Expert insights. Personalized for you.
Are you interested in becoming a product manager or advancing your product management career? What are the long-term career tracks that are available for PMs? MORE
In this post, we talk to Kayiita Johnson, product manager at Google Nest and the founder of PM While Black , a site making PM accessible to the Black community. In this Path to PM post, Kayiita and I discuss the challenges the Black community faces in getting into PM and how he is addressing them. What’s the story behind PM While Black? MORE
As you progress through product management job interviews, you may notice that many companies ask for the PM candidates to complete a take-home assignment. This take-home assignment can consist of product design questions, metrics and analytics, and sometimes strategy. MORE
Here's how to crack the PM interview, written by Richa Pareekh, Uber PM and former Google PM. Are you worried about getting the ultimate PM job? PM interviews are difficult and very very demanding, especially with the rise of the prominence of the role. MORE
Want to know what a PRD is? Or how to write one? As Product Managers, we write a product requirements document (PRD) to answer a few key questions: Why are we working on an initiative? How are we approaching the problem? What is the right solution? MORE
Product Vision or Product Vision Statement is the long-term goal for a product includes the long-term mission and the motivation behind its creation, along with why it’s important. Product visions, ultimately, serve as the guideposts for the development of the products. MORE
Sachin Rekhi is the founder and CEO of Notejoy , and a prolific blogger on product management. In this Path to PM post, Sachin and I discuss five practical paths to product management. Listen to our podcast here, or read the transcription below! How did you first break into product management? As an undergraduate at UPenn, I was originally planning to move into software engineering on graduation. MORE
Breaking into product management straight out of college is challenging. I’ve noticed that there's a lot of confusion on building the relevant skills for the job. Should students focus on honing their technical skills? Or should they take a mixture of classes across psychology, business, and engineering? What kinds of clubs and organizations are best to get involved in? Here’s my guide on how to best position yourself for a product management job in college. MORE
Wondering how to become a PMM? Product marketing is one of the newest and most impactful roles within an organization. As a product marketing manager (PMM), you influence most areas of the organization including product, design, sales, support, and, of course, marketing. Given how new and versatile the role is, product marketing management is also probably the least standardized role in tech companies, which makes the process of becoming a PMM quite obtuse and vague. MORE
Software engineering levels are the road map that gets you to your career destination. Of course, it’s not all just for you. Levels bring also help employers in the hiring and promotion process. MORE
Read the first part of this blog series here. In our last post, we described some of the issues with structures and frameworks that interfere with answering interview questions at the level we expect of a Senior PM (or demonstrative of a highly-qualified PM at lower levels). Now, let’s talk about how to improve! Though we are going to change our answering strategy, there’s good news—we’re not completely lost. Nothing you’ve learned from frameworks has led you astray. MORE
So, what’s the difference between a Product Manager (PM) and a Technical Program Manager (TPM)? While Product Managers and Technical Program Managers often work closely together and share project ownership, they generally have different sets of responsibilities that require different skill sets and ultimately, different strategies for interview prep. In this article, we’ll illuminate some of these similarities and differences. Goals Product Managers are expected to define the Product Vision. MORE
In this post, we'll review a case study submission from one of our Exponent members, Sholanki Sarkar. Question : Design a Smart Fridge. If you want to brush up on the basics of answering Product Design Questions, check out Exponent’s lesson on how to ace the product design interview question. Sholanki’s answers are in regular font, interviewer’s responses in bold, and the editor’s notes in italics ). MORE
You've made it to the interview. You've solved every problem and brain teaser thrown at you. Now with a few minutes left, you have one final question to answer. "Do Do you have any questions for me?" Interviews are a two-way street where not only is the company interviewing you, but you are also evaluating the company for their fit. So, finding the right questions to ask your interviewer is an art form. You want to ask questions to convey that you're interested in the role. MORE
It's no secret that getting a job at one of the big tech companies can be quite challenging. In a way, the interviews at companies like Google, Facebook, and Amazon are almost as famous as the companies themselves. There are countless books geared at giving their readers a leg up on these interviews, such as Cracking the Amazon Interview and Are You Smart Enough to Work at Google? MORE
This is a guest post from Alexis and Adrienne's Product Managers at Work. I know people who are really good at strategic thinking. One of my friends can instantly take a problem that at first appears intractable, like “How would you drive down the cost of Tesla’s autopilot system to increase profit?” MORE
One of the most frequently asked questions from those aspiring to enter the product management field is: how technical do I need to be if I want to be a PM? PMs build and manage technical products. To do so, they interact with software engineers and data scientists on a daily basis. MORE
Thinking of jumping into the field of Technical Program Management ? We understand that the TPM interview can be pretty intimidating. Technical program management, itself, is one of those roles that is a mix of many different fields. Let's dive into acing the technical program management interview! MORE
A/B testing is one of the most important parts of user experience research that is conducted by most companies. For many product managers, it may be a crucial part of experimenting with product changes and deciding which to move forward on. MORE
