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Senior Product Manager Expectations Interview

Welcome to our Product Newsletter, a biweekly email highlighting top discussions, and learning resources for product managers.

What We Will Cover In This Edition:-

Top Discussions: 

1) The expectation of a senior product manager (interview)?

2) Should I apply for PM roles if I have zero experience?

3) How was your experience with a newly hired VP/Head of Product?

Top Learning Resources:

1. Marketplace Supply Strategy: Comprehensive, Exclusive Or Curated

2. Sequencing business models: The types of marketplace

3. Spearhead

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Top Discussions

Question 1) The expectation of a senior product manager (interview)?

Hi PMs,

In an interview for a senior product manager role, I was taken aback when asked this question: “how do you plan to increase the market share of our product?”

I wasn’t expecting this – though I have around 6 years of PM experience, I am not familiar with the space of the product this role would be in charge of. My expectation was always that it is ok to not have experience in the space, as long as I can learn on the job quickly and I would start forming opinions and then strategize how to increase the market share, just as how I have managed to become able to do it.

My preliminary answer was we need to understand what users in this space are not satisfied with from the current solutions of the product and that of competitors, so as to differentiate. However, the hiring manager doesn’t seem to be happy with the answer, and I feel like he’s asking for something way more specific than I offered. (or maybe my answer just isn’t good enough, well, I’ll never know)

TLDR; Is it common to expect a senior product manager to know a space’s in and outs? I used to think not, but now I am not sure. If you were me, how would you have answered? Would love to hear what you think.

– Marco Silva

Discussion

A] It’s unnecessary to know the ins and outs of the space, but you should be able to speak in broad strokes about the industry. I anticipate that the candidate would be a little more proactive in forming a hypothesis on the industry first.

If I were interviewing you for a senior product manager role and got that type of response, I would question whether you prepped for the interview and cared about the industry.

– Donovan O’kang

B] Having been an HM for all levels of PMs here are generally my expectations in doing a screen for a Senior PM:

  • The candidate knows where we fit in the industry- not exactly, but generally. If they come from a competitor or an area within the space I expect them to speak in some detail about the space;
  • They know the ins and outs of how to manage the dev cycle and build a 1 year or less roadmap. PS I’m going to ask about this every time and I’m going to be coy about it. For example, “In your org how did product interact with QA? Were you a TDD organization?” I don’t really care about the answer other than you have one and know where you fit in the org and how the pieces work together.
  • The candidate understands how a feature affects a product which affects the business and they can articulate why a feature that may not have major data-driven outcomes is important to the roadmap. The way I’ll often ask that is, “Tell me about something you built that you KNEW was the right thing to build, but there may not have been exact data to justify it.”
  • The candidate has ideas of how to grow or better maintain the business. That’s your share question. Btw there’s a very vanilla answer to this question, “I’d look to our competitors to see what they do exceptionally well that we don’t do and see if we can’t build some of those features into our product. Chances are that some of those features are “wedge features” that don’t really matter to some of their buyers but the competitor uses as a differentiator. Maybe we can even blend it with our products to make our products stronger to use?” Something like that.

Hope this helps.

– Michael Yoffe

C] Depends on the size of the company.

@Michael, I agree that direction is better than speed, so yes we should clearly outline the business results the business is seeking. If the expectations of investors or the cash flow needed to keep the business afloat weren’t on the line, then we would need less reassurance and focus more on the problems to solve because ultimately that’s how we get the results anyway.

In my experience, if the core business is generating 70% of stable returns, then we have to create a VC-like experience and allocate capital effectively to be able to learn quickly. If there is a true culture of experimentation, we would be more focused on how we can understand what we need to know to be successful. My point is that we need to be willing to change in the face of evidence

– Nathan Endicott

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Question 2)  Should I apply for PM roles if I have zero experience?

Should I still apply for roles that require 2-3 years of PM experience when I have zero?

And if by luck I get an interview, how do I prove myself?

– Pauline Francis

Discussion

A] Yes.  Don’t let that be a blocker. They may post that as a requirement just to weed out all the 5+ years of folks. This sounds like they want entry-level or early years exp. they may be flexible with that and say well he has the demonstrated skills we need a likeable person and they can shadow a senior PM.

