Peer Mock Interviews: What, Why, Where, How
What is a mock interview?
For training and practice, a mock interview allows you to mimic a job interview and get feedback. It is just as important as your resume in any good job search. For the product management interview, this typically means two people pair up and interview one another in 1 hour or 1 hour and 30-minute sessions.
There are two roles: Mock Interviewer and Mock Interviewee. The interviewee is on the spot to give the best answer possible. The interviewer is responsible for asking a good question, engaging with questions or interruptions (as would happen in a real interview), and providing summary feedback.
Note: Most people skip the important step of being engaged when in the role of interviewer. While there is a benefit to just letting your partner answer without any engagement until the final summary feedback, that is not really how most interviews work. It is important to invest time in both roles.
Why mock?
Practice makes perfect is true with public speaking and interviews. The best way to get better and get comfortable is to do it repeatedly in front of another human being. It is amazing how nervous you can get with a friend or a perfect stranger. It simulates the real interview more than you might expect.
Where to find mock partners?
1. Lewis Lin
Sign up here — Lewis Lin has written some amazing books for PM interviewing. He is one of the first to make mock interviewing popular. You will be given access to a Slack group where you can (1) post a slack comment to find partners and (2) a spreadsheet to sign-up with your availability and to find people with availability on their calendars. There is a new Google Sheet every month, which is great for helping remove the inactive group members.
PRO — People in this group have typically read Lewis’ books and have studied frameworks.
CON — Even if you state limits or prereqs, inexperienced folks will sign up for time with you.
My Wish List: I wish there was some system where experienced folks were required to do some amount of newbie partnering. And the converse, I wish there was a way to limit/set a bar for newbies from asking for help with experienced folks so it is fair to everyone.
2. StellarPeers
stellarpeers.com — Started by Malena Mesarin, who also offers interview coaching, is a great community/tool. You need to get approval to join, so it can take a day or two to get started. Then you use calendars to find or list openings.
PRO — There are a lot of people in the community. If you are just getting started, they make it easy to ask others if you can observe.
CON — The mix and level of preparation of the participants in this group are not as strong as Lewis Lin’s group. And the calendar views can be overwhelming to start.
My Wish List — Same as with Lewis Lin’s group. I wish it was easier to vet people and for senior folks not to get overwhelmed by newbies.
3. Practice Makes Perfect
pramp.com — Started by engineers (and last I heard was bought by Lyft). It is mostly engineering-focused but does pair people up for PM practice.
PRO — You answer a few key questions and they pair you up immediately and give you a specific question/prompt with helpful hints. It is easy to partner without fighting Slack, Google Sheets or Calendars. And they give you tips on how to ask the questions. When you are getting started, that can be scary, so it is nice to get help coming up with questions.
CON — You have less control as they pair you and assign you a random question. It doesn’t let you specify the company you are interviewing at, which is crucial if you are laser-focused on say Facebook, Google or Amazon.
When should I start mock interviews?
Start right away. As soon as you think you want to look for a job, begin mock interview practice.
Everyone is different, but ideally, you should give yourself six to eight weeks to prepare. If you get a call from a recruiter and need to interview in 2 days, you can still benefit. If you care about the job, don’t go into a product interview without some mock interview practice. You will regret it.
Also, don’t assume you can wait until after the phone screen. The only phone screen you should do without some mock interview practice is the recruiter's phone screen. And even then, running through the “So, tell me about yourself” question with someone so you pitch yourself properly to recruiters isn’t a bad idea. Sign up for a mock with someone focused on behavioral interview practice to practice your pitch.
How many?
I did 100+ interviews, I know most folks who get into FAANGs (Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Netflix, and Google) have done at least 40. But, if you are short on time, don’t let that number scare you away. Even one or two practice interviews before the big day can help.
Common Logistical Questions & Advice
Where do I find questions to ask? The easiest to remember is Glassdoor but it takes some hunting and pecking and most sample questions are very old. I found The PM Interview (serves up one question at a time), and Product Management Exercises (this link shows several right ways of answering the same question) were more helpful. Once you get past the recruiter for a FAANG they will typically give you a few sample questions. And last, but not least, once you get on the ‘circuit’ you will find people sharing spreadsheets with lists of questions that enterprising folks have collected from different locations and put together in one, sortable location. Once in, you will find it is a helpful community.
What if I have to cancel at the last minute? Most people have full-time jobs with meetings or (pre-COVID) travel. They might not make every mock interview booked. But last-minute cancellations can be devastating to the person on the other end who is getting nervous about a coming interview. You should use basic common sense and be polite when you have to cancel mock interviews. Some of the forums will ban or penalize you for canceling without notice.
Helpful Trick: Give a gift of a question. If you do have to cancel with little notice (for example your internet goes out, you get stuck in traffic or your meeting goes over) provide an apology and maybe a good sample question or guide you found. I always try to give an “apology gift” of a tough practice question or a helpful tip I had learned from other mocks or internet research. Or, alternatively, I would go out of my way to introduce that person to someone else in my network who was also interviewing, looking for partners.
What if I am better than my partner? What if the person doesn’t use frameworks or has a fraction of my experience? I don’t want to waste my time. Should I back out gracefully? First, you can learn from almost everyone. I found some of those who were terrible at interviews were great at feedback. But, if you have 10+ years of experience and someone still in school wants to mock with you, the imbalance can be frustrating. Consider it a mentorship opportunity or a chance to sharpen your interviewing skills.
What if I am still in school and I want to mock with someone who has 10 years of experience? Be polite. Perhaps email that person before setting up an interview. If they say they are a week or a few days out from the big interview, don’t try to squeeze in on their schedule. Consider getting at least 10 to 20 mocks with your peers first. I personally believe all people with extensive experience should allot some portion of their mock interviews to people with less experience.
Wish List for mock interview group feature improvements:
If you stumbled upon this article because you are starting or improving a mock interview group, please consider the following use cases. (If you have a mock interview group for product managers and I haven’t listed it, please reach out to me so that I can add your site to the list.)
As a PM candidate with experience, I want to practice with people who are better than or equal to me.
As a PM candidate with experience, I want to help mentor people newer to the PM interview process but I have limited time so I want you to give me credit (forgive me for canceling last minute because my boss called me into a meeting) for helping but limit the flood of requests I get.
As a PM candidate focused on one company, I want to only interview with others pursuing the same goal.
As a PM candidate focused on startups, I want people skilled in both behavior and product design case interview questions.
As a PM candidate, I want to select partners with mock and professional experience so that I don’t have to look everyone up on LinkedIn and then politely cancel on people who shouldn’t have signed up to mock with me in the first place.
