Cracking the PM Interview a book summary

Blog Cracking the PM Interview: How to Land a Product Manager Job in Technology Book Summary

"Cracking the PM Interview" by Gayle Laakmann McDowell and Jackie Bavaro is a comprehensive guide aimed at helping candidates land a product management role in technology companies. The book is particularly valuable for those targeting major tech firms like Google, Microsoft, Apple, and Amazon, but its principles are broadly applicable across the tech industry. We've included some key points from the book below or if you want to read a free PDF of the book, you can do so here. In addition to "Cracking the PM Interview," here are 24 other top product management books you should check out.

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Cracking the PM Interview Book Summary

Understanding the PM Role

The book starts by defining what a product manager does, emphasizing the role's variability across companies. It underlines that PMs are responsible for guiding the success of a product and leading the cross-functional team that is responsible for improving it. Essential skills and qualities of successful PMs are discussed, including leadership, technical proficiency, business acumen, and a strong user focus.

The Interview Process

The authors break down the different types of questions candidates might face, including product design, technical, analytical, and behavioral questions. There are strategies and frameworks for preparing for each type of question, such as using the CIRCLES Method™ for product design questions and the STAR method for behavioral questions.

Resume and Application

Advice is provided on how to craft a resume that highlights relevant experiences and skills in a way that is attractive to tech companies. The book covers how to effectively apply for PM roles, including networking tips, cover letter advice, and how to leverage LinkedIn and other platforms.

Interviews at Top Tech Companies

Detailed chapters are dedicated to the interview processes at major tech companies, offering insights into what different companies prioritize and how their processes may differ. The importance of practicing with mock interviews is emphasized, along with tips on how to get the most out of these practice sessions.

Transitioning to a PM Role

For those not currently in PM roles, the book provides advice on transitioning into product management, including leveraging current roles and seeking out new opportunities. Guidance is also offered for new PMs on how to succeed in their first 90 days, emphasizing the importance of understanding the product, the team, and the company culture.

Career Advancement

The book concludes with advice on building a long-term career in product management, including considerations for climbing the corporate ladder versus branching out into entrepreneurship.

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25 Top Insights from Cracking the PM Interview

Here is a list of 25 insights from the book that are useful whether you are a first-time PM or a seasoned leader. These essential strategies and frameworks are necessary for anyone securing a PM position.

