Sessions are down 20% today - why?
(Want to skip ahead to a sample question? Start here 👉 ) I’m - currently working on Product, Data and Growth at Coda, previously startup Founder/CEO, and before that a PM at Google and YouTube. I’ve been both the interviewer and interviewee for product analytics questions countless times. This is the first time I’ve shared my playbook. , and ! You’re interviewing for your dream job as a at Unicorn, Inc. You’ve researched the company, used their new product, know the product vision and all the product features, familiarized yourself with stakeholders, the engineering team, their product design language, and product strategy. You even know how they do product development and have your list of ideas for new features and functionalities they could include in the product roadmap. But you didn’t see these data questions coming and don’t know where to begin.
Why didn’t you click on that link “How to Ace Your PM Data Interviews” you saw scrolling through your feed the other day? Just kidding! Let’s dive in. 👊
How to read this doc
My hope is that after reading this post you have an interview prep cheat sheet for how to answer common analytics interview questions and you have some easy next steps to get even better prepared and potentially land that product manager job. This page focuses on high-level context and strategy in the interview process. We’ll walk through the kinds of questions product manager candidates may be asked, each of which have deep dives on their own pages. We’ll break down what interviewers are looking for and in the following pages, we’ll dig into detailed sample PM interview questions, with examples of strong and weak answers at each step.
The meat of this is post in the detailed walkthroughs: , , and . There’s also an extensive bank of and additional . While we’ll focus on Product Manager interview questions, in practice these same kinds of questions often show up for Software Engineers, Marketers, Data Analysts, and other roles.
What product manager interviewers are really looking for
Keep in mind interviews are more about understanding how you think than getting the “right answer.” Candidates often make the mistake of getting caught up trying to get to the “right solution” and skip explaining their reasoning. PM interviews are as much about the why of your solution, as they are about the how — communicating your reasoning is the main thing an interviewer is trying to assess in the interviews. So it’s much better to have amazing reasoning but not fully get to a final answer than an answer that’s hard to contextualize or reason about.
Project manager interview skills cheat sheet
Here’s a list of key skills, how to demonstrate them, and the common pitfalls faced by even the best project managers in the field.
Back when I was at Google, most interviews were scored on a 5 point system (1 being poor and 5 being strong). Here at Coda, we use a 4 point system - which is much clearer: you cannot do OK. As an interviewer, if I’m on the fence, that rounds down to a no.
Three types of product manager data interview questions
There are three main types of data interview questions. We’ll break each down in detail in the following pages.
Note these types of questions go by many different names at different companies. For example, Facebook has a mix of these under an Execution Interview header, Thumbtack calls these Analytical Interviews, and here at Coda, we have a Marketecture Interview. The reality is these questions types aren’t as discrete as I outline here but exist on a spectrum. That said, I’ve found these three types useful as “corners of the tent” to show a range of problem-solving formats, with the more common case somewhere in the middle.
Three simple steps to frame your answers
Here’s my simple framework to use on all of these questions:
Reiterate and clarify inputs, goals, constraints, and important factors to the problem or solutions. Brainstorm solutions to the prompt, get more constraints from the interviewer if appropriate, and discuss pros and cons. Select your solution. Describe mitigators, things that would change your answer, and follow-ups.
My friend pointed out this is similar to . Here are some potential questions you might get asked during your product manager data interview:
It’s worth calling out that having a good framework for your answer is necessary but not enough by itself. There’s a common type of poor interviewee who is overly focused on a high-level framework, and fails to engage in the gritty detailed discussion and trade-offs of concrete options and ideas. Don’t be “just a framework person” - make sure you continue to connect it back to the details.
If it sounds too simple and easy, you’re half right. It is simple, but it’s not easy. Like most things, it comes down to how you do it. The best way to do it well is to practice. 👇
Practice makes perfect
Interviewing is a skill that, like all skills, you get better at the more you do it. One of the best ways to practice is to go through sample questions with friends or colleagues and have them give you feedback. Getting more examples under your belt always helps. In that spirit, we’ll walk through example questions together and analyze a range of different sample answers. Or you can skip ahead to the . Read on to the next pages for more detailed tear-downs per question type: , and .