Presentation Guidelines for Interviews

More and more companies, particularly in the startup space, request a presentation as part of the product management interview process. This can be a slide presentation or a written document like an Amazon-style PR/FAQ. 

I used to ask candidates to prepare a PR/FAQ in Amazon style and eventually added a requirements document (the last one was to avoid candidates that didn’t meet the bar for my engineering counterpart). I actually had to submit a PR/FAQ as part of one interview process for a Head of Product role. I completely respect people who refuse to complete one, but I also understand why startups ask for it.

For slide presentations, it is common to see companies asking for a past product you’ve worked on, or some opportunity that excites you. I was once on a panel for a VP of Data where we asked them to present how they structured their organization.

I have even seen an increase from medium-size companies like Intuit and others. So this is not going away.

What are they looking for?

Each company is looking for different things. I have found that for the most part applying the S.U.S.S. Product Case framework to any requirements will typically help most candidates.

Ultimately they are looking to understand:

• How you present and communicate your ideas.

• For slide presentation, they are looking for someone who can effectively:

  • facilitate a pitch with confidence and commitment

  • manage the room and message

  • influence

  • speak to roadmap

  • show product framework

  • break a problem down and set iterative goals

  • showcase your understanding of the involved technology/architecture

  • establish relevant success metrics

Best Practices

Generally speaking, regardless of the exercise, you want to:

• Show a good, coherent story.

• Show off your PM craft.

• Be smart with the visuals - they should say something ..... facilitate/clarify the message*

• Keep the panel engaged.

• Influence, Inspire & Convince.

*The number of candidates who fall in love with busy slides and insist they use them would blow your mind. Keep It Simple! If it is too noisy, the panel will stop listening and start reading. At that point, you have lost them and it is probably over.

The Basics

There are typically four areas covered in slide presentations:

• The Problem

• Your Solution(s)

• Market Opportunity

• Success Metrics and Competitive Edge