Diverse Backgrounds in PM Roles: Different companies have unique preferences for PM candidates' backgrounds. For instance, Amazon often favors individuals with MBAs, while Apple tends to recruit more engineering graduates. Google values engineering expertise but also considers MBA graduates, and Facebook typically seeks candidates with a programming background and startup experience. Understanding these preferences can help tailor your approach to each company.
Technical Experience as a Qualitative Measure: Companies view technical experience as indicative of three key skills: the ability to connect with engineering teams, a sense of realistic timelines for engineering tasks, and the autonomy to handle basic technical tasks like data collection. If you lack a technical background, it's beneficial to acquire and showcase these skills through other experiences.
Demonstrating PM Skills without a Technical Background: For those without technical experience, undertaking a design or usability project can illustrate your PM abilities. Identify a local issue, engage with the community for insights, and develop solutions using iterative design principles, such as those found in the Human-Centered Design Toolkit by IDEO.
Value of Side Projects: Beyond direct PM experience, engaging in side projects is highly regarded. Effective side projects can bridge experience gaps, showcase your PM competencies, and provide tangible results to discuss during interviews. Choose projects that allow you to demonstrate user-centric design, product development, and launch experience.
Resume as a Reflection of PM Skills: Your resume should act as a testament to your PM capabilities, emphasizing clear communication, thoughtful design, and user empathy. It should be easily digestible within a few seconds, highlighting key skills and achievements without over-elaboration.
Understanding Company PM Dynamics: The ratio of PMs to engineers within a company can provide insights into the role's scope. A lower ratio suggests a broader vision and strategic focus, while a higher ratio indicates more involvement in technical specifications and close collaboration with engineering teams.
Product Knowledge is Crucial: Familiarity with a company's products and their strategic context is essential. Interviewers expect candidates to have a deep understanding of the products they might be managing, including user feedback and potential improvements.
User-Centric Approach to Product Questions: When addressing product-related questions, prioritize the user's needs over personal preferences. Adopt a structured approach to problem-solving that begins with understanding the user's perspective.
Align with Organizational Style in Responses: Tailor your responses to product design questions to match the company's style, whether it leans towards bold innovation or incremental improvement. This alignment demonstrates your compatibility with the company's culture.
Discuss Products Passionately: Be prepared to talk about products you admire, understanding their metrics, user goals, and competitive landscape. This shows your ability to think critically about product development and potential enhancements.
Be Opinionated yet Open about Design: While it's important to have strong views on product design, also acknowledge the trade-offs involved. This balance showcases your ability to navigate complex decisions that balance business and user needs.
Embrace Bold Ideas in Brainstorming: Interviewers value creativity and the ability to think beyond incremental changes. Don't hesitate to share innovative, even if seemingly impractical, ideas during brainstorming sessions.
Use a Preparation Grid for Behavioral Questions: Organize your experiences into a grid based on common behavioral question themes. This method ensures you have a robust selection of stories that highlight your qualifications as a PM candidate.
Structure Behavioral Responses with SAR: When answering behavioral questions, use the Situation, Action, Result framework to provide clear, impactful narratives that demonstrate your contributions and their outcomes.
Share Constructive Failure Stories: Be prepared with stories of past failures that led to valuable learning experiences relevant to PM roles. This demonstrates resilience and the ability to grow from setbacks.
Understand the Distinction from Consulting Cases: PM case questions differ significantly from consulting cases. They are designed to assess your product instincts rather than purely data-driven problem-solving skills. Demonstrate your ability to make informed product decisions, even in the absence of complete data.
Be Judicious with Questions in Case Interviews: While clarifying questions can be helpful, over-probing can be seen as a lack of decisiveness. When prompted to share your thoughts, it's a signal to propose a solution, ideally aligning with the company's strategic goals.
Coding Questions for PMs: Some companies include coding and algorithm questions in their PM interviews. While the expectations are not as high as for developer roles, showing a willingness to tackle these problems and a logical approach to problem-solving is beneficial.
Amazon's Leadership Principles: Familiarize yourself with Amazon's 14 leadership principles, as their interviews often revolve around these themes. Tailoring your responses to reflect these principles can significantly impact your interview performance.
PM Roles for New Graduates: Work experience is not always a prerequisite for PM roles. Companies like Google, Facebook, and Microsoft often recruit new graduates. Pursuing project-based courses and engaging in product development during your studies can provide valuable experience.
Embrace Cross-functional Leadership: For engineers transitioning to PM roles, demonstrating leadership in cross-team projects can highlight your potential as a PM. Leading a successful cross-functional initiative can serve as a strong testament to your PM capabilities.
Learning from Successful PMs: Observing and interacting with successful PMs can provide invaluable insights into effective product management practices. Seek opportunities to learn from experienced PMs, especially those who have led products you admire.
The Importance of Networking: Building a strong network within the PM community can not only facilitate learning but also open doors to new opportunities. Engage with PMs through industry events, online forums, and informational interviews.
Product Ethics and Responsibility: As a PM, it's crucial to consider the ethical implications of your product decisions. Strive to make responsible choices that prioritize user well-being and data privacy.
Continuous Learning and Adaptability: The tech industry and product management practices are constantly evolving. Commit to ongoing learning and be adaptable to new methodologies, technologies, and user needs to stay effective in your role as a PM.