Decode and Conquer written by Lewis C. Lin has long been a favorite prep book for those interviewing for product management roles. The author, Lewis Lin, is widely impressive as he was the Director of Product Management at Microsoft and worked at Google where he was responsible for launching new AdWords products. What's great about Decode & Conquer. Decode & Conquer functions as a great introduction to product management philosophies and interview approaches. MORE
If you’re looking to break into tech, you’ve seen the term “data science” thrown around. It’s no surprise HBR named Data Scientist the “sexiest job of the 21st century”; data is more valuable and more available than ever. Making sense of it though? Still a challenge. Careers in data are mysterious, but luckily for job seekers, patterns are emerging. If you’re analytical-yet-adventurous and you have a flair for storytelling, this could be the field for you. MORE
Shreyas Doshi is a product lead at Stripe. In this Path to PM post, we discuss switching product management careers and Shreyas's 10-30-50 product management framework to becoming a successful product lead. Previously Shreyas has served as a director of product management at Twitter, and a group product manager at Google and Yahoo! Tell us about how you first broke into product management. My first product job was at EDS (Electronic Data Systems) where I was an engineer. MORE
Learn a framework for quickly pitching a new product idea, and enhance your career! When I interview a product manager to work in my team, I want to know that they understand the whole of the product cycle - how to make it happen, from concept to rollout and beyond, and most importantly what will make it successful. Too many product managers only ever see a part of the process (which I think is a fault of their management), so the product will never quite achieve its potential. MORE
We talk to Divya Dhar an Exponent alumni, on her diverse journey from being a doctor to founding non-profits and most recently a stint in product management. Divya is currently PM at Google, working on Google Maps, specifically on its rideshare and delivery verticals. Q: How would you answer the “Tell me about yourself” question? From a very young age, my goal has been to serve and develop people using science. Early on I did this by becoming a doctor. MORE
Hamsa Pillai is a senior at Duke University and will be heading off in the fall to join Google as an Associate Product Manager. In this Path to PM blog post, Hamsa and Stephen discuss how to ace the undergraduate associate product management interview. Tell us about your current PM career. I’m still a senior in college at Duke, but I’m going to be an associate product manager (APM) at Google starting this fall. MORE
This article was written by Timothy Fallen-Bailey, an Exponent PM Coach. Tim has worked for HP, Apple, Sybase, Siebel, Oracle, and Citrix before starting his own consulting company. Tim has recruited, mentored, and managed product managers in each of these positions, so you could say he knows a thing or two about interviewing for product managers. MORE
Todd Olson is the CEO and co-founder of Pendo. Pendo is a product engagement platform that helps businesses better understand their users and is a Series-D company backed by Sapphire Ventures, Battery Ventures, and Spark Capital. In this Path to PM post, we discuss the importance of connecting with a product's users and the tough aspects of product management. Tell us about how you broke into product management. Before Pendo, I was a VP of product at Rally Software. MORE
High pay, the California dream, and snack bars are just a smattering of images that pop in your head when you think of software builders working for big-name tech companies in California. Twitter, Google, and LinkedIn have created this image of a collaborative, comfortable working environment. MORE
Are you interested in making the leap into becoming a technical program manager (TPM)? You may be intrigued by the exciting job descriptions and lucrative salaries. But you also want to learn a little more about what it means and what it takes to be a technical program manager before you dive in headfirst. We've covered all the bases in this article concerning the roles and responsibilities that come with technical program management. MORE
Product management is all about tradeoffs. Should the team launch a new feature in the international market? Or should the engineers focus on code refactoring to reduce issues down the road? It is very rare that there are no downsides to one choice over the other even if it initially seems that one option is inherently better. A great PM can always articulate why they made a certain decision and talk intelligently about its downsides and its advantages. MORE
We interview Lisa Wang, former Google PM and CEO and founder of Almost Fun on her journey in product management and how she found a mission-driven career by building an ed-tech non-profit. How did your experience with product management help you found a mission-driven non-profit? There’s quite a few practices I learned as a product manager that heavily influence the way I’ve built Almost Fun. MORE
We talk to Azi, an Exponent alumni, on his journey to breaking into product management from a non-traditional/non-technical background. Azi is currently PM at LinkedIn, working on Onboarding and Retention for its online education platform LinkedIn Learning. Q: How would you answer the “Tell me about yourself” question? I’m insatiably curious about a variety of disciplines. MORE
Don’t let the cool exterior of a Product Manager fool you. They might be efficient and calm -- but they love chaos. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, you may have only caught a glimpse of this trait in a PM. Chaos is an opportunity for growth and good PMs know how to take advantage of stormy weather. MORE
Those who are looking for a job in tech, whether it be in product management, software engineering, data science, or the like, have undoubtedly considered a career at Google. MORE
PMLesson's Ace the PM Interview
OCTOBER 7, 2020
This is a guest post from Alexis and Adrienne's Product Managers at Work. I know people who are really good at strategic thinking. One of my friends can instantly take a problem that at first appears intractable, like “How would you drive down the cost of Tesla’s autopilot system to increase profit?”
