PM Interview Question Types
The following is an overview of the key question types for product interviews and a breakdown of the key frameworks and/or approaches.
Product Design/Sense
aka Product Insights or Product Sense
Company Notes:
Product Design = Google
Product Insights = Google
Product Sense = Meta
Other companies mix and match terms for same sort of questions.
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This section has two key components:
Clarifying Questions
Strategy for Design
It is in this section that you display your ability to think about the problem strategically and handle ambiguity.
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This is where you show off your empathy. Typically there are three key components to this section.
User Segmentation
User Journey
Prioritization of Users
Not all interviewers like the user journey. If you like the user journey (which I do) keep it concise.
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Follow the rule of three. Come up with one big idea and list three features or come up with three ideas, narrow to one. Then walk the interviewer through the key features of your prioritized solution. (Call it a verbal wireframe of your prioritized solution.)
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PMs need to set goals and metrics that align with the core strategy. Try to keep to about three metrics. Make sure you cover all three parts of the metrics.
Key Framework Elements
For the design/sense prompts, you need to showcase your ability to handle ambiguity, identify the opportunity, align with the mission & goal, identify and empathize with users, prioritize between options, come up with creative solutions and define success metrics.
Strategy
Company Notes: Typically Google & Startups
Examples:
Should X do Y, Yes or No?
Why did X company do why?
What do you think of X industry?
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This is a great way to prepare for the strategy question but it is way to complicated to use on the day of your interviews.
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When you are short of time, identifying the three most important points will get you across the finish line.
I like:
Mission
Strength (Weakness)
Scalable
Or
Company
Competition/Landscape
Opportunity
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With the Should X do Y question, leveraging Pros vs Cons with SWOT: Strengths & Opportunities vs Weaknesses & Threats will get you a long way.
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I can list frameworks all day, but you need to find what works for you. After coaching nearly 2k people, I find that Porters and 4Cs etc fail most people, but they may work for you. Practice. Practice. Practice.
Strategy Frameworks
It is impossible to learn all the possible frameworks for strategy questions. As an example, here are 10 strategy frameworks you could consider. Here are a few of the top choices.
Analytics
Company Notes: Most companies ask some form of these questions. See Execution Modules for Meta focus.
Metrics for Success
Tradeoff
Root Cause Analysis
Estimation (Google Only)
Algorithm Design
Decisions with Data
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A few frameworks here include:
G.A.M.E. - Goals, Actions, Metrics and Evaluate
Happy Path - Map out the user happy path, then measure key activities.
Aligning with the product goal is the difference between a good answer and a list of metrics for the sake of metrics.
The difference between junior and senior candidates typically boils down to long lists vs prioritized lists of metrics.
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There are two different approaches to these kinds of questions:
Data-Driven Approach Hypothesis Identification > Decision Metrics > Experiment Setup > Tradeoff questions from interviewer
Cross-Functional (XFN) Collaboration What is your high-level approach to solving the problem. Sometimes the trick is how to work with XFN partners to reach a solution.
This covers Tradeoff questions and some Root Cause Analysis (RCA) prompts. Typically the preference for data-driven vs XFN approach is in the prompt and the company culture.
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60% Logic | 30% Equation | 10% Math
That is the rough breakdown of how you are judged for estimation questions.
Most people freak out about the math for estimation questions, but the most important part here is really the assumptions around the numbers you use to fill in your equation.
Establishing an equation with no more than 3 or 4 variables is key. More than that and you are likely over complicating things for yourself.
If you get the math wrong, it is less of an issue than you think.
It is more important to be able to discuss multiple ways of approaching the problem (think two different approaches to the equation).
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A heuristic technique is problem solving using 'a calculated guess' derived from previous experiences.
If asked to design an algorithm for a music service, or scheduling police for traffic lights, you walk through the steps required to do the task and then work out the rules you would tell the program to follow.
It sounds scare but once again is all about logivc.
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Questions about how you made decisions with data are less common but do happen. Think:
Time the data you used was wrong, how did you fix the problem
Found insights in the head, torso or tail data
Using data to convince your leadership of a strategic decision
When you were the outlier on an opinion and used data to make your point
Frameworks
Most question types have their own unique framework.
