Priyanka Kumar, Product Manager at Salesforce, talked about how to prepare for PM interviews, what top companies like Google, Amazon, and Microsoft really look for, and how to tackle the toughest problems. She discussed how the ambiguously-named "PM" (product manager / program manager) role varies across companies, what experience you need, how to make your existing experience translate and what a great PM resume and cover letter look like.

1. Mock Interviewing with Salesforce's
Product Manager
www.productschool.com

2. FREE INVITE
Join 10,000+ Product Managers on

3. Product
Management
Courses

4. Coding
for Managers
Courses

5. Data Analytics
for Managers
Courses

6. Include @productschool and #prodmgmt at the
end of your tweet
Tweet to get a free ticket
for our next Event!

7. Priyanka Kumar
Tonight’s Speaker

8. Priyanka Kumar
Sr. Product Manager, Salesforce
Angel Investor
Ace your Product Manager
Interview
www.linkedin.com/in/priyankakumars

9. Land a PM job!

12. Role of a Product Manager
Text Title
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Text Title
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Voice of the Customer
Executes & Delivers the
product
Bridges & Shields the team
Evangelizes the Product
Communication & Stakeholder
Management

13. PM: Big Company vs Startups
Source: Drew Dillon on Quota
Startups Big Companies
Biggest Challenge: Resources Biggest Challenge: Organization
Impact - Build for growth Impact - Build for Scale
Access to Customers/Users Limited access to Customers
Ad-hoc requirements Defined product process
Influence on Product Vision Business driven Product vision

14. Breaking into a Product role

15. Skills of a Good Product Manager
Source: Todd Jackson on First Round

16. Selling your Resume
Buzzwords

17. Selling your Resume
Bring out prior communication, leadership
and coordination work.
Focus on Customers
Think about Strategic Initiatives
Display prioritization skills
Importantly, Quantify
everything!

18. Examples:
“Built and maintained web payment interfaces using Java, XML, XSL,
AJAX, and JWS.”
VS
“Led successful integration of payment flow with checkout
and increased user conversion by X%.”
“Coordinated with Product team to define, track & measure
release metrics”
VS
“Led green light meetings for Product buy-in on key product
metrics. Increased MoM user growth by X%.”

20. Grab that phone! http://pmint.herokuapp.com/

21. Elevator Pitch

22. Behavioral Questions
Source: Gayle Laakmaan Books
Framework
Nugget First
Situation
Action
Result
Summarize

23. Estimation Questions
Framework
Clarify
Think about what you know
Make an equation
Consider edge cases
Solve components
Sanity Check
Source: Gayle Laakmaan Books
How many airplanes
are in the airspace?

24. Case Questions
Source: Gayle Laakmaan Books
Which region should Amazon
Fresh expand into?

25. Case Questions
Source: Gayle Laakmaan Books

26. Product Questions
Text Title
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Improve a Product
Favorite Product
Product Design
What’s your favorite
product?
“Start with WHY?”

30. Technical Questions
Source: Gayle Laakmaan Books
Prep these..

31. Product Vision

32. Interview Evaluation & Process
Understand the Evaluation process

33. Resources
Books
Gayle Laakmann - Cracking the PM interview
Decode & Conquer
Rise above the noise
Interview Math
Geoffrey Moore: Escape Velocity, Crossing the Chasm, Inside the Tornado
Chip Heath: Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die
Marty Cagan: Inspired: How to Create Products Customers Love
Blogs
https://www.lewis-lin.com/
https://growthhackers.com/posts
http://www.sachinrekhi.com/how-to-ace-your-product-management-interview
Podcast
http://www.thisisproductmanagement.com/episodes/

35. MOCK INTERVIEW

36. Tell me about yourself?

37. Describe a time when you had to
influence your team?

38. How would you improve Quora’s
home feed?

39. Questions?

40. Part-time Product Management Courses
in San Francisco
www.productschool.com