How to Interview a Product Manager

Are you looking for a product manager to join your team and help you create and deliver value to your customers and stakeholders? If so, you may be wondering how to interview product managers effectively and find the best candidates for the role. Product managers are one of the most important roles in any company, as they are responsible for defining the vision, strategy, roadmap, and features of a product or service, working with cross-functional teams to execute them.

However, interviewing product managers can be challenging, as they require a variety of skills and competencies that are not easy to assess. You need to prepare and conduct a product manager interview carefully and strategically, to evaluate the candidate’s abilities and potential, as well as their fit with the role, the team, and the company culture. In this article, we will provide you with some tips and best practices on how to interview product managers effectively. We will cover the following topics:

• How to prepare for a product manager interview
• What essential questions to ask product managers
• What dos and don’ts for interviewing product managers

By the end of this article, you will have a better understanding of how to interview product managers effectively and confidently. So, let’s get started!

How to prepare for a product manager interview

Before you start interviewing candidates, you need to prepare for a product manager interview properly. Here are some steps that you can follow to prepare for a product manager interview:

• Define the role and requirements: The first step is to define the role and requirements of the product manager that you are hiring for. You need to identify the main responsibilities and expectations of the product manager, such as the product or service that they will be working on, the goals and metrics that they will be accountable for, the skills and competencies that they will need to have, the level of experience and education that they will need to have, etc.
• Source and screen candidates: The next step is to source and screen candidates who match your criteria. You can use various methods to source candidates, such as referrals, networking, events, online platforms, etc. You can also use various tools to screen candidates, such as resumes, cover letters, portfolios, work samples, etc.
• Conduct a phone screen: Before inviting the candidate for an in-person interview, ****you should conduct a phone screen to assess their basic qualifications and interest in the role and the company. You can ask them some general questions about their background, their motivation, their expectations, their availability, etc. You also ask them some specific questions about their product knowledge, their skills and competencies, their portfolio or work samples, etc.
• Schedule an in-person interview: After passing the phone screen, ****you should schedule an in-person interview with the candidate. It’s better to coordinate with your team members who will be involved in the interview process, such as other product managers, engineers, designers, marketers, etc. Inform the candidate about the date, time, location, and agenda of the interview.

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What essential questions to ask product managers

During the in-person interview, you need to ask some essential questions that can help you assess the candidate’s skills and competencies in different aspects of product management. Here are some examples of essential questions that you can ask product managers, and why they are important:

• Tell me about a product that you have worked on or are working on. What is the vision and strategy of the product? How do you define and validate the customer needs and business goals? How do you prioritize and scope the features? How do you measure and communicate the impact of the product?

The importance of this question is that it allows you to evaluate the candidate’s product vision and strategy, as well as their ability to define and validate customer needs and business goals, prioritize and scope features, measure and communicate impact, etc. You can also learn about the candidate’s product experience, achievements, and challenges, as well as their passion and enthusiasm for the product.

• How do you conduct user research? What methods do you use? How do you recruit and segment users? How do you design and run experiments? How do you analyze and synthesize user feedback and data? How do you create user personas, user stories, user journeys, etc.?

This question is important because it allows you to evaluate the candidate’s user research and customer empathy skills, as well as their ability to use various methods to collect and analyze user feedback and data, synthesize insights, create user personas, user stories, user journeys, etc.

• How do you use data to make decisions? What tools do you use? How do you collect and analyze data from various sources? How do you define and track key metrics? How do you test hypotheses and validate assumptions? How do you communicate data insights and recommendations to different audiences?

For the second point, this will help us to detect the candidate’s data analysis and decision-making skills, define and track key metrics, test hypotheses and validate assumptions, communicate data insights and recommendations to different audiences, etc.

• How do you communicate and collaborate with cross-functional teams? What tools and techniques do you use? How do you facilitate meetings and workshops? How do you resolve conflicts and manage expectations? How do you give and receive feedback? How do you lead and influence others?

This question evaluates the candidate’s communication and collaboration skills, as well as their ability to use various tools and techniques to communicate and collaborate with cross-functional teams, facilitate meetings and workshops, resolve conflicts and manage expectations, give and receive feedback, lead and influence others, etc.