PMLesson's Ace the PM Interview
OCTOBER 24, 2020
Thinking of jumping into the field of Technical Program Management ? We understand that the TPM interview can be pretty intimidating. Technical program management, itself, is one of those roles that is a mix of many different fields. Let's dive into acing the technical program management interview!
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PMLesson's Ace the PM Interview
SEPTEMBER 28, 2020
Are you interested in becoming a product manager or advancing your product management career? What are the long-term career tracks that are available for PMs?
PMLesson's Ace the PM Interview
SEPTEMBER 28, 2020
Here's how to crack the PM interview, written by Richa Pareekh, Uber PM and former Google PM. Are you worried about getting the ultimate PM job? PM interviews are difficult and very very demanding, especially with the rise of the prominence of the role.
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PMLesson's Ace the PM Interview
AUGUST 1, 2020
Want to know what a PRD is? Or how to write one? As Product Managers, we write a product requirements document (PRD) to answer a few key questions: Why are we working on an initiative? How are we approaching the problem? What is the right solution?
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PMLesson's Ace the PM Interview
AUGUST 20, 2020
Product Vision or Product Vision Statement is the long-term goal for a product includes the long-term mission and the motivation behind its creation, along with why it’s important. Product visions, ultimately, serve as the guideposts for the development of the products.
PMLesson's Ace the PM Interview
JULY 22, 2020
One of the most frequently asked questions from those aspiring to enter the product management field is: how technical do I need to be if I want to be a PM? PMs build and manage technical products. To do so, they interact with software engineers and data scientists on a daily basis.
PMLesson's Ace the PM Interview
AUGUST 25, 2020
As you progress through product management job interviews, you may notice that many companies ask for the PM candidates to complete a take-home assignment. This take-home assignment can consist of product design questions, metrics and analytics, and sometimes strategy.
PMLesson's Ace the PM Interview
JULY 12, 2020
In this post, we talk to Kayiita Johnson, product manager at Google Nest and the founder of PM While Black , a site making PM accessible to the Black community. In this Path to PM post, Kayiita and I discuss the challenges the Black community faces in getting into PM and how he is addressing them. What’s the story behind PM While Black?
Advertiser: Amplitude
As part of our goal to continue helping our community during these times, we wanted to share with you this critical data on the state of digital products across industries and provide context on how businesses are responding to the changing winds.
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PMLesson's Ace the PM Interview
JUNE 9, 2020
Are you interested in making the leap into becoming a technical program manager (TPM)? You may be intrigued by the exciting job descriptions and lucrative salaries. But you also want to learn a little more about what it means and what it takes to be a technical program manager before you dive in headfirst. We've covered all the bases in this article concerning the roles and responsibilities that come with technical program management.
PMLesson's Ace the PM Interview
SEPTEMBER 10, 2020
High pay, the California dream, and snack bars are just a smattering of images that pop in your head when you think of software builders working for big-name tech companies in California. Twitter, Google, and LinkedIn have created this image of a collaborative, comfortable working environment.
PMLesson's Ace the PM Interview
AUGUST 19, 2020
A/B testing is one of the most important parts of user experience research that is conducted by most companies. For many product managers, it may be a crucial part of experimenting with product changes and deciding which to move forward on.
PMLesson's Ace the PM Interview
JULY 23, 2020
Software engineering levels are the road map that gets you to your career destination. Of course, it’s not all just for you. Levels bring also help employers in the hiring and promotion process.
