview just before joining your mock, take it easy. But if your partner needs to get timing under control, give this a try.