• How do you approach a new product or feature idea? What steps do you take to validate it? How do you design a prototype or mockup? How do you present it to users or stakeholders? How do you iterate based on feedback or data?

This question is important because it allows you to evaluate the candidate’s problem-solving and creativity skills, as well as their ability to approach a new product or feature idea, validate it, design a prototype or mockup, present it to users or stakeholders, iterate based on feedback or data, etc.

• How do you handle a situation where your product fails to meet customer expectations or business goals? What steps do you take to identify and address the root cause of the failure? How do you communicate the failure and its implications to users or stakeholders? How do you learn from the failure and prevent it from happening again?

This question allows you to evaluate the candidate’s resilience and learning skills, as well as their ability to handle a situation where their product fails to meet customer expectations or business goals, identify and address the root cause of the failure, communicate the failure and its implications to users or stakeholders, learn from the failure and prevent it from happening again, etc.

Looking for more general questions to ask during your interviews? Discover our curated list of best interview questions to identify top talent.

Some dos and don’ts for Interviewing Product Managers

Finally, here are some dos and don’ts for interviewing product managers that can help you improve the quality and outcome of your interview process:

• Do ask open-ended and probing questions: When interviewing product managers, you should ask open-ended and probing questions that allow the candidate to express their thoughts and opinions freely and fully.

For example, you can ask “Why did you choose this approach?” or “How did you measure the impact of this feature?” or “What challenges did you face and how did you overcome them?” Asking open-ended and probing questions can help you understand the candidate’s thought process, logic, creativity, and problem-solving skills better.

• Do listen actively and give feedback: When interviewing product managers, listen actively and give feedback to the candidate. You should pay attention to what the candidate is saying, as well as how they are saying it. You should also acknowledge their responses and show interest and appreciation.

You can also give constructive feedback on their responses and behavior, such as pointing out their strengths, praising their achievements and efforts, suggesting areas for improvement or learning, etc.

• Do test the candidate’s problem-solving and creativity skills: When interviewing product managers, It’s best to test the candidate’s problem-solving and creativity skills by presenting them with challenging questions or scenarios that require them to think outside the box and come up with innovative solutions.

For example, you can ask them to design a new product or feature for a specific user segment or market, to improve an existing product or feature based on user feedback or data, to solve a complex problem or a business challenge using a structured approach, etc. Testing the candidate’s problem-solving and creativity skills can help you assess their potential and fit for the role.

• Don’t ask vague or irrelevant questions: When interviewing product managers, you should avoid asking vague or irrelevant questions that do not relate to the role or the company that you are hiring for.

For example, we should not ask questions that are too general or broad, such as “What are your strengths and weaknesses?” or “What are your hobbies?” or “What are your favorite products?” Also don’t ask questions that are too specific or technical, such as “What is the difference between agile and waterfall methodologies?” or “How do you use SQL to query a database?” or “How do you implement a RESTful API?” Asking vague or irrelevant questions can waste your time and the candidate’s time, as well as confuse or frustrate them.

• Don’t rush or interrupt the candidate: When interviewing product managers, you should not rush or interrupt the candidate during their responses. It's better to give them enough time and space to answer your questions fully and clearly. You need also to respect their pace and style of communication. You should not interrupt them with comments, feedback, or follow-up questions until they finish their responses.

These are some dos and don’ts for interviewing product managers. Of course, there are many more dos and don’ts that you can follow when interviewing product managers depending on your situation and preference. However, these are some of the most common and important ones that can help you improve the quality and outcome of your interview process.

Looking to enhance your hiring process? Don’t miss out on our guide on how to improve candidate experience.

Conclusion

We hope that this article has helped you gain a better understanding of how to interview product managers effectively and confidently. Product managers are vital for creating and delivering value to customers and stakeholders. Interviewing product managers requires careful planning and execution to assess their skills and fit. Following some tips and best practices can help improve the quality and outcome of the interview process. Therefore, we encourage you to apply the tips and strategies shared in this article for your next product manager interview.

If you're in need of skilled Product Managers, JB Hired is your solution. With our extensive experience in placing Product Managers and the largest global database at our disposal, we're well-equipped to support companies of all types in their hiring endeavors. Explore the possibilities by booking a free consultation through the form below.