Advertiser: UserTesting
Up to 80% of new products fail. The reality is harsh and the reasons why are endless. Perhaps the new product couldn’t oust a customer favorite. Maybe it looked great but was too hard to use. Or, despite being a superior product, the go-to-market strategy failed. There’s always a risk when building a new product, but you can hedge your bets by understanding exactly what your customers' expectations truly are at every step of the development process.
PMLesson's Ace the PM Interview
JULY 23, 2020
Don’t let the cool exterior of a Product Manager fool you. They might be efficient and calm -- but they love chaos. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, you may have only caught a glimpse of this trait in a PM. Chaos is an opportunity for growth and good PMs know how to take advantage of stormy weather.
PMLesson's Ace the PM Interview
JUNE 25, 2020
Decode and Conquer written by Lewis C. Lin has long been a favorite prep book for those interviewing for product management roles. The author, Lewis Lin, is widely impressive as he was the Director of Product Management at Microsoft and worked at Google where he was responsible for launching new AdWords products. What's great about Decode & Conquer. Decode & Conquer functions as a great introduction to product management philosophies and interview approaches.
PMLesson's Ace the PM Interview
FEBRUARY 20, 2019
Sachin Rekhi is the founder and CEO of Notejoy , and a prolific blogger on product management. In this Path to PM post, Sachin and I discuss five practical paths to product management. Listen to our podcast here, or read the transcription below! How did you first break into product management? As an undergraduate at UPenn, I was originally planning to move into software engineering on graduation.
PMLesson's Ace the PM Interview
JANUARY 7, 2019
Product management is all about tradeoffs. Should the team launch a new feature in the international market? Or should the engineers focus on code refactoring to reduce issues down the road? It is very rare that there are no downsides to one choice over the other even if it initially seems that one option is inherently better. A great PM can always articulate why they made a certain decision and talk intelligently about its downsides and its advantages.
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PMLesson's Ace the PM Interview
FEBRUARY 6, 2019
Breaking into product management straight out of college is challenging. I’ve noticed that there's a lot of confusion on building the relevant skills for the job. Should students focus on honing their technical skills? Or should they take a mixture of classes across psychology, business, and engineering? What kinds of clubs and organizations are best to get involved in? Here’s my guide on how to best position yourself for a product management job in college.
PMLesson's Ace the PM Interview
JANUARY 6, 2020
Read the first part of this blog series here. In our last post, we described some of the issues with structures and frameworks that interfere with answering interview questions at the level we expect of a Senior PM (or demonstrative of a highly-qualified PM at lower levels). Now, let’s talk about how to improve! Though we are going to change our answering strategy, there’s good news—we’re not completely lost. Nothing you’ve learned from frameworks has led you astray.
PMLesson's Ace the PM Interview
JUNE 8, 2020
This article was written by Timothy Fallen-Bailey, an Exponent PM Coach. Tim has worked for HP, Apple, Sybase, Siebel, Oracle, and Citrix before starting his own consulting company. Tim has recruited, mentored, and managed product managers in each of these positions, so you could say he knows a thing or two about interviewing for product managers.
PMLesson's Ace the PM Interview
FEBRUARY 1, 2020
We talk to Divya Dhar an Exponent alumni, on her diverse journey from being a doctor to founding non-profits and most recently a stint in product management. Divya is currently PM at Google, working on Google Maps, specifically on its rideshare and delivery verticals. Q: How would you answer the “Tell me about yourself” question? From a very young age, my goal has been to serve and develop people using science. Early on I did this by becoming a doctor.
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PMLesson's Ace the PM Interview
OCTOBER 9, 2019
So, what’s the difference between a Product Manager (PM) and a Technical Program Manager (TPM)? While Product Managers and Technical Program Managers often work closely together and share project ownership, they generally have different sets of responsibilities that require different skill sets and ultimately, different strategies for interview prep. In this article, we’ll illuminate some of these similarities and differences. Goals Product Managers are expected to define the Product Vision.
PMLesson's Ace the PM Interview
APRIL 15, 2020
We interview Lisa Wang, former Google PM and CEO and founder of Almost Fun on her journey in product management and how she found a mission-driven career by building an ed-tech non-profit. How did your experience with product management help you found a mission-driven non-profit? There’s quite a few practices I learned as a product manager that heavily influence the way I’ve built Almost Fun.