Craft & Execution
Company Notes: Google question type but these things come up at all number of mid-tier and startups.
Tradeoffs
Root Cause Analysis
Data-Driven Decisions
Prioritization
Crisis Response
Product Launch/GTM Strategy
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If you get metrics for success or trade-off questions, your frameworks for Analytics or Meta Execution still hold.
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Some questions are simply prompting a discussion on how you would drive consensus on a decision.
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See above on analytics. What hypothesis and data points might you consider to answer a prompt.
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Common when a team has historically struggled with prioritization decisions.
Don’t go too high-level but also don’t sound so frameworky.
If you like, for example the RICE framwork, use it to guide the discussion but typically avoid spelling out. In short, if you use a standard framework, make it sound genuine not memorized.
The cruelity of this question is that in reality we prioritize based on politics, as well as user need, but you rarely can say that flat out during an interview.
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Typically the interviewer will set you up with a challenge that has no obvious answer, with a few twists and turns. You will have a common sense discussion on how to proceed. Each crisis can have a different approach so be careful with memorized frameworks.
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This is a combination of everything. Some coaches have strong opinions about execution vs marketing. I say, it depends on context. You typically need to cover: Users, Where to Reach Them, How to Reach Them, Pricing Models, etc.
Frameworks & Advice
Craft & Execution questions cover everything from analytics to strategy and everything in between.
Behavioral
Company Notes: Amazon is 100% behavioral and sets the standard. Google rarely asks behaviorals outside of tell me a time… analytics. You need to master for most companies outside of Google. Even Meta has their own version of these.
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There are two key components to any “Tell me about yourself” prompts:
Brand Statement
Experience
UNLESS, the interviewer goes first and sets a precident, you want to start with your brand statement and then give no more than 3 examples of how you exude your brand. You want to work backwards, strating with your most recent expereince.
The one exception is if your interviewer starts chronologically and you want to mimic them to maintain social cohesion.
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Don’t bury the lead.
The Movie Trailer
Executive Summary
The introclusion is about introducing context and outcomes before following the STAR, CARL. SCR, or other storytelling frameworks.
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As the gold standard for behavioral interviews, learning the basics of Amazon’s approach will prepare you for any general behavioral interview.
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What makes Meta different from Amazon is its focus on failures and humility. You need to be ready to talk about real and painful failures. And you need to be humble, not blaming others.
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TL;DR - Very rarely important. Tehe come up in a handful of situations:
Analytical Questions
Team Matches
Googleyness & Leadership
Frameworks & Advice
There are a number of behavioral question formats, but they all follow the same basic requirements: know yourself and how you want to be perceived.
Meta Execution
Company Notes: This section focuses on the Meta format. Many startups and FinTech as well as Crypto-focused companies also use these formats.
Three Categories:
Metrics for Success
Tradeoffs
Root Cause Analysis
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Determine the core user’s Happy Path. Highlight:
Goal(s)
North Star Metric
Secondary Metrics
Counter Metrics
Guardrail/Ecosystem Metrics
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Determine the shared goal
Hypothesis
Decision Metrics
Experiment Setup
Acknowledge Bias in Experiment Setup
Often RCA follow-up
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Often need to pretend your interviewer is a data scientist.
Ask the questions to get the data you need.
External Issues
Internal to Company; External to Team
Internal to Team
Listen carefully to prompt. Avoid bias from previous experiences.
Frameworks & Advice
What makes Meta-style interviews stand out from Google-style interviews is the focus on execution and a metrics-driven culture. Meta weights the Product Sense and Product Execution equally. Companies that mimic the Meta approach will do the same (think Stripe, FinTech generally, etc.)
Other Types
Company Notes: There are a handful of commonly asked questions for mid-tier and startup companies that don’t fall into any of the question types listed above. If you encounter a question type not addressed here, please ping: wendy-lynn@intrico.io and she will add a brief description of it here.
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Some companies, most commonly Twitter and DoorDash, treat the prioritization question as a separate category. Sometimes you get a hypothetical, and other times a case format. It can help to know prioritization frameworks like R.I.C.E. but don’t sound too formulaic when you answer. Be ready with specific examples of how you have prioritized in your recent past.