How to Prepare for a Job as a Product Manager

Understand the PM Role: Product Managers act as the intersection of business, technology, and user experience. They must balance various perspectives to make product decisions.
Product Sense is Key: Having a strong intuition for what makes a product great and how to improve it is crucial for success in a PM role.
Technical Proficiency: While not always mandatory, technical knowledge helps PMs communicate effectively with engineering teams and make informed decisions.
Analytical Skills: PMs must be able to analyze data to make evidence-based decisions and understand the impact of their product on the market.
Leadership Without Authority: PMs often lead through influence rather than formal authority, necessitating strong interpersonal and negotiation skills.
Customer Focus: Successful PMs deeply understand their users' needs and are adept at translating those needs into product features.
CIRCLES Method™ for Product Design: A structured approach to tackling product design questions, involving Comprehend, Identify, Report, Cut, List, Evaluate, and Summarize steps.
Behavioral Questions Matter: Your past behavior is a predictor of your future performance. Use the STAR method (Situation, Task, Action, Result) to structure your responses.
Customize Your Resume: Tailor your resume to highlight experiences and skills relevant to the PM role, focusing on achievements and quantifiable results.
Networking is Essential: Leverage your network and reach out to PMs in your desired companies to learn more about the role and to get referrals.
Prepare for Company-specific Processes: Each company has a unique interview process. Research and prepare for the specifics of each company's approach.
Mock Interviews: Practice with mock interviews, especially with current PMs or those who have recently gone through the process.
Understand the Product Lifecycle: Knowing how products are developed, from ideation to launch and beyond, is critical for aspiring PMs.
Market Sensing: Being able to analyze and understand market trends, and how they affect your product is crucial.
Prioritization Skills: PMs constantly juggle various features, tasks, and requests. Knowing how to prioritize effectively is essential.
Communication Skills: Clear and effective communication with stakeholders, including engineers, designers, and executives, is crucial for a PM.
User-Centric Design: A strong focus on user experience and designing products with the user in mind is a hallmark of successful PMs.
Strategic Vision: PMs should have a clear vision for their product and be able to strategize on how to get there.
Risk Management: Identifying potential risks to your product and creating mitigation strategies is a key skill.
Agile and Scrum Familiarity: Understanding common product development methodologies can be helpful, even if not strictly required.
Feedback Loop: Building a robust mechanism to gather user feedback and quickly iterate on your product is important.
Cross-functional Teamwork: PMs work with various teams (engineering, design, marketing, etc.). Understanding how to work cross-functionally is vital.
Ethical Considerations: PMs should be aware of the ethical implications of their product decisions and strive for responsible product management.
Growth Mindset: Successful PMs have a growth mindset, always looking to learn and improve their skills and their product.
Balance Speed and Quality: PMs need to balance moving quickly to capture market opportunities with ensuring their product meets quality standards.

30 Commonly Asked Product Manager Interview Questions

To excel in one of the most challenging job interviews for a Product Manager position, you need to be well-prepared to make informed business decisions even when faced with limited information. It's crucial to have a deep understanding of the company's products, their strategic objectives, and the needs of their users.

💡 Want to see if you've got what it takes to be a product manager? Check out this PM Interview GPT to prepare effectively for your upcoming interview.

Your ability to make intuitive product decisions will be closely scrutinized. Additionally, be ready to demonstrate your technical skills by designing algorithms or coding on the spot, showcasing your versatility and technical acumen in real-time scenarios. Here is a list of 30 to prep for beforehand. Additionally, check out these top 10 PM interview questions you need to know and top 10 questions to ask employers during a product management interview

How would you design a new product for [target market/user]?
How would you improve our current product [specific product]?
Can you design a product to solve [specific problem]?
What strategy would you use to enter a new market with our product?
How do you prioritize product features?
What would you consider before discontinuing a product?
How do you measure the success of a product?
What metrics would you look at to evaluate a product's performance?
Can you walk me through a time you used data to make a product decision?
Tell me about a time when you had to lead a team through a challenging product development cycle.
Describe a situation where you had to make a tough product decision without all the necessary information.
Share an example of how you handled a conflict within your product team.
How do you work with engineering teams to decide on technical trade-offs?
Explain a complex technical concept in simple terms.
What's your approach to writing product specifications?
How do you ensure a product meets the users' needs?
Can you describe a process for conducting user research?
How would you test a new feature before a full-scale launch?
What steps would you take to launch a new product?
How do you manage a product launch timeline?
What factors do you consider in the go-to-market strategy for a new product?
How do you prioritize tasks across different teams (engineering, design, marketing)?
Tell me about a time when you had to convince your team to follow your product vision.
How do you foster collaboration between product, design, and engineering teams?
How do you stay updated on market trends and competitors?
Can you describe a competitor's product and how you would differentiate our product?
How do you assess the impact of market changes on your product strategy?
Describe a complex problem you solved in a product context.
How do you generate new ideas for products or features?
How do you ensure your products are ethically designed and respect user privacy?