PMLesson's Ace the PM Interview
JANUARY 9, 2019
Todd Olson is the CEO and co-founder of Pendo. Pendo is a product engagement platform that helps businesses better understand their users and is a Series-D company backed by Sapphire Ventures, Battery Ventures, and Spark Capital. In this Path to PM post, we discuss the importance of connecting with a product's users and the tough aspects of product management. Tell us about how you broke into product management. Before Pendo, I was a VP of product at Rally Software.
PMLesson's Ace the PM Interview
JUNE 4, 2020
It's no secret that getting a job at one of the big tech companies can be quite challenging. In a way, the interviews at companies like Google, Facebook, and Amazon are almost as famous as the companies themselves. There are countless books geared at giving their readers a leg up on these interviews, such as Cracking the Amazon Interview and Are You Smart Enough to Work at Google?
Speaker: Esther Kieft, Delivery Manager (Group Technology) at Domino's Pizza Enterprises
It is well known that empathy is a key ingredient in creating lovable products, yet not all products offer the best customer experience. From meeting stringent deadlines to insufficient resources being available to carry out customer research, there is a range of reasons why customer empathy could be missing in product development. Join Esther Kieft, as she breaks down using empathy at a distance to evaluate the problems that customers are experiencing during this global health crisis.
PMLesson's Ace the PM Interview
JULY 1, 2020
Learn a framework for quickly pitching a new product idea, and enhance your career! When I interview a product manager to work in my team, I want to know that they understand the whole of the product cycle - how to make it happen, from concept to rollout and beyond, and most importantly what will make it successful. Too many product managers only ever see a part of the process (which I think is a fault of their management), so the product will never quite achieve its potential.
PMLesson's Ace the PM Interview
APRIL 6, 2020
Wondering how to become a PMM? Product marketing is one of the newest and most impactful roles within an organization. As a product marketing manager (PMM), you influence most areas of the organization including product, design, sales, support, and, of course, marketing. Given how new and versatile the role is, product marketing management is also probably the least standardized role in tech companies, which makes the process of becoming a PMM quite obtuse and vague.
PMLesson's Ace the PM Interview
JANUARY 16, 2019
Shreyas Doshi is a product lead at Stripe. In this Path to PM post, we discuss switching product management careers and Shreyas's 10-30-50 product management framework to becoming a successful product lead. Previously Shreyas has served as a director of product management at Twitter, and a group product manager at Google and Yahoo! Tell us about how you first broke into product management. My first product job was at EDS (Electronic Data Systems) where I was an engineer.
PMLesson's Ace the PM Interview
MAY 29, 2020
You've made it to the interview. You've solved every problem and brain teaser thrown at you. Now with a few minutes left, you have one final question to answer. "Do Do you have any questions for me?" Interviews are a two-way street where not only is the company interviewing you, but you are also evaluating the company for their fit. So, finding the right questions to ask your interviewer is an art form. You want to ask questions to convey that you're interested in the role.
Advertiser: Amplitude
Why do your users churn? In this guide you'll learn common product pitfalls and how to fix them.
PMLesson's Ace the PM Interview
MARCH 4, 2019
Hamsa Pillai is a senior at Duke University and will be heading off in the fall to join Google as an Associate Product Manager. In this Path to PM blog post, Hamsa and Stephen discuss how to ace the undergraduate associate product management interview. Tell us about your current PM career. I’m still a senior in college at Duke, but I’m going to be an associate product manager (APM) at Google starting this fall.
PMLesson's Ace the PM Interview
OCTOBER 15, 2019
We talk to Azi, an Exponent alumni, on his journey to breaking into product management from a non-traditional/non-technical background. Azi is currently PM at LinkedIn, working on Onboarding and Retention for its online education platform LinkedIn Learning. Q: How would you answer the “Tell me about yourself” question? I’m insatiably curious about a variety of disciplines.
PMLesson's Ace the PM Interview
FEBRUARY 24, 2020
If you’re looking to break into tech, you’ve seen the term “data science” thrown around. It’s no surprise HBR named Data Scientist the “sexiest job of the 21st century”; data is more valuable and more available than ever. Making sense of it though? Still a challenge. Careers in data are mysterious, but luckily for job seekers, patterns are emerging. If you’re analytical-yet-adventurous and you have a flair for storytelling, this could be the field for you.
PMLesson's Ace the PM Interview
OCTOBER 7, 2019
In this post, we'll review a case study submission from one of our Exponent members, Sholanki Sarkar. Question : Design a Smart Fridge. If you want to brush up on the basics of answering Product Design Questions, check out Exponent’s lesson on how to ace the product design interview question. Sholanki’s answers are in regular font, interviewer’s responses in bold, and the editor’s notes in italics ).
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