– Ahmed Bashir

B] Some of the best jobs I’ve had, including my current one, I scored because I had the courage to email the company and pitch how I could help them. They weren’t even looking, I just presented myself, my skills, what I could bring to the table… .and boom, done. I’ve now been here 3 years and it’s amazing.

– Lawrence Martin

C] As a hungry, motivated PM candidate, I would say “yes”, don’t let it stop you.

As someone who has hired before, I would say “don’t waste my time”. I’ve written the job post and know that I want an experienced PM so I don’t have to hold your hand at every turn.

In general, I recommend being judicious about which roles you’re applying to, so if the role is definitely what you want, then go for it. Otherwise, save your energy for the “hell yeah” openings.

– Vlad Podpoly

D] You have six months of experience in your first job post-uni. That’s going to be an uphill battle for you at this point, BUT, it’s worth your time to start interviewing for practice. Interviewing is an essential skill in your career, and it’s a skill most people don’t develop well. Good interviewing skills put you head and shoulders above most other candidates that have experience.

  • you want to be able to describe times you’ve worked closely with engineers
  • you want to give examples of doing market research and defined KPIs
  • you want to give examples of times where you’ve created a list of to-do items, how you prioritized what gets done first, and why
  • you want to give examples of influencing colleagues in your company to do something
  • you want to give examples of where you’ve had to tell people ‘no’

– Michael Yoffe

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Question 3) How was your experience with a newly hired VP/Head of Product?

For those who’ve worked at a company where a new VP/Head of Product was hired:

  • How much disruption was there?
  • Did the new VP shake things up i.e. strategy?
  • Were people let go?
  • Or was it business as usual for the most part?

Gibson B. wrote about this from the perspective of a new Head of Product but would love to hear the other side of this. Thanks.

– Cathryn Cui

Discussion

A] The answer to this question depends on whether:

  • the company is in war-time or peace-time and
  • if you report to this person directly or not

I have been in both situations so can speak from my experience.

Generally speaking, there is higher disruption when it’s wartime and if you report to this person since the company has probably hired them to come in with a clean slate and wipe the slate clean if needed. More things will be shaken up, more people might be let go and expect an up-and-down few months.

If it’s peacetime, expect a lot of questions since if it’s the right kind of VP, they’ll mostly be curious to learn as quickly as possible so they can establish a sense of what’s going on. People will leave since there’s always internally a person who was vying for this role and they’ll probably want to go somewhere else. People are not generally let go unless priorities need to shift drastically

If you don’t report to this said person, you might be buffered by a lot of this and unless there are dramatic changes, it’ll feel like business as usual

– Michael Yoffe

B] Our company just went through this.

  • Disruption: it really depends on their working style. I’ve honestly found just more of a workflow disruption because we’re more of a feature team, and so the new VP doesn’t have the context required to clarify & pinpoint senior management asks (silver burritos everywhere!)
  • Strategy: Nope, because we’ve had a pretty strong top-down structure in place.
  • Our director of product left, but I think on his own terms, shortly after.
  • Yes, but with the added chaos of a new person that wants to be helpful and influential, that doesn’t have the context, product-wise nor politically.

– Priya Verma

C] Having been that HoP and left so that a new HoP could be brought in, I think the easy answer, is it depends on the kind of problems your organization has, and the kinds of problems the new head of product is skilled at solving. I have a personal preference for people who watch slowly and then act quickly.

– Nathan Endicott

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Top Learning Resources

Marketplace Supply Strategy: Comprehensive, Exclusive Or Curated

For marketplaces, “owning demand” is the surest path to sustainable growth. In practice, that means users come directly to you, rather than going through intermediaries like Google or Facebook, and that they exclusively (or almost exclusively) rely on your marketplace instead of comparison shopping with competitors.

Sequencing business models: The types of marketplace

If a company is thinking about sequencing into a marketplace, it’s important for it to understand that there are different types of marketplaces with different components. Having a good idea of what you’re sequencing to eventually is important, but also influences the transitions on how to get there.

Spearhead

DataPower was in a run-down office with a partially collapsed roof housed next to an ambulance repair shop. I later learned that another VC had cut his meeting short with DataPower because he saw a huge rat there. The proprietor of the ambulance shop, Mahmood, stopped us as we entered the gate and asked us to state our business and intentions on his property.

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